Second guess getting back into vinyl ?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Waynefi, Feb 24, 2007.

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  1. Waynefi

    Waynefi Confused over the confusion ? Thread Starter

    Location:
    Northern Ohio
    Am I the only person who has second guessed getting back into vinyl ? There is so much I enjoy about vinyl, but as has been discussed many times before it is a lot of work. The mechanical end of turntables is enjoyable, and a pain at times. I was recently thinking about a few upgrades to my HW-19, then still wonder if the money spent on turntable, record cleaning nachine, etc..., is better spent elsewhere on the system, such as digital or speakers?

    So anybody second guess the decision, or just admit they were wrong, and get back out of vinyl ?

    Wayne
     
  2. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Nope! I like vinyl for the stuff you can't get on CD, and for better sound because CDs are mastered so crappy these days.
     
  3. Spin Doctor

    Spin Doctor Forum Resident

    Yes there is a certain workload involved compared to CDs. But to me, that is the zen of the experience. The finding a gem in a box of someones castoff records, finding that one missing copy for a collection. A few days ago, I got a sealed Curtis Mayfield "Back to the World" for a quarter... 25 cents. How friggen cool is that? Listening to the needle hit the grove and sound literally exploding out in wonderful 3D sound. I love kicking back and reading the liner notes of a great Bluenote record in a type font that I can actually see.

    Of course, vinyl doesn't always work out to be some kind of sonic nirvana, but a lot of times it is, and those are the times that make be haunt thrift stores, drive for hours on a vinyl tip, ask people that I don't even know and maybe have just met if they know of anyone who still has any records. If that stuff doesn't appeal to you then yeah you should get out of vinyl and sell me all your stuff, cheap...:D
     
  4. No Static

    No Static Gain Rider

    Location:
    Heart of Dixie
    I guess it depends on how much you want to put into it.

    The work involved in vinyl, both hardware-wise and software-wise, isn't work to me. It's fun! Just as I enjoy selling it and talking about it, cleaning, caring for it and cataloging it has been a natural for me ever since the mid
    60s. Yikes!

    But I can see where, if you actually had a life, it might become king of a drag. I don't have those annoyances. :laugh:

    David
     
  5. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    Glad to see we aren't generalizing. :sigh:
     
  6. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    I haven't delved into vinyl in a big way, but I am taking baby steps. A Forum member helped me get my turntable up and running last week, and I buy vinyl on the cheap here and there. I love the fact that you can get used vinyl so cheap (a lot of the time, anyway), and I enjoy having another listening option. What I loathe, however, is the work involved in cleaning records and the frustrations met in searching for the right pressings in good condition. Then when you find the right record in good visible condition, the quality of the vinyl might suck. At the end of the day, I still prefer CDs.
     
  7. teaser5

    teaser5 Cool Rockin' Daddy

    Location:
    The DMV
    Dude: I feel like your avatar is talking to me. I'm so guilty...:(

    Yeah-I second guess it all the time. Still I'm one those old timers who was weaned on vinyl so it's pretty much in my blood. I can go three months without cranking up my TT but then I'll spend all weekend listening to records.
    As David mentioned your lifestyle figures into this-I work a bunch of hours, have a long commute and a little kid so when I do find the time to listen to music sometimes I just want to sit in the same spot for an hour at a time :sigh:

    Peace-
    Norm
    t5
     
  8. Stefan

    Stefan Senior Member

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
  9. TONEPUB

    TONEPUB Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    I guess the thing I still really enjoy about vinyl, great sound aside, is that I can pop in a used record store, spend 50 bucks and come out with 10 or 15 records instead of buying three CD's...

    I still listen to plenty of digital too and there are definitely times when it's handy to have something that will play for an hour without attention, but I keep coming back to records, for all the reasons here.

    But when I had a day job and a three year old, I didn't have a lot of time for LP's, so I feel your pain!
     
  10. gillcup

    gillcup Senior Member

    Location:
    Raleigh, NC, USA
    I've gotten back into vinyl in a big way over the last 2 years and at times I do wonder if I've made a mistake. I love vinyl for all the reasons others have stated, but I am also reminded why I abandoned vinyl so happily for CD's in the late 80's. The problems of noise due to bad pressings, scratches, groove damage...etc is really frustrating. Also the variance in sound quality between different pressings can be a pain (at least when you get a "bad" pressing).

    But all the great LP's keep me coming back. All it takes is a couple of super cheap "hot stampers" and I'm back in the game.

    Mark
     
  11. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Yep, I get second thoughts all of the time, especially when I spend $30. and over for new audiophile vinyl and it's noisey, warped or skips. When I go to return it I have to pay $$ for shipping. I wish that I could buy new vinyl locally.
     
  12. LeeS

    LeeS Music Fan

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I like finding sealed records (that often bring back fond memories) for $7 or less. It's also being able to have access to a huge catalog in hirez analog.
     
  13. Doonie

    Doonie New Member

    Location:
    ...
    My turntable was given to me and I get my records for $2 so there's no looking back for me. :D
     
  14. Dennis Metz

    Dennis Metz Born In A Motor City south of Detroit

    Location:
    Fonthill, Ontario
    I've tried, but I can't really get back in to it.
     
  15. LeeS

    LeeS Music Fan

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Dennis, what's the issue(s)?
     
  16. dosjam

    dosjam Forum Resident

    Location:
    seattle
    That is lucky. I thought I got lucky when I paid $30 for a sealed original 3 or 4 years ago.

    I've never regretted going back to vinyl. Both mediums are essential due to software. The new Willem Breuker ain't goin'
    down on wax anytime ever.

