Anyone into Vinyl Records?

[saadibaba]

I got myself a turntable as a gift a few months back and since then has been devouring the local vinyl record stores and buying up new and used vinyl records, building up yet another music collection.

I have hooked up my turntable to my home theatre system so its not ideal but it does give a pretty decent sound. I love the clarity and warmth of the sound compared to MP3 or CD where the sound often has more treble and shrillness to it. Plus, vinyl record, the jacket, art work etc. has such an antique quality to it that you feel like you own something indispensable.

My favorite vinyl record right now is Abbey Road from the Beatles. I've heard all those songs on different formats but vinyl gives the sound almost a magical quality.

Please share your own experience with vinyl records, your collection and other turntable related discussion....

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Gonna start collecting them after second year. Right now focusing on my blu Ray collection. First album I'm probably gonna get is something from The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.

 

[Nostalgic]

I would do it, but it goes against my minimalist sensibilities. My book and music collections are all on the iPhone now, or on "the cloud." Years ago, I would've appreciated dusty dust jackets (pardon the pun) on the books, album artwork, reveled in perusing book and record stores for antiquated gems. In fact, I did just that, years ago. There was a tradition in Pakistan of scribbling your name on the book or album cover, the date of purchase, the place of purchase and so on, and it was a pleasure going through the list, and seeing that someone had, for instance, originally bought the book from Progress Publishers in Moscow in 1956, eventually sold it, and so on and so forth.

But, I've changed. I'm not proud of it, but I have. Digital collections are sterile, but that's the price I've chosen to pay. Minimalism is its own reward. Or something along those lines.

 

[saadibaba]

Gonna start collecting them after second year. Right now focusing on my blu Ray collection. First album I'm probably gonna get is something from The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.

I should start another thread on Blu-Ray DVD collection. I am working on it myself. They have become quite cheap nowadays. I have a good size DVD collection but have been only buying Blu-Ray since they have arrived. I have a few 3D DVD's as well as my TV/DVD player can play 3D.

I fear that in a few years another superior form of DVD will arrive and then I will be forced to move to that format. That is why in a way I appreciate collecting Vinyl records as they have already been there for a while, have stayed and now are making a resurgence among music enthusiasts.

 

[saadibaba]

I would do it, but it goes against my minimalist sensibilities. My book and music collections are all on the iPhone now. Years ago, I would've appreciated dusty dust jackets (pardon the pun) on the books, album artwork, reveled in perusing book and record stores for antiquated gems. In fact, I did just that, years ago. There was a tradition in Pakistan of scribbling your name on the book or album cover, the date of purchase, the place of purchase and so on, and it was a pleasure going through the list, and seeing that someone had, for instance, originally bought the book from Progress Publishers in Moscow in 1956, eventually sold it, and so on and so forth.

But, I've changed. I'm not proud of it, but I have. Digital collections are sterile, but that's the price I've chosen to pay. Minimalism is its own reward. Or something along those lines.

I am not sure if digitalizing of books and music should be called minimalism or modernization. I guess minimalism is a more palatable term. To be honest, I have tons of music on digital format as well along with a few books so can't say that I am totally immune to this trend. Its convenient and portable, there is really no other substitution for it.

Since my record player is set up in our TV/home theatre room, taking the time out to go put on a record and sit their listening to music requires more time and commitment. But it also prevents me from listening to music passively or while multi-tasking which is what I end up doing with the digital format. In a away, it helps wean me off my phone and laptop and brings some semblance of calm and clarity in my life. But then again, I don't get the luxury of doing this as often as I would like to.

 

[Nostalgic]

I am not sure if digitalizing of books and music should be called minimalism or modernization. I guess minimalism is a more palatable term. To be honest, I have tons of music on digital format as well along with a few books so can't say that I am totally immune to this trend. Its convenient and portable, there is really no other substitution for it.

Since my record player is set up in our TV/home theatre room, taking the time out to go put on a record and sit their listening to music requires more time and commitment. But it also prevents me from listening to music passively or while multi-tasking which is what I end up doing with the digital format. In a away, it helps wean me off my phone and laptop and brings some semblance of calm and clarity in my life. But then again, I don't get the luxury of doing this as often as I would like to.

Minimalism is the art of paring down material possessions to the bare minimum. Digital collections fit perfectly into that philosophy. No paper books, no vinyl records. So yes, digitizing them is modernization, but its also minimalism, since one device serves as the portal to now-digitized resources that were once discrete, physical entities.

 

[Black Zero]

Onc can always use lossless formats (i. e. FLAC)
One can always adjust the "warmth" at receiver.

