Seriously considering walking away from vinyl

OK, the OP is back... I cannot control the volume to Adobe Audition from my sound card (bypassing the mixer) - God knows I've tried every way I know how. However, I plugged a pair of headphones into the mixer, and the sound was absolutely wonderful. No buzz, no hum. So the noise is coming from either the mixer outputs or the cable going to the computer. Or from the computer itself...

At least the noise is getting narrowed down...

Still don't know if it's all worth it, but I WOULD like to get this solved...

 

I do find it extremely hard to listen to and enjoy the music, and not spend my time listening to the record itself, obsessing over whether there are scratches, pops, clicks or static impeding my listening experience.

The first play of any record is always a bit stressful for me, and then I relax a little more once I know what I'm dealing with. But then I may just be too OCD for vinyl.

 

I must admit that not only does noise on vinyl not impede my listening experience, but I accept it as part of the experience. That said, the majority of my vinyl has little to no noise. And I am not much of a cleaner of vinyl. I hardly ever use my Nitty Gritty, the extent of my cleaning being a dry Discwasher swiped on the lp a couple times, and a stylus clean with that gel stuff every few plays. I buy a majority of my stuff unseen, but more often then not it's in very clean shape. But I think that if I did obsess over noise on the record, this would not be the right hobby for me. It's probably why so many classical music lovers that I know only play digital. Any outside noise on the recording, for them, completely ruins the performance.

To each their own.

 

50 or so "records" is not a problem. When you've got 2 or 3 hundred, then ditching them is definitely a space and convenience savings. If I could sell them for what I paid for them, I would probably sell all my records. I would't even bother needle dropping them, I'd just buy a digital copy of any recording I didn't already have on CD. You can futz with your CD player and system just as much as you futz with your record player and probably achieve sound quality not far apart. That's always been my thought on the subject. People here aren't posting needledrops to show off their superior sound quality (I've heard all the Dr. Ebberts Beatles stuff and its no better than decent Beatles cds) they're posting because they want validation that it sounds better.

 

One must live in a very small space to consider 2-300 LPs a space issue.

 

Next step as far as I'm concerned is to try a different cable from the mixer to your PC. If the hum disappears, mystery solved. If it doesn't, chances are, it's the output on the mixer that you're using.

 

I don't mind downloads but these should be available in 16/44 at least before I would shell out for them. Otherwise I'll just stick with what I have for Sun Ra (Scorpio LPs and old CD versions). I guess I'll check the Pono store if/when it ever reopens.

 

Yes, I am connecting the output from the phono stage to the computer. The thing is, when I record in Adobe with no record playing, I still record the buzz. But I want to rule out everything. Right now I know it's not the cartridge or turntable, nor is it the phono stage. The only thing in the mixer it could be is the output stage because the headphone output is fine. If it is the computer, Lord knows how I can fix that!

Trying different cables is tough because the computer is about 15 feet away from the turntable. I had to buy special cables for the long run... Eventually, I know I will have to do this...

I don't mind vinyl noise, but a loud buzz really kills the enjoyment for me...

 

That description changes things a little.

First, have you ever heard something run into your sound card that doesn't buzz? I'm wondering if the line-in is particularly noisy now.

Also, what sound card do you have? Is it an add-on or is it a series of audio jacks next to your network and USB ports?

Other than that, a 15 foot cable run could certainly pick up some interference if the cable's lower grade.

 

Doesn't that equal illegal copying? If you sell the vinyl you no longer own the right to play what was on it.

 

That's not what this thread is about.

 

Well, all valid questions, but I FOUND THE PROBLEM!!! Digging through the sound card's software (it's an Asus Xonar Essence STX), I found in the advanced settings a "microphone boost" checkbox, and the box was checked. No idea how it got like that. I tried unchecking it. Now, when I record a record, I need to BOOST the sound rather than lower it, but I just recorded a test track and it was nice and quiet. Unbelievable! At least a dozen hours spent on this, tracing cables back and forth, checking connections, disconnecting parts to rule them out. And it's a damn check box!

