Vinyl

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Reports today that sales are still increasing.

Does anyone play their music in this format?

I've kept most of mine but it's such a faff to dig out the turntable (not to mention the record box) and keep turning the record over. Scratches, skipping and general crackle don't do it for me either.

Come to think of it the only reason that I keep the things is for the artwork but even this can be viewed online including rare imports etc.
 
I still have my Linn LP12 set up and use it every now and again for serious listening. What's always entertaining is to play an LP on a good system to someone who has previously only experienced mp3's and general streamed audio. Jaws dropping are always fun to see :D

However, what has ceased to be used is my CD transport. A couple of years ago I invested in some Sonos kit and ripped all my CD's to FLAC which I can either listen to casually on the Sonos speakers, or stream via a Sonos Connect to my DAC to play through my "proper" Hi-Fi. I did some pretty extensive blind listening when I first ripped some CD's and couldn't detect any audible difference between CD and the ripped FLAC copy streamed via the Connect, and getting up to change the CD is such a pain... ;)

Somewhat ironic then that the format that was supposed to kill vinyl has fallen into total disuse in my household, while vinyl soldiers on.
 
Another vinyl user here.

Have been for many, many years.

Like others, my CD player is sitting on the rack unused.
 
I have over 2000 in the loft, which I'm surprised hasn't collapsed yet

I stopped using vinyl around 2010 and switched to CDs to DJ with, as lugging a massive bag around to three or four gigs a night caused havoc on my shoulder, not to mention hitting everyone with it as I'm trying to walk past

Still prefer CDs but it's mainly USB's now that dj's use, they'll turn up with their headphones and USB sticks in their pocket
 
I'd have loved an LP12...but still have a Rega RP3 set up and ready to go...but mostly use CD.
 
I have all my old vinyl albums and singles and still play them. My original Audio Linear (solid glass) turntable finally gave up last year. Sadly despite months of searching I could not locate the parts required to rescue it. I managed to get hold of a pristine belt drive Rotel turntable from a seller on ebay.

Daughter No2 now aged fifteen was always fascinated by vinyl and two years ago she got herself a decent deck and amp. She has now acquired an extensive record collection and is not alone among her peers.

Locally there are many vinyl shops appearing and all seem to be doing well. The one in Tunbridge Wells (Vinyl Revolution) had Paul Young and his Band, Los Pacaminos, playing live there last week. The place was rammed (they are really good)

Sadly some of my "rarer" records that I had assumed were worth lots have turned out not to be as valuable as I has dreamed.

My 45 double A side Bob Dylan - Hurricane. This was a radio station demo version and is the full 17 minutes long, is now (I am told) worth about £25. Thirty years ago I was told it was worth about £60. ;^)

Likewise with my white centered (misprinted) Breakfast In America.

On going through my collection I noticed my first wife's hand written (by her) name on one or two of the sleeves. That brought back some memories of happy days listening to WIshbone Ash.
 
I've never strayed to other formats - after getting my first reasonable Hi-Fi system in the mid 1970's I have steadily collected and listened to records since , still buy new records regularly , easier once again due to the revival in outlets and increase of available titles .

Over the last year I've been subscribed to the DeAgostini 'Jazz at 33-1/3' collection and get two discs a month of classic Jazz albums repressed on new 180g vinyl . It is a bit hit and miss but I've had a few really good albums out of it .

Even in the general shops , poor quality pressings seem to be a thing of the past and crappy K-Tel pressings on lightweight noisy vinyl that you could see through if held up to the light are no more . Most new records these days are pressed in decent vinyl and have truly silent surfaces .

Having said that , having decent kit allows you to enjoy the music and not listen for clicks and pops . I have looked after my records carefully since day one , and even those which have been played over and over are still in good condition , even if the sleeves have suffered from handling .

I also bought a lot of used records around the start of the millenium as there were bargains to be had with people discarding in favour of CD . Very few gave problems in playing .

