Back to vinyl

[D-Dan]

I’ve been trying to lay my hands on a turntable that will connect to BT speakers for months. HMV sell them, but when I tried they had none, telling me that the supplier had gone into administration and they didn’t know if or when they’d be back.

Yesterday there was a record fair in town, and I went for a look. Bought an Iron Maiden album, thinking I could guilt my better half into buying me something to play it on. On impulse, I popped into HMV and lo and behold, the turntables were back (well, one was) so bought.

Back to the record fair and a Guns & Roses album was added.

This is the first vinyl I’ve bought in more than 20 years, and it’s so nice to get back to the rich sound missing in digital music.

Oh, and she’s off the hook.

Arch Linux, on a Ryzen 7 1800X, 32 GB, 5 (yes -5) HDs inc 5 SSDs, 4 RPi 3Bs + 1 RPi 4B - one as an NFS server with two more drives, PiHole (shut yours), Plex server, cloud server, and other random Pi stuff. Nice CoolerMaster case, 2 x NV GTX 1070 8GB, and a whopping 32" AOC 1440P monitor.

[keith with the teef]

I will stick to digital.

If you came around my palce to listen Guns and Roses then there is a good chance you would piss your self.

But yeah. If vinyl is where you are at then thats cool.

[blacklion1725]

I get the preference for vinyl – but doesn’t bluetooth defeat the object a but by digitizing the audio on the way to the speakers?

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

For playing vinyl I have a Duel CS 505 Mk 2 hooked up to a Pioneer A400. The Amp has a pretty decent MM/MC preamp with proper RIAA equalization and I feed the line output to the line input on my PC. The codec chip on my MoBo is a top of the line Realtec with a very decent S/N ratio.

Recordings are great so it is a pity that my present PC speakers are a bit rubbish 😁

At the moment I send the output to my  Cambridge Audio TV sound bar for more serious listening.

[Bob Williams]

I have a Denon DP-200USB deck, Pioneer Z-CM32BTD HiFi with 2 good speakers. It’s fine and does what I want, including recording my massive vinyl collection, which I never seem to get around to finishing. Over the years I have had some very good systems, including the original Garrard 401, mated to an Eagle 100Watt tuner/amp. A Danish Arena Quad tuner/amp with a Philips electronic deck and a big, beautiful Akai Stereo open reel tape deck. That tape deck is the one item that I wish I had kept: the inbuilt speakers were good on their own, big horns either side of the vertical case. Most of that stuff was bought in BAOR during the late 60’s and mid 70’s, from a Dutch Air Force NAAFI-equivalent shop. I found it and was given a purchasing card by a great Dutch mate. He made myself and 2 mates keep it secret, because the prices were subsidised to Dutch armed forces by the Netherlands government and he would have been in big trouble if it became known that he was helping other NATO personnel to shop there.

I love vinyl, but my old ears can no longer tell the difference between CD, vinyl and MP3 digital. A lot of my music streamed and played in the car on a USB drive, is taken from CD. I have several Stones Vinyl LP’s that were played only to record, but when they began to digitalise their albums, I bought the digitalised CD’s. I defy anyone to tell the difference, even with ears better than mine. In fact, for clarity, which is important to u/s lugholes, I believe the dig CD’s are clearer. I can certainly pick out more of the instrumentals, especially with the older stuff: Brian Jones’ guitar on “The Last Time” * is fantastic on the dig CD.

IIRC a certain conversation with Jason correctly in MM days, that means my stance on the CD/vinyl question has done a 180!

*(not dig- it’s the original Mono) –  https://youtu.be/ncRkWJmRzX8

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

You are correct Bob. The people who remaster this stuff for CD usually have access to the master tapes and all I have is records, but they are MY records with all the pops and scratches in the places 😁

I also record at 48Khz in 24 bit which is super audio CD quality so I can put the records away for good.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

Right places 🙄

[Bob Williams]

Some of my vinyl is worth a few quid I believe. When I was first buying at the end of the 50’s, I never gave that a thought. I just considered the state of records owned by mates and gf’s, then decided to buy a cheap Grundig tape deck. That served me well, I recorded vinyl and put it away. Same happened when cassettes came out, then the Akai tape deck. Most of my vinyl has only been played a few times, some just twice, it’s all mint and there are hundreds of LP’s, dozens of ’45’s. I bought a lot of US imports in Germany, having made a few American buddies who got me into the PX. Best mate there was Popeye, a hulking great black lad with a lovely family and an air tech same as myself. That’s why I have some Sam Cooke, Otis and old blues stuff that never made it here. I just cannot believe the prices advertised for some Beatles stuff that I have, for example. That is going to either be sold or left to my son and daughter. Sil is a Dylan fan, daughter loves Motown. Son likes certain 80’s krap, but also Elvis and Stones, so he probably won’t go to Hell. 😆

