Does anyone still listen to records?

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Car'a'carn
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I have been without a proper turntable for probably 30 years and yet... I still have all the albums that were bought in the 70s and 80s. I don't know if I am just feeling nostalgic, or if there really is something to keeping the recordings in the analog realm making them sound better, but lately I have been considering buying a new turntable and spinning up those old records again. So I started looking.

:oops:

Entry level turntables that audiophiles seem to like start at about $500. And go up into the thousands. And all that nifty automatic tone arm control we used to have? That seems to be mostly gone. In other words, the needle gets to the end of the side and you have to manually lift it.

Some people swear by getting used turntables, specifically the Techniques SL-1200 which was made for decades and is apparently widely considered one of the best ever. At least $800 on eBay.

I am still researching and will likely buy something, I am just not sure what yet. So I thought I would see if any of you folks still use turntables.
 
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No, but CDs? Yes. They're more compact and still sound decent enough. Records do sound better though...unless they get all scratched and get skippy.
 
I adore records. back in the day, iirc all of the better turntables quality wise were manual as you describe(it doesn't flip the record). from a market perspective, it makes sense that mostly audiophile quality turntables are being made now.
 
I didn't mean flipping, I just meant automatically lifting the arm off the record when it reaches the end.

There are still a lot of cheap ones out there, but if I am going to get one, I'm not going to go cheap with it.
 
We still do. In fact my son bought a simple record player and is building a nice collection of albums. This is a far cry from when I showed him numerous years ago a record at a used bookstore and he asking me what do you play it on.🤣🤣🤣
 
Yeah I am drilling pretty deep in my research now, but it is amazing to see how much new vinyl is available to buy now. Quite the resurgence.

My first new record album might just be remastered Dark Side of the Moon on 180 gram vinyl.
 
Yeah I am drilling pretty deep in my research now, but it is amazing to see how much new vinyl is available to buy now. Quite the resurgence.

My first new record album might just be remastered Dark Side of the Moon on 180 gram vinyl.
My daughter has a turntable (nothing fancy) and has been buying vinyl. I have yet to get to her apartment to listen to anything but am curious to. We still have vinyl in our basement from way back when too.
 
The difference really shows up on certain albums. I don't think it was more obvious on any album than Paul Simon's Graceland, where the lingering booming drums were night and day different. Dark Side was definitely different as well.
 
I still have my turntable from years back, it seems fine but needs a new cartridge.
The choices and prices on a cartridge / stylus are pretty broad.

I too have a large amount of old vinyl that I would like to revisit.
 
I was reading recently about a 'scandal' in the US where a record enthusiast from Phoenix who owns a vinyl store found out that one of the big producers who make Vinyl records and claimed to only use the analog original tape as the source, was actually using a Digital step!

The company in question, MoFi, claimed to use the below process.


But they then had to amend it to the below!

imrs.php



I love reading about "scandals" like this and how outraged people get, it's such first world angst!

The full story is below.

 
Having been an audiophile most of my life I've run across many like ears who prefer the distortion driven warmth of LP's.

I personally prefer the fidelity of a triple D recording but mileage varies I suppose.

Was just listening to 2 DDD recordings last night. 2 of the first actually. Dire Straits "Brothers In Arms" and the Grateful Deads "In The Dark".

The crystal clarity of those albums grab my attention every time through the muddied sound of many analog recordings which I don't find improve in analog delivery.

I know some artists like Tool who are technically excellent prefer to record in analog and mix in digital for what they say is more flexibility. But I dream of a world where their album Lateralus carried the pristine sound of a DDD recording.

I've heard all 3 on high end turntables and they just don't turn me on like a lossless digital format.

As I said though, mileage varies.

Just my 2 pennies.
 
My daughter has what is left of our whole collection and a cheap record player...99 dollars if I remember correctly.
She still goes to 2nd hand stores looking for albums.
We have a "used book superstore" nearby that does huge business.. and they also deal in vinyl and CD's. They got most of their inventory from donations, basement clean outs and stuff like that. So there's always new stuff showing up.
 
I remember the thrill of buying an Album. Taking your cash as a kid and going to the record store. The great artwork on some of the albums, the smell of it, the pristine vinyl as you played it for the first time. Fantastic.

