Return of Vinyl Records

jonbeeza

jonbeeza

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Seems there is a return of Vinyl, and Tesco now sells Records. It seems the sale of CDs is down 8% while Downloads are down by 9% , but Vinyl is up by 65% really? I have long binned my old Vinyl and HI FI system, maybe I should have kept them. Are people really buying Vinyl Records? I was wondering, what will people play the records on? Surely you cant by a record player any longer, just had a look, and yes you can still by turn tables brand new.
 
Yup they are, more and more people are buying them, HMV sell quite a selection.

My daughter has mine all around the ceiling/picture rail decorating her room. she is waiting to get a record player although i have said i may chip in as i'd like to use it too.
Thing is as more people buy them the price will rocket, car boots and stuff are the place to look
 
Loved listening to my Vinyl through earphones, really distinct sound. Provided there were not too may bad scratches :)
 
picture discs and coloured vinyl used to be exciting and magical, not sure I'd like to go back to crackles and jumps though. What next, black and white tellies :eek:
 
BruceMo said:
picture discs and coloured vinyl used to be exciting and magical, not sure I'd like to go back to crackles and jumps though. What next, black and white tellies :eek:
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You might remember the crackles and jumps - I remember the vastly superior sound.

Unless you're only listening to FLAC using really good kit - then I remember the 'slightly' superior sound ;)
 
Trouble is, vinyl is not very practical. You had to keep the records clean, and keep an eye on that needle. If you were dancing to your records in your bedroom, or other activity, sudden jumps could get the needle to jump from the groove ;)
 
Phil V said:
You might remember the crackles and jumps - I remember the vastly superior sound compared to digital.

Unless you're only listening to FLAC using really good kit - then I remember the 'slightly' superior sound ;)
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My step dad has top of the range sound system, everything high end and it sounds superb and he has a huge vinyl collection
I think I had a woollies record player with one speaker, then progressed on to cheap tat stereo so maybe my memories are a bit unfair on vinyl
 
I still have a sizeable vinyl LP album collection and a turntable to play them on and my last vinyl LP purchase was two weeks ago when I had taken delivery of Jean Michel Jarre's latest album "Time Machine". I just like the tactile experience of taking the vinyl out it's sleeve and carefully placing the needle on it. It makes the music "taste" better where I'd rather listen to my music in the comfort of my own home, whereas downloadable content is a bit like being too lazy to cook so you just grab a MacDonalds and it's all quickly forgotten. If I want to listen to music on the move then I'd use the radio on my smartphone.
 
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Ian D J said:
I just like the tactile experience of taking the vinyl out it's sleeve and carefully placing the needle on it.
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Got to agree with that. There was just something special about it. Even handling them in the correct way, outside edge & centre, never on the surface.
 
Ian D J said:
I still have a sizeable vinyl LP album collection and a turntable to play them on and my last vinyl LP purchase was two weeks ago when I had taken delivery of Jean Michel Jarre's latest album "Time Machine". I just like the tactile experience of taking the vinyl out it's sleeve and carefully placing the needle on it. It makes the music "taste" better where I'd rather listen to my music in the comfort of my own home, whereas downloadable content is a bit like being too lazy to cook so you just grab a MacDonalds and it's all quickly forgotten. If I want to listen to music on the move then I'd use the radio on my smartphone.
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I know exactly what you are talking about, I used to love browsing my little collection. Used to love my girlfriend coming over, I would browse my little collection, and choose something suitable to play. Very happy memories :)
 
I've never heard vinyl through a decent system, only through my parents oldy-worldy, heavily abused (by me) record player when I was very young.

I'd like to give it a try through my current, half-decent, hi-fi but don't know the first thing about turntables. I wouldn't know which ones to try or avoid and I imagine it's another slippery-slope of unnecessary spending so probably best left alone. :D
 
ZoneV said:
I've never heard vinyl through a decent system, only through my parents oldy-worldy, heavily abused (by me) record player when I was very young.

I'd like to give it a try through my current, half-decent, hi-fi but don't know the first thing about turntables. I wouldn't know which ones to try or avoid and I imagine it's another slippery-slope of unnecessary spending so probably best left alone. :D
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Vinyl sounds incredible on a good system, it also has to be good music :)
 
There used to be one good reason that 12" LPs were better than CDs but my short term memory is FUBAR so I can't remember what it is. ;)
 
I used to buy my vinyl from a place in the City Centre, it was in a basement shop and it was all the latest trendy sounds. There was a time long ago, when I was trendy :rolleyes:
 
ZoneV said:
I've never heard vinyl through a decent system, only through my parents oldy-worldy, heavily abused (by me) record player when I was very young.

I'd like to give it a try through my current, half-decent, hi-fi but don't know the first thing about turntables. I wouldn't know which ones to try or avoid and I imagine it's another slippery-slope of unnecessary spending so probably best left alone. :D
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Worth looking at the Richer Sounds website or going into a branch sometime...