I've dabbled in other formats - compact cassette then CD for in car listening , but for anything more than background listening in the house it is LP all the way . For a long time I didn't keep a CD player in my Hi-Fi system ( just used my DVD or Laserdisc players ) although I had tried a few , including some quite expensive ones , down the years . Only in the last couple of years I added a Quad 77 CD player out of convenience since I got rid of my fairly advanced AV system and returned to a 2ch music system which now comprises of my Gyrodec with the QC power supply , RB700 arm , AT-OC9 cartridge , Quad 77 pre , 77FM & 77CD , 707 power amp and ESL 63 loudspeakers , all of which is very pleasant to listen to music on without drawing attention to itself , either visually or audibly .

Most of the time we tend to have either the radio on in the background , or put records on to listen to .
 
Much as I like the theatre of putting Vinyl albums on, the dealbreaker for me is the lavk of dynamic range.
That's the volume of sound you can hear between the pops and crackles at the quiet end, and the point where the disk grooves have resached their maximum output level at the loud end...it just isn't enough.

I'm quite prepared to accept that vinyl has a more pleasing sound to human ears than CD, but to me the MUCH greater dynamic range makes all (aledged) downlides insignificant.

Go to a live concert, listen to the difference between the quiet bits and the loud bits, then go home and try to reproduce that on a vinyl system.....just not possible...

I applaud the revival of vinyl, because it means people are taking an interest, which is rare in these MP3 days, but the dynamic range issue kills it for me.

Obviously, the dynamic range of MP3s is even worse (like that comes as a surprise!)
 
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My lad is a music enthusiast - he enjoys the "physicality" of vinyl and collects loads, attending record fairs etc.

To him, vinyl rules :thumb:.
 
Much as I like the theatre of putting Vinyl albums on, the dealbreaker for me is the lavk of dynamic range.
That's the volume of sound you can hear between the pops and crackles at the quiet end, and the point where the disk grooves have resached their maximum output level at the loud end...it just isn't enough.

I'm quite prepared to accept that vinyl has a more pleasing sound to human ears than CD, but to me the MUCH greater dynamic range makes all (aledged) downlides insignificant.

Go to a live concert, listen to the difference between the quiet bits and the loud bits, then go home and try to reproduce that on a vinyl system.....just not possible...
All true, but the limiting factor for dynamic range on most systems is further down the chain than the source, i.e. the amplification and speakers. It's relatively rare to find a system that has both the resolution and power / transient capability to expose the dynamic range restriction of a good vinyl pressing on a good turntable.
 
We have to bear in mind, the main reason vinyl was "replaced" by CD's was down to cost to the manufacturer, i.e. they make more money from CD's than vynil.

The human ear on a good day when we were young could hear was about 16 to 18000 kz. As we have gotten older, that range reduces.

I still play my vinyl though my computer :D
 
Hated vinyl then, hate it even more now. Ditched it all many many years ago, digital is where it is.

I can't see what's so good about vinyl, and I've listened to my mate's high-end deck etc and he was most upset when I sat there straight-faced throughout the entire track. I don't get it.:confused:
 
I can't see what's so good about vinyl, and I've listened to my mate's high-end deck etc and he was most upset when I sat there straight-faced throughout the entire track. I don't get it.:confused:
But then you are a bit mutton after all those years racing bikes ;)
 
My money's on Shellac as the next big thing. That's why I stuck a high end wireless in my W114. Great for those mono delights!
 
Much as I like the theatre of putting Vinyl albums on, the dealbreaker for me is the lavk of dynamic range.
That's the volume of sound you can hear between the pops and crackles at the quiet end, and the point where the disk grooves have resached their maximum output level at the loud end...it just isn't enough.

I'm quite prepared to accept that vinyl has a more pleasing sound to human ears than CD, but to me the MUCH greater dynamic range makes all (aledged) downlides insignificant.

Go to a live concert, listen to the difference between the quiet bits and the loud bits, then go home and try to reproduce that on a vinyl system.....just not possible...

I applaud the revival of vinyl, because it means people are taking an interest, which is rare in these MP3 days, but the dynamic range issue kills it for me.

