Topic: Vinyl Rig- Regret Selling?

[scervin]

Now that I have had the Squeezebox running for a month or so, I really enjoy the convenience of having my music collection in my hand.  The sound from vinyl (most) is great, but the maintence can be a PITA.  Another issues I have is with the cost of good vinyl.  I've purchased used, but only a couple of these used records were in good shape.  Not sure I trust even those selling used vinyl on Agon.  When I find the new copies of an album, they are at least 2x the price of the CD.  That means I can be buying twice the music and now when listening to Slacker radio when cleaning the garage, I find myself wanting a ton of new music.

Anyway, anyone regret selling their vinyl? 

My rig:
Rega P3 / Elys II
Cambridge Audio 640p
VH Audio Pulsar
Marantz SR7002

SC

[nickgregory]

I ahve a squeezebox too and love it...and use it probably 80% of the time...but I love being able to break out the vinyl and listen to it at times as it just sounds better.  Add to it the audio files I create for my SB3, the vinyl conversions sound better than the CD conversions...

Last thought, I think some of the new music releases just sound better on the vinyl counterpart, than the CD...the REM example is a good one, the CD is bitter and harsh...the vinyl just sounds  better...

bottom line, a mix of both realms is good...I love having access to music all over the house and also having access to high quality vinyl when I want to hear it

[scervin]

Appreciate the comments!  I agree with what has been said, and I'm in the same boat as Nick (except my team won the Cup this year  ) in that I'm 80% SB Duet.  The the vinyl sounds so full and smooth, but i can't help thinking that the $$$ I have in that part of the system could be better used (a small chunck of my new speakers that will arrive soon). 

I'll be doing some testing today with some of my better sounding LP's.  Here is the A vs. B list:
-Dire Straits Brother in Arms 200g vs. SACD 2 channel version
-Alice in Chains Jar of Flies
-SRV Texas Flood 200g vs. SACD

I'll let you all know what I find since you might be able to pick up some nice vinyl gear and LP's at a good price 

SC

[run_run_run]

I am on a low playback budget and am loving the vinyl. I have a local place where I can get allot of good used cheap albums. Ifs 70s or latter for the most part single albums 3.99-10ish. Even Beatles Ruber Soul and up, pretty nice copes 20-35 bucks. 

[George]

I currently have a Rega P3 with a grado gold cart and it does sound stellar, but I personally find my rig layout not to be the most conducive, plus...I've been getting the urge to sell the P3 and downgrade since I feel that its overkill for what I own and frankly, it lacks that warmth I'm used to hearing with vinyl. 

[scervin]

I currently have a Rega P3 with a grado gold cart and it does sound stellar, but I personally find my rig layout not to be the most conducive, plus...I've been getting the urge to sell the P3 and downgrade since I feel that its overkill for what I own and frankly, it lacks that warmth I'm used to hearing with vinyl. 

I love the warmth and the "big sound", but I can get most of that with a tube pre and my new open baffle speakers should help with the "big sound".  I really feel the thought of selling off my vinyl is mainly due to the ease of the SB.  When I had to get up to change discs it was the same as getting and changing the record, but now I can listen to an entire album, w/o having to flip and can go to the next w/o getting up.  I'll soon have a fully modded Duet and possibly a Dodson DAC and tube pre.  Still need to figure this all out.  Having the turntable will determine which pre I end up with (Modwright 9.0 or Belles 28a).

SC

[nickgregory]

Appreciate the comments!  I agree with what has been said, and I'm in the same boat as Nick (except my team won the Cup this year  ) in that I'm 80% SB Duet.  The the vinyl sounds so full and smooth, but i can't help thinking that the $$$ I have in that part of the system could be better used (a small chunck of my new speakers that will arrive soon). 

I'll be doing some testing today with some of my better sounding LP's.  Here is the A vs. B list:
-Dire Straits Brother in Arms 200g vs. SACD 2 channel version
-Alice in Chains Jar of Flies
-SRV Texas Flood 200g vs. SACD

I'll let you all know what I find since you might be able to pick up some nice vinyl gear and LP's at a good price 

SC

congrats on the wings btw

fwiw, I probably would never sell my vinyl (media and rig) until the day when I sit down to listen to vinyl and am not blown away

[Sanjay]

One day, your HD will die, you'll get sick of staring a screen, you'll want something physical for your kids to discover music by.  You will wish you still had your vinyl.

I wouldn't trade mine for the world, even though I love my sb.

[Kyle]

aaahhh, vinyl

Running a P1 into a Sony STR-D790 receiver - not exactly top end but it seems a bit silly to run the tt into the 3000es - need a good analog amp

Picked up a very decent Allman's 'Eat a Peach' yesterday used for $6! Woohoo!! Not absolutely perfect, but very clean overall. I will have to do some research as to what pressing I have.

Mountain Jam time...

perfect for a sunny Tuesday afternoon....

