Vinyl Expectation Management

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by ThinWhiteDuke, Sep 20, 2022.

  1. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    People seem to get really annoyed when your vinyl experience isn't exactly like theirs.
     
  2. racer59

    racer59 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bonita, CA
    This right here.

    There is no substitute for a good RCM (vacuum or ultrasonic.) There is also no reason for noisy records. If I get a bad pressing, I sell it.
     
    Tullman, Big Blue and bluesky like this.
  3. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    other.
    my records are excellent
    i hear an occasional tick on a small percentage of records.
    i hear occasional surface noise on some records.
    Taking a more global viewpoint, whatever imperfections i occasionally hear does not distract from the musical listening experience or deter the use of present and future vinyl releases.
    The vinyl experience goes beyond the imperfect nature of the process for me.
     
    Big Blue likes this.
  4. blowinblue

    blowinblue Kind of not blue.

    Location:
    SoCal USA
    When listening to vinyl I pretend that there's a nice fire burning in my fireplace. The snap, crackle, pop is so soothing, as is the slight background roar. And playing records in the winter makes me feel warmer, playing them in the summer helps me look forward to winter. As an added bonus I never have to clean out any ashes. Win-win-win-win.

    Relax, I'm exaggerating (a little). :)

    M. M.
     
  5. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    That is definitely a component, but many I would assume are hungering for a more tangible, tactile experience than streaming. It seems to me that many younger folks nowadays are embracing the best aspects of the past, and this is part of it.
     
    DIYmusic likes this.
  6. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    Dude, you can't fool me. You're in Southern California! :laugh:
     
    blowinblue likes this.
  7. blowinblue

    blowinblue Kind of not blue.

    Location:
    SoCal USA
    You busted me. Not only do I live in SoCal, my fireplace is set up with a decorative stone log set that never catches on fire. Lol.

    M. M.
     
    action pact likes this.
  8. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    Hilarious!
     
    blowinblue likes this.
  9. DIYmusic

    DIYmusic Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania

    For sure!

    I have found, oddly enough a lot of pressings I get from the 60s are great, AND the middish 1980s up to early 1990s.
    Some from the mid 80s till early 90s are Unusually great??
     
  10. Lenny99

    Lenny99 The truth sets you free.

    Location:
    Clarksburg WV
    I introduced my grandson and my son to vinyl a few years ago. Now, both prefer vinyl. They will admit that other sources may sound better acoustically, but like me they feel vinyl is different.

    I think it's an intangible issue. They like being part of the system. My son spends much more time than me hunting up old, used vinyl. My grandson is always on the lookout for vinyl deals. The ask me for my opinion in various aspects of vinyl such as stylus upgrades, cleaning, setup, etc. It's nice.
     
  11. gakerty

    gakerty Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    I'm in the "once in a blue moon, I'll hear a crackle or pop" camp, so would be in between the first two options on the poll. The vast majority of the time, my records are dead quiet. My daughters will not associate playing records with crackly noise as they grow up, but just as a fun way to play good music. I did associate some crackles and pops growing up with my dad's player, so minimizing noise was a goal of mine from the onset. My wife accepts that playing records is my hobby, but probably wonders why I bother when I can just stream. : ) Anyways, I've replaced almost all of the noisy offending records with better pressings, and keep all clean (thanks Humminguru, much better than Projekt VC-S!). My main problem now is that I've run out of room to store them, as my listening room is my living room.
     
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  12. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I don't think expectations are the problem.

    I think the problem is a lack of experience with the medium.

    I have seen many threads where a person doesn't understand that they got a defective record that needs to be returned.

    Also have seen many threads where a person doesn't understand that a visibly scratched record with loads of spindle marks may be noisy, or that 60s and 70s U.S. vinyl is often loaded with regrind.

    In many cases people are excited to find an old copy of a specific album at a shop and don't inspect it thoroughly.

    That's before we get to cleaning or gear issues.

    Just my 2 cents and what I have observed over the last 10 or so years of the vinyl trend.

    Didn't vote in the poll because none of the choices apply to me.
     
    Big Blue and gakerty like this.
  13. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    "The truth sets you free." :righton:
     
  14. Boltman92124

    Boltman92124 Go Padres!!

    Location:
    San Diego
    My answer wasn't on the list. It would be-
    I have LP's of all varying condition. Some LP's with surface noise that doesn't bother me in the least bit because most still sound so much better than CDs!
     
    Big Blue and psulioninks like this.
  15. DIYmusic

    DIYmusic Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    "So much better" is such a vague term to me.

    I have a lot of both, but honestly never have felt I could call one or the other "So much better"
    If anything I find that when using the same mastering they have tended towards Very similar in actual "Sound Quality" (minus of course noise, and ticks and pops etc) but you know the actual music in the grooves.

