OK, so many vinyl fans, but who's just DONE with it?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by head_unit, Jun 8, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. hockman

    hockman Forum Resident

    10 pages in and I can't understand the OP's question. Any one who likes and regularly listen to vinyl records know that some ticks and pops are a fact of life with records, but they enjoy it anyway. So why would they give it up because of this? If you find some noise irritating then records would not be your medium of choice to start with.

    Also, it is not necessary to have a very pricey analog set up in order to enjoy listening to records. There are many, myself included, who can enjoy records on a modest record player.

    OTOH the issues of escalating record prices, bad pressings, the handling, cleaning, maintenance and storage of records are a different matter and can be important considerations in the decision to give up vinyl.
     
    Manimal and timind like this.
  2. JFSebastion

    JFSebastion Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maricopa Arizona
    IMO CD's could end up being the odd format out. Young people have their Iphones Ipods, and spotify to download music that to them is disposable as paper cups. CD's were touted as nearly indestructable compared to vinyl, but that wasn't really true. The artwork is bigger on vinyl and if it's your thing, vinyl comes in many colors as well. One of the big draws early on for CD's was its ability to be played in the car, in boom boxes. Cars aren't even made with CD players anymore. Reel to Reel is the best format sound wise, but few use it. So even if someone could convince me CD's sound better, doesn't translate to register sales. Vinyl made a comeback for a reason. What that is totally hasn't been dissected yet. Hipsters can't be the only reason, Lol.
     
    FashionBoy likes this.
  3. markp

    markp I am always thinking about Jazz.

    Location:
    Washington State
    I am not done with vinyl. In fact, all the great vinyl reissues coming out the last 8-10 years, really tilted my listening to almost all vinyl when I am zt home. Music Matters, Analogue Productjons, ORG, Pure Pleasure, MFSL, and others have issued so many fabulous classic jazz records.
     
  4. blair207

    blair207 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fife, Scotland
    I was done with it 30 years ago. Now I’m seriously thinking of revisiting vinyl.
    There is a wide difference of opinion on here as to whether you need a modest or a high end system to really get an advantage from vinyl. I love the convenience of listening to downloads and Cd transfers on a streamer. I like HiRez downloads too. I buy quite a lot of music already so the expense is a bit of a factor. I have just upgraded my speakers so have a set to start me on an analogue system. I am unsure if it will be worth the effort and expense.
     
  5. Newton John

    Newton John Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cumbria, UK
    I were in your position, I think a key factor would be whether or not I already had a substantial collection of LPs from 30 years ago still in good condition.

    If not, I'd question if it was worth the expense and whether the cash would be better spent elsewhere. Even if you are content with a modestly priced turntable, new vinyl and old records in good condition are expensive.

    I think of my turntable as a non-essential luxury part of my system. I could have had a better system if I'd not dabbled in vinyl. However, having a turntable is a real joy so please don't feel discouraged if that's the way you want to go.
     
    timind likes this.
  6. rbbert

    rbbert Forum Resident

    Location:
    Reno, NV, USA
    Could you elaborate a bit on this?
     
  7. Uglyversal

    Uglyversal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney
    What's there to elaborate on?
     
  8. Blue Cactus

    Blue Cactus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    I spin about 50% digital (CD’s/SACD’s) and 50% vinyl. Been doing that since the mid-80’s. So I’ll probably keep doing so. Besides, there’s a lot on vinyl that sounds so much better.
     
  9. BayouTiger

    BayouTiger Forum Resident

    I never got rid of the bulk of my vinyl, but I did move some titles out over the years. If I found a CD that I thought was better than the LP I had, I might ditch the LP. There have been periods where they were rarely played, but at least one TT was always set up in case I got the urge.

    In my present house, I am severely space challenged and now that I am in my late 50's I doubt that will ever change. I still go through periods where I listen to records quite a bit, then not at all for a couple months. I have three tables in the house and about 1000 lps with about 200 bought in the last few years, but with very few real record stores and the main one locally filled with somewhat condescending trendies, I don't really enjoy the search any more. I find myself flipping through the considerable piles of used CDs at the local thrift, or even better enjoying the Discover page on Roon or Tidal.

    I really believe that cutting the pile of records down to about half (400-500) would be better than keeping a big rack of stuff I rarely, if ever play for the sake of nostalgia. I know I have friends that are back into the hobby that would love to have them, but I also realize that several of them are just on the bandwagon, and honestly I get a bit tired of hearing how incredible their vintage setups are (a rare few are, but most are crap). I guess it's snobbish, but while I applaud their newfound appreciation, I realize that it's a fad.

    So while I am not really DONE with it, it is getting a bit long in the tooth and I am enjoying it less. But these things are certainly cyclical and maybe next year will be different.
     
  10. rbbert

    rbbert Forum Resident

    Location:
    Reno, NV, USA
    Why is having a turntable a real joy? It's a PITA to set up correctly, and also often to keep it that way. If you mean that playing records is a real joy, that seems like a separate issue to me.
     
  11. VU Master

    VU Master Senior Member

    I've been doing a lot of upgrades to my system lately and have been listening like mad the last few months. I've pulled out old LP's and CD's that I haven't played in ages and am seriously listening to them again. It's been interesting to see which ones stand the test of time for me musically, and on a technical level which ones are sonic standouts and which are disappointing.

