I'm taking the Vinyl plunge

[Pitbull]

With the New AC/DC album coming out, I'm thinking of spoiling myself with a nice Vinyl player and this AC/DC album will be my first Vinyl purchase. Should all be downhill from there.

Anyway, I would like a retro Vinyl player, something one can still get needles for. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Noseworthy]

New album is only 35minutes long

 

[ScottulusMaximus]

Wouldn't bother for the new album, all digitally done and sounds "hollow" when a digital recording is pressed to vinyl. Still better than mp3 or cd tho. If you've got their older records(or any records) go for it. You will be amazed how much better it sounds.

As for a player, Sounds Unique in Cresta is a great place to start for a new one. If you're willing to spend the dosh then rather go new, would love me the REGA in their window but cheapest is 8k excluding cart.

Secondhand I can't help you with but BoB, gumtree, pawn shops etc will have them listed, only issue is that you'll have is that the state of it will be an unknown. Since vinyl is completely analogue 1000 different thing can affect the sound and you'll have no idea how it was treated. Lucky for me I inherited my grandfathers player and he treated the thing better than his wife Best secondhand buy is a TEchnics SL1200, or a modern audiophile turntable.

Needles available at Sounds Unique if you're lucky, also can get almost any needles from overseas.

 

[Pitbull]

Wouldn't bother for the new album, all digitally done and sounds "hollow" when a digital recording is pressed to vinyl. Still better than mp3 or cd tho. If you've got their older records(or any records) go for it. You will be amazed how much better it sounds.

As for a player, Sounds Unique in Cresta is a great place to start for a new one. If you're willing to spend the dosh then rather go new, would love me the REGA in their window but cheapest is 8k excluding cart.

Secondhand I can't help you with but BoB, gumtree, pawn shops etc will have them listed, only issue is that you'll have is that the state of it will be an unknown. Since vinyl is completely analogue 1000 different thing can affect the sound and you'll have no idea how it was treated. Lucky for me I inherited my grandfathers player and he treated the thing better than his wife Best secondhand buy is a TEchnics SL1200, or a modern audiophile turntable.

Needles available at Sounds Unique if you're lucky, also can get almost any needles from overseas.

Thank you man. Sound advice (Pun intended)

I have an old Pioneer in the Garage somewhere, no idea what the state of it is though. Will go look for it and try salvage that one first. If no success I suppose I need to buy a new one. Just wanted an older retro look for my Bar with the Vinyl player there. But I suppose New can look retro too.

The new album is what is wanting me to go Vinyl. I will then source the older ones from somewhere. Thinking of building up a nice Vinyl collection over time. From reading up, looks like it's a pretty big thing now.

 

[Datura]

Wouldn't bother for the new album, all digitally done and sounds "hollow" when a digital recording is pressed to vinyl. Still better than mp3 or cd tho. If you've got their older records(or any records) go for it. You will be amazed how much better it sounds.

As for a player, Sounds Unique in Cresta is a great place to start for a new one. If you're willing to spend the dosh then rather go new, would love me the REGA in their window but cheapest is 8k excluding cart.

Secondhand I can't help you with but BoB, gumtree, pawn shops etc will have them listed, only issue is that you'll have is that the state of it will be an unknown. Since vinyl is completely analogue 1000 different thing can affect the sound and you'll have no idea how it was treated. Lucky for me I inherited my grandfathers player and he treated the thing better than his wife Best secondhand buy is a TEchnics SL1200, or a modern audiophile turntable.

Needles available at Sounds Unique if you're lucky, also can get almost any needles from overseas.

Absolutely amazing piece of sound equipment. I am currently sitting with a NAD but will get another SL1200 when I have a bit of cash. Doesn't matter how good your turntable is, if you have a schit cartridge you've wasted your money. Stanton are brilliant! 681EEE is awesome but pricey

 

[rrh]

With the New AC/DC album coming out, I'm thinking of spoiling myself with a nice Vinyl player and this AC/DC album will be my first Vinyl purchase. Should all be downhill from there.

Anyway, I would like a retro Vinyl player, something one can still get needles for. Anyone have any suggestions?

"Needles" were used on the record players of the 50's for the shellac 78's.

