Choosing the right things for vinyl

[mike70]

never going to get close to digital quality.

absolutely false... I get close generally and sometimes better or much worse... but talking about recommendations... never is a really false thesis in my experience.

 

[Robin L]

I started collecting LPs way back around 1968. I gave up on the medium around 2019 when I moved to a much smaller space. All the issues mentioned here apply, both good and bad. As regards the issue of surface noise, I'd suggest looking at Amir's reviews of various phono stages, in particular their overload margins. Clicks 'n' pops often go away if the phono preamp can handle them. This is a good example:

Michael Fidler Spartan 20 Phono Stage Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Michael Fidler Spartan 20 Moving Coil and Magnet phono preamp. It was sent to me by the company and costs £500/€600/$670. Is it me or is the On/Off upside down? I am used to On being up, not down. That nit aside, there are LP noise mitigation...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Record cleaning is advised. In my experience, ultrasonic cleaning works the best, but there are wet cleaning devices that work well for a lot less money. Avoid "Discwashers" and their ilk, they tend to pass the dirt/grease from one record to the rest. There's an upper limit to the performance of the turntables themselves because LPs have more wow and flutter/speed variation than the turntables themselves. One of the best turntables I've owned was an early Technics direct-drive I picked up from a thrift store for $50. Used a Shure M44-7, great for tracking damaged records.

I've had many problems with belt driven turntables, suspended subchassis were even worse.


Good luck!

 

[Bl00dWolf]

I'm getting that you don't have a record collection to play as some of us oldies do?

Nope, I will buy. I don't have any =(

PLEASE bear in mind that most newly purchased vinyl today, appears to come from a digital master

I know, it's okay.

would start at a AT LP5X with VMN95ML or VMN95SH stylus upgrade (£500 or less). Rather than get a 1200mk7, I'd arguably save and get a 1500C with Ortofon 2M Red for £799 here (phono stage built in too). Your budget could stretch to a 2M Bronze stylus, which should clean the highs a bit further without losing sparkle and 'energy.'

Thanks, I'm already starting to make a list of which ones to take a closer look at =)

 

[mike70]

Digital mastering doesn't mean low quality vinyl production. I think we're confusing production of music with reproduction of music.

We have many "master" stages in music production. The first one is the primary mix / adjustment and today is fully digital... and it's Ok, because high res digital format is the best for that.

Then you create the master for the specific format... cd, streaming services, vinyl. For cd / streaming sometimes they use high compression and sky high levels (very bad mastering, but sounds "good" on portable devices) but that isn't possible with vinyl (format limitations)

So, sometimes you have a digitally pre processed master with better sound on the vinyl master. I hope it's clear.

Digital production doesn't mean bad vinyl at all. Can be bad for many other stuff.

 

[AndyMorris]

Thanks for your opinion. Yes, I am aware that vinyl is one of the worst formats for clear sound. And one of the most inconvenient.
I just like how it's physically designed (turntables, cartridges), how it's made, how vinyl records look. Let's say it's more of a ritual and interest than a desire for objectively good sound =)

For "good" sound, of course, I have a PC + dx9 and others. I understand that they are much cheaper and sound much better, objectively. And they don't require any maintenance, essentially.

If you are copying vinyl to a PC you can clean up the sound with something like Vinyl Studio. On most records, once you are used toit, it takes about 10 mins more than the playing time. I've recovered some pretty unlistenable old records

 

[psemeraro]

Hello.
I want to get into listening to vinyl.

I would appreciate any advice you can give me, thank you very much!

Hi Bl00dWolf. Dedicated vinyl lover here. The vinyl/digital debate is silly and will never end. By any empirical measurement digital is infinitely better and has been for decades.

But for pure fun, for me... I love it. I learned digital pro-audio in 2000 and made a living hanging line arrays in arenas, mixing concerts at theme parks, designing large audio installs. Endless acoustic measurements, new generations of better gear always evolving, BUT, when "work" was done I loved coming home and putting on a record.

My time in radio taught how to reliably make vinyl sound great - big Technics DD turntable in a cabinet, external tonearm (Ortofon or AT typically), Stanton 681 cartridge, and a nice phono preamp. Done. (Now there's lots of options, but for a long time that was the recipe.) Music on vinyl has color and character just like images on film. For those of us who enjoy the hobby, it's great. Every cartridge sounds different, every stylus sounds different., every new pressing of the same record sounds different... and it never ends. In 2025 we have much more convenient, much more accurate ways to listen to music. I've put real effort into making vinyl sound great in my domestic environment. That was part of the fun.

And we will always have plenty of folks in the world to tell me I'm WRONG if I enjoy vinyl. I like looking thru the bins at the record store, deep cleaning my new purchases, especially records from the $1 section. Even selecting the best stylus to play a certain record with. The process for me is fun. The hobby is enjoyable.

