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If you can even call it a comeback? Did it ever leave? Nice article on the current state of vinyl on CNET. Maybe I was on to something all these years. I now have over 45,000 records in my collection, all speeds, all sizes, all eras. Two things they mention in the article I’d like to comment on. First of all, that the plants can’t press records fast enough to meet demand! So true. As some of you might recall I own a small record label and publishing company. Over the past 10 or so years all releases have been CD format, as well as digital download sales from the usual sites. However, for NEXT Christmas — Christmas 2017 — I was planning to release my first vinyl pressing. A Christmas 45. I’ve been told by the plant I have to get my package to them by JULY if I want any chance of getting 45’s by Christmas — and even that might not be enough lead time to get them in time to actually market and sell them by Christmas! Holy Crap!
One concern I have that’s brought up in the article is the tremendous sales of Crosley turntables/recordplayers, etc. These machines are basically garbage. Not only do they sound awful, they have horrendous needle/cartridge combinations generally with crappy plastic (!) or synthetic stylii that track quite heavy and literally DESTROY a record after just a few plays. All these young folks buying these machines and then playing vintage vinyl on them are DESTROYING a crapload of vinyl every year. It’s SAD I tell you. The Crosley players look really cool and vintage. They have tiny, tinny speakers, under powered amps with the cheapest parts that can be found, and the arm/tracking precision is similar to that of Fred Flintstones phonograph.
But other than that… nice article…
https://www.cnet.com/news/vinyl-records-and-urban-outfitters-appeal-to-millennials/#ftag=CAD590a51e
TIB
Total posts : 45366I saw something like a Crosley turntable being marked on a shopping channel for Christmas, and was thinking how it was such a step back. Turntable systems had gotten to such a refined level when we last visited vinyl.
There were always cheap phonographs, like the BSR ones in any cheap stereo, but you could go any higher and get something much better in a component, like Technics SL-1 for a hundred dollars.
They bring phonos back as cheap playback equipment, that’s not going to last too long if the records are being harmed and the sound is poor, people will find out!
Total posts : 45366Perspective:
My interest in hi-fidelity audio reproduction dates back to the early 1960s, when my home stereo setup then consisted of a Rek-O-Kut belt-driven turntable, a Shure V15 stereo TT cartridge, a Dynaco PAS-2 stereo preamp, a Dynaco Stereo 70 amplifier, and a pair of Acoustic Research AR-2a speakers. The Dynaco items I assembled myself from kits.
That setup sounded great to me at the time.
Eventually I acquired a library of about 700 stereo LPs, which I still have (but no longer listen to).
Later on as I could afford it I upgraded to McIntosh components.
In 1984 I bought my first CD player, a Sony D-5 “Discman.” I still have it, and it still works. I have newer CD players, although they sound about the same as the D-5.
But the difference in the sonic quality heard from the CDs I then bought and listened to was FAR superior to that of even a brand-new vinyl recording. The CDs had no audible “surface noise” (cracks & pops) no matter how often they were played, wider/flatter audio response, and lower harmonic and intermodulation distortion.
Reportedly some prefer the sonic characteristics provided by vinyl recordings compared to CDs. But I confess that I can’t agree with them — if the CDs used sensible audio processing when they were mastered.
The audio quality conveyed by a distortion-free path can sound bad, if the source material itself is not distortion-free.
Total posts : 45366The Stanton STR8-150 is the finest turntable made for the radio industry:
http://www.stantondj.com/stanton-turntables/str8-150.html
Speaking of Rek-O-Kut, this was an industry standard back in the day:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll252/Toptubes/HiEndPic/ANALOG/Turntables/Rek-O-Kut-B12H.jpg
Then I found the ULTIMATE Rek-O-Kut! Imagine having two of these beauties!
http://lajazz.jp/images/Audio/Gallery/Rekokut-B16H/Resize/Rekokut_003.jpg
Doug
Total posts : 45366I grew up listening to vinyl in the 70’s, and by early 80’s enjoyed improved hi-fi seperates, as time went by.
Vinyl in excellent condition, played on a high quality turntable and arm/catridge can sound superb, but the hassle of rinsing/drying vinyl for optimum playback was a pain.
In those days we are talking £500 turntable, let alone arm/cartridge/stylus, which can exceed £1000 in all !
That was a lot of money then, let alone lead shot filled speaker stands etc.
By 1985 i bought a cd player and started buying cd’s.
I also have a 3 head cd tape deck, as well as a dat tape deck, both now rarely used.
Occasionally i buy the odd used cd, but i only look for pre hyper compressed cd’s.
The other factor that people don’t recognise is the gradual hf hearing loss with age, so the tonal frequency balace changes.
Paul.
Total posts : 45366When I was in Europe in the 70’s I saw these at radio stations:
http://www.261.gr/history2/Emt-930B.jpg
Also saw the Lenco:
http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/9/6/4/9/8/7/webimg/524255674_tp.jpg
Doug
Total posts : 45366My vinyl collection currently consists of some 78’s & a bunch of 45′. I have an old Califone record player (the model number escapes me right now) that is capable of playing 16 inch transcriptions, as well as LP’s, 78’s & the 45’s. Not really audiofile quality, but then none of the formats I use it for really require it.
I actually prefer cassettes for listening, especially for their portability, although I do have quite a collection of CD’s.
