Turntable got absolutely crushed by CD
"Vinyl and analog gear is an investment, the real things that only rise up in price in time." Not so fast... https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis97c3b-technics-sl-7-linear-tracking-turntable-turntables https://www.gramophone.co.uk/editorial/review-technics-sl-7-turntable. http://www.in2013dollars.com/1981-GBP-in-2018?amount=200 "In other words, £200 in 1981 is equivalent in purchasing power to £744.59 in 2018, a difference of £544.59 over 37 years" |
I stream digital all the time in my car and I LOVE it This is what digital is made for, i do stream news in digital format on iphone when i’m cooking. But when i want to play an album LP or a single "12 from my favorite band, i want to play original vinyl in analog system not as background music, but as a serious listening session. Since my favorite music was recorded way before digital was born, i want to play the original source, not a bad digital copy. Digital copy can not be better than the original source such as tape or vinyl. It’s a copy. Only if the original source of modern music is digital then it make sense to use digital. Even vinyl pressed from a digital is just a "digital on vinyl", not the analog. But i know a lot of bands who’s still recordings on master tape in 2018. An average age of the band members is 20-40 years. They want to record on mastertape and press vinyl, that’s what they do. I appreciate it, this is a cultural thing, vinyl never die! Vinyl gives people more that just a music. If the music is just a background then you don't need a vinyl. Not everyone who's buyin records is a record collector. Kids loves records too, watch this 12 years old kid interview by M.Fremer on AnalogPlanet |
Vinyl is a copy, too. It is not the original source. In your case (rare records), digital copies may be limiting factor and it is understandable that you do not want a bad digital copy. Try copying into good digital copy. Maybe it has improved since the last time and I am not trying to poke. It may surprise you, if you have not tried in a while. Maybe 50% (or whatever the percentage of digital-preferring crowd) people here are not completely clueless and do have some taste. Give it a chance. |
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I often see vinyl fans bemoaning the fact that so much new vinyl is produced from digital masters. Some say "why bother buying a vinyl made from a digital master, doesn't it just defeat the point?" Not for me. I buy both old vinyl albums and tons of new vinyl releases. I'm especially a fan of soundtracks, which are getting killer releases on vinyl. But I still buy a band's album if it's out on vinyl, be it surf-rock, folk, jazz, electronica, or whatever. Even if the master was digital, I get the "vinyl experience" of the beautiful artwork, the tactile nature of the object, owning the music, playing it on the turntable etc. And most of it sounds utterly fantastic on vinyl. First, it's not like they are just making rips from red-book CD. A good new vinyl album starts with high res audio files, and it's mastered for vinyl. That in itself can make a bit of sonic difference. (And the vinyl can even eek out more dynamic range than the digital release, if the digital release is squashed for 'loudness wars' type delivery). So the vinyl starts with high res audio, picks up some "flavor" from the vinyl remastering, and then we still have the nature of playback via phono pre-amps and getting the sound from vinyl through the cartridige/turntable. I think that process in of itself results in some of the "vinyl" sound. It certainly seems to in my system, as I still often get a sort of "different" texture and presentation via the vinyl playback of an album vs it's digital counterpart, and I often prefer the vinyl presentation. So, I have no problem buying LPs just because they may have started with a digital master. I get all the same fun out of the physical aspects of buying the LP version, and they can sound fantastic. It's not like an analog master guarantees good sound quality. A number of my LPs from digital masters sound better than those from analog masters. |