Obviously, the dynamic range of MP3s is even worse (like that comes as a surprise!)

Not quite .

You're confusing the difference between dynamic range and signal to noise ratio , which can vary both with different transmission media and programme material .

Yes , analogue recordings on disc do have a limited maximum dynamic range , but it is still more than ample for music reproduction in the home - very few would be able to exploit it without disturbing neighbours etc .

It goes without saying that it is next to impossible to reproduce concert hall levels in a domestic environment - the closest one can PRACTICALLY come is to create a nice illusion of the live material .

Depending on the programme material , it is possible to recreate something very close to the original in the home - vocal or small groups of acoustic instruments for example ; but full orchestra , big band , brass band - which do have a huge dynamic range , forget it - and that's down to your amplification and speakers more than anything : I've recorded all these types of music and been able to compare live with recordings in all cases - it just won't happen . Oh , and I've recorded using half track open reel running at 15ips and either Dolby A or Dbx comparison ( both , IMHO , detract more than they help since the human brain is the best filter of constant noise like tape hiss ) , as well as digitally using a Sony SL-F1 and PCM-F1 which was one of the first widely available digital recorders - the recording medium is the least of the issues .

If you are experiencing pops and crackles then there is something wrong with your discs or your equipment - properly cared for discs , played with properly set up equipment won't make any of these sounds .

If you do get them , though , then such noises will impact on signal to noise ratio , but won't affect the available dynamic range which is the difference between the quietest and loudest sounds audible . Pops and crackles can actually be quite loud with quite sounds audible in between - if your ears and brain can adjust quickly enough to let you hear them ! Signal to noise ratio is the difference between the noise floor and maximum programme level ( which most of the time is less than 100% modulation therefore not maximum dynamic range ) . Other factors can limit signal to noise ratio as well - amplifier noise ( not usually a problem , but can be if a lot of gain is used ) , radio transmission noise , clipping levels and more .

Dynamic range varies more with programme material and can be quite narrow with a lot of , typically , pop or rock type music , where the recording is compressed to make it seem 'louder' much of the time ; some radio stations , particularly Independent Local Radio stations actually further compress material since they have less powerful transmitters on analogue FM then this helps keep their output above the noise floor for distant or mobile listeners . Yet , a good quality FM broadcast on BBC Radios 2 or 3 remains one of the best sources available in the home - given decent receiving kit .

Even with digital media , which has the potential for significantly greater dynamic range than analogue media , the limiting factor in the home is generally the amplification and transducer stages - very few home systems have the headroom to reproduce the full dynamic range available in any programme material ; and few recordings exploit even close to the maximum dynamic range of the media .

Digital audio , however , opens many different cans of worms - the process of digitisation itself introduces the possibility of corruption in several ways ; and then when the digital material has to be converted back to analogue the errors are compounded - this is why digital audio tends to sound inferior to a properly set up analogue system ( a poorly set up analogue system , of course , will introduce problems all of its own ) .

mp3 is digital too , which kind of proves the point that digital is not automatically better , but it is compressed first and foremost in data rates , but also in dynamic range - the amount of compression actually applied depends on the implementation . DAB and internet broadcasting is the same and can vary greatly in quality depending on the amount of compression applied .

I've on many occasions over the past 30 years treated visitors to comparisons between quality analogue and digital setups , most arrived with the preconception that CD would be better and left with the opposite impression .

A good record pressing on 180g vinyl , played on a decent and properly set up system is pretty hard to beat in the home .
 
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I won't part with my vinyl in the long term but, for now, I am enjoying telling Alexa to play whatever takes my fancy without leaving my desk.

Her jokes are terrible though.
 
I switched over to playing all of my music on using ITunes or through my laptop in 2004. Always used a good Technics amp and good floor standing speakers.

Still have tons of vinyl and now I'm thinking of buying a turntable to listen to some of my 12" funk singles from the eighties.
 
But then you are a bit mutton after all those years racing bikes ;)

Actually I am pretty much deaf in my left ear :p
 

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