Yeah it may be better than digital. But come on. 3K+ for a cartridge. Cleaning machines. Preamps. VTA adjustments. noisy records. expensive software. By the time you get it all set up you are ready to just turn on the tv and watch Sportscenter. Is there any alternative?
Eldartford..... I am not digiphobic, I actually own a cd player AND a dvd player, and yes I am aware of digital mixing AND mastering. At the end of the day, I listen to vinyl more than I listen to cd's because I like it. I like listening to cd's to, I'm not afraid of them. My previous post was a simple observation, take it how you wish, if you read deeply enough into it to see 'digiphobia' then so be it.
And yes Viridian, I agree with you as well, However let's not leave the master tapes out of the equation! :-) Only thing my TT is missing is an analog to digital converter, so I can run it thru my DAC, and 'smooth out the sound' a bit!
Hxt1, no need to apologize for vinyl. i no longer listen to cd's, it is vinyl or sat radio. soon there will be better servers and better means of receiving, but to me cd's are a dead issue. i never liked ipods or mp3's either. high bit rate streaming video and music next future, but untill then it remains vinyl! the set up, treatment and handling of vinyl is part of the ride. oh and Eldartford is just jealous. so enjoy.
My point is that the audio signal is probably digital from just after the mic preamps to the LP cutting head..all through the mixing process. The vinyl final product might be thought of as "new wine in old bottles".
But Viridian brings up the point of transducers...mechanical-to-electrical,(Microphones) and electrical-to-mechanical,(speakers). Transducers color sound far more than any other factor. And the LP loop includes two more transducers than CDs (cutting head and cartridge). Unless you count A/D and D/A converters as transducers (a bit of a streach) CDs have only the microphone and speaker to color the sound.
eldatford your first statement is ridiculous. Eighty percent of my records were produced before digital even existed! Yes I have some thin sounding digitally remastered records, what of it? Both systems have their strengths and weaknesses, but I digress; if we read the op's thread he simply asks if it is worth the hassle. Well to all of the turntable owners on this site it is, to all of the people who sotched their tt , it ain't. To endlessly argue whether digital is superior to analog is completley ridiculous and futile... We may as well be arguing whether Pinot is 'better' than merlot! Or say.... Converters are 'better' than transducers. Let's bring it back to topic shall we? IMHO vinyl isn't a hassle at all, I see no need to justify my stance, YMMV. Good luck.
Viridian...Did you ever listen to that Test CD, I think it was put out by Stereophile, where Julian Hersh (SP?) reads an essay using various models of microphones? Anyone who has heard this recording can't possibly believe that A/D and D/A converters color sound more than mics.
Hxt1...If 80 percent of your LPs predate digital, you are the exceptional case which proves the rule.
And by the way, if you check my first post you will find that I merely pointed out that most of the music on LPs has been through the digital format.
Many of us vinyl spinners have been in the hi fi hobby for many years and had large album collections before the silver disc.Most have tried digital and many converted but many just run both formats and try to buy premium vinyl and use digital to warm up the system and play in the car.It looks in the near future that hi resolution downloading will be the next step in the digital chain and although I havent taken the plunge I have been researching a lynx sound card in a silent Pc.The fact that you can sample a track or two before buying and do it all from home with no waiting makes this perhaps a viable alternative.I see this as complementing my current system not replacing it.For me vinyl will never die, its way too much fun and the cds spend more time in the car anyway, a place where for sure they do a better job than an lp.
The fact that many of us make time to listen to vinyl, there must be some merit to it. I love my telarc discs, something about the bass I just don't get with vinyl. But of my three versions of Kind of blue, the classic records vinyl is best by a wide margin.. I've a/b'd for friends and everyone agrees, without exception, that the vinyl kills the sacd version. I use a Sony modded by Matt Anker (sacd mods). I am sure if I invested more in my digital rig I could get better sound. I am also sure that there will be a day when a digital format will be available that rivals or surpasses vinyl in every way. When that format is available at a reasonable price, count me in! By then I am sure I will be too old to be running to my tt every 15 minutes, adjusting cartridges etc!
depends on who's asking. its one of those things that if you have to ask----then its not worth it. i know allot of guys who played in bands that couldn't care less about all this,they are happy as all get out with ipod. i even have an old pal who has played behind some pretty big names and is now a sound engineer he thinks my pursuit of HI FI is nonsense and too expensive. he tells me how digital is wonderful and in what it lacks in the natural sound stage it makes up for with sub sonic lows and dog whistle highs. who cares i for agreement. i cant get enough records.
Yes the alternative is live music! But sometimes the artist you love most is dead, drug F#@ked or retired. What can make things worse is they were never re-released on CD or if they did it sounds like S#!t! When this happens and you can get hold of some of their records you learn to appreciate a good properly set up analog rig as it is sometimes the only way to enjoy some music. A really good turntable set up with a decent recording always gets me more engaged in the performance of the music when I compare with the same release on CD and I have a very good CD playback system. If both are recorded well the record sounds more engaging and alive than CD that still sounds sterile to me. It never ceases to amaze me that a compressed carbon rock vibrating in a blob of vinyl EATS digital as far as my ears go. But I have heard reel to reel 2nd copies of master tapes and they blow records out of the water. The same goes for home recordings at 92kbs with my Broadcast sound card compared to compressed 16 bit CDs of the same live material. It is simply one more medium to enjoy the music. For me it is best described by the groupie stuck for very debauched reasons to the back seat of the tour bus on Frank Zappas Joe's Garage album. "Music is the Best" That is why for me yes, analog is annoying, over- populated and endorsed by terminal anal retentives and loonies but so worth it.
'That is why for me yes, analog is annoying, over- populated and endorsed by terminal anal retentives and loonies but so worth it'
As precise an encapsulation of the issue at hand as I've ever read!
OTOH, you have to ultimately ask yourself if it's 'worth it'..... Either bite the bullet, and buy a tt, or go on the digital forum to continue searching for that ever elusive 'analog' sounding cdp!
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