Anybody else here collect vinyl records?

[Suzette]

My husband had a small collection of original recordings from the 60s, 70s and 80s. I don't recall what he had. When we sold our house he sold the lot on Craigslist to a collector from California. He made a good amount of money from the sale and we were happy. But a day after we sold the collection, the buyer called him and wanted to give him more money because he felt like he was getting the better end of the deal.

I think part of the appeal was that many of the records were pressed in Germany (my husnand had been stationed in Holland in the 80s).

 

[Judge]

I think part of the appeal was that many of the records were pressed in Germany (my husband had been stationed in Holland in the 80s).

Reminds me of how I once coveted London's "Phase Four" vinyl records. Which admittedly were very good compared to the mainstream. But now I have all those recordings and more on digital. ADD, DDD...whatever. No pops, no ticks, no hiss.

Weird to think of some of those ADD recordings that sound so good, recorded as far back as around 1939...stuff like Leopold Stokowski conducting Wagner. Not as much dynamic range, but no annoying "artifacts" either.

I've tried many times to clean up particularly worn vinyl recordings digitally, but so many of those pops and ticks are just not fixable, even using programs like Audacity. Often a very tedious process even when successful.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I have a decent CD collection, with a old 18 disc player. lots of 50'0 and 60's music. stick in three 6 disc magazines random play good for the day.

 

[Gerontius]

One other thing--it's not always about sound quality or convenience! It's about the fun factor. Vinyl records, or the old shellac ones, are so delightfully tactile that the physical aspect really makes a difference. Records aren't perfect, but they definitely put the "play" back into playing records. Instead of scrolling and clicking, you get to get your hands in there and jam out.

Some folks just love old records, full stop. No need to justify it, no need to rationalize it. Unless you're an archivist there's no actual need to own a record player.

I can go get digital transfers or I can fire up my own record player and have fun. It's not always about stereo or about decreased surface noise; it's about great performances of great music. Nobody looks at Broken Blossoms and gripes "Yeah, Lillian Gish wasted her talent by acting in these old silent pictures; she should've saved it for the talkies." And nobody looks at a 1940s classical album and says "Sir Thomas Beecham, knighted for his musical excellence, was a crap conductor because he didn't live in the stereo era and all we have are these old 78s."

And that is my 1912-1914 Edison and those are (real, as in 100 years old and not replica) 1920s jazz records on the bed. Still so much cheaper and more accessible than buying audiophile stuff, and built to last forever. Liking old music takes the audiophile stuff out of it--I can get all finicky about listening to it on fancy headphones with a tube preamp played off a FLAC file ripped by archivists at a museum and downloaded on a computer that costs more than my secondhand car, or I can go buy a cheap and unwanted windup phonograph off some classifieds ad and have music anywhere I want it. With maintenance it will be running 300 years from now easily. And it's not like I care about lossless file rates and stuff when my favorite tracks were recorded before they invented the microphone.

(I had Gershwin playing piano on the first ever recording of Rhapsody in Blue. I have some of Rachmaninoff playing his own compositions. The performances outweigh the tin-can sound of the Victrola or the heavy proprietary discs for the Edison.)

One of my friends has a cheap portable electric bought from Goodwill and a Hello Kitty CD player. She has so much fun with that even though the audio isn't great. Just because fine audio exists doesn't invalidate the fun people are having with the old stuff, and doesn't mean that they're not worth enjoying or preserving as a viable option.

 

[Judge]

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One other thing--it's not always about sound quality or convenience! It's about the fun factor.

Understandable, but then consider this audience in particular. Where sensitivities to some unwanted sounds can be quite distressing. Compounded to those of us with OCD.

Where such considerations cannot necessarily be effectively rationalized into a "fun factor". Sad, but true. Though I can still appreciate all the work that may go into refurbishing or the original manufacturing of such old audio equipment. Great visuals. As long as I don't have to listen to them.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

To me fuzzy music is no different than a blurry picture. The clearer the better.