    It is very cool how many beautiful records one can buy for the price of one brand new CD. Just picked up some amazing wax today
    for $26. Can't beat the bang for buck.
     
  17. Dennis Metz

    Dennis Metz Born In A Motor City south of Detroit

    Location:
    Fonthill, Ontario
    I actually like the sound of a well mastered CD better.
     
  18. thxdave

    thxdave "One black, one white, one blonde"

    This subject has me really on the fence. I sold off (traded, actually) almost all of my vinyl back in '91 because (1) I was sick and tired of getting second-grade pressings on new releases, (2) I was tired of moving my collection (800+) every time I moved , (3) I was tired of paying top dollar for MFSL, Nautilus, Half-speed Masters, etc. etc. only to get bad pressings and (4) they were going release ALL of my favorites on CD, right? I mean, they promised me "perfect sound....forever" and I fell for it.

    So, here I am 16 years later missing my noisy, crackly vinyl collection and I'm not sure why. Nostalgia? Maybe. Like others have mentioned, as soon as I put on a piece of vinyl now (yeah, I've been buying it again.....dammit) I'll start rediscovering why I left the format in the first place. Despite the sonic plusses, I'm a slave to the convenience of CDs.

    A year or two ago, in a moment of weakness, I bought a used Denon DP-75 mounted on a VPI base/plinth fitted with an ADC LMF2 tonearm and a Denon MC cartridge because I had the crazy idea that I might want to start playing vinyl again. I'm actually listening to it as I type this and, with a clean pressing, I'm actually enjoying the playback. Once in a while, I'll hear a tic or pop but it's not too bad. I'm trying to cautiously buy vinyl these days to see if I really want to do this again. One thing I'd like to do is replace this Denon MC cart with a Grado MM and if anybody has some suggestions, I'd be open to ideas. Something in the sub-$300 range, please. I'm not giving in to the vinyl gods just yet. ;)
     
  19. scotto

    scotto Senior Member

    I just don't get why playing records is considered so inconvenient and time consuming (not trying to bait an argument, I mean I truly don't understand).
    I haven't played CDs in years, but I remember them taking longer to find what I was looking for, being more difficult to open, fumbling with the disc, waiting for the tray to open and close, then going through the programming bit....
    Slipping a record on the turntable and dropping the needle seems about as easy as it gets.
    Again, please 'splain why vinyl is such a time waster.
     
  20. Tone

    Tone Senior Member

    I've gone almost 100% vinyl in the last few years. While all the manual work of playing records is a hassle, I still find myself listening to music a lot more than I did before with CDs.

    For me it's a much more enjoyable listening experience and worth the hassle. And there is sort of a Zen appreciation in having to go through the preparations.

    One thing I do though, is to 'hi-rez needledrop' some of my favorite records to my Masterlink, which sits in my living room console. Then I can just play that music easily during dinner and such.

    But I still prefer to put on a record. My CDs are gathering dust, and I don't care for the sound of them anymore.

    Tone
     
  21. Frumaster

    Frumaster New Member

    Location:
    Georgia
    Yes it is a lot of work......but it all makes for a more hands on, active role in music. I find that I listen much more attentively to vinyl that any digital format. Maybe its because you only get 15 minutes per side, but whatever it is, I think the limitations of vinyl can actually be a great thing. There is much more pride involved, and its also a far more understandale format than all that digital filtering and Fourier series stuff involved with CD's. Vinyl is just raw.
     
  22. jligon

    jligon Forum Resident

    Location:
    Peoria, IL
    I got back into it over the past few years and I am now much more interested in vinyl than I ever imagined I would be. I almost only listen to records.

    I assumed I'd spin records when I didn't have it available on disc or if I didn't like the sound of the disc. Instead, I now only listen to CDs when I have no other option. And I have no interest in looking to buy more CDs. It's only vinyl for the time being. And I'm enjoying listening to my stereo even more than ever.

    I'd almost wager that if you're not enjoying vinyl, there might be something a little off in your system. If you've got the right turntable...it's irresistible. I can even say that digital continues to sound worse the more I listen to records again.
     
  23. Kostas

    Kostas Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens,GR.
    I'm 32 and never left vinyl, I bought my first record when i was 12 and i have a few olders of my father. I don't think it's a quality thing, at least not in Hi-Fi systems we are used to listen. I have listened exceptionaly good sound from digitaly based systems so i know i can live without vinyl if i had to. Music is all i care not formats but i love to spin records, watch them turn, searching for them, cleaning them, etc.

    My advice is to buy more records if you have a decent system.
     
  24. Dennis Metz

    Dennis Metz Born In A Motor City south of Detroit

    Location:
    Fonthill, Ontario
    I hate to disagree, but it's the music that gets me involved and not the format. I just find vinyl to be a pain these days (ie getting up every 15 minutes or so has nothing to do with involvement)
     
  25. I never really gave up on vinyl. Although I got caught up in the CD craze in 1986, I still listened to vinyl (whatever my brother had in his collection, combined with the out of print material that I acquired at used record stores - of course when I was even younger, I "killed" my first batch of albums/45s on one of those cheapie "record chiseler players", but have since replaced all the good titles). In fact, once I began my own collecting, my goal was to upgrade my turntable, and I ultimately got into the Linn Sondek. Now I enjoy my vinyl as much as I always did, and more so (but I do still listen to other audio sources/formats, including a dedicated 78rpm turntable, stereo reel to reel, and yes, even an 8 track player for those occasions where it's necessary). After all, it's all about the music and being able to listen to it, regardless.
     
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