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"I Swapped Spotify for Vinyl and It Changed My Life"

Sokel

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Vinyl changed my life too.To be exact nearly ended it :facepalm:
I was 4 or 5 trying to plug my mothers portable (?) turntable (was a light green color) to listen to CCR's Suzie Q.
You can imagine the rest.

(that didn't discourage me thought,I still listen to vinyl,it's a nostalgia thing)
 

pseudoid

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CCR's Suzie Q
Sorry but it sounds like what almost 'ended' you was SuzieQ... don't you be going around trashing and blaming LPs...:mad:
j/k
 

jsrtheta

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But as I’ve spent more and more time with Spotify (and eventually, SiriusXM, Tidal, and YouTube Premium), I think I slowly started to take music for granted. It eventually became background noise to me, like an accessory I had to have yet never paid much attention to anymore. I was thinking about all of this recently, and it hit me how desperate I was to do something about it and reconnect with music."


This is a good post thanks. I can relate to taking music for granted, and it was something that was on in the background. When I was young it was all about vinyl and FM radio, then 8-track tapes, and then cassettes. But it was something that was always on, especially FM, and I find myself listening to the radio half of the day when I’m home.

So when I rediscovered vinyl about 10 years ago I thought the same thing, and I felt the reconnection… no longer was it something that was just playing in the background. So when I want music in the background it’s usually Internet radio, or over the air FM. For serous listening Tidal/Amazon music HD a good DAC, and of course vinyl occasionally.

I think the moral of the story for many of us that spin vinyl is, it doesn’t have to be the best sounding format to be enjoyable.
[/QUOTE]

That's why I only listen to CDs. When one ends, I have to stop and consider what I'd like to hear next. Or stare at the shelves looking for something, which often allows me to rediscover something I hadn't heard in a while. Or even find a disc I'd forgotten I had.

Same process, different medium. And if I don't like what I'm hearing, I've no one to blame but myself!
 

MattHooper

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That's why I only listen to CDs. When one ends, I have to stop and consider what I'd like to hear next. Or stare at the shelves looking for something, which often allows me to rediscover something I hadn't heard in a while. Or even find a disc I'd forgotten I had.

Same process, different medium. And if I don't like what I'm hearing, I've no one to blame but myself!

This aspect of the discussion has me pondering some questions for the crowd.

1. Do you listen to lots of music "in the background" during the day? (E.g. streaming etc).

2. When you listen to your music rig, what comes first? Do you think "I really want to listen to THIS specific music (e.g. track or album) and that motivates sitting down to listen? Or do you think "I want to listen to some music right now" and THEN you decide which music to listen to?


For #2, I often do a deliberate "take a break to listen to music." So I fire up the system and then choose what I want to listen to. A sort of exploration. I know some people do the opposite - they have an urge to listen to some specific music, and THAT is why they turn on their hi-fi system.

For #1, I really enjoy streaming certain internet radio stations. But I'm pretty particular when I do so - e.g. while cooking in the kitchen, or while curled up with a book, or driving in the car. Otherwise, I find when I've been streaming music in the background for a significant period of time it sort of kills my desire to sit down in front of my system. Sort of music-fatigue I guess. When I haven't been streaming it feels more compelling and special to take a music-listening break.
 

thegeton

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This aspect of the discussion has me pondering some questions for the crowd.

1. Do you listen to lots of music "in the background" during the day? (E.g. streaming etc).

2. When you listen to your music rig, what comes first? Do you think "I really want to listen to THIS specific music (e.g. track or album) and that motivates sitting down to listen? Or do you think "I want to listen to some music right now" and THEN you decide which music to listen to?


For #2, I often do a deliberate "take a break to listen to music." So I fire up the system and then choose what I want to listen to. A sort of exploration. I know some people do the opposite - they have an urge to listen to some specific music, and THAT is why they turn on their hi-fi system.

For #1, I really enjoy streaming certain internet radio stations. But I'm pretty particular when I do so - e.g. while cooking in the kitchen, or while curled up with a book, or driving in the car. Otherwise, I find when I've been streaming music in the background for a significant period of time it sort of kills my desire to sit down in front of my system. Sort of music-fatigue I guess. When I haven't been streaming it feels more compelling and special to take a music-listening break.