Anyway, I guess I am back to needledropping in a big way.

Thanks again to everyone here for listening to me vent and tossing out ideas. Your help was greatly appreciated!

 

Funny, I've been thinking somewhat the same thing. Or at least REALLY paring down my collection.

 

Chris:

Damn, life sure gets in the way of your enjoyment of things sometimes!

Downsize your collection if you want but I don't see any compelling reason to totally get out of vinyl if you enjoy it so much. Is it because once you 'dismember' your collection by selling some, it is no longer a proper 'collection', and so the hell with all of it?

If it's music that you are primarily interested in (rather than having a 'collection'), It makes more sense to pare down the records to your favorites and let the rest go. Sure it'll take time but so will needle-dropping. In any case, it's better to have a well-focused collection than one that's large and unwieldy.

I am thinking of a member on this board who went from 8000 to 500 LPs because of changed priorities! But he enjoys what he has as it is all prime stuff.

You DON'T need to give it all up.

 

And, I don't think that's the letter of the law in the US (whilst I understand it is in the UK). That's what I've heard, anyway.

 

After years of doing the "convergence" thing, that's the number one reason I went back to standalone recorders... no computers. I do computers for a living. That's enough for me. Glad you got it worked out. (I've also heard the STX is a pretty nice soundcard. I contemplated getting one when they first hit the market.)

 

Good point. My original plan was to keep a few very special vinyl LP's and all of my 45's. During this struggle, I thought it wasn't worth the trouble and thought about just entirely walking away. Before I do that, I'll see how the remaining needle drops go before making that decision.

 

I'd like to do that. I must have 3K, 4K maybe 5K albums. Most of them have been in climate controlled storage since I did a big reno project on my house 10 or 15 years ago, so I'm just paying to keep them and not listening to them; a waste in every way. And I when I die I don't want my daughter stuck having to dispose of them. Plus a lot of them are '70s rock that I grew up listening to but which I'll never listen to again -- honestly I'll never listen to a Queen album or an ELO album or a Kansas album or a Supertramp album again as long as I live, for example. I think I really would like to disencumber myself of a substantial number of those albums.

 

One thing I've been keeping in mind whenever I am going to buy more vinyl is how play worthy is this album really?

I mean, can I sit through a full side without wanting to pick up the tonearm?

That thought in mind has keep me from buying a lot of albums on vinyl, I much prefer albums that a full side or both sides are the norm to want to hear, not just a few choice cuts.

 

People tend to throw around the phrase "you can't take it with you", but you are actually living that. Best wishes on your situation, and I too hope you find some comfort in your music.

 

Sweet! Congrats on that one. And yeah, welcome to the wild world of computing - where an option nested four screens in turns out to have been the problem all along.

Never listen to a Queen, ELO, Kansas or Supertramp album again? Wow. That's a sad world to live in. And I'm only being slightly sarcastic. There's some good stuff in there.

 

Nah, after selling off my vinyl I had to re-buy many albums on cd. No Queen, ELO, Kansas or Supertramp among the re-buys. Of the albums I collected from 68-2000, I probably rebought less than half on cd. Why? I knew I'd never listen to them. And many of those I did buy I've listened to once or twice.

 

You know how it is -- your tastes change. In the '70s I bought a lot of the popular stuff of the day, much of which -- including all the stuff listed above -- I already haven't spun in 30 years and I can pretty much say I'm not going to spin again in the 25 or so years I have left.

 

Now's a good a time as any to let stuff go when the demand for vinyl is still strong. If your collection has been in storage for such a long time, it sounds like you don't miss it.

I'm with you, I don't care to listen to stuff that I used to way back and many of those albums are gone.

It's a good goal to pare down to essentials where everything is gold, no filler.

 

I honestly have never entertained walking away from vinyl. I have though, on occasion felt like walking away from my entire stereo system