I'm addicted to Vinyl!

[yuc7zhd2]

I was wondering, is it just me or does vinyl rule? I found Kid A on Vinyl the other day at Awarestore, so I ordered it, Bows + Arrows by the Walkmen and OK Computer by Radiohead that evening. Then, I got a new record player, the Crosley CR49, which is totally awesome I might add. Then I went warp record crazy tonight and bought 4 EP's, two Aphex, 1 Autechre, 1 Squarepusher, and then found Badly Drawn Boy on XL records, so I had to get that. Anyways, is anyone else addicted like me? I can't figure out why I haven't been buying this stuff like crazy until now.

[stoid]

Even CDs are digital representations of the physical record and therefore are going to be only 'very close' and not 'perfect' just as digital video has a long ways before it catches up with film.

[jefhatfield]

i love LPs and EPs, but not 45s so much

i grew up with only records and cassette tapes did not exist yet, or at least not in large numbers

i liked the portability of cassette tapes but they would get eaten up a lot...and 8 tracks were terrible ;)

vinyl scratches and skips but not easily if you care for vinyl...always take the plastic wrapper off the record album because over time it shrinks and warps the record inside

i like the "warm" analog sound of records and tapes even though it is not an accurate sonic representation of the music like today's CDs and digital downloads

[Powerbook G5]

Is it just me or did anyone else think something completely different and much more disturbing when reading the title of this thread?

[krimson]

i have about 2000 in my room, closet, storage room :)
mostly electronica :)

[stoid]

Is it just me or did anyone else think something completely different and much more disturbing when reading the title of this thread?

Aahhhhh, Matrix, Trinity......

[bousozoku]

Is it just me or did anyone else think something completely different and much more disturbing when reading the title of this thread?

Does this say something about your closet? <ducks>

Growing up with vinyl records, I tend to remember their worst--how easily they're ruined. That goes for pretty much any media though, including CDs but the laser can read through minimal scratches.

I tried a lot of different techniques to make vinyl sound better including 45 rpm LPs and direct-to-disc recording and exotic lacquers and somewhat expensive cartridges. When everything was at its best, it wasn't too bad but it was rarely like being there.

[question fear]

i <3 vinyl.
it sounds wonderful, and theres something extra pretty about the album covers.
also fun, if you've got old scratched records, put them in the oven on top of an oven safe bowl at 250 for 5 minutes, then take it out and let it shape over the bowl...instant chip basket thats way cool.

[aricher]

I am also a vinyl addict - I have about 2500 records of all sorts of genres. That's nothing compared to a friend of mine who moved to Brazil though - he easily has over 20,000 records - DJ nut - he's working on some reissues of old brasilian "bossadelica." Man am I jealous of his collection. There's also this guy on National Public Radio (NPR) here in Chicago named Dick Buckley - I once saw a picture of his house - he has a Batman Bruce Wayne style library with rolling ladders set up - floor to ceiling records - easily over 1 million in his library - frikkin unbelievable.

Me, I'm a music addict but even though I've ripped and sold nearly every CD I own - I would never part with my vinyl - love it.

If you're really into vinyl and don't mind forking over some serious cash for some rare grooves check out www.dustygroove.com

These guys are in Chicago - started out as a web only thing and now own a huge building/store that sells the best soul/jazz/funk/afro-pop/brasilian, etc. around. if you're looking for something and you can't find it - email them they'll hunt it down for you - very cool place.

[vollspacken]

I only have one vinyl rcord, the original "Blue Monday" 12" by New Order (the one that looks like a floppy disk...)

other wise it's all CD for me, but I keep a huge MP3 collection on my tiBook (no albums, just single tracks, to keep it reasonable...)

vSpacken

[Abstract]

I don't get the fascination with vinyl. I used to understand why, but CDs are at 16-bit, and at 16-bit, there's quite a bit of sound resolution in there. I understand that records have an "infinite" amount of sound variations possible, but very few human ears can tell the difference. Actually, blind tests would probably show you that many of the people who claim to be able to tell the difference probably can't.

But I guess its cool to love vinyl. :)

[MacFan26]

My dad still has his collection of vinyls from the 60's - 80's. Too bad they're all classical. Not that that's bad, I love classical, but there were a lot of other good albums from back then!

[ecche]

WOW, you made me check my vinyl collection, that has been sitting in a closet for almost twenty years. Here's what I found: About 800 vintage records with such highlights as 'Evil Knievel speaks to the children' (Promo LP; he sings, too), Leonard Nimoy's 'Highly Illogical'. Anyone interested?

[WinterMute]

Good analog recordings sound subjectively warmer (better?) than dodgytal because of distortion.... :eek:

The problem with vinyl is that it requires a much more expensive system to rival the reproduction of even a relatively modest CD based system, the same is true in pro recording, where a free app running at 24-bit 96Khz can sound as good as a more expensive analog system, and to really get the benefit of all that lovely 3rd and 5th order harmonic distortion, you'd need £10K's worth of 2" 24-track reel to reel running very expensive tape at 30" per second.