Remember the great older turntables from the 70s? The HiFi units? The build quality of them was fantastic. The way the volume knob and buttons all seemed to be luxuriously damped and would slowly recess.

And if the unit had a tape deck, if the cassette holder ejected slowly, that was always a sure sign of quality!! Same with ghetto blasters.
 
We have a "used book superstore" nearby that does huge business.. and they also deal in vinyl and CD's. They got most of their inventory from donations, basement clean outs and stuff like that. So there's always new stuff showing up.
Re-Animated records was one of the businesses that got affected by the BLM riots that went through our village.
My cigar shop/Saturday night band venue, also. still hasn't opened back up. I follow them on FB and he keeps saying "stay tuned".
 

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What I been enjoying with my son is introducing him to the albums I own that you might not find readily or he is not familiar with. All his albums so far he has bought second hand. The fun in the hunt or just spending time going through records at a store hasn't gotten old and now he is gets to do it also. But even better when we do it together.
 
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We have a "used book superstore" nearby that does huge business.. and they also deal in vinyl and CD's. They got most of their inventory from donations, basement clean outs and stuff like that. So there's always new stuff showing up.

I used to go to a used record store off Mass Ave for years specifically to by twelve in remixes of my favorite songs.
 
Having been an audiophile most of my life I've run across many like ears who prefer the distortion driven warmth of LP's.

I personally prefer the fidelity of a triple D recording but mileage varies I suppose.

Was just listening to 2 DDD recordings last night. 2 of the first actually. Dire Straits "Brothers In Arms" and the Grateful Deads "In The Dark".

The crystal clarity of those albums grab my attention every time through the muddied sound of many analog recordings which I don't find improve in analog delivery.

I know some artists like Tool who are technically excellent prefer to record in analog and mix in digital for what they say is more flexibility. But I dream of a world where their album Lateralus carried the pristine sound of a DDD recording.

I've heard all 3 on high end turntables and they just don't turn me on like a lossless digital format.

As I said though, mileage varies.

Just my 2 pennies.
I have some CDs I bought in the 80s that were DDD recordings. They sound absolutely fantastic. I've long been a fan.

But here is the thing. Sound and speakers are analog. That wonderful digital signal has to get converted along the way, and as I am sure you know, there is a lot of variability with DACs. And different DACs will make the music sound different.

I'm speaking before I actually have the turntable here, but with a high quality table, Stylus, preamp, and Amp, you are keeping the entire chain in the analog realm and may get a sound that could be superior to any conversion back to analog.

Or maybe I will be disappointed. I don't really know. But it will be fun to find out and enjoy all those old records again anyway.

I've flirted with being an 'audiophile' before, but am reluctant to use the label when I see the kind of money needed for much of the equipment audiophiles use. I certainly like quality, but with everything, there is a price point where you reach diminishing returns.

That LG OLED is a great example of that. The B series is more expensive than most regular TVs that people buy, but it's a huge step up that some wouldn't appreciate. The C series steps it up a little more. Most people who buy an OLED from LG get one of these.

But they have models in the same size ranges that are thousands more (the G series), but at that point, I am not sure the returns are worth the difference.

I feel the same way with audio. I have a high quality higher end AVR, but I know most audiophiles would insist on separates for five times the price.

I will be sure to leave my impressions here once I get everything. One thing is for sure though, I didn't have the quality of equipment in the 80s as is available now, and that might make a big difference.
 
Yeah I am drilling pretty deep in my research now, but it is amazing to see how much new vinyl is available to buy now. Quite the resurgence.

My first new record album might just be remastered Dark Side of the Moon on 180 gram vinyl.

If you haven't already seen it, check out the docu on that album "Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon" on Prime.

Also, I still have a turntable and a few boxes of albums, but I don't use it anymore and just have it in storage.

I used to have a belt-driven turntable that was some German make (can't remember), but it had no auto start or return. All manual. I know it
was considered super-accurate and was expensive then and imagine that it would be moreso now. I don't even remember what happened
to it. I probably gave it away because I couldn't really hear a difference and it was annoying to use.

Wish I still had it and I like the return to vinyl. I was never sold on the hype of CDs when they took over. No scratches, but the sound seemed
fuller (generally) on vinyl.
 
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