For vinyl records one uses a turntable with a tone arm, the tone arm taking a cartridge that has a stylus.

The cartridge + stylus is the equivalent of what you referred to as a needle.

The good news is that the cartridges for most tone arms are interchangeable, so no need to worry about "needles"

 

[ScottulusMaximus]

Sounds Unique can also send it to the technician to get everything adjusted and tuned up. Before doing that check the turntable, needle and cartridge number to do some googling... You may have a gem or a POS, then give it a good clean, get a new needle, check the platter turns and see how it sounds. From there get to repairs and possibly a new one if needed.

Also google to see how to set up a player for the tracking weights, anti-skate etc... Do it once properly rather than trial and error cos you can damage a lot.

Oh and don't buy those Crosley things from Musica etc, fooking awful and mostly with ceramic needles which will eat your records.

By all means get it, will be wonderful... Just not as good as old vinyl. Be warned it's addictive as hell, sounds soooooo good you won't believe it. And such great tunes!!! Currently building up a Led Zepp collection myself and boy does the money disappear quick. Prices also disappear into the stratosphere exceptionally quickly, I would advise staying out of the audiophile and collector routes, your wife will leave you, do it for the tunes.

 

[LCBXX]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the deal with vinyl lately?

 

[Datura]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the deal with vinyl lately?

I have always been a collector but I have noticed more and more people are getting into it again. I personally love the "warmth" and feel of the sound.

 

[ScottulusMaximus]

"Needles" were used on the record players of the 50's for the shellac 78's.

For vinyl records one uses a turntable with a tone arm, the tone arm taking a cartridge that has a stylus.

The cartridge + stylus is the equivalent of what you referred to as a needle.

The good news is that the cartridges for most tone arms are interchangeable, so no need to worry about "needles"

Needles, stylus are interchangeable terms. I call them needles cos that's what my granddad called them

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the deal with vinyl lately?

3 groups: hipsters, audiophiles and music lovers. Hipsters are stupid, audiophiles are insane. As for music lovers like me, it sounds better...

It isn't a justification, it really does. I'm poor so have the turnatable hooked up to the same speakers as my PC, I play bohemian rhapsody off iTunes, a cd and then off the record, you can see people struggling to admit it but even the layman can hear the difference.

Digital sound must die, human ears are too sensitive for it we've just been conditioned to ignore it.

 

[MickZA]

Digital sound must die, human ears are too sensitive for it we've just been conditioned to ignore it.

Aah, to be young again

... you'll find that as you age your ability to hear high frequencies diminishes and (by the time I turned 50 in my case) the difference between digital & analogue sound is indiscernible - more's the pity

 

[Datura]

Digital sound must die, human ears are too sensitive for it we've just been conditioned to ignore it.

I like you!

 

[LCBXX]

I have always been a collector but I have noticed more and more people are getting into it again. I personally love the "warmth" and feel of the sound.

3 groups: hipsters, audiophiles and music lovers. Hipsters are stupid, audiophiles are insane. As for music lovers like me, it sounds better...

It isn't a justification, it really does. I'm poor so have the turnatable hooked up to the same speakers as my PC, I play bohemian rhapsody off iTunes, a cd and then off the record, you can see people struggling to admit it but even the layman can hear the difference.

Digital sound must die, human ears are too sensitive for it we've just been conditioned to ignore it.

I would have thought the novelty of shopping for albums on a store would be one of the main reasons, since digital music has all but killed the practice of going to a music store and buying an album. Also the novelty of recalling the days when all we had was vinyl, switching the table's RPM for 12" and 7" records.

As for the sound, is it not possible to apply a filter, or worse and equalizer profile, to give you that "vinyl sound"? I recall my granddad had a Marantz amp with an "LP Effect" switch for the "Compact Disc" profile. My guess is that if you have a lossless audio file and a proper filter, you would quite accurately replicate the sound you could get from vinyl?

 

[ScottulusMaximus]

Aah, to be young again

... you'll find that as you age your ability to hear high frequencies diminishes and (by the time I turned 50 in my case) the difference between digital & analogue sound is indiscernible - more's the pity

Gimme an hour and I can teach you the difference again, isn't the frequencies it's the encoding.. You can actually hear it when shown. It's the ultimate torture, digital sound is everywhere and it hurts. Also doesn't help that it's my job to work with digital sound.

