Vinyl Records

Slippage · Post edited by Slippage at 2017-04-03 15:44:40

Hi all,

Given the countless comments regarding the SE clear vinyl, I was curious if any of you were really into vinyl records as your go-to home audio experience? I'm fascinated by them, myself, and am growing what I think is quite a nice little collection for a 24-year old. Figured we could use a thread dedicated to vinyl and audiophile discussion and whatnot.

Also, I'm having a dilemma with my record player and wonder if anyone might have some advice. My boyfriend found a pristine Sanyo TP-825D at a yard sale for $25 a couple years ago, and it had a pre-installed Shure M70B cartridge/needle. Recently (ruining my beloved Tracey Chapman record), the needle turned to dust or broke — not sure, as it simply crumbled and vanished into oblivion. Knowing the cartridge itself is poor quality, I'm wondering what to replace it with at a reasonable price (under $100 CDN preferably). Anyone have any ideas? I'm in love with the Ortofon 2M Red, but that's a pipe dream given the price in my currency. The player itself is a highly sought-after masterwork, so I intend to keep it working. Really looking for something that enhances the depth of my records and brings out every little hidden sound. I should add that I'm a total newbie and have no idea how to conduct repairs, etc. on record players. I know how to play the records, lift the arm, and uninstall cartridges but that's it, lol!

Also, my collection so far if anyone's curious:

-All Goldfrapp records except for FM and ST

-Lovely Head, Ooh La La, Strict Machine Part 2, Number 1 singles

-Tomorrow's Harvest (Boards of Canada), which I highly recommend to every single one of you!

-Honeymoon Deluxe (Lana Del Rey)

-Blondie Greatest Hits / Deluxe Redux (Blondie, signed)

-All Enya albums

-Woman (Rhye)

-Rumors, Tusk, Mirage, Tango In The Night (Fleetwood Mac)

-Perfect Dark original soundtrack (limited edition, through iAm8Bit)

-Horizon, A Song For You (Carpenters)

-Eat To The Beat, Parallel Lines (Blondie)

-Memorial (Glenn Miller)

-Tracey Chapman (Tracey Chapman)

-Debut, Post (Bjork)

Feel free to share your collections and recommendations!

Gaelen

Lovely topic, and very nice collection too! From an audiophile point of view, I think some people get a bit confused when it comes to vinyl. I personally wouldn't recommend anyone to listen to albums like Silver Eye, Supernature &a Head First on the format, opting for digital instead. People seem to think vinyl is the be all and end all, when in actual fact sometimes certain things are better heard on formats that can deliver the bandwidth. Things like FLAC for Silver Eye would work wonders, especially through a great hardware setup. Grooves on a disc just don't get the clarity through that does the sound justice. SACD optimised albums are also incredible, especially 5.1 mixes, allowing the song to open up completely and envelop you, truly a next generation experience. It's just a shame these things haven't caught on.

The most obvious love regarding vinyl is the physical and visual aspect of it, for which there isn't anything like it. The 'ritual', as they say.

Could be here all day talking audio, and the many ways you can change things through the process from medium to emitter, through translator. It's all very interesting actually, but as with everything in life, usually pricy too. My ideal speakers would be Bowers & Wilkins' 800 Series Diamonds, but at £16K a set, a bit out my range. That's not including the amp you'd need to drive them either, as well as the army of people you'd need to carry them in.

Slippage · Post edited by Slippage at 2017-04-03 16:31:06

I agree, some electronica-based albums are better suited to digital audio. That being said, I find Head First offers a greater sense of atmosphere and scope on vinyl, particularly on such beauties as Hunt, Dreaming and Rocket. Other albums like Tomorrow's Harvest by Boards of Canada are incredible on vinyl when it comes to playback. Owning the album on iTunes before finding the rare vinyl pressing, I was blown away by the added depth and richness of every little beat and synth press. Really spectacular.

Of course, I don't think something crunchy and hard-edged would offer as vivid a result, and therefore I rely on digital audio for my Crystal Castles and Daft Punk fixes. ;) Not to mention, it's an inexpensive alternative to finding the vinyl. Electronica vinyl commands a high price quite often in my area as it is.

Of course, as Alison put it so well, "there's nothing like having a nice big physical thing in your hands".

Urban_Tribesman

Hey Slip. We had a thread some time ago which started of as Goldfrapp vinyl discussing the possible rerelease of Felt Mountain ( now happened of course) which tumbled off into a general discussion about the virtue of vinyl. No problem with this thread,just thought I would post a link so anyone with a love of vinyl could dip back there as well.
http://forum.goldfrapp.com/discussion/comment/51758#Comment_51758

Anyway, I love vinyl, and have done for many years. I use a Linn Sondek as my player of choice. I bought it in about 1983, so the old gal is over 30 years old now. Previous to it, I had a Rega Planer 3. Amp is a Cyrus III integrated and speakers are Mission floor standing towers. I am a great believer in using large solid copper speaker cables as the currents being delivered from Amos to speakers are very small, so the smaller the resistance between amp and speaker the better. For more on this if you are interested, click that link above.

