I found a stash of old vinyl records collected over the years and which I didn’t want to part with back in the day, in the attic last year. A budget turntable with built-in speakers arrived from Amazon at the weekend and I am amazed at the sound quality and immensely pleasurable experience of listening to long-forgotten LPs.
What strikes me is that I have some of this music on CDs but it’s just not the same, there’s somehow an increased depth despite the occasional dust crackles. It’s also somehow easier to just move a stylus. I’ve heard people say this before but I didn’t realise just how short-changed we are with CDs and electronic sound.
Is it just me or do others feel this way/ still have their record collections and stereos?
(listening to Vivaldi’s 4 seasons as I type - bliss!)
I think this is an old argument with music aficionados when CD’s became main stream. Vinyl’s when played on a good quality system will out perform a CD, being analogue with a higher bandwidth amplifier. Problem with vinyl was they are prone to scratches and will wear down with continual wear and must be kept with reasonable care to prevent warping as well as having to constantly deal with dust.
CD’s were designed to eliminate all the problems which came with vinyl and were supposed to give high performance repeatedly along with a tolerance for scratches and eliminate noise such as turntable rumble and variances in playback speed, which was the bane of vinyl players. There was also this thing where CD’s were supposedly extremely hard to copy and eliminate ‘bootlegging’ of vinyl (at least in the early days of CD production).
Nowadays, vinyl seems to be undergoing a bit of a renaissance with sales escalating over CD’s. Unfortunately, whilst a lot of albums are being rereleased onto vinyl, you can’t seem buy a decent record player/amplifier to get the full vinyl sound reproduction you once did. I remember when record players or “radiograms” had valve amplifiers and had an amazing sound, which would be hard to find today.
I still have a small stash of vinyl albums put away and would love to hear them again and would really love to get hold of a decent player to hear them again and maybe one of those players which will convert vinyl to CD or mp3 format to add them to my collection. Problem is, I would only need it once and it doesn’t justify the expense of buying one.
I bought this turntable - no facility to convert to MP3 or CD format but you can listen to MP3 on it via bluetooth. The sound quality from the built in speakers is very good but you can also connect it to external. The downside is that the build quality is very cheap and it’s very lightweight. The cable length is just about a metre (if that). But for under £60 it does what it says on the tin and has very good sound quality. Not sure how long it will last or whether the stylus can be changed (or even where to buy one!). So you do have to be very careful with it but then of course you have to be very careful with the records too. It’s amazing how well they have survived attic storage for years.
It’s making me want to buy more vinyl music. A completely different experience. Yes CDs were the thing and now you struggle to find a player. I’ve had to keep an old spec flat screen tv just to watch old DVDs because they are rubbish on HD tellies. The old tech is best.
I recently threw out the tower style Sony entertainment system which had a turntable, radio and tape decks because it had not survived attic storage. Salvage sales & repair might be big business in future years.
I agree with you @AnnieS (or at least I used to) I still play my records occasionally however after half a lifetime in heavy industry my hearing is stuffed and I can no longer even tell the difference between an MP3 recorded at the lowest quality and the original CD.
So annoying when I think back to the money I spent on turntables and HiFi to enjoy every nuance of my records.
It appears that I have lost the ability to hear a lot of high frequency sounds, my son’s recording of his ship using sonar was a blank tape to me (I thought it was a prank)
My hearing aids did improve matters slightly but as I never wear them and have currently mislaid them they are not much use.
That’s a shame Bruce. Music is such a pleasure when you are older.
You have my sympathies because I know what it’s like to have problems with hearing. I had a temporary problem for a couple of years at least. Breaking up some old kitchen tiles too loudly. I could hear but it was difficult to tell which direction a sound came from and certain tones sounded the same within a range. Other sounds were louder than before, I could feel the vibration inside my ear with some. It was very stressful at the time. It seems to have resolved somewhat now, but I had an ear infection in the same ear at the time and I’m swimming almost every day now and have noticed it’s sensitive when water gets in. So perhaps it was perforated slightly. It’s all the blinkin’ council’s fault. The rubbish dump won’t take any construction materials so I was breaking them up to throw into bin bags. Also managed to badly injure my hand in the process when a shard ricocheted. The moral of the story is always wear gloves, earplugs and goggles if you have a hammer in your hand.
Even if the hearing isn’t perfect I think it’s a nice ritual taking the record carefully out of the sleeve and placing it on the turntable. I have a special velvety record dusting thing that I bought from woolworth’s all those years ago and kept just in case. I also found a stylus cleaning kit in a cupboard of useful old stuff. Just watching the arm slowly move across the record as it plays is somehow therapeutic and comforting.
On the same sort of theme occasionally run all of your tapes through so as to avoid print-through. That goes for all magnetic tape recordings, audio as well as VHS etc. Print-through - Wikipedia
I no longer have the equipment to listen to tapes so had to chuck them out. Although I’ve read/heard that people are going back to that method as it cannot be tracked by modern technology. Typewriters, fax machines in some places are making a comeback for security reasons.
I agree, I still enjoy my music, though even before my hearing was bad I did notice that some of my Rolling Stones records in particular were starting to sound as if they were just a singer and drums, through over use I suspect.
Mind you I would not be without Spotify!
Politicians, I notice in particular, are very fond of Fax machines.
I don’t know but I don’t think so, I suspect it is more to do with things like the weight of the playing arm, quality of stylus etc.
My Thorens decks had arms where the stylus only pressed down with a few grams but they cost a fortune, my first wife had one of those 3 in 1 players, god only knows how heavy that arm was, absolutely no counterweights.
CDs were a bit of let down, they promised that they were indestructible, would play even if scratched etc. All untrue
I don’t have LP’s to compare these days,my hearing is not that good anyway.
Neil Young has always maintained that analogue recordings have a richer, warmer sound compared to digital.
I never did give up on compact cassette tapes and I still occasionally but a batch of TDK SA-X 90 blank tapes for my home recording. The last pack of 15 that I bought cost me £54.99 for these excellent high bias pro grade tapes.
occasionally run all of your tapes through so as to avoid print-through. That goes for all magnetic tape recordings, audio as well as VHS etc.