Yeah, plus vinyl wears out really quickly.

That said, good analog is a much more pleasing sound than even 24-bit digital, and I'll record to analog tape as a preference, but usually find myself in ProTools at some point.

[krimson]

i'd say good vinyl does sound "warmer" than CD, i've tried recording some of my vinyls to CD, and played them back on the table, and from the CD player. There is a ]i]small[/i] difference, but the vinyl is more pleasing. It's hard to describe if you haven't sat down and really enjoyed a clean record then a digital recording.

[yuc7zhd2]

Thanks for the dusty groove link. For those confused on the vinyl fixation, I'd just say this... I love my iPod, and my iTunes music collection. I'd never part with my CD collection either. In fact, I just spent quite a lot of time uploading my CD collection to an old PC, so that I could use the PC as an iTunes server when I'm at home (I also set up AIM with file sharing on it so that I could load files remotely (when I'm away from home) to my powerbook - I don't like to keep too much junk on my pBook HD). The thing about vinyl, for me, is a psychological thing. I grew up with vinyl. I feel like the vinyl format represents good music (which is subjective). Look at it this way, are you making more of a commitment when you purchase a huge vinyl record, or a diminuitive CD? Vinyl is mammoth. When you buy it, you're buying something you love, or its going to be taking up more space in your house. When you listen to it, its an experience. You have to sit down and listen, its not portable. Comparable to watching TV. CD's are disposable. I think the CD psychology has something to do with modern pop music too. Less of a commitment, less of an experience, more of a tool to show other people you're 'cool' when you drive by with the new britney spears (joke) flowing out of your window. Now, I'm not denying people might genuinely love most of the music I despise. It is funny though, that two years after it was on top of the charts, some station (TV or radio) does some thing on 'how stupid we were a few years ago when we liked that crappy song'. DISPOSABLE.

[aricher]

I agree wholeheartedly with what yuc7zhd2 says here - vinyl is an experience. So many days/nights spent calling my friends over for a record listening party of a new release. We'd all sit around looking at the album art, liner notes, etc. CDs don't measure up when it comes to the artwork and as far as that "warm" sound goes - you can't beat it.

DJs use vinyl for a reason - and no, it's not for the scratching factor alone - it's also because you can pull extended bass frequency out of vinyl - sure, you can simulate this digitally but at high volumes nothing fully can replicate the deep rumble of bass on vinyl.

I love my digi music collection but on a good turntable nothing beats an old LP.

oh yeah, ecche - check your PMs - i'm interested in a few of your records.

[Spizzo]

I've got me some vinyl too, and was just wondering what everyone uses to copy/record their vinyl to their computer. I've got about 150 records coming this week, and wanted to transfer some of the stuff over so i can put it on my iPod.

[krimson]

SL-1200MK2 --> Ortofon OM DJ --> DJM-600 --> Receiver --> Audiophile --> Sound Studio --> HDD

[question fear]

I've got me some vinyl too, and was just wondering what everyone uses to copy/record their vinyl to their computer. I've got about 150 records coming this week, and wanted to transfer some of the stuff over so i can put it on my iPod.

griffin imic, a receiver, and sound studio will do it.
but its time consuimg, i warn you.

[Spizzo]

SL-1200MK2 --> Ortofon OM DJ --> DJM-600 --> Receiver --> Audiophile --> Sound Studio --> HDD

I want one of those DJM-600's so bad. I think i will get one later this year. What are the advantages of going through a receiver and then to the soundcard vs. straight from the mixer to the sound card?

How do you like those ortofon cartridges? I was either looking at the shures m44-7 or the Ortofon OM scratch.

[sushi]

griffin imic, a receiver, and sound studio will do it.
but its time consuimg, i warn you.
You got that right!

I just transferred a cassette tape to CD. Took a lot longer than I thought it would trying to make the best copy possible.

It was for a friend. The group no longer exists and you cannot buy the tape. One of the songs was played at their wedding so he wanted to capture it via digital.

It turned out okay, but the tape was in really bad shape to begin with.

At least with a tape, you don't have the "pops" to contend with like when you covert a record.

Sushi

[krimson]

I want one of those DJM-600's so bad. I think i will get one later this year. What are the advantages of going through a receiver and then to the soundcard vs. straight from the mixer to the sound card?

How do you like those ortofon cartridges? I was either looking at the shures m44-7 or the Ortofon OM scratch.

I havne't really kept up with mixers, since im very happy with my 600, but I thought a 700 was out, or should be soon... the price drop would make it worth it, if you can wait. If you're going to be using it for scratching, it might not be the best...

