|
|
Post by Ben on Aug 26, 2015 1:56:01 GMT 2
...has totally sucked me in. I have an old turntable I snagged from a yard sale years ago. It didn't take much to dust it off and get it running again. From the moment one of my favorite oldies hit my ears I was hooked. Now I'm spending 4 times what I would on CDs to get my favorite albums on vinyl.
And you know what? It isn't just a marketing ploy. That shit sounds incredible. I've done a side-by-side comparison where I listen to an album on CD through the same sound system right before hitting the vinyl, and there's usually a pretty noticeable difference in quality.
So what about you guys? Vinyl fans/users, or are you convinced "better quality" is all a hoax?
|
|
|
|
Post by trashcanman on Aug 26, 2015 18:47:35 GMT 2
The better quality is no hoax and any true music fan knows it. It's instantly noticeable, no side-by-side necessary. I haven't been sucked in because I have like zero room for it and a family who does not appreciate music so I do most of my listening at work or in my car. But yeah, old-school is no joke. I wonder why it is that they can't reproduce that smoothness of tone on a CD or file?
|
|
|
|
Post by The Curmudgeon on Aug 27, 2015 13:33:28 GMT 2
I would LOVE to be into vinyl. Love to. I'm such a completist nut though that I'd make myself bankrupt trying to get everything.
I think it adds a whole dimension to listening to music that MP3's and streams just can't capture. Holding a vinyl in your hand, putting the record on the deck, hearing that needle hit... yeah, I get it. One thing, petty as it sounds, that has always bugged me about vinyl? When they're stacked together in a row they look like shit. Scabby looking sleeves where you can't even see what the title is unless you take it off the shelf. Ugh. Unclean.
One thing I have noticed regarding sound quality on a CD and MP3 is listening to them through my Bose system, a gift from Mrs C. It's an odd, backwards set-up where I buy the CD, convert it onto iTunes (breaking the law, breaking the law) and transfer it onto my phone, which I then sync to the Bose system. Shit sounds incredible.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ben on Aug 31, 2015 0:43:09 GMT 2
I'm not sure what the science is behind the loss of quality in digital forms and stuff (other than file compression, I guess), but I did see a really interesting video once upon a time that isolated the sounds that are lost when a song is converted to an mp3. It was pretty incredible; the leftovers are just a ghost of the original.
My wallet is definitely feeling the pinch, Curmudgeon. I'm generally disciplined enough to only pick out what's on sale, but the world of vinyl preys on me with limited pressings and special editions. I have to force myself not to buy them all. It definitely caters to collectors. The good news, I suppose, is that if cared for properly, vinyl can actually appreciate in value. But that's a whole world in itself- even though a record is just a big hunk of plastic, I've been told that it isn't proper to store the things in paper sleeves (which most are packaged in out of the plant) because the chemicals on the paper can corrode the disc over time. Don't touch it with your fingers either. Don't clean it without solution. Don't do this, don't do that. It's kind of daunting, and yet I have an original Cars record from the 70s that sounds fine. So I'm not sure what to think about how much effort to put into cleaning them.
No doubt they look like crap on the shelf. That bothers me too, especially when I've got some that are loose in those big plastic sleeves. What a mess. Still worth the bump in quality though. No lie, on some records I've heard things I've never heard in a hundred listens on my Ipod. There's nothing quite like experiencing one of your favorite albums on vinyl for the first time.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Curmudgeon on Sept 1, 2015 12:06:30 GMT 2
Huh? So if you can't store it in the paper sleeves it comes in, where are you supposed to put it?
|
|
|
|
Post by Ben on Sept 2, 2015 19:12:29 GMT 2
I buy paper sleeves lined with plastic, which is supposedly the proper way to store them. Normally, I'd think they're just trying to get me to spend more money on pointless add-ons, but I can get 25 of those sleeves for $2 at any record store, so I have to believe there's something to it.
|
|
