[derekbmn]

So as you have probably noticed by now, there seem's to be a recent renewed interest in vinyl (mine included). I would love your thought's as to why. Are digital format's letting you down so to speak. Is it that seductive realism that digital just can't seem to get quit right (my reason mainly)? OR ??? And am I the only who find's record's just damn sexy ?

 

[Garbz]

Trends and impatience. The fact is that vinyl was never really dead in the hifi world, and many audiophiles from a time gone past never actually dropped the format.

The so called renewed interests is that people who get into high end audio for the first time typically come from the CD era like me. To me vinyl is as interesting as DVD-A. Just another format. A better one, but another format all the same. It's not that we've dropped it and picked it up again. Vinyl is still a relic amongst non-audiphiles.

 

[bigshot]

The reason records are so great is simple. There are a lot of them out there and they're cheap. When you go into a CD store, you get a very limited selection of music from the past. On records, there's a veritable ocean of music to choose from for a buck or two a disk. It's a lot easier to take a risk on new music when it's that cheap.

See ya
Steve

 

[Duggeh]

For me there are three main reasons:

1)The tactile experience. Vinyl is just a much more involving medium to use. The ceremony involved in the playing of each album. I love that.

2)The sound. Dont ask me to elaborate on the specifics. Its like art, "I know what I like and I like that." I like the sound of vinyl.

3)Availibilty of material. There are gazillions of records out there, all for peanuts, all for collecting, each with a history, each special in its way. And the artwork! Full size giant artwork, you havent seen artwork until youve owned the LP. Especially with covers like Michael Jacksons Dangerous or Mike Oldfields Islands (Europian cover).

 

[Uncle Erik]

I am close to taking the plunge on vinyl, as well. I've narrowed down my choices, and may bite on a turntable tonight even.

There are a number of reasons I'm thinking about it. First off, it's not because I have a problem with digital. Quite the opposite. I'm solidly in the computer-as-source camp and just love it.

To get to the point, the biggest reason is the massive amount of inexpensive material available. I don't exactly stay up on the latest in music (or rather, the latest has left me behind) and there's a lot of older music that I love. Being able to easily source the music or picking up a box of records at a garage sale for the price of one CD is very appealing to me.

Also, nostalgia plays a bit of a role. The CD was introduced when I was 12, so I have early memories of the tube tester at the local market as well as listening to LPs with the family. I've always liked records. And tubes. Man, I love tubes. But I love my iPod, too. It's OK to be a polyamorous audiophile.

Oh, and I have a cousin who's an absolute record nut. He's got, literally, about 6,000 of them. We have a few music genres in common, so I'll have access to a whole lot more music.

 

[Aman]

Actually, vinyl is becoming 'trendy' again. You'll notice this among many college students. I go to NYU, as many of you know, and there are a bunch of shops in the village that sell crappy, over-priced releases of modern artists and they are doing very well at the moment. It's just a more tangible item than a CD or digital music file is. Many people who don't have huge incomes like to see that their dollar is going far, and vinyl simply appears more "worthwhile" to these people. Many of my friends, who got into vinyl because of my infatuation of it since the age of 15, really question my expensive (to them, at least) stereo rig. Vinyl is not just for the audiophile anymore. Many artsy and rebellious young people love vinyl for different reasons.

It's been in pop culture a lot more, believe it or not. I'm sure some will remember the scene from Garden State where Natlie Portman's character plays a record in the background. Not very significant to the eye, yes, but how likely would it have been a decade ago to see this in a movie, when CDs were just becoming on the rise? To conclude, it's becoming trendy again - it's reaching new audiences, and for good reason. People ARE in fact not satisfied with the so-called "new and advanced" formats. Vinyl is their answer, and for a totally different reason than the audiophile would argue.

 

[derekbmn]

Awesome guys ! I agree that the availability is also a big one for me as the amount of great music on vinyl is mind blowing. And like Duggeh I find the ritual of cleaning ,playing etc. fun too ,and most importantly I love the sound of it . ALOT

 

[golgi]

Please help by answering vinyl related questions. I really want to setup a solid headphone listening system in my office at home. So far, i've already gotten the Sennheiser HD580's and really loving these things. I've been listening to them from my home stereo and also my computer.

Next step for me is to get a good headphone amp. I already have a good idea of what I want for this.

Last is that I'd really like to get a decent budget turntable. I'm thinking the entry level Music Hall or Pro-ject unless you all have any other suggestions in similar price range. My main question is one that I'm almost too embarrassed to ask but here goes. Why do you need a phono preamp to use a turntable? For example, why can't I just buy a turntable such as the Music Hall MMF 2.1 and connect it to a headphone amp and listen that way? Is it absolutely necessary to have the phono preamp and if not then what is given up in terms of sound quality?