[boojum]

I still have my record player.  That's a "vinyl rig, right?  I haven't used it in 10 years, at least.  I, too, have about six linear feet of records.  I got tired of the distortion inherent in the medium: wow, flutter, inner groove highs distorted, surface noise, wear, off-center albums, scratches, dust, having to clean the damned things before each use, making sure there is no glop on the needle, but I digress.  Oh, yeah, and having to turn the record over every 20 minutes or so.  What fun.

But this is such an endless chant, the analog vs digital.  I pay my money and make my choices.  I guess you do, too.  I wonder how  many LP's today are recorded digitally and mixed into analog pressings?   

If I want that much ritual and parephenalia in my life I'll go back to doing dope.

[nickgregory]

I wonder how  many LP's today are recorded digitally and mixed into analog pressings

I cant answer this but I can say in cases where I compare the analog release to the digital one in alot of cases, the analog one is better..simply because it isnt compressed to hell...REM - Accelerate fits this bill perfectly

[boojum]

Actually analog is more compressed as it does not have the dynamic range that digital does. I think that the analog stuff has about a 60 dB dynamic range.  Sixteen bit has ~90 dB and twenty-four bit has ~120 dB range.

LP's have to be compressed after that to limit groove excursion, especially when the tracks are towards the inner part of the LP and there is even less space to play with.  If you are listening to rock all bets are off as there is so much screwing around in the mastering phase that while digital has much more dynamic range it will be compressed so it all sounds loud.  That is a function of the mastering process, presumably dictated by the folks in marketing (Make it louder!) and not the medium.  In acoustic music when it is not compressed digital will always have a greater dynamic range for the reasons I gave above.

Analog will "sound nicer" much as a soft focus lens can make a photo "look nicer."  It will not be as accurate.  The real fine ribbon mics of yesteryear roll off ~15 kHz as do many of the recordings.  That sweet sound is quite often a high-end rolloff.  The art of digital recording is to get a sweet sound from more accurate equipment.  And it is not always easy.  If you can, get s split for a pair of mics and run one feed to analog and the other to digital at the same gig and see what you get.

[Tim]

But this is such an endless chant, the analog vs digital.  I pay my money and make my choices.  I guess you do, too.  I wonder how  many LP's today are recorded digitally and mixed into analog pressings?   

fewer and fewer

besides, I think most vinyl junkies collections are made up of older records which were recorded completely in the analog realm.

Can I ask how much of your time in the military was spent firing weapons etc. without hearing protection? Serious question. You are very outspoken about the subtleties of audio and audio gear and yet one would have to wonder about the condition of someones ears who was in the military decades ago. No offense intended, it's just something I've wondered about for some time. 

[boojum]

I was a radio operator.  I qualified out in the open during Basic training.  I served in France; we didn't do no shootin'.

Regardless of the quality of my hearing the physics of analog recordings remains the same.  Limited dynamic range, rolled off highs, subdued bass, distortion towards the center of the LP due to the "pinch" effect, and the usual problems with wow, flutter, off-center, surface noise and wear.  Every time you play an LP you degrade it.  The "super serious" types used to record a new LP and then shelve the LP.  Oh, the days of analog recordings.  There is no mystique or sweet cachet to LP's for me.

I listened to LP's from 1954 until about 1994.  I got a pretty good idea about how they sound in that period of time.  I went with them from mono to stereo, to magnetic cartridges, moving coil and moving magnet, and increasingly better playback.  When CD's came out, even the first ones which were not recorded all that well, I was able to hear tight, full bass, highs up to 20KHz, no surface noise or any other LP distortion.  It was a huge jump forward.  LP's can sound "more lush" and so on.  It is a euphonious distortion.  I think of a well recorded LP as I do of a soft focus lens: flattering but not necessarily accurate.  And I have LP's from 1954 (Ravel's Bolero, Berlioz Le Corsair) and on forward.  Some very well recorded ones, for their time.  The RCA Victory at Sea album is an excellent recording.  CD's may not sound as lush, but they sound more accurate.  That is my experience when recording and playing back the digital WAV file at the site.

However, for any number of reasons you may prefer LP's.  That is a good thing that you find pleasure in them.  I sure do not begrudge you or anybody else the pleasure of LP's.  I prefer CD's and am quite happy to explain why.

No harm; no foul.

Cheers

[boojum]

Moke - 

I had the LP a week habit, too.  Back when Angel was $3.49 and CBS and RCA and London were $3.98.  I bought them with money from my paper route and money I skimmed from what my mother gave me for lunch money in HS.  Ah, the days of petty crime.

Early CD's were not very good as the people doing the recording used the same techniques and mics as they had for LP's which pushed the highs.  As hardware and technique improved so did the sound.  You like digital, as you listen to that almost exclusively.  Your own stuff.   

I have a lot of LP's, but I did not do the LP>tape transfer.  I ignored cassettes entirely as a kludged medium.  It was pushed to its limit, and then some.  Nak with its self-aligning heads and so on.

I may just hook up the old player and listen to "some of the wax" as they used to say.  And that Victory at Sea is a great recording.  And Ansermet on London with L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romand was a series of great, lush works, mostly romantic.  I'll see if I can find him on CD.   <---  joking.     

L8R