CDs over LP/records assessment - a must watch for experts and beginners

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by raimiz1991inc, Apr 16, 2018.

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  1. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    First off, I realize there are literally hundreds of threads discussing which format is better and, honestly, I think it's pointless to come up with an answer and annoy members with the same old question and stir things up, so this is not my intention by creating this thread.

    Long story short, I've been buying and collecting CDs ever since I was ten years old and my passion for them continues to this day. This forum has been, and still is, an essential part of my life and music experience because of you guys and everything you/we have to say about sound quality and all the different pressings and the ultimate guide for searching for the "perfect" pressing in the greatest format. But I must admit, I never really 100% understood why most people nowadays prefer records over CDs when this wasn't the case 15 to 20 years ago, I mainly chalked it to nostalgia and the beautiful big artwork accompanied by the ritual of placing the record and the needle and the whole physical experience. Personally I was ready to compromise record collecting, the fairly similar ritual compared to listening to it CD counterpart and everything it entailed (from record maintainance and cleaning to replacing the stylus, etc) and of course its alleged superior sound in favor of continuing my CD collection which I am perfectly happy with and satisfied with its sound quality, at least of most of them.

    Last year my girlfriend gave me two, restored to mint condition, Phil Collins LPs as an anniversary present even though I don't have a turntable to play them on. Those were my first records and I was overwhelmed with the art and the LP jackets and presentation, even though I had those same albums three times on CD.
    I recently saw them once again and decided if I should start a record collection because the idea was starting to be appealing, or if maybe wait a little ways down the road. Of course I know the position of most of you guys regarding the sound of records and of CDs, so I decided to check youtube for interviews or reviews on record collecting and came across this video.

    First of all, my hats off to TJR for a wonderful channel he has on youtube. This gentleman gives an a brief story of how and why there was a record resurgence, why CDs were ultimately replaced by so many listeners and who's to blame for bad sound quality. Needless to say the conclusion was way beyond satisfactory for me because he has not a single bad thing to say about either format, he just tells it how it is and I finally made a decision regarding this transition.

    So I wanted to share with all you guys; experts and non-experts, audiophiles and casual listeners, something I think all of us music lovers should know about the what's happening and better understand the formats and music sales.
    Of course I would love to hear your opinions on this video and something you may want to add. Of course I immediately suscribed, I hope this is a channel that informs you of such stuff like I was informed, and congratulations to TJR for such a magnificent video.

    Cheers!

    CD Vs Vinyl The Great Debate



    P.S. - I'm sorry if this video has been shared before on any other thread, I don't want to repeat threads and of course the staff can delete this thread if necessary. Anyways, I consider this video important for us music fans and should be viewed by as many fans as possible, so I hope this stays active.

    Thanks.
     
  2. jtw

    jtw Forum Resident

    What are these restored to mint lps you mention? What does that mean?
     
  3. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    Yes. Inquiring minds want to know.
     
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  4. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    Of course! I honestly don't know that much about record shopping and neither does my girlfriend, but she found a CD/used record shop in Florida when she visited her sister and the owner sold her the two PC records I mentioned (and from what she said they weren't cheap at all) and told her that he spends his time restoring/refurbishing and getting them back in like new conditions, almost exactly as how they were sold back in the day in 1980 and 1981. I imagined this was so, because these weren't reissues or 180gr LPs I often read about.
     
  5. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    Follow up video for those interested:

     
    Mainline461 likes this.
  6. MonkeyLizard

    MonkeyLizard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia
    I can only read this to mean that it came with all the goodies that it would've came with back in the day.

    Other than that it just sounds like used car salesmen bs.
     
  7. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    Good to know! I never bought an LP in a store in my life and neither had she. Honestly, I wouldn't have bought them if they were as expensive as I imagine they were, but they were a gift and very precious to me. You guys are the pros at this, so I'm more than satisfied to take your words for it.
     
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  8. uzn007

    uzn007 Watcher of the Skis

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    Wood glue.
     
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  9. jtw

    jtw Forum Resident

    raimiz, this is a forum joke. Word glue is a questionable way to clean records. But there are places that sell records that have gone through a very thorough cleaning process, and sell them at a premium.
     