I couldn't get it to work going just from the mixer to the sound card... this was when I just got it, so I can't remember what was wrong. But i do use the receiver to power the monitors, since there's about a 1/2 second delay on the sound coming from the Audiophile.

The Ortofons are nice compared to the black DJ Concordes I was using before, much less vinyl burn due to the headshell design, backtracks a bit better than the concordes too. As for scratching, i believe the M44's are better.. but that's just from hearing people talk about them... most of my friends are Club dj's, so they dont use those carts.

[adamjay]

vinyl was around before tapes, 8-tracks, MD's, etc.
and its STILL around. especially in the Electronic music industry where 99% of the music is only released on 12" EP.

it definitely has staying power.

[adamjay]

ouch guys, DJM600's have some of the WORST phono preamps on the market. In terms of discoloration of the original signal, they are unpar with Numark. If you really want to convert vinyl to digital format through a DJ mixer, may i suggest Rane; Allen & Heath or the dwindling MTX company, if you are in western europe or japan - check out Rodec.

The DJM600 is a good performance mixer, but i'd never record a signal through it. And in a performance environment, they can barely last a year before the entire board needs replacement. Rane's on the other hand are unintentionally built to US Military specifications, with double glass epoxy PCB's. I know of several clubs that have been running the same Rane mixers for the last 8 to 10 years.

just my .02

[wowser]

I have an all-chrome 1970s Toshiba record player and speakers. the sound is fantastic. If you have a good vinyl set up, then it can sound like the band is actually playing there. superb medium. the only advantage CDs have is their durability (relative) and portability. it has so much warmth and power

[SteveBeat]

I only buy vinyl. My band makes sure every release of ours comes out on vinyl, all the bands I like release vinyl, and I haven't bought a CD in years. I love it all: 45s, LPs, 10"s, etc. I have hundreds of records and a very moderate stereo system that cost me 130 bucks total.

CD's are expensive, sound tinny and lame, have boring cover art, etc.

Vinyl is cheaper, analog, sound full and robust (and put a lot of low-end in there, which I think really helps rock n' roll), have huge artwork and can do colored vinyl and all kinds of interesting things.

Go buy my band's records, people! www.bigneckrecords.com

I still have a 10GB 2G iPod, but I use it only for mp3 purposes.

[G4scott]

Ok, so now I can jump in...

Vinyl is a bit before my time :-p

I thought vinyl couldn't get close to the reproduction possibilities of digital because of the limitations of needles and all that, but I don't remember where I heard that, and if it was true or what...

Anyways, here's my question. I have a record from '78 of my university's marching band, and I want to make a good digital reproduction. I hooked up my dad's turntable setup to my computer (from the amp), and into my iMic, but I had a problem with the iMic... When using the line signal, there was way too much clipping, and I couldn't adjust the gain with the iMic... So I just used my PowerBook's audio in, and recorded at 44.1 khz, 16 bit stereo. The highest sound studio would let me record (I'm not even sure if the powerbook's audio is that good...)

Well, the record was in really good condition, and played fine, but there are some pops and scratches that I can hear, and was wondering if there's a way to remove them, either with free software, or if there was something I could buy that would work.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the recordings, and I really can't tell the difference between the vinyl, and my recording. I'm also assuming I'm not using crap equipment. It's a denon turntable with some really expensive cartridge that my dad told me not to break, or he'd kill me (something about a diamond needle? I don't know much about the world of vinyl...) So I'm assuming that I'm getting a very good reproduction of this record. I just need a way to clean up the sound...

[leftpeg]

I've bought most of my lifetime's collection of music on vinyl. And even when the mainstream gave up on vinyl there was always lots of great independent records coming out. My collection has gotten pretty big over the years, and is a real pain to move, but the tactile nature of the format is much more satisfying than the miniaturized cd format, and if you look after it's pretty easy to keep it sounding good.

It's a good time for vinyl at the moment. We've got the dj and hip hop culture to thank for bringing it back into the public eye, although it's never gone away. One thing I've noticed though is a trend towards higher quality vinyl. Back in the 80's most mainstream vinyl was terrible, and likely this was by design to get consumers hooked on the higher profit margins of the cd. But there seems to be quite a bit of care taken with vinyl these days, particularly with reissues, and there's nothing like a nice gatefold sleeve.

[question fear]

I've bought most of my lifetime's collection of music on vinyl. And even when the mainstream gave up on vinyl there was always lots of great independent records coming out. My collection has gotten pretty big over the years, and is a real pain to move, but the tactile nature of the format is much more satisfying than the miniaturized cd format, and if you look after it's pretty easy to keep it sounding good.