I'm sorta split, about 60% on (1) and 40% on (2), primarily becuase of my work habits. Choosing = instant distraction. ;)
 

Robin L

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This aspect of the discussion has me pondering some questions for the crowd.

1. Do you listen to lots of music "in the background" during the day? (E.g. streaming etc).

2. When you listen to your music rig, what comes first? Do you think "I really want to listen to THIS specific music (e.g. track or album) and that motivates sitting down to listen? Or do you think "I want to listen to some music right now" and THEN you decide which music to listen to?


For #2, I often do a deliberate "take a break to listen to music." So I fire up the system and then choose what I want to listen to. A sort of exploration. I know some people do the opposite - they have an urge to listen to some specific music, and THAT is why they turn on their hi-fi system.

For #1, I really enjoy streaming certain internet radio stations. But I'm pretty particular when I do so - e.g. while cooking in the kitchen, or while curled up with a book, or driving in the car. Otherwise, I find when I've been streaming music in the background for a significant period of time it sort of kills my desire to sit down in front of my system. Sort of music-fatigue I guess. When I haven't been streaming it feels more compelling and special to take a music-listening break.
I have the stereo hooked up to the computer and most of the music I listen to is sourced from the internet. I'd frame the question differently, but in any case, I often encounter something from the internet and check it out. This guarantees that I'll be listening to something new, or at least new to me. One of the Facebook forums I'm following features Strange, Obscure, DIY, & Outsider Music, it usually flings something random & interesting to me. Otherwise I'll be listening to music via Apple lossless files stored on a tiny flash drive of about 1600 CDs. The music on the lossless files means I'm listening to specific works---have to pick out something deliberately. My Fiio M3K DAP plays through folders and sometimes I'll hook it up to the main system or the Boston Acoustic clock radio in the kitchen---it has an "aux" input. That would be more like background music as being in the kitchen means either cooking or cleaning. Also, music in the kitchen usually consists of oldies and the arrangement of that music on the M3K is nearly random. I still have a SACD capable disc spinner and well over 1000 CDs but don't use it.

When I'm listening to music I'm usually also reading, but I can multitask. However, playing music is when/where I really can't multitask. And when playing music is good, it's always better than listening to music.
 
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jsrtheta

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This aspect of the discussion has me pondering some questions for the crowd.

1. Do you listen to lots of music "in the background" during the day? (E.g. streaming etc).

2. When you listen to your music rig, what comes first? Do you think "I really want to listen to THIS specific music (e.g. track or album) and that motivates sitting down to listen? Or do you think "I want to listen to some music right now" and THEN you decide which music to listen to?


For #2, I often do a deliberate "take a break to listen to music." So I fire up the system and then choose what I want to listen to. A sort of exploration. I know some people do the opposite - they have an urge to listen to some specific music, and THAT is why they turn on their hi-fi system.

For #1, I really enjoy streaming certain internet radio stations. But I'm pretty particular when I do so - e.g. while cooking in the kitchen, or while curled up with a book, or driving in the car. Otherwise, I find when I've been streaming music in the background for a significant period of time it sort of kills my desire to sit down in front of my system. Sort of music-fatigue I guess. When I haven't been streaming it feels more compelling and special to take a music-listening break.

Working from home (by no means full-time), I find I can get little done without music playing. Sometimes I know exactly what I want to listen to, sometimes I visually peruse the library and pick something that I think will work while allowing me to concentrate.

For dedicated listening, I use the same system.

I only stream movies/shows, primarily through Britbox. (I have signed up for Netflix for short times to watch each season of Stranger Things, but otherwise I don't like to encourage them.) I don't stream music. I do listen from time to time to college FM so I am at least aware of what's happening on the college/indie/alt-rock/whatever-else-they-call-it scene. That leads to getting new music I didn't know about. Preferably, I order it from the artists, but otherwise Amazon.

I get to sit down and really enjoy my system only about once a day, but that's dedicated time.

I get what you mean by "music fatigue". I think probably everyone hits that point.
 

rwortman

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It’s never random streaming vs picking what I want to listen to on physical media. I both “radio” style listening and picking my own music via Roon/Tidal. I had my whole CD collection loaded on a hard drive, streaming to my system, a decade before I had a subscription service. Network delivery makes finding what I want to listen to easier. I don’t particularly enjoy peering at a rack of big black or little shiny discs trying to find something. For my LP collection I have no choice. Recording them into digital files is something I occasionally for fixing bad noise problems or sharing with others. It’s too time consuming to want to transfer the whole collection. I see no reason with today’s technology to play a CD more than once when I rip it to my server.
 

