So I got my first record player...

[Tortuga]

Sony, belt driven, from BestBuy.

I've wanted one for awhile, I love the warm sound you get from an LP, it sounds much more organic to my ears than a CD. This isn't to spark debate though haha, I'm sure that could get pretty intense. I've just been appreciating the blue album from the beatles in a way i've never heard it before, it's pretty awesome.

oh and 1$ used records FTW. Got Hemispheres for a dollar aswell haha.

[lambro]

I used to listen to the Beatles "blue" on my Gerrard turntable in the 70's

the more you understand why vinyl sounds better than a CD, the less you will be able to tolerate mp3's

LPs are the full spectrum of sound and the conversion is caused by a strong physical occurrence, the diamond vibrating in the LP grooves

CD's are missing information, sampled at 44.1Khz/sec, they do not translate all the info, so if you drew a bell curve of the true sound, the CD would cut stair steps out of the curve, essentially robbing the music of that extra breathing quality

Sgt Peppers and Electric Lady Land are the two prime examples

[markjazzbassist]

i love listening to records, great stuff

i have the same newer sony belt driven record player as well

[pbass2]

I have 3 different turntables--my wife thinks I'm crazy.
There's the Technics 1200 with the Stanton Mixer in the studio, a beater old no-name in the den and a pretty decent Pioneer with a very nice Ortophon cartridge in the living room. Oh yeah, crates of vinyl too. I love the convenience of digital formats, but man, gimme vinyl anyday . . .

[Tortuga]

Yeah, agreed with the full spectrum of sound. I wanna hear some of my Miles Davis cd's on vinyl, I can only imainge how much space would be in those recordings...

Oh, and on the subject of digital formats, I noticed a lot of modern records are including .mp3 versions of the album with a purchase of the vinyl album...best of both worlds to me.

[Foxworthy925]

Hey, any of you guys have advice for a nice, entry level record player for a highschool student?

[markjazzbassist]

Originally Posted by Foxworthy925

Hey, any of you guys have advice for a nice, entry level record player for a highschool student?

i bought my Sony at Best Buy for under $200 new. If you want cheap, go to thrift stores, they have tons of them. You might have to take it into a record shop to get a new needle or get serviced, but it'll be cheap as hell

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by lambro

I used to listen to the Beatles "blue" on my Gerrard turntable in the 70's

the more you understand why vinyl sounds better than a CD, the less you will be able to tolerate mp3's

LPs are the full spectrum of sound and the conversion is caused by a strong physical occurrence, the diamond vibrating in the LP grooves

CD's are missing information, sampled at 44.1Khz/sec, they do not translate all the info, so if you drew a bell curve of the true sound, the CD would cut stair steps out of the curve, essentially robbing the music odf that extra breathing quality

Sgt Peppers and Electric Lady Land are the two prime examples

Originally Posted by Tortuga

Yeah, agreed with the full spectrum of sound. I wanna hear some of my Miles Davis cd's on vinyl, I can only imainge how much space would be in those recordings...

Oh, and on the subject of digital formats, I noticed a lot of modern records are including .mp3 versions of the album with a purchase of the vinyl album...best of both worlds to me.

While I agree with you that MP3's sound horrible and lifeless, there is nothing inherent to vinyl that makes it a "better" format than CD's--which are a completely different beast to MP3's.
The idea that vinyl represents the full spectrum of sound by virtue of being analog is completely incorrect. In fact, CD has a wider range of db reproduction available to it (IIRC, vinyl has something like 70db, and a CD has 90-ish)

But none of that matters, because vinyl, just like CD, or tape, or eight-track, can be the victim of poor mastering, or a lousy transfer, or a poor source, or... and so on, and so on. As far as I can tell, just as in the bass-playing world, when it comes to being an audiophile and using audiophile equipment, most people are listening with their eyes. Yes, different formats have different auras, and different vibes, and different effects on the emotional psyche of a human being, but all factors in the mixing, the recording, the mastering and the playback being equal, there is nothing about vinyl that makes it better than a CD, besides emotional value. Oh, and the hisses and pops.

So as much as I'd love to agree and say that "vinyl is best" I think the thing that matters most about vinyl is the ritual that goes into putting a record on and really sitting down to listen to it. It puts a real meaning behind the music, instead of an MP3, which is simply a faceless, formless file.


In other words, I tend to think of the emotional attachment in this way:
an mp3 is for stealing
a CD is for your car
and vinyl is for your "listening zone"

There's just something special about a square foot of album-art and liner notes you can read from a distance

edit:
also, the "warmth" we associate with vinyl is actually infidelity in the sonic recreation. But, to many of us (me included, I'm not trying to hate on vinyl here, just dispel some rumors), this is something that sounds good to our ears.

Actually, the vinyl discussion reminds me a lot of the classic tube amps--they're heavy as hell, they require much more maintenance, the technology is old and (arguably) outdated, but people still love 'em for the sound they make.

[Thangfish]

Originally Posted by lambro

Sgt Peppers and Electric Lady Land are the two prime examples

Robin Trower:
-Twice Removed From Yesterday
-For Earth Below

[lambro]

[quote=Deluge Of Sound;5460072]While I agree with you that MP3's sound horrible and lifeless, there is nothing inherent to vinyl that makes it a "better" format than CD's--which are a completely different beast to MP3's.
The idea that vinyl represents the full spectrum of sound by virtue of being analog is completely incorrect. In fact, CD has a wider range of db reproduction available to it (IIRC, vinyl has something like 70db, and a CD has 90-ish)
**************************************
Sorry Deluge but you do not have this right

First off we are not talking about which is a better format we are talking about which sounds better, and we all know LPs deteriorate.

2nd, wider dynamic range is irrelevant, I am talking about DATA missing due to the sampling rate. LPs do not have that problem. CD's have missing data, end of story. Sampling at 44.11khz does not translate the full source, never will.

[andrewd]

If you're looking for a great sounding record, try to find "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" by Genesis. It's the last one with Peter Gabriel.

As much as I love vinyl, I still enjoy a full quality CD or FLAC encoded file. FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is different from MP3 in that it only takes out what isn't there. It's the same quality as a redbook audio CD. If you use iTunes, the Apple Lossless encoding option is the same idea as FLAC.

[PWRL]

I love finding old, cheap records and listening to them, simply for the whole experience. I like going to thrift stores and rummage sales, finding some old record that looks interesting and then taking it home and seeing what it is. It's just a fun thing to do. I don't care if they're old and scratchy or whatever. Sometimes I like an old scratchy record. It's just fun. Sometimes I find some gems, sometimes I strike out. Then, if I really like it I'll burn it onto CD. Sometimes I find old bootlegs here and there that you can't find on CD very easily, if at all.
At least around here, most vinyl is still remarkably cheap. What I particularly enjoy finding are old Folkways albums. I have a great Leadbelly one with liner notes written by Woody Guthrie.
I don't think any one medium is any better than any other, with the exception of 8-tracks, I suppose. They all have their own ups and downs.

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by lambro

Sorry Deluge but you do not have this right

First off we are not talking about which is a better format we are talking about which sounds better, and we all know LPs deteriorate.

2nd, wider dynamic range is irrelevant, I am talking about DATA missing due to the sampling rate. LPs do not have that problem. CD's have missing data, end of story. Sampling at 44.11khz does not translate the full source, never will.

I'm assuming you're not familiar with Nyquist's theory, and you just tell yourself that the missing data sounds different to keep you warm at night.

[fenderhutz]

Meh. Purists.

Just remember paying more for audio cables makes your stereo sound better too