I am always on the look out for vinyl goodies for the collection. I have all of the 7 Goldfrapp albums on vinyl and among recent acquisitions has been the Human League Anthology, The Who Hits 50, Rolling Stones Blue and Lonesome, Bowie Legacy, Black Star, Bkack Sabbath Ultimate Collection ( 4 discs), Black Sabbath and Paranoid coloured vinyl reissues, Radiohead Moon Shaped Pool ( in the document slip case with the piece of master tape wrapped around it), and the Blondie box set of their first 6 albums among many, many others.
I prefer heavyweight virgin vinyl wherever possible. Some think the weight of vinyl makes no difference but I can assure you, the movements of the stylus on the vinyl are measured in nanometres, so the heavier the vinyl, the less the possibility of reciprocal movement in the vinyl negating the movement of the stylus, ala Newtons 3rd law of motion. Think of this like trying to throw a ball while floating in a pool. Some of the force is lost in propelling you back in the water.
Shall we start on conversation of vinyl verses CD, or analogue verses digital?

Urban_Tribesman

Interesting your protestations about FLAC and 5.1 Gaelen. I remember similar views on Quadraphonic being the future. The most important thing to remember is that the mix that goes onto vinyl is not the same as would be used to produce CD's. A lot of recent vinyl rerelease Have been spoilt because record companies have forgotten this and have simply used mixes for CD's when cutting vinyl instead of having the record remixed from the master tapes to suit the vinyl format.

Gaelen · Post edited by Gaelen at 2017-04-03 17:01:58

Urban_Tribesman said:
Interesting your protestations about FLAC and 5.1 Gaelen. I remember similar views on Quadraphonic being the future. The most important thing to remember is that the mix that goes onto vinyl is not the same as would be used to produce CD's. A lot of recent vinyl rerelease Have been spoilt because record companies have forgotten this and have simply used mixes for CD's when cutting vinyl instead of having the record remixed from the master tapes to suit the vinyl format.

Which is exactly my point, there are some songs that just are physically impossible to replicate in true from for a needle to follow in a groove. Thing is, no studios use analogue equipment anymore, even places like Sarm in London are all digital, the home of Zang Tuum Tuum where massive 80's records recorded on tape were blasted out onto tape & vinyl (e.g Frankie's Relax & Yes' Owner Of A Lonely Heart). 808 State were probably one of the first groups to initialise an obvious appeal to the benefited sound of CD in the late 80's/early 90's.

Vinyl is a gimmick these days, depending on the content.

EDIT: To back up my initial point, imagine dubstep on vinyl, it'd be a distorted warble.

Urban_Tribesman

Sorry, I thought Slip intended this thread as a homage to vinyl, not as a place to try to rubbish it.
Digital music has bought the music industry to its knees. People don't want to pay for music anymore as it is so easy to steal online. Yeah digital is brilliant at somethings. Cannot play vinyl in a car, or walking along the street and it is here that Cd's or downloads are supreme but they forgot that a lot of people actually like to own a physical product, and this is because, at heart, people like to collect things, which is what Slip was alluding to in this thread. It is for that reason that vinyl has made such a strong comeback and the reason that artists realised that through this medium and special releases, they could actually make some cash again out of their music instead of the miserable returns from somewhere like Spotify.
Personally, I usually have all three formats, but the fact that they give you the download when you buy an LP shows what a throw away format the download is.

Gaelen

Urban_Tribesman said:
Sorry, I thought Slip intended this thread as a homage to vinyl, not as a place to try to rubbish it.

Meow.

My points were based around the topic of audiophilia, which was also mentioned in the OP. I'm not outwardly trying to put down vinyl, as I myself love the physical side to it which you also mentioned in your last post from an instinctive point of view to collect things, and do believe it is the quintessential way to listen to certain sounds (e.g, Rickie Lee Jones). From an audiophile perspective, though (not that I am one, by the way) it wouldn't always be that way, homage or not.

I guess it's all relative, feel free to return to opposition-free shrine worshipping :P

Urban_Tribesman

Merci.
Each to his own. I had a mate ( my brother in law to be exact) who only bought stuff on cassette and had a Nakamichi deck at home to play them. Very low Fi in my opinion.
Was never a big fan of the cassette. Only time I ever had a knife pulled on me was over a cassette.
But that's another story....

Urban_Tribesman · Post edited by Urban_Tribesman at 2017-04-04 09:42:54

Some interesting views from Mr Gregory here Gaelen about Silver Eye on vinyl

http://bit.ly/2otoB4t

iuventus · Post edited by iuventus at 2017-04-03 22:02:48

Gaelen said:
Meow.

I guess it's all relative, feel free to return to opposition-free shrine worshipping

Uh oh, Gaelen. Welcome to the dollhouse :)

<3 <3 <3

KatRobin

Doesn't Alison use CDs as plates in her microwave?

Urban_Tribesman

Don't know but probably best avoided. Was there not some comment a few weeks ago about her views on vinyl?

NovaLasing

I love how this topic keeps coming round :)
Personally I was glad to see the back of vinyl, though occasionally miss the artwork a 12" sleeve offers.
The masters are digital so, provided the digital media is well produced, I can't see the point in having an analogue disk with all its limitations. Having said that, some people love the ritual of playing vinyl and it provides extra income for the artists

Gaelen · Post edited by Gaelen at 2017-04-05 12:46:00

Watch out NovaLasing, this is a strictly no bad-mouthing vinyl thread! Run before you get the backhand of pure sass!

Urban_Tribesman said:
Don't know but probably best avoided.

Why can't we discuss things on a website specialised for discussions? It's a bit beyond me, and has my nose out of joint to be honest.

whispered

^As was established on another thread recently, having contrary opinions is one of the things we do best, so please carry on, Gaelen!

Like NovaLasing says ,the cover artwork of a 12" LP was often a joy in itself. I'm not sure how coloured vinyl adds to the attraction, but I do remember many hours spent in Maths lessons at school spent daydreaming myself into the world of Roger Dean's "Greenslade" album.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories