Turntables - help me understand the appeal?

[TheBatsEar]

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This is what record players where once. This is what they have taken from us.
I don't think there are any proper automatic direct drive record players available anymore.

Nifty player @dualazmak , for me it's a Denon DP-47F, got it for 250€. Came with a Denon MC system, but it sounded thin to me, it's likely worn down a good bit. Bought a AT-VM95ML MM and that fixed that. Added a used Cambridge Audio preamp so that i can route the signal through a MiniDSP Flex.

Why still have a turntable?

My answer is a simple "because i can".

go multich if you havn't already, you'll never look back.

I looked back, Sal, and what i saw was attractive, physical and with large enough print that i could read it. So i went two channel again!
Nothing of value was lost, Sal, nothing at all, DolbyProLogic, as it turns out, was nothing but a fad.

Not going mono though, that would be nuts.

you still have to flip them

The one thing i could do without. That's why my CD collection is even larger (by which i mean my flac collection).

 

[anmpr1]

It is not just nostalgia. A lot of younger people like vinyl. It is brand new to them.

I honestly don't know how it is with the kids, these days. Years past I had a friend in one of the local bands. Local venues and such. The band pressed a 45rpm do-nut featuring a couple of their songs, and brought them to gigs, to sell. I don't know if they made any money on it, or even broke even.

Now, it seems that everywhere I go I find LPs for sale. The supermarket has them. They seem to sell in the twenty to twenty five dollar range. I don't buy them. But I admit I'm happy to see them. That's the nostalgia part.

 

[teashea]

Yes, tubes and vinyl do the same thing. The analog sound...............................................

I should note that while I generally like very clean, undistorted sound, I did recently purchase the new generation Audient 4816Se console. So, for me, there is a bit of room in my life for some measure of analog sound as an option. Some of the outboard gear I purchased has tubes (eg Avalon Design 737's).

 

[DanielT]

I honestly don't know how it is with the kids, these days. Years past I had a friend in one of the local bands. Local venues and such. The band pressed a 45rpm do-nut featuring a couple of their songs, and brought them to gigs, to sell. I don't know if they made any money on it, or even broke even.

Now, it seems that everywhere I go I find LPs for sale. The supermarket has them. They seem to sell in the twenty to twenty five dollar range. I don't buy them. But I admit I'm happy to see them. That's the nostalgia part.

Since the concept of nostalgia is used in this thread, you might find this video interesting:

Does nostalgia have a psychological purpose? With Krystine Batcho, PhD

Krystine Batcho, PhD, is an expert on nostalgia and developed the Nostalgia Inventory, a survey that assesses proneness to personal nostalgia.

www.apa.org

 

[MattHooper]

It is not because the sound is accurate - quite the opposite. Turntables / vinyl have low and high frequencies cut off and they add distortion. However, this can make a recording sound "warmer." But mostly ---- because they are a lot of fun to play with. I have eight turntables and 20 cartidges. Quite enjoyable.

Zowie!

As much as I like most things about my turntable system, fiddling with cartridges 'n stuff isn't one of them. So my turntable cut-off is definitely at "1."

For top quality sound, I stream.

That's the general view of ASR members who still spin vinyl.

Myself, I go to both vinyl and my digital server for high sound quality. I never feel I'm slumming it, in sonic terms, listening to records on my turntable.

 

[DanielT]

It is not just nostalgia. A lot of younger people like vinyl. It is brand new to them.

It's an interesting phenomenon, undeniably.

Vinyl sales see a 94% increase this year, with Gen Z buying more than millenials

RIAA reports that vinyl sales in 2021 have grown by 94 per cent, while MRC Data found that Gen Z buys more vinyl than millennials.

musictech.com

 

[egellings]

This is what record players where once. This is what they have taken from us.
I don't think there are any proper automatic direct drive record players available anymore.

Nifty player @dualazmak , for me it's a Denon DP-47F, got it for 250€. Came with a Denon MC system, but it sounded thin to me, it's likely worn down a good bit. Bought a AT-VM95ML MM and that fixed that. Added a used Cambridge Audio preamp so that i can route the signal through a MiniDSP Flex.


My answer is a simple "because i can".


I looked back, Sal, and what i saw was attractive, physical and with large enough print that i could read it. So i went two channel again!
Nothing of value was lost, Sal, nothing at all, DolbyProLogic, as it turns out, was nothing but a fad.

Not going mono though, that would be nuts.


The one thing i could do without. That's why my CD collection is even larger (by which i mean my flac collection).

I'd have to get up to replenish my beer glass anyway, so it's no problemo. Also, I might play just one side of a record and then play some other one after that. Getting off my rusty dusty oldy moldy goldie once in a while also inserts a bit of much needed exercise in there, too.

 

[egellings]

Zowie!

As much as I like most things about my turntable system, fiddling with cartridges 'n stuff isn't one of them. So my turntable cut-off is definitely at "1."



That's the general view of ASR members who still spin vinyl.

Myself, I go to both vinyl and my digital server for high sound quality. I never feel I'm slumming it, in sonic terms, listening to records on my turntable.

I agree; my TT setup does sound good, and S.Q. does not have to, and doesn't in my setup, suffer because of it. Spec-wise, the TT cannot measure up to digital formats, but the TT's sound can be so good, if the setup is done right, that it doesn't matter.

