The diary entries of a little girl who is now 30! ~ Part 2 - Page 295

Quote:

Originally Posted by 333jeffery 

^That's a cool little turntable. Almost makes me want to play records again. Almost.

 

Four reasons for my being into vinyl:

1. Often the sound quality of vinyl is better than CDs. Not because of the vinyl itself, but because the mastering is better.

2. Some music I like only comes on vinyl now, with underground artists doing vinyl-only releases.

3. As a physical artifact, it's preferable to a CD and---especially---a digital file to me. I like being able to hold an object like a record in my hands. There's something alluring about it as a formerly antiquated medium, especially in today's digital age. It demands you take your time and slow down to enjoy it.

4. The artwork and linear notes that go into vinyl jackets is usually more elaborate, which I prefer from the perspectives of both observer and archivist. I've known some artists who designed vinyl cover art for a living, and they put so much effort into it: usually listening to the music for like a month before attempting to translate it into the visual realm. Both because of the size of the jackets and the ethos of record labels (many labels putting out new vinyl today are smaller and more hands-on with every step of the production process) vinyl tends to have more care put into its release today.

Love your Mone-chan avatar, Tom. Makes me a little sad I couldn't meet her. Perhaps something can pan out in the future at some point however. Short of a trip to Japan, I was actually thinking of either buying someone's custom shells and having them re-shelled by UM or Rooth, or maybe ask Master Xiao build an evil twin of her or something. But then it just wouldn't be the same....

Or maybe just get some pink Canal Works to satiate my desire for some otaku customs. Those pictures you posted set my heart aflutter. Hmmm. An e-mail to Tomo might be in order.

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A few misc. customs-related things:

Sent a PM to the UE rep. who posts here on head-fi asking about the smaller tuning boxes. Also I've got a buddy who knows some folks at UE, so he offered to have one of them contact me about it. Really, the smaller tuning boxes make so much more sense from a business standpoint. I think it would also help some folks justify the costs to themselves if they knew they got the tuning box to play around with for a week or so.

The biggest issue I have with the UM Platform Pure 6 is the "little black box" supplied with them. From early reports, the amp seems to be the limiting factor. The good news (or bad depending on your perspective) is that UM will be supplying an adapter cable of sorts to let you use whatever amp you want. Since the active crossover "special sauce" isn't in the CIEMs themselves, I'm guessing it would all be in the adapter? Anyway, their performance will probably get a significant boost by using something like the UHA-6S with them. The reason this intrigues me so much is because the strengths of the active crossovers happen to be among the things I most prioritize in listening devices.

Depending on how UM handles this, I may end up getting the PP6 rather than the SE5-Way to go along with the JH16 Pro.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 333jeffery 

I guess growing-up on vinyl I just can't appreciate it like folks who've known nothing but digital media can. I spent countless hours cleaning, sleeving, and carefully handling LP's, only to have them get scratched and skip tracks. No nostalgia there!

I think it's just a matter of perspective. You obviously value convenience a great deal, and that's understandable. However I know plenty of folks who grew up with vinyl and still listen to it and are glad it's making a big comeback. Plenty of wistful ol' farts who get bleary-eyed when talking about it lol.

I know were you're coming from: caring for vinyl is time consuming and can be frustrating, especially when you live in a veritable dust hole like I do. Getting a nice record cleaning system helps, and storing it properly is a good preventative measure. Since I'm OCD to begin with, it tends to come naturally to me however. Plus CDs are also prone to dust, scratching, and skipping.

The biggest strike against vinyl to my mind is actually something you haven't mentioned: it's subject to more rapid degradation. CDs have a finite life expectancy too, sure, but with vinyl there's this overwhelming sense that every playthrough is shorting its life, wearing those grooves down. That's why vinyl, for me, has always been a secondary but preferred method of listening. For "everyday listening" I stick with digital files generally, and in the past I spent a lot of time ripping vinyl to various hard drives to facilitate frequent listening. It's the convenience factor, but also the desire to preserve my collection. Same with CDs.

However every now and then I just want to listen to the wax, so I'll make a night or morning of it. It's sort of like having a "track day" car you only use on certain occasions: it's a special event.

Canal Works has a new model:

CW-L05QD

http://canalworks.jp/products/listening.html#link07

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It seems to be positioned at the top of their lineup, along with the CW-L51. I'd totally want to get that faceplate pictured too. I adore it!