Records

[Andy Wilson]

Recently sorted out an amp for the turntable i picked up a few months back and it's one of the best things i have ever done. Buying records is something that I find really enjoyable. Listening to them is so much more enjoyable than any other medium. The whole thing feels like a great ritual. I'll never buy a CD again lest it be something i really want that's unavailable on record.

Who else on here listens to records? Anyone ever think, i'd like to get a record player but it'd take me so long to build up a collection? Do it.

[Jennifer Steadman]

I've always got the impression that people who buy vinyl copies of new albums do it as an affectation. Certainly I think quite a few people do that. No problem with people buying old records though, cos they're so cheap in charity shops and there tends to be a larger range of quality vinyl records than CDs in charity shops (in my experience). Maybe the sound is better, but they're so inconvenient when you've been brought up with the joys of being able to skip tracks, replay or rewind them. CDs are a nice compromise between sound (cos MP3 quality is crap) and convenience, which is why I buy them.

More to the point I don't really want to enjoy vinyl, because I have too many CDs already to suddenly decide to buy them in a different (more expensive) format...

[Jon O'Neill]

(cos MP3 quality is crap)

Is it? What makes you say that?

[Mark James]

(cos MP3 quality is crap)

Is it? What makes you say that?

I learned about this last year but can't remember the exact technical reason of what is going on. Basically it's a condensed format. It's a smaller version of the original WAV files shrunk so that you can fit thousands of songs on mp3 players and the shrinking reduces the sound quality. When I listen to my mp3 player I can't notice the difference to be fair but when I was using editing software for a radio class you could notice the difference when you exported the files as both mp3 and WAV.

[Gavin Chipper]

Yeah it's a smaller file with less information but if you have to learn about it, the chances are it's not shit. Also I don't think the sound is better on vinyl in any objective sense - I think some people just like the sound it produces.

[Jennifer Steadman]

What Mark said (though I had noticed it before looking it up). Basically the higher a song's bit rate (kbp) is, the higher the sound quality is. Songs purchased on iTunes seem to come standardised at 256 kpbs, whereas some of the lossless ones I've uploaded from CDs are over 1000 kbps - it doesn't make too much difference for some songs, but is really noticeable on others. Admittedly I have shit headphones which doesn't help the sound quality at all, but even when borrowing good ones it's a thing.

Sorry Andy for turning your thread into a discussion about bit rates.

[Matt Morrison]

But mp3 isn't really a source comparable to vinyl or CD, it's a destination. As you've mentioned you can turn your CDs into MP3s, and you can turn vinyl into mp3 too.
"Digital music formats" as a whole are not bad quality at all. See flac, ogg, etc.

Also, I get miffed at people who claim to love music but have shit headphones. As a music lover, there are few areas your money could be better spent. Do it!

[Andy Wilson]

I think some people just like the sound it produces.

Yeah, the little crackle is nice. It's a physical experience too though. Taking it out of the sleeve. Making sure it's ok, as it's so much more fragile than a CD. Give it a little wipe with the anti static, check the turntable speed and off we go, with artwork 5 times the size of a CD to admire.

Flicking the track doesn't bother me. The opposite even. Albums are made to play through. Speakers/headphones are important for sure, but there's no point having great speakers and listening to rubbish formats either.

[Ian Volante]

I've got a stack of records, but due to space and money issues, I've not yet got hold of a player. I've had most of the records for nearly 20 years, as that's when I last lived somewhere that had a player. As for quality, I've got nice speakers in my living room. Headphone quality isn't something I worry about greatly, listening in public is usually accompanied by the noise of bus/train engine anyway.

[Matt Morrison]

Headphone quality isn't something I worry about greatly, listening in public is usually accompanied by the noise of bus/train engine anyway.

That doesn't make too much sense considering the more you spend on headphones the more they will directly combat external noise.
But even so, without any sort of noise-cancellation technology, the audible difference between free-with-my-iPhone in-ear headphones and don't-even-need-to-spend-£15 Sennheisers is huge, regardless of other noise.

[Jon O'Neill]

Headphone quality isn't something I worry about greatly, listening in public is usually accompanied by the noise of bus/train engine anyway.

That doesn't make too much sense considering the more you spend on headphones the more they will directly combat external noise.
But even so, without any sort of noise-cancellation technology, the audible difference between free-with-my-iPhone in-ear headphones and don't-even-need-to-spend-£15 Sennheisers is huge, regardless of other noise.

I second this. The first time I went outside in proper in-ear earphones, I nearly got run over crossing the first road I went across because I couldn't hear any traffic.

Now the only time the interference reduces my enjoyment of the shitty mp3s I'm listening to is when I'm eating crisps or on the particularly loud bits of the tube.

[Matt Morrison]

Now the only time the interference reduces my enjoyment of the shitty mp3s I'm listening to is when I'm eating crisps

Haha, yes, this is spot on.

[Ian Volante]

Headphone quality isn't something I worry about greatly, listening in public is usually accompanied by the noise of bus/train engine anyway.

That doesn't make too much sense considering the more you spend on headphones the more they will directly combat external noise.
But even so, without any sort of noise-cancellation technology, the audible difference between free-with-my-iPhone in-ear headphones and don't-even-need-to-spend-£15 Sennheisers is huge, regardless of other noise.

Even with the cheapo things I've got (about £10 I think), I can easily tell the difference between the crappy 96kbps tracks that happen to be on my mp3 player at the moment and the usual 192+ tracks. I don't use them enough to justify spending more than that though.

[Andy Wilson]

I've not yet got hold of a player.

You gotta do it man. And a nice set of headphones to go with it

Realised i had yet to listen through headphones yet. Doing it now. Great. Listening to this http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2013/11 ... -the-caul/

[Andy Wilson]

I did a little test earlier through the speakers. Took a digital file and the record. Not sure what the digital file was though, as was streaming it. Most of the new records you buy come with digital download codes so we have a wee stack of them. Must try again and through headphones.

The immediate problem I faced that i wasn't used to when i rigged up the amp, was treble and bass knobs. I'm listening with them bypassed at the moment and it sounds better i reckon. I've been using them with the speakers. I should try without next time. I thought i found earlier that the digital track was a little more defined at the top end. I don't think i'm good at deciphering sound so much though in terms of depth or definition.

I can't rate the decision to sort out a soundsystem highly enough. Such a fundamentally essential decision in hindsight. Ironic that the sky box and amp are sharing a power supply since we got it. A good way to start. Telly's shite anyway.

[Ian Volante]

That's a good thing about our telly aerial being broke - I suspect I'm getting a nice hard drive music unit thing for Christmas which will get more and more use now that the telly's mostly off.

[Jason Larsen]

I've always got the impression that people who buy vinyl copies of new albums do it as an affectation. Certainly I think quite a few people do that. No problem with people buying old records though, cos they're so cheap in charity shops and there tends to be a larger range of quality vinyl records than CDs in charity shops (in my experience). Maybe the sound is better, but they're so inconvenient when you've been brought up with the joys of being able to skip tracks, replay or rewind them. CDs are a nice compromise between sound (cos MP3 quality is crap) and convenience, which is why I buy them.

More to the point I don't really want to enjoy vinyl, because I have too many CDs already to suddenly decide to buy them in a different (more expensive) format...

Jen, we have a record store on my street. It's called Golden Oldies and it has been in my neighborhood for over 40 years. It only closes on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

By the way, good on you for liking the Temptations!

[Brian Moore]

I've not yet got hold of a player.

Is that what you young 'uns call a turntable these days?

[Ian Volante]

I've not yet got hold of a player.

Is that what you young 'uns call a turntable these days?

Record player!