Vinyl Aficionados??

For me (back in the day) the Japanese and British issues were preferable because of the sound quality. They sounded better because there were smaller quantities pressed, so the stampers weren't pushed beyond their limits like they were in the US.

Bermuda

Number of pressings effect sound quality? Guess I dont understand how albums are made. I was under the impression each album was of the same quality until the needle was put on it, then it wore out. Got some research to do.
 
I think I'm at either ends of the spectrum. I use spotify for convenience when I'm in the car/gym/working etc but if I'm listening to music it's vinyl all day. Pretty much the only format I've bought for the last 20 years.

You have to spend money to get a decent system to play it which is what puts a lot of people off nowadays. Get good turntable, nothing short of £300 new unless you drop on a gem used, a good pre-amp is a must too. Amps and speakers are fairly easy to acquire used as lots of people simply don't have room for them anymore.

When I got the majority of my collection it was as unfashionable as it gets. There used to be a little shop in Dudley that sold nothing but 2nd hand lps usually from people getting rid of them, his prog section was to die for. You'd never pay more than £6 for a mint album and he did bulk discount. I remember getting a 1st pressing of Permanent Waves for £6. He gave me a first pressing of Beatles for Sale because it looked a bit scratched, plays fine. Got a 1st press of Revolver and tonnes of other stuff that gets played to this day. This lockdown has bought them back out for sure! I remember I got a copy of Imagine from him and it still had the poster inside, it's framed and on the wall in my man cave.

My gem is still a mono 1st press of the White Album (complete with poster and photos and black inserts) that I got from Amazon for £10 in 2007. That's worth a few quid now.
 
Great input everyone thanks so much. I definitely will not be throwing out the baby with the bathwater as I agree digital music is very convenient. Putting playlists together and using my ipod to practice set lists for example have their definite advantages compared to LPs.

Recognizing the ritualistic nature of analog, I see myself on a rainy Saturday night (or maybe during this crazy lockdown) sitting down with a nice glass of bourbon and listening through an album or two. For the craziness of the day-to-day, I will stick to my streaming and mp3s.
 
Number of pressings effect sound quality? Guess I dont understand how albums are made. I was under the impression each album was of the same quality until the needle was put on it, then it wore out. Got some research to do.

Vinyl records are literally pressed from a master. So if you do a lot of pressings, eventually the master starts to wear and you lose some of the detail. Not an issue these days because even though there's been a resurgence, the pressing quantities are still comparatively small.
 
I just can't get interested in vinyl. Mp3 is just so convenient. I can carry songs around on my little mp3 player, plug in headphones and play along on drums. It's not so easy with vinyl.

I think you've mistaken the discussion to mean that those of us who embrace vinyl do so at the expense of digital music. That would be a fool's errand. To be clear, I have all of my CDs loaded onto iTunes and have an iPod (Video v5.5 w/ 85 GB) so I can take my entire digital music libray with me, especially in the car. And my wife and son both subscribe to iTunes (the new one) and I tagged along on the family plan so I have access to whatever iTunes has in their libray. But as others have said, there is something special about pulling out an album. And if it werent' for my wife and son's iTunes subscription, I wouldnt' be paying for any music streaming service. I find having to perpetually pay for music until I die a complete waste of money. If I want the music, I'll buy it. When I started listening to vinyl again I realized one of the things I missed so much about them was actually being able to read the liner notes. The print on CDs was so small that there was no way I could read that. And when you download music, there is no album with liner notes unless you want to search for it online. I enjoy sitting and listening to music while I'm reading the liner notes. I dont' want to have to sit at a computer to read liner notes. I guess an iPad would work but I find the album cover so much more inviting. So, no, we aren't dropping digital for vinyl. Vinyl is just another medium to enjoy.
 
I grew up on vinyl. My Dad (my current avatar pic) was a major record collector as well as a record dealer. My house literately had thousands of albums, 78's and 45's in it. It consumed two solid rooms in my childhood home. His personal collection was centered around the music he grew up with - Jazz from it's infancy to about 1960 (he didn't take to much of the style that came after that).

When my Dad passed away in 2000, I donated EVERY single record to various places who were interested. He had a colossal collection of Louis Armstrong. His entire collection of Armstrong went to the Armstrong Museum and Archives. When I reached out to the museum asking if they would be interested in it, they were beyond ecstatic. They paid me for all the expenses involved in the packing and shipping to them. Now they have them for future generations.

At this point I have 1 album left in my house. A Buddy Rich/Gene Krupa album my Dad had Buddy sign at one of his concerts. You can't interest me in the least to return to vinyl. The room they consume to store is crazy... When you have a large collection - they are also not light to move around.

I listen to music every day for a couple of hours at least. Everything I own is on my NAS which allows me instant access to anything and everything.

Go back to vinyl??? No thank you...
 
