The Vinyl Thread

[gump]

I’ve heard good things. The original sounds really good, perhaps my favorite pressing they put out.

[cobl04]

Honestly, I think the whole sound thing is overrated and potentially a complete crock of shit. All my modern records sound great, but they don’t sound any better or worse than stuff I stream or play from my library (and I’ve got an Audio Techinca player hooked up to a Sonos). I think unless you’re a studio nerd who listens to music exceptionally closely it doesn’t make a difference. Pretty sure Axver has said this before, but with the natural uncertainties you get with vinyl (your needle might not be set up perfectly, cracks and pops, individual vinyl issues, atmospheric stuff like dust etc) if great sound is the main reason you’re getting vinyl I think you’re better off getting digital versions.

[gump]

Originally Posted by cobl04

Honestly, I think the whole sound thing is overrated and potentially a complete crock of shit. All my modern records sound great, but they don’t sound any better or worse than stuff I stream or play from my library (and I’ve got an Audio Techinca player hooked up to a Sonos). I think unless you’re a studio nerd who listens to music exceptionally closely it doesn’t make a difference. Pretty sure Axver has said this before, but with the natural uncertainties you get with vinyl (your needle might not be set up perfectly, cracks and pops, individual vinyl issues, atmospheric stuff like dust etc) if great sound is the main reason you’re getting vinyl I think you’re better off getting digital versions.

I hear this and mostly follow this rule, but when you are buying expensive records I think it's useful to check a few things. There are known scams (I have a few records like this) of reissues that are pressed with the master extracted from a CD, which completely defeats the purpose of buying vinyl. Mostly an issue for reissues, not new records. And I think there are high quality presses that you can notice even on regular equipment (the VMP records usually sound fantastic, for example).

[iron yuppie]

I used to love vinyl collecting, but it really is becoming a pain in the ass. The electronic artist Skee Mask recently surprised released an album with an extremely limited vinyl run on Bandcamp, which sold out in like 15 minutes. And it wasn't anything fancy either - just standard black vinyl. I really don't understand why so many artists are refusing to meet demand on vinyl editions. All it does is promote flipping.

[the tourist]

To be fair to smaller artists, vinyl is really expensive to make. They do not want to make too much and sit on inventory. Also during the pandemic, the demand for artists to get things pressed far outstrips pressing plants’ capacity. So it might have been the plant saying, “hey we can do 100 in 2021. If you want 1000, it’s gonna be 2022 at the earliest.”

[cobl04]

They're also pretty bad for the environment, no?

[gump]

My Loveless vinyl has finally arrived, and it’s so damn good. I am falling in love with this album all over again.

[gump]

Oh, I also got Cavalcade and there’s a really nice intro before John L that is not on the streaming version. Very cool touch.

[Cute Irish Bono]

Originally Posted by LemonMelon

I'm curious to know if the HTDAAB vinyl improves on the mastering at all. Everyone made fun of Metallica for how unbelievably shitty the Death Magnetic CD sounded, but they fixed some of the issues for the vinyl because, had they left the levels where they were, the record would have exploded.

It sounds pretty good. I got an earlier version at a vinyl convention, so it isn’t the latest reissue but it sounds great. 🙂

[david]

My 10 year Pro-Ject Debut 3 turntable stopped working a few months ago and I miss it. I plan on upgrading my turntable eventually, but for now I had to take a long break from buying any vinyl. So it was the perfect time to just take a break I guess.