Should i give up vinyl?

Hi all

Considering this dilemma. Im still not 100% happy with my setup and mainly the consistency of the results i am getting. I have had many days where i sit down and enjoy my system and it has sounded stunning on occasions i must admit.

However, i had another of those days today where nothing sounded right and i didnt enjoy it at all. Comsidering the heights i can get up to, i am started to get frustrated again by the consistency issue.

Is there something i am overlooking, do i need to spend a little more on the cart? Am i being unrealistic...i dont know really...?

I have still been only been into vinyl for a year so i guess im not exactly blessed with a huge experience. Does anyone else with a vinyl setup experience this inconsistency? Is this particularly prevalent the higher up you go...ie, the turntable showing up bad vinyl as well as the stunning sound of the good pressings ie mofi, analogue productions etc.

I am thinking of changing the cart for something a bit higher up ie a dynavector or even one of the audio technica's.

For now, i am thinking of taking a step back for a while. I have stopped enjoying the music to a large part and maybe a break from it may be in order. I have had a stressful year and this has been an outlet for me but sometimes has felt like more hassle than its worth?

My turntable is a Michell Orbe Se/Graham slee V with Denon DL 110. My full setup is on the profile page.

Any words of wisdom would be great right now....i know how this can sound and that is whats frustrating for me!

 

Is this inconsistency caused by poor mastering/pressing of some albums or perhaps something further down the line in your system? If I had a Michell Orb and a Graham I'd definitely be running a better cartridge than the Denon. Something like an Ortofon Quintet Black.

 

1.) You are stuck with your ears and brain, which are going to work differently from day to day no matter what source you have.

2.) If you can put together a digital source that is consistently more satisfying, do it.

 

I think its poor mastering to be honest. A lot of the mofi's sounded absolutely great. Rhino i also find a pretty safe bet. But maybe theres so much crap out there??!

Yeah i think the Denon could be bettered. I can only do MM or high output MC with the Graham Slee though...maybe thinking of an Ortofon 2M black or a Dynavector later in the summer....but for now i think im just gonna step back from it....

 

I noticed a significant improvement when I leveled my table and aligned my cart. A big one.

That said, sometimes my sound changes, much like it does with you. But (possibly) unlike you, my bad sinuses were the culprit. I grew up with them, so it's easy to forget that getting stuffed up can change your hearing. The average dude won't notice, but that isn't us, is it?

Getting this cart also completely eliminated inner groove distortion (assuming said distortion isn't caused by groove damage.)

http://www.amazon.com/Technica-AT44...1427579539&sr=8-1&keywords=audio+technica+mla

 

It depends on what you expect from vinyl playback. To be honest, most of the time, with a new/clean pressing, I can't tell analogue from digital. I've upgraded my turntable from a modest Technics to a less modest (but still not "up there") Pro-Ject Debut Carbon with a Ortolan Red 2M cart, and it's a real joy to spin vinyl even though I don't own a high-end audio system.

 

Maybe the stylus is just worn out. How many hours on it?

jeff

 

I had a similar problem. I found fault in a lot of records I was playing, and just couldn't get over it. Sibilance, distortion, it just drove me absolutely nuts. What really helped me was getting a better cartridge, specifically a fine-line needle that could track things better. From that moment on, I could play anything that I threw at the table, and if it didn't sound right, well... the problem is the LP, and probably not me. If it didn't sound good, well, not much to do about that. Unfortunately, some albums just aren't well recorded and won't sound that great no matter who masters it, others will never get the mastering they deserve. Your mileage may vary of course...

Though, if it's surface noise that is driving you nuts... well, can't help you there. Fine-lines will have more of that.

 

You're never going to get 100% perfection with vinyl. Assuming everything is satisfactory with your set up (good cart that tracks really well and is properly aligned, decent turntable that's properly set up, etc), you'll still have to contend with lousily pressed LPs, and there's really nothing you can do but try and locate a better pressing. Other times it could be down to poor mastering. Or, if you buy secondhand LPs, sometimes you might get one with wear in the grooves that may not be visible to the naked eye, but which detracts from the quality. There are so many factors involved, and some of them are simply beyond the listener's control.

For example, I have a few LPs where every single copy I've ever bought suffers from sibilance, even though I have an AT440MLa, which is properly aligned and everything, and which is known for its excellent tracking ability. (This cart does reduce the sibilance quite noticeably compared to other carts, but on these certain "problem" records, it doesn't eliminate it entirely.) I figure there are some cases where the records just weren't cut or pressed properly, and there's nothing I can do except, A. get the CD, or B. find an import or some other pressing that will hopefully sound better.

 

I also wonder about the contrasts between one day hearing a quality pressing mastered AAA and the next day listening to something mastered from a source not much better than a cd?

 

About 100 hours, had it about 8 months...

 

I think it's good to have a turntable to play records that aren't available digitally or has that one-of-a-kind mastering that isn't available elsewhere. Sometimes a cd will sound better than a record and vice versa. It's more about the records you buy than the gear. That being said, try a cartridge with a line contact stylus.

 

i think maybe my highest consistency/satisfaction comes with buying the decent and truly audiophile reissues. Names crop up that sound good for me and i look out for are anything cut by our host, Bernie Grundman, Chris Bellman, Kevin Gray etc. They do truly tend to make my system sing the way i would expect. Everything else just seems like a mssive gamble really...

 

At what resistive value is your DL-110 loaded?

Some folks feel that the DL-110 sounds better loaded at 1k ohm, than the usual 47k.

Here's a link from the Graham Slee owners forum.

http://audio-forum.gspaudio.co.uk/cartridge-loading-plugs_topic1246.html

 

I'll echo others and say a better cart is definitely in order at some point. That said taking a step back can definitely be a good thing. Spinning vinyl takes dedication. I've had plenty of bad days just like you, but the good days are so good, and so ingrained in my brain and being that I'd really rather not live without records.

 

Music for all of us is a hobby... nobody (even Steve) is paid to post on this music forum. If it didn't at one time bring you immense joy you wouldn't be a member here. If its not bringing you joy right now, absolutely try and do something different. There's a million things that could be causing your gear to not play back properly, and if you think that's the problem get a trusted audiophile friend over to listen and poke around to see if you missed anything. Perhaps hire a professional, if you don't have any audio equipment-savy friends, shouldn't be hard to find someone in a big city. You could always spend more money on better gear, but you may still be frustrated. Hi-Fi is an expensive and slippery slope.

I went through a period where work was stressful, and my system brought me more anxiety than joy. So I stopped listening to my stereo after work for a while. So I stopped associating my system with stress that was actually from work, that I was unfairly deflecting on it. Now after working a few long days, and then firing my system up first thing in the morning on a day off... nothing could make the music not be enjoyable.

 

I will be honest and say i have no idea! I have heard that matching the Cart to the phono stage is a very important factor in getting the best sound...

 

I actually nearly lost my job due to illness. I am nowhere in that position now thankfully but it has been an enormously stressful year and i have had to perserve for a bit to get back on track. I had some savings and just decided to get back into vinyl and indulge my hobby. In some ways it helped, but in some ways it caused me more stress lol!

 

The Mobile Fidelity releases are (almost) uniformly great. One exception is the Silver Line Series' Sisters of Mercy's First and Last and Always. The Silver Line is for releases where they can't find the original masters. That album has a long and bizarre history with weird edits, crappy 2nd generation masters, all of which exacerbate the fact that the album sounds like it was recorded on cellophane and pillows.

The other is Pixies' Bossanova. Brittle, even has sibilance(?!?!??!) I don't know what happened there, as the same guy cut Doolittle, and that's fantastic.

I also prefer my Japanese OG of The Cars' Candy-O to the MoFi version, although I can only assume that the Japanese pressing was from a couple of generations down. That's just personal preference, though...the MoFi instrument placement is clearer, but it killed the bleed between the instruments. That record has a beautifully smeared ambience, and the MoFi kills it. Their pressing of the debut is jaw dropping, though.

 

You've got a setup that costs about 8 times as much as I've ever spent on a system, and you're not having a blast with it?

The answer to your question should be obvious. There are plenty of other options for you. Time to switch.

 

glad you're back on your feet... hope you didn't take any offense at my comment. good luck finding a way to make your hobby more enjoying than its been. i'm sure you will.

 

Most (all?) of your gear is seriously better than the average punter. Some records are better than others. If you get more sadness than joy then it's not working for you and maybe you should do something else.

 

No not at all! Thanks for your input....maybe its just a big learning curve. It has got progessivley better but still frurstrates me particularly as it looks so nice aswell. If i can get it to sound like it can do more often then maybe i wont be quite so hasty to give up on it!

 

No, you should not give up on vinyl.

 

You should do whatever makes listening to music an enjoyable experience to YOU. Many on here are pushing their ideas of the perfect music medium on you. If vinyl stresses you out then ditch it. If you enjoy the constant tinkering like many do with vinyl to get that perfect (to them) sound then keep at it.