Mr.Radar
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2004
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WARNING: Long, rambly post ahead.
Yesterday I went to my aunt and uncle's house, which I do only once per year (we usually celebrate Thanksgiving and X-Mas at either their's or my grandparent's house). When I got there I discovered he had a turn-table and two boxes full of mint-condition records (he said he used to have more, but threw most away, and said my aunt would like him to get rid of the rest sometime soon (I told him I'd gladly take his records and player if he didn't want them anymore)). I have yet to hear a proper vinyl rig and this is the closest I've come yet.
The turntable was a Technics full-auto Direct Drive model with some Audio Technica MM cardtridge. A mid-1980's Marantz integrated amp served as both the amp and phonostage. The first half of my listening was done with some Marantz floorstanding speakers which I didn't like a lot (they sounded very muddy, unlike the Marantz bookshelves he had hooked up to his DVD player in the living room which are the best speakers I've heard yet). The second half of my listening was done through some Sony MDR-7505 headphones (V600 drivers in V500 headband/cups, they sounded better than the speakers though despite trying to crush my skull) I found in my uncle's office.
The first record I listened to was The Little River Band - The Net. I have three of the songs on this records on CD, however I did not have the CD with me to compare the album to so I was going off memory. The sound of this record wasn't very impressive, with the vocals being especially rough/grainy and the highs lacking compared to the CD.
The next record I listened to was Toto - Toto IV. The only song I've heard off this record is an MP3 copy of Africa off the CD version (which, again, I didn't have with to compare). Actually, this record revealed both one of the biggest problem, or feature if you want to look at it that way (I can see it both ways), is that you can't just press a button and have the record skip to the next song, so you have to listen to a whole side at a time. Again, on the Africa track (the last on Side 2) my impressions were similar to The Net, though the roughness of the vocals was less aparant.
Following Toto I listened to Welcome to the Real World by Mr. Mister. I have never heard any of the tracks on this album on CD. This record seemed better mastered than The Net and Toto IV, and there was very little grainyness in the vocals. The sound was warm, dynamic, and musical. The music was great, but I was still not extremely impressed with vinyl as a medium (though I could see how some people could enjoy its sound).
Moving on to Meldown by Steve Taylor...
WOW! I don't know if it was the mastering, the headphones (I started listening with the headphones about 1 song in), or the fact that I corrected the speed about half way through (the TT included a built-in speed adjuster that took me a while to find) but this record blew me away. There was no vocal graininess in addition to the music being absolutely fabulous. Then it suddenly hit me: this is what music is suppost to sound like. I like this album so much that I'm going to buy the CD the first chance I get, but I'm afraid I won't enjoy it as much!
The last record I listened to was Boston - Boston which only reinforced my impressions of Meltdown. I can now not imagine listening to rock from the late 70's/early 80's on a digital system, it just doesn't seem quite right.
A very educational experience, and a year from now I predict that I'll be well on the road to becoming a vinyl junkie. The only thing preventing me from buying a turntable now is the fact that I'd have nowhere to put it, or to store the records, and the fact that my younger brother would probably destroy half of them if he ever had the chance to get at them.
NOTE: I'm only 15 so I grew up with CDs as my primary music storage format, though when I was 3 my parents bought me a toy record player on clearence and a whole bunch or children's records from the 60's and 70's at garage sales so I'm not entirely unexposed to vinyl.
Yesterday I went to my aunt and uncle's house, which I do only once per year (we usually celebrate Thanksgiving and X-Mas at either their's or my grandparent's house). When I got there I discovered he had a turn-table and two boxes full of mint-condition records (he said he used to have more, but threw most away, and said my aunt would like him to get rid of the rest sometime soon (I told him I'd gladly take his records and player if he didn't want them anymore)). I have yet to hear a proper vinyl rig and this is the closest I've come yet.
The turntable was a Technics full-auto Direct Drive model with some Audio Technica MM cardtridge. A mid-1980's Marantz integrated amp served as both the amp and phonostage. The first half of my listening was done with some Marantz floorstanding speakers which I didn't like a lot (they sounded very muddy, unlike the Marantz bookshelves he had hooked up to his DVD player in the living room which are the best speakers I've heard yet). The second half of my listening was done through some Sony MDR-7505 headphones (V600 drivers in V500 headband/cups, they sounded better than the speakers though despite trying to crush my skull) I found in my uncle's office.
The first record I listened to was The Little River Band - The Net. I have three of the songs on this records on CD, however I did not have the CD with me to compare the album to so I was going off memory. The sound of this record wasn't very impressive, with the vocals being especially rough/grainy and the highs lacking compared to the CD.
The next record I listened to was Toto - Toto IV. The only song I've heard off this record is an MP3 copy of Africa off the CD version (which, again, I didn't have with to compare). Actually, this record revealed both one of the biggest problem, or feature if you want to look at it that way (I can see it both ways), is that you can't just press a button and have the record skip to the next song, so you have to listen to a whole side at a time. Again, on the Africa track (the last on Side 2) my impressions were similar to The Net, though the roughness of the vocals was less aparant.
Following Toto I listened to Welcome to the Real World by Mr. Mister. I have never heard any of the tracks on this album on CD. This record seemed better mastered than The Net and Toto IV, and there was very little grainyness in the vocals. The sound was warm, dynamic, and musical. The music was great, but I was still not extremely impressed with vinyl as a medium (though I could see how some people could enjoy its sound).
Moving on to Meldown by Steve Taylor...
The last record I listened to was Boston - Boston which only reinforced my impressions of Meltdown. I can now not imagine listening to rock from the late 70's/early 80's on a digital system, it just doesn't seem quite right.
A very educational experience, and a year from now I predict that I'll be well on the road to becoming a vinyl junkie. The only thing preventing me from buying a turntable now is the fact that I'd have nowhere to put it, or to store the records, and the fact that my younger brother would probably destroy half of them if he ever had the chance to get at them.
NOTE: I'm only 15 so I grew up with CDs as my primary music storage format, though when I was 3 my parents bought me a toy record player on clearence and a whole bunch or children's records from the 60's and 70's at garage sales so I'm not entirely unexposed to vinyl.
