[Azure]

I have a few extra hundred dollars to spare and I don't quite know what to spend it on. So, I was thinking of getting into vinyl, but I'm concerned about music selection. Unlike the majority of Head-Fiers here, I don't like rock, classical, or jazz (or any variations of these three). I believe the vast majority of the vinyl scene is comprised of music of these genre, so I fear that getting into vinyl may be a waste of time (and money).

I'm mainly into music along the lines of electronica, trance, and house/dance. How much good vinyl (You know, the kind of "good vinyl" that is so raved about on here to promote how great vinyl sounds; the kind of vinyl that is supposedly godly mastered compared to modern CDs) is out there for these genres (specific recommendations are what I'm looking for)? Is there anyone with a vinyl rig that primarily listens to this kind of music?

 

[Publius]

You're in luck. Vinyl is literally the native format of many genres of electronica. Lots of drum and bass, for instance, is only released on vinyl.

You're probably going to have a much easier time getting stuff on vinyl than on CD.

As to my personal experience: I've dabbled in the Warp catalog a bit, and I've got a few things off eBay. Amoeba Records (no relation to the big chain IIRC) in Austin is an electronic music shop that is about 75% vinyl.

Note that the ground's shifting a bit in the DJing world as more and more people move to digital DJing setups, so vinyl's dominant position may be eroding a bit. Still, tons of stuff out there.

 

[ooh]

From what little I've seen, I'd say it's not the best idea to get into vinyl.

1. You may find a lot of unmixed record sets. If you prefer to listen to electronic stuff unmixed, maybe.

2. If you find unmixed sets *new* you may be okay.

3. If you find unmixed sets *used*, it may be worn.

4. I don't know if mixed sets are rarer or not, but I think they are.

5. Above all that, I don't see a lot of 180 gram pressings (I know little about vinyl of the audiophile sort but I think that's the right term).

You're in a weird position. People who get into vinyl and into electronic etc. music, I don't think, buy unmixed sets unless they're going to DJ.

If you want to buy mixed sets, most DJs I've known bought the mixed disc on CD, or got a mixtape (caveat: distribution).

Also think about this: how many DJs have double and triple copies of records including at least one single 180 gram pressing for their "third" turntable? (As in, the one that's not a Numark or Technics, etc.)

This means anything used you find was likely played on a poor grade (non-audiophile) setup.

If you have a few extra hundred dollars, and you haven't bought the turntable setup yet...watch out!

Just buy another pair of headphones

(just kidding-please don't!)

Aside from all that, I could offer specific recommendations but none that would be of hi-fi interest. I like Compost and K7 (house, etc.).

In short: you may not find a whole lot of high quality vinyl in the electronic music scene. Not trying to discourage you...

But, the music is incredible!

A lot of people into electronic music (I've known) get into jazz. I know little about jazz, but I would think that a lot of the great stuff is poorly recorded. But it's still great. I wonder how jazz fans deal with this.

 

[s m @]

I listen to lots of electronic (and also other stuff) and love vinyl. Here's what you need to know to decide, a lot of which has already been said.

1. Vinyl sounds good for lots of electronic, in large part due to the full bass sound you get with records.
2. There's lots of cool electronic stuff available on vinyl that you can't even get on CD. B/c even with Final Scratch allowing more use of digital stuff in DJ sets, vinyl is still what DJ's keep spinning mostly. But the other side of this is that most of these releases are not exactly what you'd call audiophile recordings. That's not the market they're aimed at.
3. There are pretty much no DJ mixes available on vinyl, it would be kind of strange somehow.
4. Any decent sized electronic act's 'artist album' will be released on vinyl, and they often are quality pressings (as often as any other genre anyway), which is good.
5. Also, if you ever get into other kinds of music (probably likely), you can get tons of interesting older used vinyl for cheap. Which can be fun.

Basically if you think you have a bit of time/energy/money to do a bit of collecting stuff, you'll probably find lots to like about vinyl. If not just stick with digital.

Also, to the above guy, most jazz from the 50's on is impeccably recorded and well pressed.