 

[Ken]

Being a hard core purist, I love vinyl. I purchased my collection primarily in the mid 70's to late 80's - back when the whole recording process was analog.
My life-long career is electronics design engineering. As a purist in that field, my passion is analog. Analog engineering is by far the most difficult. In fact, digital was invented to make design engineering easier. Making engineering easier makes it appear that the performance is better, but it appears so only because the engineering process was easier.
Everyone's hearing (and vision) is analog. All sounds are analog. There is loss with all conversions, thus keeping all of the electronics analog provides the most pure reproduction. Digital resolution has built in hard limits by the number of bits and bit rate. Analog resolution is infinite. There are no bits or bit rate.
The limits of analog is mechanical - just as in real life. The limits are in the engineering design and manufacturing. Analog (as in vinyl) is labeled as having poor dynamic range, but that flaw is not due to the technology, it is due to poor engineering and poor manufacturing. This subject has been a life-long passion of mine as can be seen in my website.
I have two cherished Sheffield Lab records that were recorded live direct from a stereo microphone to the disc cutter. Playing these albums on high end audio equipment is absolutely mesmerising. The stereo imagining (also called sound stage) is unnerving. The band is there - each performer in their place on the stage and the stage is larger than the room I'm in. There is no hiss, the dynamic range matches the live performance. There is no audible evidence a record is playing or that electronics is even involved.
Unfortunately Sheffield Labs no longer records like that. In fact they no longer press vinyl at all.
As I mentioned, design and manufacturing of pure analog is very hard and expensive. The designer cannot hide flaws between bits. Designing anything analog is hard, but I love it!!

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

THat's why I bought half speed mastered when I bought vinyl in the past. I have always believed the world is based on continuums , points do not exist. I am not a audiophile, just want to hear what the artist intended. keep in mind the music I listen too the artist use electrified instruments which bring thier own issue's to the table, unlike classical music.

 

[Lemon Zing]

I used to buy them at Unknown Pleasures in Edinburgh. I think they closed because of the pandemic.

 

[Metalhead]

I don`t collect now but I used to in the late 80s and into the 90s. It started with a dirtbike, I had a used up dirtbike and traded it for two boxes full of vinyl. The bike was fun but the music was better. Vinyl is a great format.

I see you like Dimmu Borgir, Shagrath from Dimmu was my neighbor in the 90s. He looked a little glum and hostile but he was a very nice and friendly guy. Black Metal was the big thing for a while in the 90s.


Nothing weird going on here, just another normal day.
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If you have any Shagrath stories, I would love to hear them.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Told me My son and his girlfriend are into metal, had a band for awhile he was base player. Told me ACDC is not metal but Ozzy is does not like Zepplin as they are rip off artists.

 

[justin_havu]

I've been collecting since 1998. Have an estimated 1,000 LP's, not sure how many 45's as I haven't counted those yet. Turntable is a 1979 Dual 1264. Best sounding table I've ever owned.

 

[Gerontius]

I've been collecting since 1998. Have an estimated 1,000 LP's, not sure how many 45's as I haven't counted those yet. Turntable is a 1979 Dual 1264. Best sounding table I've ever owned.

View attachment 74352

Any particular genre? That's a great-looking collection, by the way!

 

[justin_havu]

Any particular genre? That's a great-looking collection, by the way!

Let's see... The five shelves on the right contain rock, pop, and soul/R&B, mostly 70s and 80s. The crate under the right speaker has classical and soundtracks/various artists. The two cabinets hold my jazz/fusion section. 45's in the left cabinet are mostly 70s and 80s rock and pop. No country or rap/hip hop--I have no interest in that stuff.

 

[Gerontius]

Sounds like a lot of fun, @justin_havu.
I don't listen to country either unless it is pre-WWII and even then I do not listen to the Western stuff but really only to bluegrass. Classical & jazz are always worth while though.

 

[Lemon Zing]

Elvis Shakespeare on Leith Walk in Edinburgh is a good place to try looking for vinyl.

 

[Gerontius]

I traded a portable typewriter in as partial trade for a new gramophone last night--

It appears to be mildly customized. The horn is off a larger Columbia Graphophone, and the turntable has been altered to fit regular 78s instead of the "Standard" brand with a larger spindle hole. But I think it should sound amazing with the larger horn attached to it; these aren't bad little machines really. Not vinyl nor hi-fi but it's a cool record player (in the loosest definition.)

Been digging through some records today & playing those while procrastinating...

 

[Slim Jim]

I was tempted, but I realized it would be a frivolous expenditure. I do like the fact that the artwork is bigger. Albums were very elaborate, back in the 60's, 70's, 80's.

There's atleast 100 albums . I would get. MY cousin, she is into that. It's kind of a fad. Vinyl sales have been steadily rising. While Cd's have plummeted. A phoenix from the ashes. Quite ironic.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I find it rather ironic how CDs replaced vinyl and cassette tapes as a form of media and no one would ever want to use a record player or buy LPs ever again and said to be the next and now vinyl has returned in full force.