The vinyl revival... are you guys buying?

[Geoff]

On 6/23/2021 at 10:33 PM, auslander said:

It actually doesn't sound better unless you like crackle and hiss. The sound quality thing is a big myth.

Vinyl is a pain in the arse. All that dusting , careful handling, storing, easy to damage and they get worn out... I know it's a hipster thing, but whatever. I'm sticking to cds. They are virtually permanent, easy to store and you can make digital copies. Also they are cheaper!

Yeah, I'll have the trust the oldies know something I don't know because other than taking someone's word for it (which doesn't ever seem to work out well) I agree with you, 100%. 

I know I've mentioned this before, but crackling and hissing aside (and don't get me wrong... two significant issues), I could never get any bollocks from a record/LP. My parents had literally hundreds of records, so I can't imagine them settling for a record player that didn't play them properly, and I could never, ever, no matter what I tried, ever get a good ballsy sound out of a record. Main, simple issue being I could never get a thick sound, specifically in drums and bass.

In the fullness of time, I ended up playing the CD versions of some of those LPs on the same device and I was amazed and delighted to hear them sound as they did. Black N' Blue's 'In Heat' and Treat's 'Dreamhunter' come to mind. Both sounded thin as balls on LP, and nice and meaty on CD. 

I dunno, I tend to trust what I hear and see with my own ears and eyes and there wasn't even a contest for me, so I'd love to be in the same room as someone who proves to me that records sound better than CDs. 

[Glen]

absolute bollox being written here about vinyl.

Hook it up on the right system and it's the best deepest ballsiest sound you can achieve.

I used to have Rega 2 turntable and a Creek amp and it sounded immense. Also you could barely detect crackle.

Now come the difficult bits ....

ITS A PAIN IN THE ARSE.

ITS EXPENSIVE. 

I'll never go back. 

BUT it's the best pure listening experience. No doubt 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Glen

[KarpetRydOFunk]

10 minutes ago, Glen said:

absolute bollox being written here about vinyl.

Hook it up on the right system and it's the best deepest ballsiest sound you can achieve.

I used to have Rega 2 turntable and a Creek amp and it sounded immense. Also you could barely detect crackle.

Now come the difficult bits ....

ITS A PAIN IN THE ARSE.

ITS EXPENSIVE. 

I'll never go back. 

BUT it's the best pure listening experience. No doubt 

I believe that is actually false. If you spend as much energy and money in your sound system for your CD collection as you do your LPs, I believe you'll find the CDs are better. 

Obviously, I don't have the experience to know firsthand, so I only say this because a buddy of mine who graduated from an audio recording school told me that compact disc was an objectively better medium for storing information than vinyl. And so, when two albums recorded on CD and vinyl are played back to back, CD will always sound truer. 

You also have to take in account that mastering is different for the two mediums. Albums that were recorded and mastered for vinyl typically sounded better than when they were later released on compact disc. Unless they were remastered for the new format. 

[KarpetRydOFunk]

5 hours ago, CureTheSane said:

So my daughter bought a record player.
Can only assume that she was looking to be hip and old school or whatever.
So it sat there for 6 months until she decided to finally get some speakers.
Her grandmother died so suddenly she had a bunch of albums to play, but she really didn't much.
So her birthday is coming up and we thought we'd get her an album that she's into as part of her present so she'd use the thing.
She's into Bowie, and I checked out the albums today.

Holy crap!
AUD $50 and up.
What the hell, I know they aren't as popular as CD's but they have put their footprint firmly back on the music industry.
But I'm not paying 50 bucks for a record.

You see I remember records.
When CD's arrived I replaced everything I had bar a couple that I couldn't get.
Because they get fucking scratched and warped, and dirty and were never much more than a pain in the ass.
So the thought of moving back there is horrific to me, even if they at times have that reminiscent sound to them.

My daughter is on her own.
I know one day I'll hear a record jumping as it plays, and I'll be triggered lol
 

Is that for a new pressing, or original? I suppose it doesn't matter: new LPs are expensive because production isn't cheap, and old Bowie LPs are likely expensive because it's Bowie. Do you not have any used record stores around?

