Vinyl

Is vinyl just a meme for hipsters? I like the idea of owning all of my favourite albums on vinyl, but I worry that doing that is more of a /fa/ decision than a Sup Forums decision. Is sound quality any better with vinyl?

meme: BRAAAAP

XD

Not for hipsters. Do it if you want. Sound quality is different.

>Is sound quality any better with vinyl?

That's endlessly debatable. It comes down to preference. I prefer vinyl because it makes me feel more connected to the music. There's something about that pure analog sound that's hard to explain, it's addictive once you experience it. I'm pretty sure the lower frequencies of vinyl have some sort of effect on how you perceive the sound, like micro vibrations you can feel in your jaw. It's definitely a more physical listening experience.

>doing that is more of a /fa/ decision
I don't get this. Like, nobody would know I even owned any vinyl unless they came over to my place and I showed them my collection.

Interior design and accessories are a big part of fashion imo. If I have some friends over and suddenly pull out my vinyl collection and record player, it might be because I'm passionate about vinyl and really believe the sound quality is better, or that I'm an edgy hipster who wants to give off a certain impression ("Oh, you still listen to MP3s? That's ok I guess, but if you want REALLY good sound quality then you simply must switch to vinyl").

Vinyl is now THE way to listen to music
Cassettes are shit
CDs are ok
Streaming is shit
What other options do you have?

It's a bit of a meme. I have plenty of records and went through quite a big vinyl phase, but I didn't like telling people or showing people my collection, because it just smacks of the whole hipster try-hard thing. I also got tired of having to look after the records and clean them.

In the end I ended up going back to CDs as my go-to physical media because they sound great to my ears, are far easier to maintain, take up considerably less space (I live in a studio flat), are considerably lighter to transport and of course less of a strain on my bank account. I still buy the odd record, but only if they are a) classics which I already love or b) have great artwork/bonuses. CDs win in every department for me.

>cassettes are shit

Say that to my Nakamichi ZX-7, pleb.

>That's endlessly debatable. It comes down to preference.

Me too, I just love holding a record in my hands. It feels me much more connected than having 129381 albums in my library, I appreciate it more. It's just a psychological thing I guess.

"Nakamichi zx-7" what the hell is that?

Btw I do have a great cassette deck, I just prefer to use vinyl

i don't watch anime you plen

>CDs are ok
>Streaming is shit
don't see what you're saying here. CDs are pretty good because of their lossless files and small size, so you can take them places.
and streaming is just so convenient and gives you access to countless albums

No its not

this

make sure you system can handle it

cassettes were designed to be shitty. unless youre getting type II or type IV tapes, youre getting shit quality

I just collect them because it's fun, I don't really care about whether's it's cool thing to do or what others think of it. I have about 5000 records and have been collecting close to a decade now.

You are correct. I have more albums on CD then I do on vinyl. I wouldn't buy a vinyl copy of an album because I want to hear the album. I'd stream it, if I enjoy it I'll probably get a CD copy, if I absolutely fall in love with an album, I buy it on vinyl

I'm mostly digital these days, but if I really like an album I'll get it on vinyl. Sometimes it's for the aesthetic value because I love the artwork or inserts and I like the tactility of it.

I don't buy in to the "warm" sound or that it's better than digital, I just have fun with it and that's all that matters. If I buy one a month I'm happy. It's not something I worry about too much.

Any "warmth" that analogue fanboys mention are actually just them lying about the impurities of the format. It's artifact and distortion. Its like someone coming up to you drinking brown tinged water and saying "I just cant drink clean water man, I miss the feeling of the film that builds up on the surface".

Theres nothing wrong with vinyl if youre honest with yourself, and there are only a few reasons to own them such as novelty, djing and sample digging.

Currently listening to Cure on vinyl through some very fine speakers.

I've found older vinyl has the characteristics we know vinyl for. New music is often pressed to vinyl from a digital source, and in my limited experiments doesn't have the quality. But I need to test more.

Love vinyl, but its expensive, and its a taste. I only do it because I have the setup that really shows it off.

me too. I only buy CD's because I like physical media and it's cheaper than vinyl. Other than 1 limited edition of a live EP I found cheap, my vinyl collection is all in my top 30 favorite albums

Tape these days basically only exists as a distortion unit for poor hip hop producers.

Analog distortion is not the same as jitter found in digital. The warmth is found in the harmonics. The limitations of the medium also give it a sonic aesthetic some find pleasurable. I think you would change your mind given the right setup and album, an expense that might not be worth it for most.
>I like the artwork and the ritual
complain about these fags

I only buy records for the rarity of certain tracks. Some album never made it to CD/digital, and some early mixes were changed for later releases etc.

an esoteric example of this is neil diamond who had so many different mixes made of his songs by different labels that each LP tended to have something new, thus for me worth collecting, and theyre cheap because nobody likes neil diamond but me

It offers a different listening experience and collecting is a novelty, as with other physical formats
There's no reason to buy physical for audio quality any more because digital wins out every time.