    If anything I have found the best vinyl to sound Quite like the best digital. They both can sound great, with great masterings.
     
    Boltman92124 likes this.
  16. Boltman92124

    Boltman92124 Go Padres!!

    Location:
    San Diego
    Reading this I remembered a used Fleetwood Mac Tango in the Night LP I have. I would say it's a "VG" at best. Lots of surface noise. Well enjoyed since the 80's. I still prefer it to the CD, which sounds canned and lifeless in comparison. Even Donald Fagen's digitally recorded albums (Cheap XMas vinyl set) sound superior to me over the CD versions. It was like the sterile sounding Kamakiriad CD got a whole new sense of air and warmth with the vinyl version. Of course, any really loud pops, ticks or skips cross the line for me too.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2022
  17. tkl7

    tkl7 Agent Provocateur

    Location:
    Lewis Center, OH
    The inherent noise (pops, clicks, crackle, etc.,) involved in vinyl as a medium, is precsely the reason why so many people happily chucked their lp collections and replaced them with CDs in the 1980s. Yes, you can hide a lot of the noise with the right equipment, but for most people, they will hear the noise, and it is difficult to keep vinyl pristine, so the noise will just get worse over the life of the record. I'm sure that a few anal retentive types out there may handle their records while only wearing hazmat suits and purchase custom inner sleves from rice paper pressed by hand in the northernmost corner of Japan, in order to keep them as silent as possible, but generally speaking, that is not the experience of most vinyl listeners or collectors.
     
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  18. zombiemodernist

    zombiemodernist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeastern USA
    Not sure if age has anything to do with it at all. When I got into records as a kid in the late aughts everything I had was crappy, crappy gear, crappy Salvation Army records, crappy extra-used stylus. You can bet that I just assumed records were noisy as hell. I was shocked later on when I started buying sealed records how quiet vinyl was supposed to be. I guess you can classify this as some form of “growing up with vinyl” as prior exposure though.

    I tend to see the pursuit of perfect playback with vinyl as a sisyphean task and agree some people may need to lighten up, but I don’t think any high expectations are harmful. If anything it will just push labels to have higher QC, a win for all consumers.
     
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  19. Boltman92124

    Boltman92124 Go Padres!!

    Location:
    San Diego
    Funny, I went to visit my kid's new dorm/apartment this year and got to meet some of his friends. There was some sort of turntable in multiple rooms. I don't think I saw a single CD player anywhere. If it's physical media for young kids these days it's almost all vinyl IMO. Otherwise just stream.
     
  20. tkl7

    tkl7 Agent Provocateur

    Location:
    Lewis Center, OH
    You'll note that I said in the 1980s. I don't think CDs will ever come back - if you want a clear sounding recording now, you can just stream. LPs have a retro cool factor, but I think the kids will move on from them too, at some point.

    And I say this a s a vinyl lover/collector
     
    Boltman92124 likes this.
  21. Uglyversal

    Uglyversal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney
    OP. unless you have only one record you are bound to have a great variety of problems on some of the records so your poll might not necessarily give an accurate description. Most of my records are nearly perfect, I have some in very poor condition and some that are in between but tending to excellent. Most people who just starts might have unrealistic expectations based on what other people who have spent a fortune and have plenty of experience can achieve. The reality is that for most newbies starting with a modest system and pressings that might not be the best -either new or second hand- will get a lot of the negatives of the medium. Still, if good choices are made reasonably good results can be obtained that will surpass the sound of most current digital sources made for domestic use. It helps having a good deal of experience and money to throw into it.
     
  22. Vaughan

    Vaughan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Essex, UK
    Even new purchases may have surface noise and a pop. Rather than pretend it's an anomaly, I simply accept it as part of the Vinyl experience. You want silence, then go for the digital.

    I know some here claim their Vinyl is completely silent. Sure enough, I don't have an ultrasonic cleaner worth a few thousand. I never will. A little crackle etc, is just Vinyl, imo.
     
    MarkL64 and ThinWhiteDuke like this.
  23. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    You're missing out on a lot of great records. I like new releases/titles. Lately most of the vinyl has been pretty good. I think there has been a learning curve and vinyl pressing has gotten better
     
  24. Boltman92124

    Boltman92124 Go Padres!!

    Location:
    San Diego
    My kid has a half dozen albums and no turntable. His roommate has one. I can't remember the brand name. Some specialty/marketed model. Looks like one of the wood base AT belt drives. AT3600 clone cart on it. Looked nice enough to play some records. None of these kids have a "stereo" system. Instead they have Bluetooth powered speakers. For most of these kids, actually listening to an entire album is totally new to them.
     
    tkl7 likes this.
  25. Leao

    Leao Forum Resident

    No surface noise from new records.
     
    bluesky likes this.

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