Anthony
 
Anyone know of a good vale amp set up for vinyl? I heard some get valve set ups years ago but could never afford them so was stuck with integrated amps?
 
shapeshifter said:
Anyone know of a good vale amp set up for vinyl? I heard some get valve set ups years ago but could never afford them so was stuck with integrated amps?
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Many people are very cynical and doubtful about what I'm going to suggest, until they hear it.

Of course, this does not take any particular budget into account.

A Temple Audio Bantam Gold digital amp with a Croft Audio valve pre-amp.

There are many good turntables, but if you can find a good condition Rega Planar with an RB300 arm you've got a good 'un. A good cartridge is an Ortofon 2m Blue.

Speakers are whole topic on their own.
 
jonbeeza said:
Vinyl seemed to have a crisper sound, although it would be interesting hearing CD and Vinyl back to back..
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My 1984 dual turntable with a good cartridge fitted used to blow my £1300 Arcam fmj CD player out of the water.
No longer have the CD player, but I've still got the turntable in the loft.
CD was convenient, but the sound could be sterile. Vinyl had an "atmosphere" that was lacking with CD.
I still have dozens of albums in the loft.
A lot are original master recordings, or heavy duty vinyl, much better than the standard vinyl sold by most record shops
 
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back in the day i used to have a very good turntable which was a linn LP12 with an alphason HR100S arm and an audio technica cartridge i cannot remember
it blew away the sound of CD at the time, CD just sounded cold and impersonal but as the years rolled by the CD player has gone from strength to strength they sound much more musical and involving than they did in the heyday of vinyl
with not many good quality turntables around today we can actually sit down and listen to we still talk about back in the day so to speak and we don't tend to acknowledge how far the CD player has come
we spend more time listening to mp3's or itunes than we do to uncompressed audio, even flak isn't up to the audio quality of the CD it was probably ripped from ( something i have compared ) and we find our selves yearning for a format we probably havn't heard for the last 20 years

to be honest i don't miss my turntable my system sounds better now with CD than the system i had with the LP12 and that system was no slouch as far as HI FI goes
i don't care much for compressed audio ( mp3, itunes , flak etc ) they have their place but it's not for me in the HI FI world give me a decent CD player and a well recorded CD and i'm happy
a good quality turntable combination able to beat a good quality CD player is going to cost a small fortune it's not a path i'm willing to take iv'e been there already

i can't make up my mind if the vinyl comeback is just a bit of a fad or is here to stay but the question in my mind is the more current albums are most probably from a digital source i can't see an advantage
 
cosmicma said:
...
i can't make up my mind if the vinyl comeback is just a bit of a fad or is here to stay but the question in my mind is the more current albums are most probably from a digital source i can't see an advantage
Click to expand...
That depends surely on the bit rate of the original source.

AFAIR the issue with CD was that there's nowhere near the amount of data compared to the 12" analogue predecessor. Like comparing an 8mpix APSC image to a 6x6 transparency.

Surely the only improvement we can make to the cd format is to make the most of those 8mpix, and that in order to get more data, we need a format capable of reproducing more data.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
My 1984 dual turntable with a good cartridge fitted used to blow my £1300 Arcam fmj CD player out of the water.
No longer have the CD player, but I've still got the turntable in the loft.
CD was convenient, but the sound could be sterile. Vinyl had an "atmosphere" that was lacking with CD.
I still have dozens of albums in the loft.
A lot are original master recordings, or heavy duty vinyl, much better than the standard vinyl sold by most record shops
Click to expand...
I would say that is a pretty good way to describe the Vinyl sound :)
 
cosmicma said:
back in the day i used to have a very good turntable which was a linn LP12 with an alphason HR100S arm and an audio technica cartridge i cannot remember
it blew away the sound of CD at the time, CD just sounded cold and impersonal but as the years rolled by the CD player has gone from strength to strength they sound much more musical and involving than they did in the heyday of vinyl
with not many good quality turntables around today we can actually sit down and listen to we still talk about back in the day so to speak and we don't tend to acknowledge how far the CD player has come
we spend more time listening to mp3's or itunes than we do to uncompressed audio, even flak isn't up to the audio quality of the CD it was probably ripped from ( something i have compared ) and we find our selves yearning for a format we probably havn't heard for the last 20 years

to be honest i don't miss my turntable my system sounds better now with CD than the system i had with the LP12 and that system was no slouch as far as HI FI goes
i don't care much for compressed audio ( mp3, itunes , flak etc ) they have their place but it's not for me in the HI FI world give me a decent CD player and a well recorded CD and i'm happy
a good quality turntable combination able to beat a good quality CD player is going to cost a small fortune it's not a path i'm willing to take iv'e been there already

i can't make up my mind if the vinyl comeback is just a bit of a fad or is here to stay but the question in my mind is the more current albums are most probably from a digital source i can't see an advantage
Click to expand...
What is the make of this very advanced CD player that gives such a great sound?
 