I have a Woody Guthrie LP that I bought for 5bob, because I read that Bob Dylan based himself upon Guthrie. It’s mint because I hated it, but it got put away after one play. It’s now worth a lot of money. Might take us to Bavaria next year, if I get the right buyer. I always say, buy it for the right money or it’s either a plant pot or a vase!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

A mate of mine has that Akai  deck and he has been looking for some Akai branded metal spools, none come up on ebay yet.

[keith with the teef]

Funny. So Yeah. Original source material.

Obvs, so if the original material is digital from start to finish, then potentially no worries.

I have Breakfast In America on Blu Ray. I got it because it won a grammy for the work done in the recording studio. Thing is the original is analogue and I can here the master record disc when I play it. 🙂

The Blu Ray does have a cool fat sound compared to the CD though.

[D-Dan]

blacklion1725 wrote:

I get the preference for vinyl – but doesn’t bluetooth defeat the object a but by digitizing the audio on the way to the speakers?

You’re right, and whilst trying to ensure that Alexa and the turntable can use the same speakers without too much trouble, I’ve gone with wired from the turntable and BT for Alexa, so best of both worlds, now.

Arch Linux, on a Ryzen 7 1800X, 32 GB, 5 (yes -5) HDs inc 5 SSDs, 4 RPi 3Bs + 1 RPi 4B - one as an NFS server with two more drives, PiHole (shut yours), Plex server, cloud server, and other random Pi stuff. Nice CoolerMaster case, 2 x NV GTX 1070 8GB, and a whopping 32" AOC 1440P monitor.

[keith with the teef]

Here is an interseting way to store media. Not by Blu Ray Not By Vynil.

[blacklion1725]

D-Dan wrote:

blacklion1725 wrote:

I get the preference for vinyl – but doesn’t bluetooth defeat the object a but by digitizing the audio on the way to the speakers?

You’re right, and whilst trying to ensure that Alexa and the turntable can use the same speakers without too much trouble, I’ve gone with wired from the turntable and BT for Alexa, so best of both worlds, now.

Happy Days!

[D-Dan]

keith with the teef wrote:

Here is an interseting way to store media. Not by Blu Ray Not By Vynil.

Not so sure. Store music with a singer with perfect pitch hitting high C, and bang goes your storage 😉

Arch Linux, on a Ryzen 7 1800X, 32 GB, 5 (yes -5) HDs inc 5 SSDs, 4 RPi 3Bs + 1 RPi 4B - one as an NFS server with two more drives, PiHole (shut yours), Plex server, cloud server, and other random Pi stuff. Nice CoolerMaster case, 2 x NV GTX 1070 8GB, and a whopping 32" AOC 1440P monitor.

[Bob Williams]

A high-toned, shattering result. Wonder if they use Windolene to clean the media?

Sorry.😚 I’ll get me coat…

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

Do not use Windowlene 😁 do use mild soapy water with a soft cloth and rinse under the tap, don’t get the label wet.

Remember records are made of plastic and do not dissolve😀

If you are worried about tap water residue then you can wipe them with a micro fiber cloth when they are dry.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

Oh and don’t touch your newly cleaned record with greasy fingers, makes the dust stick.

[keith with the teef]

@ D-Dan. Hitting the high C.

One that note. If you get the chance watch the TinTin Movie cartoon. Amazing.

[Bob Williams]

Wheels-Of-Fire wrote:

Do not use Windowlene do use mild soapy water with a soft cloth and rinse under the tap, don’t get the label wet. Remember records are made of plastic and do not dissolve If you are worried about tap water residue then you can wipe them with a micro fiber cloth when they are dry.

Graham, even the softest tap water has impurities in it, like lime. Ours is particularly hard. It would leave microscopic bits of Calcium Carbonate, chalk and other impurities between the grooves and some of that stuff is hard, thus reducing the life of the vinyl. I use “Pure” record cleaner, comes with a microfibre cloth and makes a great job of it. I didn’t really believe until I used it on records that had been played just a few times, some only once. I had always used an antistatic cloth, but the muck that came off shocked me. Only needs a slight spray, but makes a difference to the sound, even to my knackered ears.

https://tinyurl.com/y3w98reo

 

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

Bob, the greasy stuff  that sticks to records is mostly finger grease. Give it a wash 😁

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