10 replies to this topic

[Pook]

I'm a pretty big loser when it comes to music (as you are well aware) and over the years I've been growing my vinyl collection. I still have CDs, but only if they are the only issue available.

 

Post your collections here! I still have to finish compiling my list, but I'll be adding mine shortly!

[JRPomazon]

Ah Vinyl, I really have grown to like it but I've never had the cash to really invest in a collection. Still, it's a well medium that full of little tricks and fun. Like playing Baroness at 45 rpm, which makes it 100% better on the ears.

[Doctor Pogo]

It'd be a bit of a chore to fully catalogue our collection, but we do have some stuff I really enjoy listening to, most of which was picked up at Goodwill for $.50 a piece.  Found a Steve Martin album there once and was super excited about it.  

 

I think the last time we used our turntable it played awesome old records by Little Feat and Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music by Ray Charles.

 

I'm sure wisp has a few of her own favorites to mention as well.

[Kwicky Koala]

I've been interested in vinyl from what I've heard from old farts like Neil Young it had a more gentle, warmer tone?

Not unrelated is what Young has been saying about mp3s being really shoddy sound quality which makes me want to explore the other options

If nothing else if I ever get my own place I was thinking of getting a few old vinyl record sleeves to use as wall decoration

[Hana-Nezumi]

I've wanted to try out vinyl but buying a record player would be a bit of an investment for me.

But isn't any advantage vinyl initially has over the audio quality of CDs negated by the fact that records develop noticeable crackles and pops over time?

[Selena]

I'm not really a music "nerd" so I've never really been interested in vinyl over modern media. I do have a small collection, though -- things that my grandmother passed down to me. She inherited a set of records printed in the 20's from an old Swedish dude who lived in town. He didn't have family left. So she got them. They're mostly old opera recordings. He used to be a fisherman, and everyone in town knew he was sailing up to the docks when they could hear opera playing upriver.

 

I don't have a working turntable, though, so I haven't been able to listen to them.

 

However, records that old are super thick and weigh like eleventy billion pounds. Oi, moving that box was a feat of strength.

[Pook]

It'd be a bit of a chore to fully catalogue our collection, but we do have some stuff I really enjoy listening to, most of which was picked up at Goodwill for $.50 a piece.  Found a Steve Martin album there once and was super excited about it.  

 

I think the last time we used our turntable it played awesome old records by Little Feat and Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music by Ray Charles.

 

I'm sure wisp has a few of her own favorites to mention as well.

 

Sometimes the best way to find great deals is going to thrift stores and garage sales. People don't understand value these days (old people and young adults, alike).

Also, if you go to discogs.com and sign up (for free) it's an online databade where you can record and store your collections (sorted by release year, catalogue number, issue..etc). 

 

My collection is: http://www.discogs.c...ser/mionehymnal

 

Word.

 

I've been interested in vinyl from what I've heard from old farts like Neil Young it had a more gentle, warmer tone?

Not unrelated is what Young has been saying about mp3s being really shoddy sound quality which makes me want to explore the other options

If nothing else if I ever get my own place I was thinking of getting a few old vinyl record sleeves to use as wall decoration

 

Before digital recording, everything was recorded onto magnetic tape. It allowed for fuller, more fluid wave forms to be recorded. It was more difficult to line up (and you had to be precise because you can't edit it), so digital recording took over quickly as it allowed for more ability to adjust and manipulate. Digital recording, however, has it's drawbacks.

 

When vinyl was cut from master tape, it allowed for true depth of the wave forms to be literally pressed into the record, hence why it's warmer and more gentle sounding. It's the truest form to natural acoustic audio. CDs and digital compression scoop out the high and low ends of the recording in order to reduce the size as well as quantize the 'note' relation. Instead of fluid waves of sound, it's digitized pixels of audio sound. I'll find a diagram to physically show what all that means.

 

Not all vinyl is warmer or better than other formats, unless it has either been properly treated from tape recordings, or master waves. Most modern albums are recorded straight to digital, so unless it is being converted to tape before it's mastering, it will sound almost identical. 

 

Digital recordings have a different effect on our brains than acoustic recordings. Because of the compressed sound waves, our brains experience 'brain fatigue' after long exposure to digital recordings. Our brains then have to translate the compressed signal into what would be acoustic waves...vinyl does not have this effect.

 

The statements made by Neil Young are very true. mp3s and digital compression have reduced the mastery and beauty of true recordings and have led music to become a downloadable, consumable content. Fast food music, as I like to refer to it. His Pono device is the closest physical device that can replicate the truest audio forms of the recording (but unless you have superb headphones and true wavs (file type), you'll be hard pressed to notice). As an iPod owner for the last 8 years, I can attest that even I don't have the best headphones (really fucking good and probably better than 75% of the consumer market), but I do have the best compressed and truest audio files on my iPod (save for digital only releases that typically come in some bastardized mp3..). I also experience brain fatigue after long listening sessions, but I don't ever feel that way when I'm listening to my home record unit and spinning records.

 

I can explore and explain further, Kwicky, if you're interested?

 

I've wanted to try out vinyl but buying a record player would be a bit of an investment for me.

But isn't any advantage vinyl initially has over the audio quality of CDs negated by the fact that records develop noticeable crackles and pops over time?

A decent Ion turntable can only cost about $250, and allow you to rip your vinyl at high resolutions (via USB to your computer). Hook that up to a nice power-amp some some old speaker from a garage sale... you'd have a relatively cheap system that will impress your friends!

 

Some people appreciate the crackles and pops of a record more than the clean, cut-gloss sound of CDs and mp3s. It's not necessarily negated, just not appreciated. It's not like you're really going to hear anything different between the new Daft Punk album on LP than CD (unless you've been doing this forever..) or most modern music anyway.

 

I'm not really a music "nerd" so I've never really been interested in vinyl over modern media. I do have a small collection, though -- things that my grandmother passed down to me. She inherited a set of records printed in the 20's from an old Swedish dude who lived in town. He didn't have family left. So she got them. They're mostly old opera recordings. He used to be a fisherman, and everyone in town knew he was sailing up to the docks when they could hear opera playing upriver.

 

I don't have a working turntable, though, so I haven't been able to listen to them.

 

However, records that old are super thick and weigh like eleventy billion pounds. Oi, moving that box was a feat of strength.

That's so awesome. Never get rid of them. And if you do, contact me first. I'd seriously buy 'em.

[Kwicky Koala]

That's very interesting Pook, thank-you. I do have one follow-up question. I have some mp3s of vinyl recordings - albums that as far as I know were ripped by fans, as I can hears the crackles of vinyl on them.

Would those still have the problems of the mp3 format's sound quality?

[Pook]

That's very interesting Pook, thank-you. I do have one follow-up question. I have some mp3s of vinyl recordings - albums that as far as I know were ripped by fans, as I can hears the crackles of vinyl on them.

Would those still have the problems of the mp3 format's sound quality?

You're welcome. Sometimes I can be a fountain of useless information.

 

Would the crackles effect the sound quality? Yeah, absolutely. Crackles and whatnot are typical of either damage, cleanliness or warping of the record itself, a less-than-functional stylus (needle) which is having problems..-- a well maintained record would minimize those sounds and effects on an mp3 encoding. I once ripped Thrice's The Alchemy Index set and it took me a while to get a really great sound, but it was wonderful when I did.

 

mp3 is just a compression filetype, the audio source itself has a lot to play into it.

 

Did that answer your question?

[Kwicky Koala]

Yes thanks

[Pook]

This article is really cool:

 

http://www.mnn.com/l...-on-a-turntable