cosmicma said:
back in the day i used to have a very good turntable which was a linn LP12 with an alphason HR100S arm and an audio technica cartridge i cannot remember
it blew away the sound of CD at the time, CD just sounded cold and impersonal but as the years rolled by the CD player has gone from strength to strength they sound much more musical and involving than they did in the heyday of vinyl
with not many good quality turntables around today we can actually sit down and listen to we still talk about back in the day so to speak and we don't tend to acknowledge how far the CD player has come
we spend more time listening to mp3's or itunes than we do to uncompressed audio, even flak isn't up to the audio quality of the CD it was probably ripped from ( something i have compared ) and we find our selves yearning for a format we probably havn't heard for the last 20 years

to be honest i don't miss my turntable my system sounds better now with CD than the system i had with the LP12 and that system was no slouch as far as HI FI goes
i don't care much for compressed audio ( mp3, itunes , flak etc ) they have their place but it's not for me in the HI FI world give me a decent CD player and a well recorded CD and i'm happy
a good quality turntable combination able to beat a good quality CD player is going to cost a small fortune it's not a path i'm willing to take iv'e been there already

i can't make up my mind if the vinyl comeback is just a bit of a fad or is here to stay but the question in my mind is the more current albums are most probably from a digital source i can't see an advantage
Click to expand...
Stick an LP12 in your current system and it will blow your CD player away :eek:
 
shapeshifter said:
What is the make of this very advanced CD player that gives such a great sound?
Click to expand...
nothing special it's a meridian 506 going through meridian pre / power amps and kef reference model 4 speakers
overall it sounds very nice indeed

the system the LP 12 was running through consisted of was the LP 12 going through a doxa 04 pre amp ( had an excellent phono stage ) hooked up to a perreaux PMF 1150B power amp and acoustic research 9LS speakers which sounded great but not as good as my current setup
the CD player it was compared against at the time was the mission DAD 7000
 
Phil V said:
That depends surely on the bit rate of the original source.

AFAIR the issue with CD was that there's nowhere near the amount of data compared to the 12" analogue predecessor. Like comparing an 8mpix APSC image to a 6x6 transparency.

Surely the only improvement we can make to the cd format is to make the most of those 8mpix, and that in order to get more data, we need a format capable of reproducing more data.
Click to expand...

we already have a format with higher bit rates called SACD which for one reason or another never really took off as well as anticipated

the advantage of vinyl was that it was a pure analogue process from start to finish now most things are digitally recorded i don't really see an advantage of then converting that digital recording back to an analogue format such as vinyl and then trying to extract every bit of detail with a turntable
using your analogy it's like taking a digital photograph printing it and re photographing the print with a film camera and printing it in a dark room

but all this is a mute point it was well understood that even a low budget cd player is capable of extracting more information with less noise and better dynamic range than all but the best vinyl had to offer but that was never the argument, it was the way the music was presented to the listener, vinyl had a warmth and presence that cd could not produce at the time but now i think it can

you have to understand this is my opinion and will obviously differ from others but i do have a little insight where good quality turntables and cd players are concerned and more importantly good enough systems to show the difference which in no way makes me an expert and like i said it's just my opinion based on my own experiences of both formats
 
cosmicma said:
we already have a format with higher bit rates called SACD which for one reason or another never really took off as well as anticipated

the advantage of vinyl was that it was a pure analogue process from start to finish now most things are digitally recorded i don't really see an advantage of then converting that digital recording back to an analogue format such as vinyl and then trying to extract every bit of detail with a turntable
using your analogy it's like taking a digital photograph printing it and re photographing the print with a film camera and printing it in a dark room
...
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Sort of:
It's more like creating a wet print from a digital file.

But importantly, it's never really about digital vs analogue, it's about the total amount of data. If the digital recording has been compressed to create a cd (which it probably has) then the cd isn't a better format 'because it's also digital', it's inferior because of the compression. The vinyl repro wouldn't be better 'because it's analogue', it'll be better because there's less missing.

I disagree about the CD player btw. The std cd format is hugely compressed, I've never had 'high end' hi-fi, but decent enough quality, and the superiority of vinyl compared to cd is obvious to everyone I've demonstrated to.

That and all my vinyl was analogue recorded, I can't see me buying 'new' vinyl any time soon.
 
Phil V said:
Sort of:
It's more like creating a wet print from a digital file.

But importantly, it's never really about digital vs analogue, it's about the total amount of data. If the digital recording has been compressed to create a cd (which it probably has) then the cd isn't a better format 'because it's also digital', it's inferior because of the compression. The vinyl repro wouldn't be better 'because it's analogue', it'll be better because there's less missing.

I disagree about the CD player btw. The std cd format is hugely compressed, I've never had 'high end' hi-fi, but decent enough quality, and the superiority of vinyl compared to cd is obvious to everyone I've demonstrated to.

That and all my vinyl was analogue recorded, I can't see me buying 'new' vinyl any time soon.
Click to expand...

as far as i am aware CD is not a compressed format
 
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