Is it too late to get into vinyl now?

Depends on what CDs the OP had. I picked up a copy of Tangerine Dream's Firestarter from a local charity shop for £1. MusicMagpie's offer of £2.50 is mean. The sold prices on ebay are at least 4 times that figure, and actually closer to 10 times that figure for a CD in decent condition. The cheapest CD on ebay at the moment is £40. Now, those finds don't happen every day, but they do happen.

 

Go for it....its never to late, but as several folks have stated previously, its a commitment.
You have come to the right place. This forum has a high number of very passionate individuals and information regarding records, and other interesting topics related to music and gear.
I recommend you to start visiting pawn shops, Goodwill stores, flea market, garage sale and other outlets (hence: "commitment"), where you can find cheap records. Please don't called them "vinyl(s)", some purists will have a fit. As I mentioned, you can also come to this knowledgeable site to get info on pressing to be able to make a decision on pursuing original pressing, good reissues or just buying new releases.
Just be patient, don't be turnoff by inane and endless Beatles, Stones, Floyd, etc. threads....variety is not this site forte. I've my favorites (bands or music genre), but I also like to experiment with new music. I also believe that there's a lot of good old threads for related to metal bands, such as Sabbath, Maiden, Slayer, Metallica, Priest, and others.

Peace,

Tony

 

I just did about 3-4 months ago and I am loving it.

 

I love both of these responses...I've been back on the wagon for a few years now as well. Did not even know people were still listening to LP's and such when I dug out my vinyl
collection a few years back. I have to agree about CD's tho...Most of mine are original releases and sound pretty damn good. But I still love the vinyl and have upgraded my collection
mostly to replace worn out versions of favorites that I purchased way back when. The biggest thing with vinyl is to not get to carried away as it can become rather expensive. I think
that doing a little research goes a long way. That's why I ended up here..A lot of good insight to be found on many topics.
Cheers

 

And these days, in many cases you have to go vinyl to have any hope of good mastering....or at the very least something other than CDs

 

well I can't speak for Germany but here in the Washington DC area if you know what you're looking for.. if you know what you're doing..its not at all too late..still a ton of amazing scores to be had..... BUT if you want the types of records everybody else wants (Pink Floyd- Piper mono).. well that is tough...those are expensive.. my advice to anyone who can is stay away from reissues.. they are overpriced and many are inferior quality.. often you can get the original pressings for $1...

 

To me it's not as exciting collecting vinyl as it was 10 - 15 years ago and before. Then there were so many cheap records around then and you could be almost certain that if you spent an afternoon looking around the charity shops, second hand shops, car boot sales and markets you would come home with something interesting. Quite often something rare too.

This barely happens now. It's become an expensive hobby, sometimes even elitist, and there are very few places to get half decent cheap records nowadays. The Record Collector price guide book, Popsike, eBay and the resurgence in the popularity of vinyl have seen to that. Of course the up side is that the records I own have gone up in value, but I'm not interested in selling so it's not too relevant. I'll always love music but the obsession with monetary value on records, people with no interest in music appearing just to profit on them as well as diminishing returns have took a lot of the joy out of vinyl buying for me. I got into a lot of music I'd not have heard otherwise through buying cheap records purely to listen to them and see what I thought. Nowadays a vinyl LP feels like a pre-planned purchase, either because of eBay or cost. A lot of the spontaneity has gone.

I still get as much joy as ever out of music though and I love CDs too so it's not all bad. Far from it!

 

I say it's not to late, if you have the means to do so at least. I have been "collecting" ( I do not collect for rarity or value, but soley for good sounding records) since late 2015 and after having done this for the past year I have absolutely no regrets.

But I would say this, unless you have deep pockets, trying to shoot for all 1st presses/special releases and such will get expensive very quickly. But don't think for a second that there aren't great records to be had out there at reasonable price points. Many reissues will treat you good as well. I suggest finding a good local record store (s) with a reputation of carrying good quality and reasonably priced records. Get to know the staff, get reccomendations, I have met many knowledgeable people in record stores who have gave me great reccomendations on pressings and cool obscure music. This forum is also a great place to get information, if you have a question chances are it's been discussed on here and can be found in the search bar.

On a low budget, I have accumulated around 250-300 records over the past year. I do not go for strictly first presses, rather extremely clean copies of what I want. I have been very happy with what I have gotten so far, and only have had a couple disappointments so far in the sound quality department. Also two things I reccomend getting before starting would be

A) A good sounding stereo set up

And

B) A record cleaning machine

Records you purchase will likely be dirty or dusty if they are bought used. I highly suggest buying a record cleaner of some sort so that you get the most out of what you pay for. The spin clean is a great starting point if you are on a budget. Also, invest in a good stereo set up, your records will only only sound as good as what you play them with. You don't have to spend $1000's on a set up, there are many great affordable options vintage and new. Just be sure to do your research. Good luck!