[Glen]

5 hours ago, KarpetRydOFunk said:

I believe that is actually false. If you spend as much energy and money in your sound system for your CD collection as you do your LPs, I believe you'll find the CDs are better. 

Obviously, I don't have the experience to know firsthand, so I only say this because a buddy of mine who graduated from an audio recording school told me that compact disc was an objectively better medium for storing information than vinyl. And so, when two albums recorded on CD and vinyl are played back to back, CD will always sound truer. 

You also have to take in account that mastering is different for the two mediums. Albums that were recorded and mastered for vinyl typically sounded better than when they were later released on compact disc. Unless they were remastered for the new format. 

just referring to my own experience mate.

i had 100s of albums on vinyl and basically rebought them all on CD.

Just an easier medium to play and store.

Did the cds sound better. No. Not in my opinion.

The vinyl had a richer more open sound with much more depth. The CDs sounded clear as a bell but more compressed in some way. 

Anyway everyone hears something different.

Hell I listen to compressed as fuck audio on a smartphone now lol. 

The things we do for convenience. 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Glen

[CMGiordano]

The problem I always had with vinyl (and cassettes), in theory, is that they degrade every time you listen to them. No matter how good the system sounds, you're then playing a losing battle against quality degradation. While there are certainly more variables in that equation than just simply playing the record (cleaning, maintenance, correct replacement parts like needles, etc.), that never seemed like a battle I wanted to take on, even as my friends started buying vinyl when we were in junior high and high school (because it was starting to become "cool" again).

Of course, I say all of this in theory, as I never experienced any of it in practice.

[Darkstone]

I was born in 1972 and have always been a music lover.

Some of my earliest memories are of listening to my Mum's LP's and singles. 

I then graduated to buying my own LP's, singles and of course, cassettes, always with a quality sound system whether it be home stereo, walkman or "boom box".

All I can say is that when I first purchased a CD player and my first CD's, I was blown away.

The superior sound quality was very noticeable... to my ears anyway. 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by Darkstone

[CureTheSane]

4 hours ago, Glen said:

just referring to my own experience mate.

i had 100s of albums on vinyl and basically rebought them all on CD.

Just an easier medium to play and store.

Did the cds sound better. No. Not in my opinion.

The vinyl had a richer more open sound with much more depth. The CDs sounded clear as a bell but more compressed in some way. 

Anyway everyone hears something different.

Hell I listen to compressed as fuck audio on a smartphone now lol. 

The things we do for convenience. 

I just put that to the romantic restrospective return to what you loved at the time.
Not sure anyone here is qualified to difinitively make a call, it's just personal opinions.

I'm sure I love CD's more because I can use them are frisbees and they still play the same.
The amount of $$$ I spent replacing vinyl is nuts.
Maybe I just didn't look after them well enough.
Anyway, that's my romantic memory, buying a medium that gave great sound and LASTED.

At the time I found it to sound overproduced compared to vinyl, but that quickjly dissipated.

[CureTheSane]

9 hours ago, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Is that for a new pressing, or original? I suppose it doesn't matter: new LPs are expensive because production isn't cheap, and old Bowie LPs are likely expensive because it's Bowie. Do you not have any used record stores around?

New.

Refuse to but second hand stuff for someone as a gift.
Maybe that's snobby.
Regardless, even if I was ok with doing that, I would never purchase a second hand vinyl (read above  )

[KarpetRydOFunk]

2 hours ago, CureTheSane said:

New.

Refuse to but second hand stuff for someone as a gift.
Maybe that's snobby.
Regardless, even if I was ok with doing that, I would never purchase a second hand vinyl (read above  )

That is snobby. 

;}

[Glen]

6 hours ago, CureTheSane said:

just put that to the romantic restrospective return to what you loved at the time.
Not sure anyone here is qualified to difinitively make a call, it's just personal opinions.

of course it's personal opinions. 

I'm sure some techy person would explain that a cd has some better frequency response or something, but they didnt sound better, simple as.

How vinyl sounds now I can't comment on as not bought vinyl since 1987.