EJ3

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It’s never random streaming vs picking what I want to listen to on physical media. I both “radio” style listening and picking my own music via Roon/Tidal. I had my whole CD collection loaded on a hard drive, streaming to my system, a decade before I had a subscription service. Network delivery makes finding what I want to listen to easier. I don’t particularly enjoy peering at a rack of big black or little shiny discs trying to find something. For my LP collection I have no choice. Recording them into digital files is something I occasionally for fixing bad noise problems or sharing with others. It’s too time consuming to want to transfer the whole collection. I see no reason with today’s technology to play a CD more than once when I rip it to my server.
I am gearing up (in the new year) to digitize my LP's. This will involve making CD's of them via a SONY 500 CDR AND digitizing them. It will also mean getting rid of vinyl that I am no longer interested in (or perhaps acquired as part of a collection the ones that I wasn't interested in). Then the CG's that I have will also need to get digitized. I see a long, ongoing process ahead, once I am setup to do this. It may take more than a year. But then I will be in the position to digitize anything new, in any format that I obtain, immediately. That will put me into the position of yourself: no reason to play it more than the one time to digitize it. A great day that will be!
Then I will only play it in it's original format should I chose to do so *not likely) or if the digital file somehow gets corrupted.
 

kongwee

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Not that hard to understand. When you encounter the proper vinyl setup with analog record, mix and pressed LPs. Plus you really support the artist as no one will pirated vinyl recording.
 
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rwortman

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am gearing up (in the new year) to digitize my LP's.
I have a Focusrite Saffire USB audio interface in my rack with the record out of my preamp plugged into it and a mini-pc. I can record right to a hardrive. Then I have to split the two wav files from each side into tracks and then tag the tracks. It probably takes around 1.5 hours per LP. 500+ LP’s means over 750 hours of my time. If you are game, go for it. I’ll just play the records once in a while when I am in a nostalgic mood.
 

Leporello

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Not that hard to understand. When you encounter the proper vinyl setup with analog record, mix and pressed LPs.
This makes it hard to understand why so many people made the transition from proper vinyl setups and analog records first to cds and then to digital streaming.
 

Old Listener

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Did promise but you had to pull me back...
Not being pedantic but...
Convenience is not a function, it is an attribute. Streaming' function is to deliver music (and some other media), and it acquits itself of such, with a level of convenience unmatched in human history.

Really out this time...

Peace.
LP lovers who disparage convenience forget that recorded music in any form is a convenience. A huge benefit to music lovers.

Celebrating LP playback for its inconveniences seems rather absurd.
 

kongwee

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This makes it hard to understand why so many people made the transition from proper vinyl setups and analog records first to cds and then to digital streaming.
It is truth majority are in digital. Vinyl market is alway a niche market since 2000. It survive because digital compression is too much for people who have the time to enjoy less compressed music. Plus you don't really worry about media change in digital. Vinyl will alway be vinyl. Digital keep changing. I have enough with iTune in the beginning and not paying another type of online digital media.
 
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If I have guests over, or having dinner, or doing stuff around the house, I either stream digital radio or have my vintage amp and Tuner playing whichever stations I prefer. In these events I don't have time to do critical listening, but I want good sounding music in the house. I also like to be surprised by the DJ's, some have excellent taste and I always get introduced to something new in that medium.

When I have time for critical listening I prefer CD or vinyl. I'm on a computer all day for work, the last thing I want is to spend more time on a computer or tablet.

My dream from when I was a teen was to acquire a nice HiFi system (from the 1970's) and just enjoy it. Over the years I have met people and picked up vintage gear and I'm very happy with where I'm at. I also have a house with room for a decent sized stereo, vinyl and CDs.

As a teen I used to collect comic books. I enjoyed going to comic book stores near me, going through the bins, talking to others about their favourite artist, writer, inker, which storylines they liked, etc. I've kept the comics that meant something to me and look forward to reading them again.

I find the same when going to record stores; going through bins, talking to people about mastering, pressing, which year was good for a certain album, etc. It's social and fun, and I always learn new things. Yes an AI app can tell me what music I may like based on my listening algorithm...but people are good to talk to, some become friends, and can provide points of reference from their experiences.