 

If we're talking new music, in very few cases is the mastering better on vinyl, at least that has been my experience, others on the forum have said pretty much the same thing. That being the case why would anyone want to pay three times as much for vinyl when you know it's a crap shoot, there's also the matter of warped, off-center discs and noisy pressings, which happen too frequently.

 

I haven't had one problem with warped/off center new vinyl yet. Actually I lie, I had 1 out of the 100 or so I have bought that was warped. I'm fine with that ratio

iron maiden (book of souls), dream theater (last few) chili peppers (just about all of them) just a few examples off the top of my head where I own both that are better mastered on vinyl based on my opinion and what I have read on here. And my CD player and my dac attached to my computer are both at least equal to my TT is SQ, probably slightly better...and the vinyl of those still sound better. At least here

 

Do it for a good collection you build before 1980.
New vinyl overpriced and mostly not pure analogue anymore, so you come from the rain into the drop.
Stick to CD, omit loudness CD's or wait till the loudness war is over. (I hope so once)

 

Let me be contrarian here. It's a good time to be getting into...CDs, not LPs. Fifteen, twenty years ago I might have said the opposite. Used CDs are very cheap and plentiful.

Vinyl is a minefield and there's a lot of 'tuition' fees to be paid along the way. It's a demanding, fussy and relatively expensive medium and you really need to be committed to it. You've got to love the thrill of the hunt and a lot of the more popular albums are pricey. Then you have to put up with warps, noisy vinyl, non-visible damage, etc. Reissues are not what they are cracked up to be. There are certainly rewards but there are significant drawbacks.

If you just want to listen to music and CDs seem to be fine to you, best stick with it.

P.S. - I own and listen to both media.

 

I only recently got into the vinyl scene, mainly as a hobby and it interested me. Heard vinyl and found I liked the sound back to back compared to digital .... BUT, the more I search and browse and hunt with all thrift stores picked over and record stores charging premiums I started to realize now is the time to get cds. The same thrift stores with no good vinyl are overflowing with good cds for just a dollar or two.
A massive music collection could be built very cheap going cd right now and used mega cd chargers are very cheap too.

That said I'm focusing on vinyl for now until the fun factor goes away or frustration sets in but for once in my life I've got a "cool" hobby

 

Relatedly, a middle aged woman was in the music department of a local Barnes & Noble. I noticed her looking at a boxed up turntable for sale. It was called Orbit, and it's made by a company in Woburn, MA called U-Turn (in the same office building as Bob Graham!).

It turns out that she and her husband had gotten rid of their turntable a long time ago, but still had kept their collection of about a thousand records. Rather than get rid of them, especially with the vinyl resurgence, they decided to buy a turntable and she was going to buy him one for Christmas.

I told her that the Orbit was a good turntable for the money. B&N also offered U-Turn's phono stage (just in case their amp didn't have a built-in phono stage).

In any event, it was nice to see someone like that getting excited about playing vinyl again.

 

Had no idea they were being sold in B&N, that's pretty cool. I have the Orbit Pro, has been a very solid turn-table so far!

 

Well, that's the point - 9 times out of 10, a standard issue vinyl is mastered better than its standard Redbook counterpart.

 

I've compared the new (digitally sourced) Zeppelin reissue LPs to the Hi-res digital counterparts.

The vinyl wins, hands down - more natural eq, and clarity of instruments

 

It's great that you were able to recommend an actually GOOD turntable at B&N - a year ago all they had was Crosley! Their support of Orbit is great news.

 

There was a period when you could hit the local record store, and find that RL Zep II, or a porky IV at an all time low price. Now, most record stores know what the public is searching for, therefor prices are inflated. Most record stores have that section behind the counter where they display their hard to find records. And the prices are outrageous. I personally think the days of finding that rare slab of wax are behind us. There may be exceptions, but they are no longer the norm.

 

It's not too late and compared to a lot of hobbies it's still comparatively inexpensive.

 

It's too late to realistically expect big scores of great vinyl cheap. That window closed about a decade ago. If you insist on penny pinching AND you're mostly interested in the same things everyone else is interested in, then it may also be too late. If you have broad taste and have a good knowledge of music, then there are still lots of good vinyl records to be had for short money.

If you're willing to spend $20-30 a pop, then of course there is a huge amount of new issue vinyl available. Probably at least half of it looks pretty and sounds inferior to a CD copy of the same thing. (And it's more expensive and less convenient, to boot). It's not too late to stumble through that mine field. But it may not be that much fun for you.

 

I guess if you have the time and money then it's not too late. I don't have time or money so I just stick with CDs. I sold all the lps I had and I really haven't missed them.

 

I'm a vinyl person but I would say that unless you have a lot of spare income then stick with CDs, and go after great CD pressings.

Getting into vinyl now only makes sense if you are either loaded or are happy to buy new reissues, but you seem to want original pressings.

 

Great CD pressings? There are such things??

Frankly, no CD pressing is as musically satisfying as a good vinyl one.