A Newbie's First Week Impressions -- Vinyl Rules


Well after owning my first turntable for a week and having let the cartrige run in a good bit (Music Hall MMF-5.1 with Goldring 1012 cart), I've come to the conclusion that I've heard nothing digital that even comes close to the realism here. In a way it feels as though somehow I have rediscovered music. Up until now, I had never heard a half-decent analog system, so I didn't know what to expect. I certainly didn't expect this much of a difference. So often on these forums I see comments posted by "vinyl zealots" and I can see how it is very easy to become one. And this is all with a very modestly priced turntable setup. I now feel as though my system has room to grow. Before I was always trying to dampen and smooth out the harsh sound of digital. I used to think that the harshness was caused by other things (solid state instead of tubes, bright speakers, etc.). After purchasing this turntable I discovered what the problem had been this whole time. I will probably never be able to afford a cd player that I think is capable of coming close to analog playback (I would imagine it would take a good $10k to reach that level). So to achieve audio playback that is acceptable to my ears, digital is just out of my reach.

So I guess this rant is really just my way of saying hello and welcoming myself to the vinyl crowd. I know I'm gonna be part of it for a long time.

P.S. Do you guys have any recommendations for record cleaning and ways to reduce static? I've already got a humidifer running...
jwglista
And I am in the opposite camp I have never heard a vinyl rig that made me want to go there. Except for the fact that I have a bunch of vinyl in my basement and some TT's are very cool looking. My friend has a JA Michele (sp) and it is absolutely gorgeous. But not better sounding than my digital but it may just be his system.

Of course in my system I might change my mind. But I have never been able to get past the surface noise. Even minuet pops and clicks bother me.

Oh and yes he has a record cleaning machine and swears by it.
I use a loricraft prc3. It is a miracle worker often restoring old records to new condition. It cannot of course remove scratches but often what seems to be a scratch turns out to be dirt. The machine was bought new and cost £1200! However if you have decent size record collection it will soon pay fo itself. Incidentally new records often benefit too.
I wish there was a way I could go all vinyl and never see a digital medium or cd again. I cannot because most Live Dead releases are on cd and occasionally something else appears on cd that simply cannot be had on vinyl. But, if any of you have heard a first-rate table set up carefully -here I am thinking of RMAF 2007 and Roy Gregory's and Richard Foster's dem- I am sure the question of vinyl's superiority would be moot. Sadly, many of us have not heard these "hidden" qualties in their tables and systems even though we think we have.
I enjoy both vinyl and digital formats. I hope you will check out the KAB Evo record cleaner. In addition search for the vinyl "steam cleaning" threads that feature Crem1. I use a multi-step procedure for cleaning LPs. Google: Audio Intelligence record cleaning solutions.