By the way, I don't have a turntable yet but I've made my first vinyl purchase tonight in anticipation of my future turntable. I picked up a copy of the double LP Tool:Undertow! Now I just need a turntable to play it on...

 

[lini]

golgi: Well, while line-level devices produce a full output level somewhere between 300 mV and 2 V (usually 1 - 2 V for stationary devices, 300 - 700 mV for portable stuff), your typical mm/mi(ho)/mc(ho) cartridge only does ~ 5 mV (and even ~ 0.5 mV for low-output mcs). So the first task of the phono stage is providing a gain of 100 - 200 in order to lift the very weak phono signal up to line level. The second task is to re-equalize (= reverse/invert) the RIAA curve that has been applied for the cutting process. This somewhat s-shaped looking equalization curve for cutting starts at some -20 dB in the low bass, reaching 0 dB at 1 kHz, and ends at some +20 dB @ 20 kHz. This is done to reduce the structure sizes (= extents of the groove) for low frequencies (otherwise the size of an lp wouldn't suffice to hold some 20 - 30 minutes of music per side - and the needle probably couldn't follow the excursions of the groove without compression, anyway...), while the boost in the highs makes it easier for the needle to extract the fine excursions there. Hence one can regard the RIAA phono (re-)equalization as a simple type of analogue (de-)compression technique.

In addition to lifting up the signal level and correcting frequency response, advanced phono stages may offer some extra adaptation capabilities - mainly input capacity for mms and input impedance/load for mcs.

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[mattigol]

Collecting LPs for two Euros a pop is the most satisfying thing per dollar spent, bar a cold beer. Enjoy!

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattigol Collecting LPs for two Euros a pop is the most satisfying thing per dollar spent, bar a cold beer. Enjoy!

Truer words have never been spoken.

 

[mattigol]

Thank you, Sir.

 

[Jbucla2005]

I buy vinyl if only for the availability of music that never made it to cd. Then I use my 1212M to record it to digital using ASIO & silver interconnects from the 'record outs' that I was fortunate enough to find on the back of my vintage amp. After normalizing the volume levels using digital editing, I compress the .wav files to .ape format to save space and just listen to those. My records only get played once.

The actual record sounds a little warmer and fatter, but that's about it. The details and clarity are there (in the recordings,) and for some reason they seem slightly less noisy too (1212M rolls off high frequencies, reducing the intensity of pops of clicks or something.) The digital transfers are excellent... never expected I'd use the 1212M for recording like this when I got it.

As for record pricing, well I have a huge stack of LP's that I got in the last month since I restored my turntable, and most of them were only $2-$5. But I recently just dished out $25 for one record. It all depends on the rarity and condition. And there is TONS of junk to wade through and often accidently buy in the search for the good ones. But all in all its been worth it and honestly, I don't think (most) cd's sound much better. I like the mellow sound of vinyl, the lack of high frequency extension is pleasing to my ears.

 

[jp11801]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jbucla2005 I like the mellow sound of vinyl, the lack of high frequency extension is pleasing to my ears.

this is really dependant on the rig used, there can be amazing high end extension and detail without harshness with a good vinyl rig. While I know you said this as a good thing it can be a bit of myth.
The thing I like about vinyl is its ability to involve the listener, I can not explain why but I find my self losining myself in the music more. I toe tap and much to my embaressemsnt air drum more often to vinyl.

 

[mbd]

I love vinyl, especially having the artwork in such a large format. While it's certainly possible to pickup second hand records for cheap, you can still buy lots of great records new. Just this evening I was at a local music store and saw they had a new copy of My Bloody Valentine's 'Loveless' on vinyl with a gatefold sleeve. I almost bought it even though I've owned it on CD for years, just to have it in the collection.

Perhaps an element of affinity to vinyl for me (and perhaps others) is a sense of nostalgia. I have fond memories of my dad putting on records when I was very little, lying on the carpet and having a saturday afternoon nap while listening to his record collection. And, there's something about the pop of the needle hitting the vinyl and the anticipation before the record starts that does it for me...

Nowadays I just wish I had more time to dedicate myself to the pure music listening experiene that tends to go hand in hand with records. In the age of iTunes playlists with thousands of tracks, and music purchasing on a song to song basis, I sometimes wonder if cohesive albums will be as common in the future as they have been in the past...