Should i give up vinyl?

I'd like to offer my assistance as well. But I WILL pay for shipping.

 

Mellow out, clean your ears out, and decide if you want to REALLY sit back and enjoy music, not listen to it for the matter of critically evaluating it's sonic's.

I have an Empire 698 turntable, I'm the original owner for near 40 years now, got a few good cartridges for it, still loving it after all these years. Certainly not a big buck rig, but it resolves very well. I love good vinyl on it.

I Have a huge CD collection and several players/DAC's as well. So I know both sides of the fence.

That being said, It's more than possible to enjoy vinyl without spending a ton of cash, it's also possible to not enjoy it whilst spending way too much.

Sounds like a mind game for you.

 

Sounds like normal vinyl experience to me (with my 50 years of vinyl experience). I think the key point here is that this OP, like so many others today, have discovered the pleasures of vinyl for the first time (hurrah) but haven't the experience of the decades of nastiness and experiment which often precede this plateau - in this case, the OP has bought an upper-midrange t/t setup. I suspect had he started with a Rega 3 he wouldn't be so aware of the differences that good vinyl replay can show up.

 

VERY sound advice! Yes, pun intended.

 

This.

Anything in your life that causes an unwelcome distraction too often, get rid of it. Drastic but such is life. Too short to waste on distractions you don't need.

 

Yup, he should get rid of music all together, it distracts him.

 

Which is not what I said.

 

It might be the cartridge. I used to own a Denon DL304 (not yr modelI know ) on my Gyrodec/Rega Tecnoweight arm & sometimes fantastic & occasionally dire?? One day the DL304 snapped ( wet cleaning /weakened stylus lesson learned) & too expensive to replace bought 2M Red . Excellent. Everything sounded great.

I bought 2M Blue six months ago BEST MOVE. Now vinyl has the consistency. I had to tinker a bit with weight & vta & I went by my ear maybe tracked a bit heavier ( I looked at cartridge looked ok catalever not too strained in appearance) No sibilance , no surface noise SOUNDS SUPERB.

You live in London. Walrus, KJ West One , Deco Audio, Superfi could all help you . You can always private message me if you want further help. Thanks.

 

Walrus are excellent. Great shop.

 

Vinyl records vary widely in terms of recording and mastering quality. I would put this down as a major factor in the OPs experience. Also external interference on mains can affect sound depending on time of day. Late at night may sound better when less strain on the grid. Also the variations could be due to performance of other components not specific to vinyl playback. I would also factor in cartridge break in. I usually find I have to play a side or two of vinyl from cold before things really start to sing. Do not give up the vinyl !

 

Ive had two carts....the Goldring Eroica and Denon DL110 (my current cart). The Denon tracks A LOT better than the Eroica did, but the Eroica just seem to manage to wow just a tad more. The tracking just let it down for me...

 

This.

I must admit though, I enjoy the gamble. I use this forum and a few others and try to track down the good to great pressings and when I can't I just roll the dice and enjoy the ride. However when i cant find something better on vinyl, which is pretty rare, I do exactly that, get it on CD and convert it to a FLAC. Though lately I look for it in Hi Rez and if can't find that go the CD route.

Tons of choices in this hobby. I'd never give up on Vinyl because being able to spin gives you sooo many more options when it comes to the recordings you listen to. Plus record players and LPs are way cool man.

 

Tru dat!

 

Yeah i quite like that perspective, i have some pretty amazing pressings but im letting the bad ones drag down the whole experience. If they are terrible, i guess i can always trade them. Ive always envisaged having a reasonably sizeable collection (eventually...) of about 1,000 records (albums). I think, though, i may change my minset aswell.....if i walk away from a record shop with just 1 really great piece of vinyl i will be happy, rather than buying about 5 or 6 that may be disappointing...

 

It sounds more like a mastering problem than a system problem. With vinyl, I'm way more selective and careful about what I buy than I am with CDs. Mainly because of the cost of vinyl vs. CD but also because of quality of pressings, etc. I rarely buy vinyl any more without knowing who mastered it, where it was pressed and reading reviews here and elsewhere. In the end, I mostly buy reissues with some exceptions. It saves me a lot of frustration.

 

I nearly gave up on vinyl...then I changed my AT95E for a Shure M97X....and fell in love with my records again. A little while later I fitted a Sumiko Blue Point 2....and fell head over heels in love again with some old friends..you don't have to spend a King's ransom to let that vinyl sing

 

Love the Blue. Went from AT to Ortofon and it totally reinvigorated my vinyl. I track right around 2 grams found it eliminated any sibilance and improved bass

 

If the OP is thinking giving up vinyl because of surface noise/crackling background ... I would say not to give up just for that. Since an used record is not scratched or beat up, a good mastering can hide all the flaws of a not top notch condition record. To know which records have good mastered (originals or reisues), the forum is here and is fun !

I was like the OP some time ago, I couldn't stand crakling to much, even between tracks, distortion. I've changed the stylus with a contact line which have resolved the distortion issue. I was also surprised how good can a record sounds even if there are some crakling in place. I buy mainly original pressings from 1960 -70's and often their vinyl can be noisy. However, since the music plays over the crakling background, I am happy (since the record was not overpriced and the sleeve in Near Mint condition). I would prefer an original and well mastered record with noisy background over a new and quiet reissue mastered from CD.

I would advise the OP if he is buying online, to buy only playgraded records or at least graded VG++ or NM. A try to clean the records.

 

If the surface noise, cracking and popping bother him I'd say give it up as you can only reduce these issues but never get rid of them.
I've been listening to vinyl since the late sixties, the only time the noise issues are very apparent to me is when I go from CD to vinyl.

 

Yes i am wet cleaning my records. But have used tap water. In some cases, this has eliminated noise almost and the pressing has become silent but more recently, the odd one has become noisier so it may be the tap water is inconsistent and works sometimes but maybe not others so i will be looking to use distilled water now i think. Where does everyone buy it though?

 

I buy distilled water at the grocery store for about a dollar a gallon.

It gets me thinking though, since investing in a water softener for my home my water doesn't have any.....nah, $1/gallon is fine.

 

Tap water? I wouldn't let that near my records! I use a filter to even drink the stuff. I use mofi fluids easily available via analogueseduction.net those others are available via other websites I should add.

 

One of the records i played yesterday was Waterboys Fishermans Blues, one of my favourite albums. Sounded disappointing but looked a VG++ condition visually at least. Sonically not blown away by it, but was a first press UK press.

So....how do i know if its a case of poor condition or poor mastering? It wasnt the quiestest pressing ive had but probably about a VG+.

I may consider sticking to the good audiophile reissues on the whole and from the previously mentioned sources with just the odd secondhand buy maybe....

 

Was this bought 2nd hand? While a record may visually look ok, no guarantee it is. Best example I can give is I bought Wings - speed of sound 2nd hand. Gave it a quick clean, looked ok, but didn't sound that great. Dug it out recently used an enzyme cleaner on it and difference was quite amazing. Really quiet and the bass on silly love songs just blew me away. A lovely warm sounding record.