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

There's a reason I don't recommend entry level turntables, cartridges, or really anything entry level associated with analog. It can take a lot IMO to make it a genuinely compelling format on a sonic level (IE, past the point of fun-because-different). When a person is "there", threads like this are confusing. Pops and clicks? Putting aside the fact my records tend to be clean and quiet, why would I give this sound up over a little surface noise here and there? I don't really buy the idea that some people are more sensitive to surface noise then others.

 

Wasn't it Fremer who said something to the effect that giving up vinyl because of a few clicks and pops would be like not going to hear an orchestra because old men in the audience occasionally cough.

 

I had never really like the sound even when the bass is good, i prefer more the cozy sound of a cassette or cd,

Is to much jobb that vinyl field;

Nothing can get close to the master tape format , that is reel to reel and no format can get close to live performances.

 

Well we can have just a lp for only needle drop or bettet companies should remaster these vinyl to nedle drops if no master tape is available, also nowdays more and more remaster came to the surface all the time

 

...because obviously it doesn't bother you too much. I had a coworker who had been a studio engineer, and "safety copied" stuff onto cassettes. Without Dolby because the mistracking distracted him greatly. Tape hiss he "just listened through" and it didn't bother him much. But it does bother me and some others greatly.

Everyone's hearing is different, and their noticing of various artifacts differs as well. Some people are excruciatingly pitch sensitive; most are not. Some folks really notice compression artifacts and others are less sensitive. And, you can become sensitized to different things as well. I know of one problem where an automotive CD changer had beeping noises about -105 dB down from full scale. Over ONE HUNDRED decibels down from maximum, yet there were complaints from some customers. And those who went to troubleshoot, once the beeping was pointed out to them, could no longer "un-hear" it. (The root cause was crosstalk a data line skinny cable next to an audio cable as they approached the DIN connector plug, mere 1/2" worth. Crazy. And an illustration of how "bits are bits" but then other things can corrupt that.)

 

No. You and I hear surface noise exactly the same. Furthermore, it doesn't bother you more then it bothers me. To say otherwise is to assign yourself virtue at other's expense. As I said before, my records aren't noisy. I wouldn't tolerate them if they were. I don't listen to beat up records out of nostalgia. I didn't listen to hissy tapes either.

 

If you have not alternative for a certain thing you love, sure. But nowadays there ARE non-vinyl alternatives for many many titles.

And if not, well, there is other stuff to listen to. I've been telling a friend to dump his vinyl due to way too much clutter in his place, almost borderline hoarding. And dump his CDs as well. He answered "well there is some hard to find stuff" and I said #1 rip it and dump it, and #2 if you end up without it there is SO MUCH stuff to listen to these days. You can easily find a zillion other cool things to listen to, even if they are not quite the same.

I still enjoy the vinyl demos I hear, it's just that clicks and pops take me out of it in the way someone opening a bright door in a small theater does, or the phone or doorbell ringing if you're watching a movie at home.

 

You're saying our hearing is exactly the same?

 

I would say that how we hear and perceive surface noise will vary greatly. Not only the objective noise, but also subjective noise.

 

Where did you get your statistics from?

Do you know how many records were released over the years? You really going to say 99% of them are available on CD? Some that were released on CD aren't easy to find on CD anymore, which would add another problem, even if your 99% figure was true.

 

Wait?! People are done with vinyl? I just got my Crosley . . .

 

What are these pops and crackles doing on other peoples records? They sure don't appear on mine. Lucky I guess...

 

Not me.

 

lol, 99% ? I don't think that is even remotely close. But of course, there is plenty of stuff from the late 80s and on that has only been released on CD or other digital format and never vinyl, so, it evens out in the long run, maybe...

 

if your taste is a little more, uh, "sophisticated" you will find plenty of stuff that is only available on vinyl. And also note, there are lots of cases where a rarity that appears on CD is actually a needle drop of a record, often with poor remastering.

 

Why done with vinyl?? It sounds amazing if you have the right equipment (doesn't have to be expensive) and keep your records clean. There's a certain group of people around who will be relieved if vinyl disappears from the market forever and I can't understand it.

 

of course, that set is currently going for $699 ...

 

...which I didn't pay that much.

 

If surface noise leads to distraction from the music? Buy a cleaner copy! Works for me, anyways....
I still enjoy the heck outta nearly 1.5K VG+ or better original analogue era LPs. No plans to stop enjoying either.

 

You could easily put an end to it all if you would just play along and tell them they're right.

We currently have a guest staying over at our house, and this conversation actually transpired last night while listening to records:

guest: Is vinyl really better than just streaming music?
me: No.
guest: Then while do you still play vinyl?
me: No reason, really. Old habit, I guess...

Then we moved on to talk about more interesting things.

 

I went to a garage sale today and the obsessive nutcase in me decided to flip through a pile of Jewish cantor albums. These have absolutely no interest to me but I found a Henry Cow album right smack in the middle. I love vinyl!

 

Ha ha yeah maybe more like 9% if we really included everything. My point was more that the most popular stuff is digitally available, and just that there is way more music available than we can ever listen to. So if someone decides not to fiddle with vinyl any more, or even just do without discs, it's not really such a big deprivation.

 

Well, that's not me, when I said DONE I meant just personally. It's fine if one has the time and inclination, and I have indeed heard some demos that I could NOT tell were vinyl until I looked (i.e. no noise at all). OTOH I've heard quite a number of demos whether at shows or people's homes where at least some occasional noise does creep in. It's for sure partly about convenience, and lack of time and space for dedicated listening and equipment perhaps.

 

I am glad I'm not so sensitive. My conscious/unconscious had this funny knack of hearing the music and not hearing most shortcomings the format deleivery has. Not 100% of course. Thin, antiseptic bleached sounding music from digital is every bit as bad as a crackly pop-laden record.