  10. Meguiar's scratch polish, and a buffing wheel.
     
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  11. MonkeyLizard

    MonkeyLizard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia
    A well cleaned record is nice for sure. But "restored"?
     
  12. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    Since record stores rarely offer a “restore to mint condition” service...

    Perhaps the OP can call the record store (anonymously), and ask how he achieved “restored to mint condition” quality, for vinyl in general, and specifically for these Phil Collins albums.

    Does the “process” involve wet cleaning, buffing, Elmer’s white glue, tape, sharpie pens and markers, etc? :( :shake: :help:

    (General Tip to the OP:
    Forum Members here largely clean used vinyl themselves; you’ll easily find many threads discussing how, and the methods and equipment they prefer to use.)

     
    fluffskul likes this.
  13. baconbadge

    baconbadge Chooglin’

    Location:
    Queens, NY
    Is this thread a prank?
     
  14. Nostaljack

    Nostaljack Resident R&B enthusiast

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    In short, records can be cleaned but not restored. If that’s what he’s telling you, there’s no way it’s true.

    Ed
     
  15. pinkrudy

    pinkrudy Senior Member

    So what was your conclusion?

    Did you stick to CD's?
     
  16. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I restore my records with a fresh recutting of the grooves. When it comes to restoring CDs I send 'em to the local buffer / polisher dude.
     
  17. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the store sells “Hot Stampers” too.
     
  18. Dr. Mudd

    Dr. Mudd Audient

    I have seen records that looked like something had been applied to cover scratches. Anyone know what this would be? The surfaces felt sort of “oily”.
     
  19. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    No, lol. Just wanted to share a video but my "restored record" mention got all the attention I suppose.
     
  20. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    :laugh: I could've sworn it's a common practice. If I ever get into record collecting I will thoroughly search every possibility of achieving the best care for them. I'm guessing this record shop applies this thorough cleaning process you mention, but when I first heard about it from my girlfriend I thought it was a bit gimmicky, but after all it was a gift and she worked very hard to buy them, so I wouldn't want her brought down by that fact.
     
  21. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    This is a good idea. My take is that he saw a naive look on my gf's face and put on the dog and pony show that not many record stores restore LPs and he is one of the few. He told her that he practically rescues these records from garage sales and poor conditions and spends his time listening to all of them, checking the quality and bringing them back to life through painstakingly through practices he didn't really mention, so my gf was instantly attracted to this. I don't how much she paid, but when I told her my brother got a Peter Gabriel record in mint condition for 15 bucks she was surprised and said "I wish I paid that amount for one of the Phil Collins ones", so I guess she was taken for a ride. Neither of us are familiar with record shopping, but I am very grateful for them.
     
  22. Somerset Scholar

    Somerset Scholar Ace of Spades

    Location:
    Bath
    Phil Collins records are £1 in the bargain basement sections at record fairs in the UK. And I mean near mint copies too, so as far as I can see you were taken for a ride. Doubly so, as you can't even play them. :cry:
     
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  23. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    Yes, CDs for now but I eventually want to dive in the record collection, at least of my favorite albums. The most important thing I took from the video is that each have their own special quality to it, even if they are not quantifiable, and that the culprit of the terrible sound quality is the mastering and loudness wars and as a result people flocked to original records for a little fresh air. I loved the part where he said that if you feel that you can't get into an album and you don't know why, try putting on the record instead of the CD or digital download/streaming service and explore. It makes sense to me when he said that there are CDs that sound better than records, many other records sound better than CDs and some sound basically the same, but it's always a good thing to have options and to just follow you ears. I'd regret not even trying to experience record collecting and listening and comparing them to my CD collection and searching for the perfect pressing to my ears.
     
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  24. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    My thoughts as well, personally I wouldn't have even glanced at the record section of that store mainly because I can't do anything with them, and to be honest I don't even know the first thing about record inspection and seeing which are in mint and which are just acceptable conditions. I only took those LPs once and they look beautiful indeed, but that's about it as far as my knowledge and assessment go. Once I dive into record collecting I will most certainly read everything there is to know regarding the practice.
     
  25. yarbles

    yarbles Too sick to pray

    Wow, brutal. Are you still together?
     
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