I also love 1960's muscle cars. To me my audio system is like a vintage hot rod as most of my gear has been updated/upgraded. People have both a new car with all the features that make them comfortable, and drive them every day. And on weekends they'll drive their hot rods and vintage muscle cars for pure enjoyment. They don't expect them to do everything, but they elicit a feeling and enjoyment they don't get with their new car.

If you have the funds, space and time to enjoy physical media, then just do it. I've met a few new audio friends who had high end gear with vinyl and CD, then sold it all to go digital. About a year out they all went back and reacquired those items (turntables, amps, vinyl LPs, CDs).

They all said the same thing; music became background noise from an appliance. They needed to feel connected again. Interesting....

Last night I was about to turn off the stereo but on the Tuner some amazing Jazz came on, with a solo double bass, the sound stopped me from going further. I turned off the room lights, sat in my chair, and enjoyed the glow from the Tuner and Amp, watching the meters do their dance. I ended up listening for another hour...
 

MattHooper

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One of my favorite ways of listening to music is youtube, both on my desktop computer and in my home theater. So many great performances available, and the youtube algorith has become eerily good at recommending stuff I'll like.
 

EJ3

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stream digital radio or
If I have guests over, or having dinner, or doing stuff around the house, I have my vintage Tuner playing whichever stations I prefer. In these events I don't have time to do critical listening, but I want good sounding music in the house. I also like to be surprised by the DJ's, some have excellent taste and I always get introduced to something new in that medium.

When I have time for critical listening I prefer CD or vinyl. I'm on a computer all day for work, the last thing I want is to spend more time on a computer or tablet.

My dream from when I was a teen was to acquire a nice HiFi system (from the 1970's) and just enjoy it. Over the years I have met people and picked up vintage gear and I'm very happy with where I'm at. I also have a house with room for a decent sized stereo, vinyl and CDs.

Going through bins, talking to people about mastering, pressing, which year was good for a certain album, etc. It's social and fun, and I always learn new things. Yes an AI app can tell me what music I may like based on my listening algorithm...but people are good to talk to, some become friends, and can provide points of reference from their experiences.

I also love 1960's muscle cars. To me my audio system is like a vintage hot rod as most of my gear has been updated/upgraded. People have both a new car with all the features that make them comfortable, and drive them every day. And on weekends they'll drive their hot rods and vintage muscle cars for pure enjoyment. They don't expect them to do everything, but they elicit a feeling and enjoyment they don't get with their new car.

If you have the funds, space and time to enjoy physical media, then just do it. I've met a few new audio friends who had high end gear with vinyl and CD, then sold it all to go digital. About a year out they all went back and reacquired those items (turntables, amps, vinyl LPs, CDs).

They all said the same thing; music became background noise from an appliance. They needed to feel connected again. Interesting....

Last night I was about to turn off the stereo but on the Tuner some amazing Jazz came on, with a solo double bass, the sound stopped me from going further. I turned off the room lights, sat in my chair, and enjoyed the glow from the Tuner and Amp, watching the meters do their dance. I ended up listening for another hour...
Selective editing of your post (as I have yet to 'stream').
But the same: the system was put together for my (& others who visit me, our) enjoyment while doing stuff, (dinner, working on our cars, etc)
I have had muscle cars (same deal, do things to & with them & friends). I currently have a stereo that is mostly how I want it (resto-modded). The little truck I inherited (2000 Nissan Frontier 4 cyl) got a bit of the muscle car treatment: I added a stainless header with CAT & & ported the head. Now it is partially my creation, has about the same power as the V-6 from that year & gets 3 MPG better than it's original configuration. Why? Because I rarely leave anything the way it came when I can improve upon it.

But the deal is, it's something (as is the stereo) that I did, I enjoy and some of my friends enjoy with me. These are great individual/social activities because of the mix of the 2.
 

jsrtheta

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This makes it hard to understand why so many people made the transition from proper vinyl setups and analog records first to cds and then to digital streaming.

Are you kidding? When I first heard a CD I clicked my heels, threw the window open, and shouted to the world that we were saved at last!

I grew up with vinyl (and 78s, for that matter), and I never felt so liberated in my life as the day I heard my first CD.
 
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