C'mon, who still plays LPs...fess up

[Dave Lehnert]

What I miss about LP's is picture disks and the art work on the covers.

[Earl Reid]

I have about 1000 LPs Plus many Cassets. I have been coping them on CDs (Several hundred to go) We have a Sony CDplayer that holds 400 CDs. There is a mixture of music, But most are Country
Earl

[Danny Thompson]

Now the thing is USB connected turntables which allow you to read your LPs directly onto your computer. And I think the licensing is less restrictive on LPs.

In general, digital is better than analog, but not always. Take MP3s--they are NOT better than vinyl. Compression rate is way too high.

Same with digital cameras. In some ways they are superior, but they have a tendency to wash out whites and blacks. These extremes have a longer "tail" on film. As a result, you can often see more detail in a film shot than digital. This is doubly true on medium- to low-resolution cameras.

That said, although I have a small collection of records and a working turntable, I very rarely play them. Still, just having them around gives me a satisfying connection to the past.

[Ben Rafael]

Funny that no one mentions tape.
High quality tape produces a more realistic sound than either records or cds.
I worked in pro recording in the early '80s. We had these 1" tape systems that could record from both analog and digital sources. I had to make copies from studio recordings that were on reels. CDs at the time were easy to distinguish from analog recordings. Whether someone thinks one is better than the other is an opinion, but Analog is truer than digital. However, with the quality of a good digital recording today no human can tell the difference

[Rafael Carias]

You bring a good point Ben. I have been around situations involving hardcore analogue heads and had a chance to compare CD vs 1" tape. I personally was unable to notice the difference when listening to well mastered natural acoustic music but I did notice warmer and richer sound when listening to some seriously Phat analogue synthesizers captured in 1" tape.

Another point that I am surprised that no one has brought up yet is the fact that today's digitally recorded music is mastered so omnipotently loud that any quality in the music sounds squashed (sonically speaking).

[Jamie Delker]

Another point that I am surprised that no one has brought up yet is the fact that today's digitally recorded music is mastered so omnipotently loud that any quality in the music sounds squashed (sonically speaking).

That, combined with the overwhelming amount of compression on newer recordings. It flattens the signal out, and in my opinion, takes away some of the dynamics/nuances. Tires your ears out a lot faster.

And Ken... tube is better than solid state!

Edit: To stay on topic, I have a bunch of old records, and pick them up at garage sales and whatnot if I like the album cover (I have some pretty quirky selections), but I don't have anything to play them on. Was thinking about getting a USB turntable sometime soon.
My latest find, "Enoch Light and The Light Brigade Play: I Want To Be Happy Cha Cha's". I like cha cha, having had the good fortune to be able to listen to my mom's record collection from the late 50's early 60's as a kid growing up in the 70's.

[Eric Larsen]

I had the same argument with an audiophile who was waaaaayyyyyy out there in hi-fi land.

We were arguing in 1986, I think, about phono being a dead-end technology. I was arguing hard for digital.

"What's your favorite album," he said. (He had everything worth listening to. And a lot of stuff I still can't put my head around - like Captain Beefheart.)

"Aja," I said.

He went to his Steely Dan collection and pulled out the album, the CD and the "Gold Plated" CD they were selling at the time in order to sucker a few more bucks out of consumers.

He fired up his turntable, CD player and tube amp, and had me sit in his listening room so I couldn't see what he was doing.

I listened to "Peg" three times and ordered them. I really listened -- with profound intensity -- to Michael McDonald's vocal track, the guitar solo, and the cymbals.

I picked the LP as "best, richest, deepest" the regular CD as "second best, kind of flat" and the gold CD as "garbage."


I've since quit arguing audio with people.

[Jim Becker]

I have a very small number of vinyl LPs in storage somewhere...just a few. I also have a turntable in a box somewhere over the shop. But it's been probably 10-12 years since I played anything on vinyl...or more.

[David DeCristoforo]

"I had the same argument with an audiophile..."

Might as well argue with a brick. I used to read all the "audiophile" mags even though I could never afford any of that stuff. And I was always amused by the terms used to describe the "superior quality" of one speaker wire over another or how much better this tone arm was than that one. Richness, depth, clarity, transparency, dynamics, presence, spaciousness, tightness, veiled, warmth, accuracy, just to mention a few. None of which could be considered objective by any standard. For me, it's always a simple question of if I like the music or not. If I do, I can pretty much listen to it on anything. If not, it does not matter to me at all if the sound is being reproduced "accurately" or not. Nothing sounds as good as live music and from what I have seen (heard) so far, nothing ever will.

[Eric Larsen]

The one thing I did learn from audiophiles is how much better transmission line speakers are over regular "box" speakers.

That is, if you don't have the bass knob cranked to 11. But if you like "natural" sound, nothing beats TL speakers.

I was thinking, that a loudspeaker is nothing more than a musical instrument. A diaphram moves air, which creates sound, which goes out into the environment. A box is a lousy way to create sound. Think about it, how many musical instruments are "box-shaped?"

I think an ideal speaker would resemble a cello. Curved back for reflecting the sound with a flatter front for spreading it out. Then again, I'm not a speaker designer. Any thoughts, Bill W?

E

[Joe Mioux]

I still play albums on ocaision.

The very first component I bought was a Dual turntable. that was back in 1979. From there came the Yamaha receiver, cassette deck, and later a cd player.

today, the only pieces still in use are my Polk Audio speakers and that Dual turntable.

when I upgraded and turned the basement in to an entertaiment center. I added Polk Audio speakers for the surround sound, but a Velodyne Sub Woofer.

[Ben Rafael]

I saw a product at an audiophile show that was obviously being marketed to suckers. It was small blocks of wood that kept the speaker cables off of the floor. The salesman was telling me the keeping the cables off of the floor would improve the sound. The blocks were not cheap. I asked him what if you already have wooden floors? He said that wood is not the factor, that the cable must be off of the floor. I dont remember his spiel about why the sound is better since I try to forget nonsense.

[Ed Breen]

I guess I'm with Belinda on this. My upperhearing range is zilch, when I listen it is mostly the images and memories that the music evokes which gives me pleasure. I have mostly 45's since I have a juke box and several thousand records going back to the 40's. When I want to go farther back I turn to my middle son who has Dowen's syndrome and has a music idiot savant. His vinyl collection is extravagant with only one problem - He thinks all music is his~!!!
I like siurius at home and in the car but primarily 50's & 60's from my active years and the 30's and 40's if I can find them.
Ed