I have been "into" vinyl since I was a teen, and have, not a giant lot, but around 200 records probably. I have a pretty good turntable, a pretty good receiver, and "okay" speakers. I still enjoy listening to them, and find that when I have the time to enjoy the experience of listening rather than just passively absorbing music, I usually prefer my vinyl to my CDs.


I really should get a new cartridge, though.
Exact same here. I do not collect new vinyl, way overpriced for the listening experience, but I have about 300 records from decades ago, and add to it with vinyl records that are a steal at flea markets and garage sales. One only needs a middle of the road amp and turntable to still have a different listening experience than digital. For sure it is inconvenient, but if one as time to say "I'm going to sit and listen to some music the next hour", vinyl is worth it.
 
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I have a lot of vinyl, 400 LP's or so, 390 of them is progressive rock from between -67 and -77. It's another experience for me to listen to vinyl compared to digitalized music, however it's not as practical maybe. I'm off tomorrow to buy some jazz LP's at the local secondhand store, maybe some Miles Davis, Clifford Brown or why not Dave Brubeck!
 
my dad has a large vinyl collection, never really looked through it to see if there was anything i'd like the sound of. i have my own vinyl collection, i mainly collect vinyl from artists like gary numan, erasure, kraftwerk, devo, etc. and some big band vinyls :) i see whats out there and if its on the lsit of bands i like, i get it :) vinyl sounds warmer, but thats cause they have to do a lot of EQ'ing and frequency-cutting to get it sitting right :)
 
My 2p, for what its worth... people tend to overthink it...
I'm not a "collector" as such, but I have a decent(ish) hi fi separates system, the turntable is the weakest part of it. However, that's not stopped me accumulating about 30 or so vinyl albums (some inherited, some bought new, some bought used). I see it is a nice addition to my music collection, but not something I obsess over.

What I'm saying is.... if youre interested in it, just get a player/ system you can afford (second hand if necessary) and pick up a few of your favourite albums on vinyl, and enjoy!
 
To me, it's much like playing music... High-dollar gear is great, but even music made on "lesser" gear can still be pretty damn fun and enjoyable.
It's about the music, right? ;)



My 2p, for what its worth... people tend to overthink it...
I'm not a "collector" as such, but I have a decent(ish) hi fi separates system, the turntable is the weakest part of it. However, that's not stopped me accumulating about 30 or so vinyl albums (some inherited, some bought new, some bought used). I see it is a nice addition to my music collection, but not something I obsess over.

What I'm saying is.... if youre interested in it, just get a player/ system you can afford (second hand if necessary) and pick up a few of your favourite albums on vinyl, and enjoy!
 
I don't buy physical music anymore. Too much bother. The music is my only concern. The way it's reproduced I could not care less about.

To me it's like looking at a masterpiece of fine art, and being more concerned with the frame.
 
As a bump to this thread, I am now up to 50 records, which coincidentally comprised my personal "essentials" (entire Genesis catalogue, classic rock albums - revolver, sgt. pepper, ziggy, 70s floyd, etc. classic jazz albums - giant steps, Kind of Blue, etc. jazz fusion and funk). My plan is to hold off on buying anymore vinyl for 2020 so I can give all of these awesome records plenty of listening and appreciation. And then the buying will start all over again!

I will always treasure and make active use of my 10,000+ mps but honestly to me there is no better way to get inside the music then sitting down with a record and reading the liner notes and lyrics. I'm also more sensitive to details like the sequence of songs and what starts/ends each side. And how cool is it to have in your hands a first edition pressing like Sgt. Pepper and reflect on the history that record represents.

You lose sight of a lot of this with digital.

Again, not for everybody but those with the time/inclination should definitely give vinyl a listen.
 
Great input everyone thanks so much. I definitely will not be throwing out the baby with the bathwater as I agree digital music is very convenient. Putting playlists together and using my ipod to practice set lists for example have their definite advantages compared to LPs.

Recognizing the ritualistic nature of analog, I see myself on a rainy Saturday night (or maybe during this crazy lockdown) sitting down with a nice glass of bourbon and listening through an album or two. For the craziness of the day-to-day, I will stick to my streaming and mp3s.

In part some of us are talking about a romantic idea. Could there not be a finer moment than choosing the album, feeling it in your hands... examining the in‘s and out’s of the album, placing it on the turntable, sitting down with bourbon in hand and letting the notes just wrap around you?
It’s immensely powerful to have that thought... or memory, if you are so lucky.
I have... and a million different other events with vinyl. It’s great to remember... most of ‘em.... but I have no inclination to capture that rare moment again. It is work. It is expensive. It is inconvenient.
I guess I’m cynical because of my history with collecting music. I went through them all and bought many an album many times over... and they all had their respective fun times. Today, it’s just about access to music. I still buy very good speakers... but now I listen to what I want, when I want and enjoy the music... for the music.
 
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