All formats have their drawbacks. CD’s, in spite of the claims of their invincibility, tend to go downhill as the scratches mount up. Plus, even correctly handled & stored CD’s can just quit working after a while (I’ve noticed that CD’s these days, and for the past few decades, get made more and more cheaply). Vinyl certainly has surface noise, particularly theolder stuff. Cassettes don’t have the fidelity of either, but can take more of a beating, with no surface noise (dolby minimizes the dreaded tape hiss).
Plus, I’ve found that you can get cassettes dirt cheap in vintage stores (I pay 10-25 cents each). Albums are actually getting more expensive ($1 & up), and these stores are getting more knowledgeable about what some are worth.
Total posts : 45366BSR turntables sounded god-awful. And 45 records sound God awful. Where albums did sound good on a well-made turntable and cartridge combination.
Most Good Rock stations had a ban on 45 records where R you could still play Maxi singles which were 33 RPM singles. Case in point the Kings switching to Glide and beat goes on was on a maxi single on a 33 RPM record.
Total posts : 45366The reason most 45’s sound awful is that they’re beat up from playing on lousy turntables. Never mind looking like they’ve been used as frisbees. Play a pristine 45 on a good turntable with the right needle/cartridge, and it will generally sound just as good as an LP track.
Total posts : 45366The Garard SL-95B was always my “Holy Grail” turntable…..alas, I never owned one…!!:(
I HAVE owned a couple of AR XA and XB manual tables that were quite nice….
Sad to say…..my vinyl (album) collection got “lost” at my parent’s house many years ago…I think they pitched them, thinking they were “junk” and I’d never retrieve them…but I DO have a near-mint collection of regular and “Extended Play” 45s, many re-recorded from original masters — a lot of Big Band stuff (Miller, Dorsey, Goodman)….but, right now…NOTHING to play them on!!! Hoping to change that after the Holidays…..
Total posts : 45366The 78’s were made of shellac. They could indeed be destroyed by the needle. Most folks don’t realize that those steel needles were meant to play ONCE, then be tossed away and replaced with another steel needle for the next play. The needles were cheap. Very cheap. The records themselves had a bit of a friction surface built into them, so the needle would wear down rather than the record (creating some surface noise, mostly inaudible on the acoustic players). Most people today who get one of these machines use the needle over and over, it quickly develops a flat side (much like a chisel) and destroys records quickly. Then people play 1940’s and later 78’s on an acoustic player and wreck the records, as the more modern electrically recorded 78’s weren’t designed to be played on the older acoustic phonographs.
I have both a Victor Talking Machine (what most people call a gramophone) and an Edison Diamond Disc player, both fully restored, in the dining room. Play them regularly.
45 speed records actually sound better than 33’s. Wider frequency response and wider dynamic range. That’s why there are audiophile 12″ 45 speed records. The 45’s that sound crappy are those made of polystyrene rather than vinyl, or those made of recycled vinyl. A real, vinyl 45 in good shape will always sound better than a 33, all things being equal.
TIB
Total posts : 45366You guys that had the Garrard and AR turntables…did you close-cue them? Were the start-up times satisfactory? The AR did not have the ability to slip-cue, as the thing was suspended inside and was a nightmare. By the way, it’s not the BSR/Dual turntables that sounded bad, it was the cartridge!
I can put a Stanton 505 cartridge on a BSR and it sounds GREAT! But cueing is important. That’s why I have ONLY owned broadcast turntables. QRK, Gates, Collins, Technics and Stanton. The QRK/Russco/Collins is the fastest start in the industry! This one:
http://www.preservationsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Russco_Studio_pro_Custom.jpg
There is no better broadcast turntable. You’ll find variations of this on eBay. Even the ancient Collins performs superbly:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_H4cY-hK6II/Uu3XZaMPk7I/AAAAAAAAAdo/5tGvU-ZMLaw/s1600/hero1.JPG
These are Collins 16-inch. I would KILL for a pair of these!
http://usr.audioasylum.com/images/1/10607/turntable.jpg
Now, Gates ain’t bad, but incredibly spendy! A grand for this baby!
http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz171/jbstemp/TT%20and%20sony/DSC_8498.jpg
The 16 inch is even MORE expensive!
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v5uE5-YbdHM/hqdefault.jpg
To broadcast, one will have a much better experience using the tools of the trade. Audiophile and consumer turntables can be used, but I never would…
Doug
Total posts : 45366Tim is right about the 45s. Like all analog mediums of recording, higher speed results in higher quality. 78s at the very end of their life-cycle sounded absolutely fantastic, several Elvis records are a good example.
Oddly this also applied to Cassette tapes, towards their end the quality was amazing. Bob Seger’s Like A Rock album and Roy Orbison’s Mystery Girl album are two examples I own that have excellent playback quality, especially on a good tape deck.
CDs unfortunately took a step back when they realized you could process the living hell out of them.
Total posts : 45366… CDs unfortunately took a step back when they realized you could process the living hell out of them.
Given so, is that step back the fault of the recording medium itself rather than the fault of those _using_ that medium?
Total posts : 45366Rich, I liked reading about your hi-fi systems, a new side I hadn’t heard about. I think your karma is better now.
I’m a digital audio believer too, for ease of recording and editing, nothing beats it, and when something in the studio is easy, you’ll want to use it more, and you’ll get more recordings. Radio people used to have to cut tape with razor blades to do assemble edits, now all that is done on screen. The mechanical process has disappeared, so now we can focus more on the creative process.
I might be sold on digital, but every media has its value. For radio, no one has to see the studio, so digital would be fine, except when doing special live vinyl or tape shows on purpose to create the mood of someone hearing an actual record.
I don’t fight about it, because every format has its goodness for one reason or another.
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