 

[Nostalgic]

Onc can always use lossless formats (i. e. FLAC)
One can always adjust the "warmth" at receiver.

You'll have to admit though, the vintage vibe, the romance, just isn't there without a properly scratched up vinyl record and an old school record player. I say this in spite of not owning any vinyl records, or non-vinyl ones for that matter.

 

[Suleiman]

I was actually thinking of getting something unique to put in the house and this was one idea. Another was a disco ball and the third idea was a pin ball machine or one of those game stations at an arcade, it would be costly though. If you know an arcade guy let me know.

 

[saadibaba]

Minimalism is the art of paring down material possessions to the bare minimum. Digital collections fit perfectly into that philosophy. No paper books, no vinyl records. So yes, digitizing them is modernization, but its also minimalism, since one device serves as the portal to now-digitized resources that were once discrete, physical entities.

From a physical sense yes, but purely from a technical aspect, Vinyl record player is probably more minimalistic or basic in its functioning. You have tin foil wrapped cylinder called a diaphragm attached to a needle. The vibration made as the needle goes through the spiral grooves of the record gets transmitted to the diaphragm which itself vibrates creating sound. Compared that to MP3 files which turns sound into streams of numbers/digits to store and play.

 

[saadibaba]

I was actually thinking of getting something unique to put in the house and this was one idea. Another was a disco ball and the third idea was a pin ball machine or one of those game stations at an arcade, it would be costly though. If you know an arcade guy let me know.

Disco ball sounds like the best option out of those three.

 

[Robert]

I stopped buying vinyl in 1991. I still have my 35 year old turntable though but almost never listen to it. I could probably sell my hundreds of LPs on eBay instead of having them take up loft space. Never understood why some people think vinyl sounds better. Not to my ears!

 

[Salman]

Buying records, DJ'ing was my no.1 hobbie between 1994-1999, house, hiphop, rnb, reggae, jungle, early uk garage, old school uk bhangra, even had old 70's bollywood LP's like sholay and qurbani to mess about with in my collection, sold off just about everything to between friends back then when i started to settle down with wifey and kids.

Still have my original Technics sl1210 turntables that are selling for an absolute mint these days, they never drop in price, just keep going up, also acquired a pair of numarks a while back really cheap, everything is stored away in the attic in boxes hardly see any daylight unless the wife is out for a while (she hates them), last time i got them out was a few weeks back to start coaching the boy early.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Buying records, DJ'ing was my no.1 hobbie between 1994-1999, house, hiphop, rnb, reggae, jungle, early uk garage, old school uk bhangra, even had old 70's bollywood LP's like sholay and qurbani to mess about with in my collection, sold off just about everything to between friends back then when i started to settle down with wifey and kids.

Still have my original Technics sl1210 turntables that are selling for an absolute mint these days, they never drop in price, just keep going up, also acquired a pair of numarks a while back really cheap, everything is stored away in the attic in boxes hardly see any daylight unless the wife is out for a while (she hates them), last time i got them out was a few weeks back to start coaching the boy early.

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Reminds me of the days when DJ's used to scratch the records backwards and forwards for effect. Probably the only unique musical asset that vinyl brings. I know there is a growing movement for vinyl, same as in paper books over digital, but with records I think it is more nostalgia than practical. I am not enough of a music snob to notice the difference in quality of sound, so for me the main attraction would be the physical product itself. A collection of paper books or vinyl records is something real in your hands and on your shelves, and that is nice to have. Personally though I just don't want that stuff taking up space and the convenience factor of digital is just more practical for me.

 

[saadibaba]

I stopped buying vinyl in 1991. I still have my 35 year old turntable though but almost never listen to it. I could probably sell my hundreds of LPs on eBay instead of having them take up loft space. Never understood why some people think vinyl sounds better. Not to my ears!

Thanks to people like you who have grown out of vinyl, there are tons of used vinyl records on sale now in stores and online which is great for people like me. Like they say, one man's loss is another man's gain.

 

[saadibaba]

I see people not finding any real qualitative difference between vinyl record versus CD/MP3 sound. To me there is definite difference. Its hard to explain but vinyl records sound warmer and deeper to me. I was listening to a Steely Dan record the other day, they are considered masters of sound quality and precision. It was a used pretty beat up record but the sound was just amazing. Depends on the sound system as well I'm sure. I actually prefer oldies. I think the richness and warmth really comes across on records from the 70's. I do own records from newer bands as well but those records sound similar to CD/MP3 to me. I don't know why.