Back in the 2000's approximately 1/3'd of the music heard at Universal Studios in common areas, restaurants, hotel lobbies, etc was from vinyl. I was the one who captured it. Technics 1200, Shure V15V cartridge, ATI broadcast preamp into pro Tools. I had the luxury of comparing, in Pro Tools vinyl and digital versions of the same track on occasion to calibrate my capture template, visually and on the nearfields in the studio. Some records needed EQ here and there, some needed a bit of noise removal, many needed dynamic compression to match the "crushed" mastering of some digital tracks, some were fine as-is. (It was crazy to often visually compare sometimes 6-10 dB of dynamic range simply chopped off in the digital versions of tracks to make them louder.) Sometimes the captured vinyl tracks were not available on digital for whatever reason. Trust me the 20 seconds to "rip" a CD track vs real-time analog capture adds up when you're on a deadline. That wasn't hobby time... but was what was occasionally required. And I promise, no vinyl capture sounded "worse" than any of the digital tracks in the final mixes. The playlists were seamless, the tunes curated as necessary.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you're curious about vinyl, try it. Maybe you'll hate it, hate everything about it. Or maybe you'll enjoy it. But the one thing we know for sure is that there will always be plenty of folks to tell you that you're "wrong" if you do find the experience of vinyl enjoyable.

Pat

 

[Ben Jenssen]

I've been digitizing some of my old records lately, and I'm pretty happy with the result. You can check it out here, on my Google drive:

Platearkiv - Google Drive

drive.google.com

I'd love to hear what you think.

Record player: Rega Planar 1
Stylus: Ortofon MC x10, moving coil
Preamp: Sony FA30ES MC input stage, direct out to:
ADC: Topping E2x2, recording to mac, with at least 6db of headroom.
Processed with Izotope RX DeClicker, and level maximized with Fabfilter Pro-L 2 limiter only occationally shaving off less than 1db. No other dynamic, EQ or noise reduction processing applied.

These are old 'first pressings' so they all have varying degrees of wear and clicks, but RX DeClicker does a great job.

 

[mike70]

they all have varying degrees of wear and clicks

do you tried to clean the records? In my experience is something fundamental (properly doing it, obviously)

 

[Ben Jenssen]

I do clean them ; luke-warm water, a little washing up liquid, clean water rinse, and drip dry. Not all of them need it though, and after all; most scratches and clicks are permanent damages and won't just wash off.

Did you listen to any of them?

 

[Ben Jenssen]

There was no access to the folder on google drive. It's fixed now. Sorry.

Platearkiv - Google Drive

drive.google.com

 

[HoJ76]

With the price tag difference between 100C and mk7... I'd get the mk7 with eyes closed.

Mk7 have helicoidal tonearm vta adjustment (sl100c doesn't have vta adjustment) and sl100c have an "autolift", that means a mechanical gadget added to the tonearm (I don't like to have any stuff glued to the tonearm).

My opinion only.

My sl-100c have vta... the autolift can be turned off.

 

[dagfinn]

sl100c have an "autolift", that means a mechanical gadget added to the tonearm

Does it? A sensor can take many shapes.

(I don't like to have any stuff glued to the tonearm

Why? How can you tell something is "glued on"?

Autolift is a great feature!

 

[mike70]

My sl-100c have vta... the autolift can be turned off.

Isn't the same vta mechanism... check it out, mk7 have the older and better helicoidal version, with more grip and working "on the fly"

Autolift integrated means you have a mechanical device attached to the tonearm movement. I don't like it.

I also don't like the integrated preamp.

 

[Chrispy]

You are a crazy MF

 

[dagfinn]

Autolift integrated means you have a mechanical device attached to the tonearm movement. I don't like it.

I also don't like the integrated preamp.

. Very scientific.

 

[melloncolliecat]

The 100C comes without the integrated preamp, you're thinking of the 1500C...

 

[mike70]

The 100C comes without the integrated preamp, you're thinking of the 1500C...

Yes, you're right

 

[mike70]

You are a crazy MF

And you are very disrespectful

 

[mike70]

. Very scientific.

Maybe you don't know the science behind physics and vibrations in a mechanical device.

It's not my fault my friend.
Ignorance usually brings more confidence than knowledge.

 

[dagfinn]

Maybe you don't know the science behind physics and vibrations in a mechanical device.

It's not my fault my friend.
Ignorance usually brings more confidence than knowledge.

Tell us this science. Show us the "glued on " part. Show us a bad sensorsystem, tell us why. This is science, so prove it. Unless you are relying on old mythical bs from the old days, when "auto" was a bad thing no matter, based on "audiophile" beliefs. You are not my friend, and I don't think you will be.