    I have been a little surprised by how many LP's sound as good or better than CD's. (I haven't A-B'd identical titles so far, I just mean that in a general way.) In many cases I've been very pleased with the extended frequency response, lack of distortion, and dynamic range on a lot of vinyl disks. I've taken pretty good care of my LP's over the years, very few of them have problems with surface noise.

    Two recent standouts were the first B-52's album and John Lee Hooker's Serve You Right To Suffer. Both of those LP's sound perfect to me -- spectacular.

    So I am not at all done with vinyl at all -- in fact, compared to other formats, I'm listening to more of it lately.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2018
  12. druboogie

    druboogie Maverick Stacker

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I was awakened to how great vinyl sounded on a system, but I’ve inadvertently trained my ear to hear music past major crackle, so minor crackle is pretty much a non issue for me. Of course I’m only listening to music that I really enjoy.
    But I can understand if people are easily distracted the pops. If you want the music pristine clean I get it. But as another poster said, are you really listening to the music if you’re that distracted by a few pops?
     
  13. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Some people are tinkerers and enjoy the setup. I used to set up my own table but as things got more expensive, I didn't want to break anything. I had my TT set up professionally. For me, once the TT is set up, it stays that way, unless there is some trauma involved.
     
    SirMarc, xfilian, contium and 3 others like this.
  14. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    That is either an hilarious parody or you are the wackiest vintage collector on the forum. :)
     
    druboogie and enfield like this.
  15. Linto

    Linto Mayor of Simpleton

    I'm slowly selling all the LPs I don't ever play and spending that on guitars, which take up a lot more room than records!
    I play a record about once a month at the moment, partially because I know I need a retip soon.
    However I am really quite happy with FLAC/PC/Audiolab M-Dac as a source, and that's my main thing these days.
     
  16. contium

    contium Forum Resident

    I enjoy setting up turntables. This is a hobby for me. I also enjoy wrenching my mountain bikes, fishing equipment etc. Sorry you don't get any joy from it.
     
    eddiel and curbach like this.
  17. blair207

    blair207 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fife, Scotland
    I have virtually none of my old vinyl albums 12”singles left. I do have my 7”s. I gave away most of my vinyl to friends who continued to use vinyl. I love Led Zeppelin and Bruce Springsteen. How do the remastered releases of their albums stand up against the 24 bit versions. A work colleague has a refurbished Rega Planar 3 with a RB250 arm and Nagaoka MP11 cart which he will sell me at a good price. I can get year old Cyrus One for £400 and I have this spare set of Cyrus CLS 70 speakers and I have a room to set them up in. Should I go for it or just buy an Aurilac Aries Mini.
     
  18. Vocalpoint

    Vocalpoint Forum Resident

    I'm not "done with vinyl" but I am done with vinyl's high prices.

    I still occasionally wander into the local shops (which are dwindling fast) to see what kind of old school gems I can score for cheap - but the days of buying some recent release for $35.00 - not a chance.

    Especially when 99.99% of everything new is digitally sourced anyway. I cannot justify spending that kind of money for a bunch of cardboard and a digital recording that has been converted back to analog and stuck on a vinyl platter. May as well just avoid that extra generation and get the digital download or CD.

    VP
     
    ukrules and Vignus like this.
  19. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    Never crossed into 78s after my youth, having some old players and a handful of records. What is the market like now? I had the impression that the rural blues stuff was so over the top, price wise, that there was little in that genre left to collect (unless you were prepared to pay high-end auction prices). What styles of music do you listen to? There is an immediacy to those old discs. I heard acetates that Les Paul made through multi-tracking on a home made cutter- no tape-- and the sound was visceral, very real.
    You mentioned elsewhere something about cylinder playback. Never went there. I did see some modern cylinder players that looked like little lathes- all machined out of precision parts at the Library of Congress archive. We didn't listen to any.
    You at the deep end of the pool my friend.
     
    ThorensSme likes this.
  20. jon9091

    jon9091 Master Of Reality

    Location:
    Midwest
    No girl is ever gonna want to come over and look at your Flac collection. Just sayin’
     
  21. AlmanacZinger

    AlmanacZinger Zingin'

    Location:
    The Land of Zaat
    In the US perhaps, but my last few visits abroad say otherwise.
     
  22. AlmanacZinger

    AlmanacZinger Zingin'

    Location:
    The Land of Zaat
    Nevermind that if you want new music in the least brickwalled form you'll need the vinyl release.
     
    JFSebastion, Tullman and nosliw like this.
  23. AlmanacZinger

    AlmanacZinger Zingin'

    Location:
    The Land of Zaat
    Exactly. We all COULD/SHOULD BE done with vinyl (in terms of sound quality) if the overlords of the digital sphere would properly mix, master...and most importantly RELEASE the bulk of their music. Until then, vinyl reigns supreme.
     
    JFSebastion likes this.
  24. BDC

    BDC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tacoma
    Pops and surface noise bother me, if it's a dominating factor I'll return the record.
    Album covers are beautiful things and records to me usually sound better, even not having audiophile brag worthy gear. That said, I'm proud of what I do have. I bought a nice Technics 1200 Mk 5 to upgrade from my Pioneer pl400. The transition isn't done, as I'm doing finish work on a cabinet I built to sit on my existing stereo rack. It will house my receiver and the 1200 will sit on top.
    I like multiple sources. My CDs will be around for a while too. There are often options though to the in your face mastered CDs. I take advantage of choices.
     
  25. AlmanacZinger

    AlmanacZinger Zingin'

    Location:
    The Land of Zaat
    I'll take that wager.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine