Why is my turntable making me happy?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by alexbunardzic, Mar 14, 2017.

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  1. JimD

    JimD Forum Resident

    Location:
    at home
    "A few days ago bought a near mint double LP Jose Feliciano Live at the Palladium for 2 bucks! Uneatable."

    Double mint but still uneatable?
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2017
  2. alexbunardzic

    alexbunardzic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Haha, good one! Ah, typos...
     
  3. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    Because you are in love with it.
     
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  4. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    For me it wasn't about sound quality. Most of my records are old but for the most part in very good condition. I bought a spinclean and made sure they were as good as they were going to get before comparing them to my digital copy. Two records stood out as sounding better than the cd, that was two out of ten that I actually compared. I had no complaint about the sound of the records and was surprised how quiet they were. I was expecting surface noise and static pops and ticks, nope.

    My problem is I grew up with lps, and the thought of getting up to turn the record over, brush it, lower the cue arm and get seated and comfortable again before the music started didn't thrill me. My listening time is limited so it seemed like a waste of time with no real benefit.
     
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  5. alexbunardzic

    alexbunardzic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    While I could agree that, out of the box, Logitech Squeezebox Touch/Beresford Bushmaster DAC are not necessarily a killer combo, after doing extensive hardware and software mods I have managed to push them into the ultra high audiophile territory. It is possible to tweak the Touch and the Bushmaster and get them to compete with some of the most advanced digital transports/DACs. So my digital chain is nothing short of amazing; as a matter of fact, many people who got a chance to listen to it tend to remark how 'analog' my digital playback sounds.
     
  6. Cherrycherry

    Cherrycherry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Le Froidtown
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2017
  7. bluesky

    bluesky Senior Member

    Location:
    south florida, usa
    TTs are magical.
     
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  8. Vinyl and turntables expel far more novelty than CDs or iPods do. That's probably why the format is giving you such joy. :winkgrin:
     
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  9. alexbunardzic

    alexbunardzic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Yes. Sorry if I offended anyone by choosing to label a cheap little box as ultra high audio fidelity. What is the minimum price tag that allows for that moniker?
     
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  10. Cherrycherry

    Cherrycherry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Le Froidtown
    $100,000 USD;)

    I just wonder if you would really compare your modded (firmware/software) DAC from Beresford with world class equipment the likes of Steve Hoffman/Abbey Road Studios and others have at their disposal?
    I have checked a few threads about the Bushmaster, and fans do equate it with punching a good bit above its weight class. I understand that you really like it. Your description of it seems just a tad outlandish, IMO.
     
  11. Cherrycherry

    Cherrycherry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Le Froidtown
    Here is my own reference of Hi Audio Fidelity. It might be of use.

    HAF HiAudio Fidelity
    VHAF Very HiAudio Fidelity
    UHAF Ultra HiAudio Fidelity
    SHAF Super HIAudio Fidelity
    EHAF Extreme HiAudio Fidelity
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2017
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  12. rockin_since_58

    rockin_since_58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Simi Valley, CA
    I went through high school in the early to mid 70's which is the time I really started building a collection of LP's. Then CD's came along in the mid 80's and I sold all the LP's and started buying CD's. A few years ago I got the urge to give vinyl a try again and it was off to a slow start. After about a year of dabbling, I am going full force with LP's, mostly used. I have the same experience as the OP...Once again I am actually enjoying music unlike anything with CD's. I am not saying LP's or CD's are better, just the experience is. Like the OP, I rarely listen to a complete album on CD but listening to a complete LP is the norm for me. I really enjoy browsing my collection, selecting one and playing it while reading liner notes are just admiring the artwork. When I compare the same albums CD vs Vinyl, the vinyl sounds more pleasing to me. Digital audio does have its place in my life...If I am working around the house or driving in the car it works fine for me. But for dedicated listening, vinyl is where it's at for me.
     
  13. alexbunardzic

    alexbunardzic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Right, I agree, it's not that advanced. My description was more pertaining to the digital transport than to the DAC. I found out that Logitech Touch can be transformed into an amazing player by applying all kinds of rather extreme mods. I've gained the biggest improvement in my digital chain by modding the Touch. When I now, after all the mods, compare it to the fairly beefy CD players, I can barely notice anything lacking.
     
  14. alexbunardzic

    alexbunardzic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Same story here. Today, after taking the plunge, I find myself wondering why did the marketing propaganda force such crap on people's minds by insisting that LPs are noisy and full of crackling sounds? I've just listened to Mahavishnu Orchestra "The Inner Mounting Flame" that was printed in England back in 1971 and listened to on all kinds of atrocious turntables. After washing it with L'Art du Son and vacuuming it, the LP sounds impeccable. Not a single crackle and pop, and the surface noise is barely there. All that from an 45 years old beater? So I'm calling BS on all the hateful propaganda against LPs. All it takes is doing a proper wash/vacuuming, storing it in brand new quality inner sleeve, and you'll get your full enjoyment back. I hear now people are branching out into ultrasound cleaning, so things are getting even better for the lovers of LPs :)
     
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  15. Cherrycherry

    Cherrycherry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Le Froidtown
    ETA: if these questions are too Off Topic, I apologize.

    Hello, I see you meant the Touch and using it with LMS, I suppose? I use a squeezebox to stream my own CD rips and enjoy it very much. I haven't had an opportunity to run it against any high quality CD players, though.
    I am really forced to ask then(my curiosity), which "beefy CD players" did you compare your transport&DAC against?
    And how did you compare them? Listening test or spec sheet?
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2017
  16. sublemon

    sublemon Forum Resident

    well, to be fair, despite it's age, I doubt Mahavishnu Orchestra "The Inner Mounting Flame" got played a lot... If an LP is scratched up or has groove wear/damage, you can wash it as much as you want and it will still have surface noise. this is not propaganda against LPs, but they can definitely be damaged by carelessness.
     
  17. alexbunardzic

    alexbunardzic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    I've had my share of scratched CDs. Unplayable. Perfect sound forever my posterior end.
     
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  18. sublemon

    sublemon Forum Resident

    uh, but they got to be pretty scratched. CDs with a good amount of surface scratches as long as they aren't through the plastic on on the printed side should still play fine, on a quality player. Occasionally you will find an LP that looks beat to hell but still plays well but that is a rarer case.
     
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  19. alexbunardzic

    alexbunardzic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    I always compare by listening. Starting with Creek CD player, then Oppo, Kenwood, etc. All of them pretty impressive, pretty beefy (as far as my ears could tell me). Most of the CD players I've audited side by side with Touch were very resolving, almost clinical sounding. I've modded my Touch to be more about the tone than about the resolution and 'air' (for the lack of better word). So to my ears, Touch sounded warmer, fuller than most of the decent CD players. However, to be honest, the detail retrieval may be on the winning side of those CD players. But since I'm willing to make a conscious tradeoff between finer details and juicy, 'wet and oily' tone, I went for the latter.

    The reason I think Touch performs so well (among other things) is due to the fact that I'm powering it by using a high quality battery. As soon as I switched to battery, the noise floor (what a meaningless turn of phrase, but it stuck in the hi fi world) dropped, and the 'blacker blacks' (another bs phrase) emerged. Bottom line, Touch delivers thick, juicy, greasy tones one usually does not expect to get out of a digital transport.
     
  20. alexbunardzic

    alexbunardzic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Yeah, go to your public library, borrow some CDs, and it's quite likely that they'll be partially unplayable. People treat them carelessly, leaving them lying on the coffee table/floor/whathaveyou.
     
  21. sublemon

    sublemon Forum Resident

    sure you can break anything, but CDs are much more durable than LPs, you won't win any argument to the contrary. LPs are much more fragile. You can have even have near perfect looking records that are unplayable due to groove damage from being played on misaligned/damages/etc gear. This is not a knock on LPs--- I'm sitting in a room full of them. But you gotta be prepared for duds if you are getting into this.
     
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  22. Gretsch6136

    Gretsch6136 Forum Resident

    It wasn't all marketing that gave vinyl a bad rep in the old days. 90% of people didn't know or care how to look after their records. Also most of them were using entry grade equipment without the first clue about turntable geometry and set-up, stylus life and care etc.

    People who are serious about turntables these days are far more switched to these things than the majority of households around the world were back in the early '80s. When CD came out, it really did sound better to most people and the convenience won them over easily.
     
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  23. Cherrycherry

    Cherrycherry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Le Froidtown
    There is a whole world of SBT modding that I didn't know about. Now, I do.;)
     
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  24. frimleygreener

    frimleygreener "It 'a'int why...it just is"

    Location:
    united kingdom
    I n the grand order of things, how can 30 seconds allocated to turning a record over be a waste of time? What would you consider a better use of that time frame?
     
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  25. soulboogaloo

    soulboogaloo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Versailles, France
    Yes, no serious guitar player can't do without a decent Tele anyway. Not only they're gorgeous, but the more you play them (and it's probably tougher to play them than to play a Les paul), the more reward they give you in return!
    Do you really have to chose between those two?
     
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