It's a good time for vinyl at the moment. We've got the dj and hip hop culture to thank for bringing it back into the public eye, although it's never gone away. One thing I've noticed though is a trend towards higher quality vinyl. Back in the 80's most mainstream vinyl was terrible, and likely this was by design to get consumers hooked on the higher profit margins of the cd. But there seems to be quite a bit of care taken with vinyl these days, particularly with reissues, and there's nothing like a nice gatefold sleeve.

i agree. i got hooked on vinyl when i was in high school, when all the good indie recordings were vinyl...and now i feel like i get better value out of a vinyl recording than i do a cd. strange, but it just seems like a more pleasurable investment.

[jefhatfield]

Aahhhhh, Matrix, Trinity......

spent three years singing in a punk band sporting vinyl ;)

http://www.mbay.net/~rtshark/roypic09.htm

for more pix,

www.turnrock.com

[question fear]

spent three years singing in a punk band sporting vinyl ;)

http://www.mbay.net/~rtshark/roypic09.htm

for more pix,

www.turnrock.com

jefhatfield, is there anything you haven't done!?!?

[brap]

The only reason I buy vinyl is to have the awesome sleeve designes certain bands have. I have the 3-LP version of 'The Fragile' By Nine inch nails. only listened to it once, because I honestly can't see the attraction of vinyl as a sound recording.

I plan on getting the new Skinny puppy LP as vinyl, but again, sinly because it looks cool. I don't even have a turntable anymore... The way I see it, there's nothing unique about the "soft" sound vinyl gives which can't be reproduced through software. Call me clinical.

[narco]

I used to have a big obsession with vinyl, until I got an iPod. The only thing I buy on vinyl these days are from bands who only released stuff on vinyl. Other than that, I'd rather buy the CD, convert it in iTunes and take it with me wherever. It's too much work trying to transfer a record into a digital audio file; still haven't perfected it.

.narco

[jefhatfield]

jefhatfield, is there anything you haven't done!?!?

i am 40 with no one 20 year career behind me, so that means i have bounced around a lot which makes for a long list of things i didn't succeed at ;)

i would love to be able to say, i finished high school, then met someone who had a startup company, worked my way through many promotions and made good money, and now i am way high up in a company twenty-plus years later like some people can say when they're 40

it's not really my personality to stick with one job for my whole life and i praise those who can do just one thing in life, but do it very well and still keep a keen interest in it...i know this rich kid who is very happy with being a dishwasher as he has been for 25 or more years who spends every extra minute being a self taught historian about the middle ages...he is the very best authority on his special interest and has only clogged his mind with his simplistic, predictable job but nothing else like kids, marriage, mortgage, college, pta meetings, substance abuse, etc...years after he is gone people might not remember that he only washed dishes his whole life, but they will remember that he was one hell of a historian who had articles written about him and his expertise...everybody who has met him are stunned by his amazing recall and his passion for his subject inspires all and he brightens every day that much more...few in this world are as happy as this man...though he didn't make much money in his life (he doesn't need to when born rich), he played his life very consistently and became a master at a chosen interest (medieval history) and to me, that consistency in a person is what i consider a really successful person

[V.A.Toss]

Interesting last post Jef.

But i disagree.

I think consistency and passion for a subject is to be admired, so i agree with you on that. But I have to say that learning as many disciplines in life and hopping around from one discipline to another can produce some very interesting people.

Infact the most interesting people ive ever met have been the ones who have a low boredom threshold, theyve travelled or changed career or given up completely for a while. These are the most entertaining people ive ever met.

Whilst i cant measure success, or score someones life in points and figures. I can say that the most interesting people ive ever met, are the ones with a low boredom threshold, people whove lived in different situations and people whove lived close to the edge in life.

I often think that people without a single huge passion in life, have an even larger passion for life itself.

Ill end this completely irrelevent waste of ASCII, by saying happy 40th Jef ;)

[jefhatfield]

Interesting last post Jef.

But i disagree.

I think consistency and passion for a subject is to be admired, so i agree with you on that. But I have to say that learning as many disciplines in life and hopping around from one discipline to another can produce some very interesting people.

Infact the most interesting people ive ever met have been the ones who have a low boredom threshold, theyve travelled or changed career or given up completely for a while. These are the most entertaining people ive ever met.

Whilst i cant measure success, or score someones life in points and figures. I can say that the most interesting people ive ever met, are the ones with a low boredom threshold, people whove lived in different situations and people whove lived close to the edge in life.

I often think that people without a single huge passion in life, have an even larger passion for life itself.

Ill end this completely irrelevent waste of ASCII, by saying happy 40th Jef ;)

people who bounce around a lot in life are definitely more well versed in life in general and usually have broad knowledge of a lot of different topics...of course someone like that does well on jeopardy

i find an total expert in one topic fascinating because they can usually give depth to a topic that most books cannot approach...the person is usually interesting on that topic but can be a bore in conversations about anything else....so there is a downside into putting all your brainpower into one small section of one field

the world is run by generalists and but it is the specialists who spearhead their field but often do not get credit for it or cash in on it