 

[Datura]

I would have thought the novelty of shopping for albums on a store would be one of the main reasons, since digital music has all but killed the practice of going to a music store and buying an album. Also the novelty of recalling the days when all we had was vinyl, switching the table's RPM for 12" and 7" records.

As for the sound, is it not possible to apply a filter, or worse and equalizer profile, to give you that "vinyl sound"? I recall my granddad had a Marantz amp with an "LP Effect" switch for the "Compact Disc" profile. My guess is that if you have a lossless audio file and a proper filter, you would quite accurately replicate the sound you could get from vinyl?

You cannot digitally recreate what this does:

Browsing through a record shop's stock is an amazing way to spend a Saturday...

 

[konfab]

I would have thought the novelty of shopping for albums on a store would be one of the main reasons, since digital music has all but killed the practice of going to a music store and buying an album. Also the novelty of recalling the days when all we had was vinyl, switching the table's RPM for 12" and 7" records.

As for the sound, is it not possible to apply a filter, or worse and equalizer profile, to give you that "vinyl sound"? I recall my granddad had a Marantz amp with an "LP Effect" switch for the "Compact Disc" profile. My guess is that if you have a lossless audio file and a proper filter, you would quite accurately replicate the sound you could get from vinyl?

When I was in final year, one of the projects we could choose from was something like this. Basically the audio equivalent of instagram.
There is quite a lot of distortion that comes through on vinyl (the "wamth" people hear) and vacuum tubes. The distortion that these devices add isn't quite linear so you will need to model exactly what pressing music to plastic does to it.
Nevertheless, the tears of audiophiles and hipsters would be delicious when a few lines of code can replace their equipment.

 

[ScottulusMaximus]

SNIP

I never had those days, I'm 26 so isn't nostalgia for me. But I suppose some people do it for that, haha I order most of my vinyl online.

No, just no. It's the "lossles audio file" that's the problem, no amount of equalisers and filters can escape the fact that it's encoded as lot's of little ups and downs instead of a continuous wave, once you hear this you can never unhear it. It's godamn awful. As an example, I can put an album on record, loud, for the entire evening and by the end I'm still great. That exact album on cd, same volume over the same time and I get listening fatigue and a splitting headache.

Problem is most people don't know the difference, so when you say stuff like that they just think you're talking nonsense however I wish I couldn't hear the difference, it's horrible

 

[MickZA]

Gimme an hour and I can teach you the difference again, isn't the frequencies it's the encoding.. You can actually hear it when shown. It's the ultimate torture, digital sound is everywhere and it hurts. Also doesn't help that it's my job to work with digital sound.

You reckon?

... go here - http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearing-test/ and let me know what your limit is. Mine's 8KHz, can't hear anything higher

I had Janis Ian "Between the Lines" on CD & LP and honestly couldn't tell the difference when I reached 50.

 

[ScottulusMaximus]

You reckon?

... go here - http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearing-test/ and let me know what your limit is. Mine's 8KHz, can't hear anything higher

I had Janis Ian "Between the Lines" on CD & LP and honestly couldn't tell the difference when I reached 50.

Oh wow, 8k... Maybe not Although won't be because you can't hear the highs, think your ears are just not sensitive enough. Although I bet you can hear the diff between vinyl and mp3, forget cd's compressed audio is the work of Satan

 

[LCBXX]

The engineer in me can appreciate the effect that comes from the numerous analogue "imperfections", if I may call it that, that is part of the vinyl audio reproduction. Add to that ScottulusMaximus vacuum tube amps and I can imagine a passionate listener to have an eargasm. Can I say that it could be summarised as sounding more "human", as opposed to being Godly, appeal to our own self?

However, the same engineer in me also appreciates the accurate audio reproduction that digital loss-less offers. Isn't the whole point of investing in high-end audio amplification and speaker equipment to get as near as possible to how the master recording sounded?

Again, forgive my ignorance - I am not trying to piss on the vinyl revival parade. I am trying to understand the appeal, which I am (unfortunately?) not getting into. It is like old cars: some are beautiful and pioneering in their design but I do not yearn to ever own or restore one.