 

[Sal1950]

To me the very same is true for vintage audio and particularly listening to LP’s on TT. Is Digital potentially more performant? Absolutely. Does it matter for what I listen to and how I listen, no, not one bit, my records play just fine and I totally enjoy the sound they produce.

You lost me there?
So you don't care what your music sounds like. How did you end up here on a site dedicated to measuring components and finding the ones that can supply the best possible sound quality?

 

[Sal1950]

For top quality sound, I stream.

The problem with streaming is you never know what your going to get (today or tomorrow) .
Most music that's been popular has a number of different masters that have been done. Sometimes
streamers will offer one or two, but it's a dice roll of availability.
If you really want the best possible sound you'll keep your own library of the best of the best releases.
I stream but mainly for the research.

That's the general view of ASR members who still spin vinyl.

That would make sense, they have other priorities besides sound quality.

 

[Zog]

Newly released content on vinyl is tricky, as some is mastered from an over-processed digital. A few (the new remix of Sgt Peppers for example) are stellar. And vintage used disks offer much good music.

A couple of examples. Sibelius Violin Concerto on RCA (Eugene Ormandy, conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra with Dylana Jensen as soloist. This is the premium version of this work in my collection - I have about twenty! Alas the transfer to CD is just dreadful. On the other hand Cold Fact by Rodriguez is just as good on CD.

 

[teashea]

The problem with streaming is you never know what your going to get (today or tomorrow) .
Most music that's been popular has a number of different masters that have been done. Sometimes
streamers will offer one or two, but it's a dice roll of availability.
If you really want the best possible sound you'll keep your own library of the best of the best releases.
I stream but mainly for the research.


That would make sense, they have other priorities besides sound quality.

This is not true with Amazon Prime Music's highest level ----- They are more sophistocated that the other normal services like Apple and Spotify. They actually inform you of the quality level for each song.

 

[Sal1950]

This is not true with Amazon Prime Music's highest level ----- They are more sophistocated that the other normal services like Apple and Spotify. They actually inform you of the quality level for each song.

I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. I was referring to the master tape version of the album offered.
I've got like 10 different versions of Pink Floyd - Animals on my drive. The streamer will offer you one or two.

 

[teashea]

I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. I was referring to the master tape version of the album offered.
I've got like 10 different versions of Pink Floyd - Animals on my drive. The streamer will offer you one or two.

Ok ---- I understand

 

[Cote Dazur]

You lost me there?

ASR is much more than what you describe, fortunately for all of us.
Keep posting the same again and again ad nauseam, any one who has been visiting ASR understand your position on TT and enjoying playing LPs. You do not get it, that much is clear. I wish you a great 2023 and hope you move on.

 

[TheBatsEar]

@Sal1950

 

[Sal1950]

ASR is much more than what you describe, fortunately for all of us.
Keep posting the same again and again ad nauseam, any one who has been visiting ASR understand your position on TT and enjoying playing LPs. You do not get it, that much is clear. I wish you a great 2023 and hope you move on.

It is not just nostalgia. A lot of younger people like vinyl. It is brand new to them.

Apologies Cote, but you "don't get it".
This world and the vast majority of the internet is full of places repeating the Mikey Fremer lies of Hi Fi.
The BS line that it's pure analog when combined with a vinyl source that is the true path to SOTA High Fidelity.
teashea, your right, it's not just nostalgia, part of it is all the BS younger people are reading elsewhere on the internet.
I can't begin to list the number of times I've read that vinyl is "the audiophiles" choice source for music.
Witness the upheaval over the MoFi scandal.
Cote, I am sorry that me repeating the truths of vinyl as a source for quality music in this century hurts your feelings.
But as I've also repeated "ad nauseam", this is ASR, if you want to hear the snake-oil Mikey Fremer praise of vinyl without
criticism, head on over to Analog Planet or where ever MF is spreading his lies today, or just about any subjective based site.
If you have the funds and enjoy playing with all the toys that keep vinyl spinning, be my guest.
But ASR has grown at an incredible rate since 2016 in the main because our readers learn the truth here.
I will continue to inform our newest members of the fact that vinyl is a seriously inferior medium for the reproduction of music.
Once those truths are presented the reader is free to spend his money as he pleases.

 

[DanielT]

OT
Anyone who can give tips and advice to Artsfols in this thread?:

Turntables as an art form

I'm looking for a turntable but with a bit of a skew on the requirements. I won't actually be using it a lot. I have a few albums and I play them mainly for nostalgic purposes. I've been looking at turntables online: Sony, Fluance, Rega, et cetera. At a $600 to $1200 CDN price point it...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[Cote Dazur]

Cote, I am sorry that me repeating the truths of vinyl as a source for quality music in this century hurts your feelings.

Don't worry about my feelings, I am more than fine and please keep fighting the good fight, it is OK.
We get it, vinyl is bad, listening to vinyl is dumb, cannot be a serious music listener and listen to vinyl. All clear.
Please keep repeating the truth, as you seem to be the keeper of the truth, no issue with me. I am wrong , you are right, Always.
Looking forward to reading your post in 2023, they always bring a smile on my face.

 

[Sal1950]

We get it, vinyl is bad, listening to vinyl is dumb, cannot be a serious music listener and listen to vinyl