Do you own some Muteki speakers to go with that other Sony trash

I've simplified since then :^)

>what is downloading FLAC or 320mp3

I hope I don't ever get to 5000. The storage, the upkeep...You wouldn't ever have time to listen to them all. I think 4000 would be the sweet point.

Reminds me of my moms house circa 2003, pretty comfy user

>320kbps
>FLAC

lol grab the wavs whenever you can. FLAC is excellent. But if you like anything with real instruments vinyl brings something which suspends, with digital you always know you're listening to an illusion no matter how clear.

why are burgers so poor, oh well atleast its better than most

I'm an actual audio engineer. CD's a higher fidelity in the literal meaning of the word fidelity. You'll get a sound as close to the original masters as possible.

Vinyl records have what people consider to be a warmer sound. I personally like that sound most of the time. Some people will mention that difference in sound quality as being bad, but it's not. All speakers that aren't monitors change the sound of your audio to make it sound nicer. That's why speakers don't try to have flat frequency responses, because that wouldn't sound great. Also when people record, they don't go for the mics that make everyone sound as realistic as possible, they go for the mics that make everyone sound good.

If you like the sound of records, get into them. All that being said to me the sound difference in records isn't why I like them and collect them. It's for that connection to my favorite music.

>That's why speakers don't try to have flat frequency responses, because that wouldn't sound great.
My monitors strongly suggest otherwise pal

lol

I hope you produce, flat response studio monitors sound trash next to high fidelity speakers, I know, I ditched mine.

Good monitors will probably sound better than shitty speakers, but monitors are meant for studio work not recreational listening.

>$20-30 (sometimes more) for new vinyl releases
Nope. If you don't listen to much music or have many favorite albums I can understand it. But at those prices, even if you only buy 10 albums you've already spent $250 freaking dollars. 30, you've spent $6-900. I don't think so. I have a hard time as it is paying $10-12 for CDs, which really should cost more like $8.

The only reason I brought a TT was because of the collection my mom has which I can borrow.

Other than that buying new is pretty rare. And second hand is expensive too. sucks to suck.

My monitors strongly suggest otherwise pal

>wanting to hear music modified by some "high fidelity" speakers designed by some pretentious schmucks instead of exactly as they're meant to be heard and how the producers/mixers/artists heard the album as they worked on it and finalized it

Yeah at this point i rarely buy them anymore and trying to get rid of the ones I never listen to. Had to build some shelves in my garage to store them. Most of them I got for dirt cheap used for couple bucks. I still download music though, i'm not a purist who thinks vinyl is the only way to listen.

I know this is bait, but albums are mixed so that they sound good when you play them on other people's system. They don't mix them to sound good on monitors. A big step in mixing is listening to something on a really shitty system or a car to see if it still sounds good.

Objective reasons vinyl releases may be better, when:

New releases have more dynamic range on vinyl since they are sourced from less-compressed masters

Old releases are sourced from better tapes than reissues (tapes could be lost, degraded, 21st century engineers have no idea how to work with old analog gear, etc.)

Listening to that first YES live show on Vinyl. I love this thing. Have a few of their albums saved on my external HD. Don't have this live record.

Part of it is the search. When you find something really cool, instead of just downloading it. Sound quality is different. It's typically a little darker, sometimes richer. Of course unless you're listening on a 2000$ system, the "quality" itself is hard to really discern.

There's also something really just cool about the format.
I've also only been listening since Christmas when I got a player as a gift, so I know I'm definitely part of the problem. But whatever. It's fun and it sounds good.

What do you have, I've heard most of them.

>exactly as they're meant to be heard
weww, they're often mastered on hifi or ATC / PMC mastering towers, as well as a shitty car stereo, iphone headphones, and a single mono driver speaker. Getting a mix right involves a lot of speakers.

That kind of purist is a dick. Most of my music is digital / off band camp. And 90% of my listening is spotify.

There are a million "other people's systems". While monitors are all relatively much closer sounding to each other if they're made right.

They mix it to make it sound good period. Monitors get you as close to that vision and sound as possible. Other speakers get you closer to the vision of the speaker designer.

>
IMO SAW 87-95 wouldn't be the same if they weren't on type 1 cassette

Maybe it is because of the distortion.

Someone got for me a gift a vinyl of a record I have FLAC files of. And listening through the same setup, there is a very distinct difference. If that's because the brand new vinyl was impure or whatever, then so be it.

COMFY

I haven't listened to vinyls yet, but would anyone say the experience is like listening to the two different loveless remasters? That's kind of the idea I get.

This.
Used rack, I can always find something good.

If it's a new record out, I just download from the label or from the band (if I buy it, which i'm doing more of)

But I couldn't conceive of buying a brand new record on Vinyl.

What you get out of playing a records will mostly depend on your equipment - especially your stylus and cartridge. If you have shitty, cheap equipment, you're going to have shit sound and might even end up damaging your records.

It's a more physical experience, and there's almost no arguing that. And if you've got a cut with an analog master that's all the better.

I like vinyl for the same reasons I like analog guitar pedals. It's about closeness to the sound. Digital anything's removed, translated, and reconstructed, an approximation.

Whether or not that ultimately matters is up to you, but vinyl's about ritual and intimacy, which is completely correlated to why there's a resurgence today in an increasingly digitized, streaming era of music consumption. It's the opposite in every sense, anachronistic, and it's because whether you know it or not something's lost in Spotify and a thousands-strong library on a thumb-drive. What's lost? I'd argue it's the liturgy and feeling, you can argue it's vain hipster pandering, but closer to the truth its maturing generations seeking music less abstracted. Music plays to emotion, and vinyl's keen to that. More than other mediums, anyhow.

Also vinyl sleeves looking fucking sickkkkkkkkkk.

They're called 'Nearfield Monitors' and they use them because they provide the correct instrument separation, frequency response, and accuracy for effects such as compressors etc to the mixer at a close range. They are a drafting tool, after that they get mastered to sound good. I know what you mean, if the mixer used X monitor to mix the song, and you used Y monitor, you will be closer to what the mixer heard while he was mixing it than someone without a monitor. And in 9/10 cases it will sound better coming from nearfields than a car stereo, buds, headphones etc. But the 1/10 case where it doesn't is quality hifi. I've done side by side comparisons, monitors sound accurate and boring, equivalent hifi sounds lush and full.

I know not to get anything under $150, and I've listened to cds on shit and decent systems.

The most interesting experience I've had actually is streaming albums on a T.V. surround sound in my living room. You can walk around and move vertically to find different sounds, it really affects the way you think of some music. Noise music is very one dimensional, rock and metal have a completely new layer of depth, and ambient makes me feel like I'm underwater at an airport. Electronic isn't as fun though, it's kind of assaulting to the senses.

checked

>ritual
Its a pain in the ass

>looks cool
Its a pain in the ass

>physical experience
It is. Digital sounds great, but it never sounds authentic. Why is vinyl authentic? I think its psychology. When something like digital music is effortless and abundant it seems less valuable. When you have to perform an action to hear that analog tone you don't waste it by hitting next or skipping. You pay attention. And isn't that the point of art? To capture ones attention.

This is sort of unrelated but my old Yamaha P-450 broke down (The cartridge wire broke) and I'm looking for a good turntable for a decent price (I'm in canada and our dollar is shit).

Is it worth getting another old turntable or should I just get an AT LP-60 for now before upgrading to a 120?

>I have a great cassette deck
>Doesn't know what a Nak is

Nakamichis are the best decks you can get. Pretty much everyone into cassettes knows what they are.

Not sure why the guy referenced the ZX-7 though. The RX303 and the Dragon are the objective creme de la creme

I've been buying a lot of vinyl lately, and couldn't help but wonder something like this too. Although the aspects I like most are playing full album experiences more often, supporting the artist, and the aesthetics of good looking album covers, I started appreciating it more as preserving artifacts.

There will always be files and physical copies of the popular artists of our day around in the future, but the under-appreciated but (as I would argue, being a fan) higher quality and meaningful material may not be so readily available. I want to support those artists and keep their works around.

I'd try get an old Thorens / Pioneer / Sansui

Check your locals and google for results.

If you have to get new, try and buy a decent cartridge, the TT itself can be sold and upgraded later on, whilst you can keep the cartridge.

>not listening with a stereo console

>mfw my latest vinyl purchases were mostly pressed in the 2010's

I know it's disgusting but I can't help it. Lots of albums that has been in my wishlist for a long time now have been released in the past few years, and still waiting for more.

Collecting Vinyl has never really been just a fad. There have always been enthusiasts since the inception of the format. It does however have both lulls and periods of increased popularity.
I've wanted to get into it for years now, but it's only been in the last few that it's made enough of a comeback to be practical to do.
It also helped me slow down. With practically any song written available instantly on my phone or computer, I found that I was developing a form of musical A.D.D. Never actually listening to a whole song before flipping to something else.

yes it is

...

New 180 gram vinyl is very good but very pricey. as to older LP's, imports are better quality & colored vinyl sounds better than black vinyl. To get the best sound quality, buy a really good turntable with the best stylus you can afford & listen to real stereo on a really good pair of headphones. A graphic equalizer is always a good investment to tweak the sound to your own listening standards. I've been buying vinyl all my life & have 16,000 LP's of all genres of music. Downloaded music is usually only half there as the music is compressed. If you truly love music, listen to it in the best way possible-vinyl!

>Cassettes are shit

It's to make up for my guilt for pirating all of my music.