Coming back to vinyl?

[Bodyblue]

I get it, and enjoy finding a "scroe" myself, but over all the cheap theme is present, I as specifically talking about people 'complaining' about the cost of new vinyls. Kind of like petrol... really doesn't cost anymore than it ever has

People complain about the cost of everything. Since I dont find much,if anything appealing about vinyl, I think they cost a lot. One's perception of the cost of items depends on their level of interest in that item and the amount of money they have. Vinyl is kind of a different case I think. Since the late 80s when CDs were coming on and vinyl was fading, records were dirt cheap almost everywhere. If someone was used to that kind of pricing I can see their point of view actually. Now that vinyl is a bit of a fad again to many, prices have started climbing. Yes you are correct, adjusted for inflation the cost is quite comparable to 40 years ago. But the cost of used items has been so low for so long that I can see how prices have climbed, even adjusted for inflation. How is that for feeling very strongly both ways?

 

[GChief]

People complain about the cost of everything. Since I dont find much,if anything appealing about vinyl, I think they cost a lot. One's perception of the cost of items depends on their level of interest in that item and the amount of money they have. Vinyl is kind of a different case I think. Since the late 80s when CDs were coming on and vinyl was fading, records were dirt cheap almost everywhere. If someone was used to that kind of pricing I can see their point of view actually. Now that vinyl is a bit of a fad again to many, prices have started climbing. Yes you are correct, adjusted for inflation the cost is quite comparable to 40 years ago. But the cost of used items has been so low for so long that I can see how prices have climbed, even adjusted for inflation. How is that for feeling very strongly both ways?

I never left the hunt so I have been along for the whole vinyls ride and understand it. It is the same as vintage gear getting a new run and going up in price, people would rather complain than be happy for our hobby’s new found people. JMO but I think it’s just sour grapes

 

[Bodyblue]

Is that really how you comprehended that post..

I haven't learned how to read sarcasm... just sayin'...

How I read it was that it sounded rather silly. What one person finds satisfying can be so staggeringly different from another makes statements like the above quite impossible to believe. When I was a kid I love to change my own oil in my cars, I loved the feeling that I got something accomplished and all that other jazz. Now that I am in my 50s I have zero desire to do anything to my cars except the wash and wax once in a while. It is all so subjective.

 

[BilboBaggins]

I was driven away from vinyl by my Yamaha P-350. It absolutely drove me nuts as the dust cover invariable started falling down as I was placing my record. It sounded good, but if a dust cover can’t stay up on its own, it’s out of here!

I got back into it about 8 or 9 years ago. I fought against my desire, but I lost when I bought a few records to frame and put on the wall. Golden Earing, Hair, and a few others. They were just sitting there begging to be played. So I bought a Denon DP-30L, but a nice Stanton 681xxx on it, and connected TED it to my current system. It sounded way better than I remembered that p350 sounding with my Marantz 1530. I was hooked again. I had gotten rid of most of my records, but it turns out my sister had saved about 100 of my old collection, so I had a good start. Now I have over 2000 records. Doing my best not to increase it much past that.

 

[RunOutGroove]

People complain about the cost of everything. Since I dont find much,if anything appealing about vinyl, I think they cost a lot. One's perception of the cost of items depends on their level of interest in that item and the amount of money they have. Vinyl is kind of a different case I think. Since the late 80s when CDs were coming on and vinyl was fading, records were dirt cheap almost everywhere. If someone was used to that kind of pricing I can see their point of view actually. Now that vinyl is a bit of a fad again to many, prices have started climbing. Yes you are correct, adjusted for inflation the cost is quite comparable to 40 years ago. But the cost of used items has been so low for so long that I can see how prices have climbed, even adjusted for inflation. How is that for feeling very strongly both ways?

I think that's definitely true. LPs definitely were priced very low for a number of years, when CDs were considered to be a replacement for them and folks were actually dumping their record collections to buy the same stuff on CD. Though I wasn't anti-CD and collected those as well, I never stopped buying LPs and at one time they were very cheap. That era was when I bought far more of my collection than at any other point so I guess that since so many of my memories tied to buying LPs were from that era, that they seem very expensive now. What you're saying though is true, that taken with a wider lens that it isn't so much that LPs are comparatively so much more expensive now than it is that the prices dipped really low for a few years...

 

[JoeESP9]

I was driven away from vinyl by my Yamaha P-350. It absolutely drove me nuts as the dust cover invariable started falling down as I was placing my record. It sounded good, but if a dust cover can’t stay up on its own, it’s out of here!

My solution to that "problem" when playing LP's is to remove the dustcover when the TT is being used.

Under certain conditions dust covers vibrate in sympathy with certain frequencies. They're like a large plastic drumhead that can potentially degrade the sound. If you're curious pluck the dustcover with a finger and listen to the result. They resonate more when they are tilted up.

So, since there is no cover I place the LP on the platter, screw down the clamp, turn the motor on, give it a quick brush with either a Discwasher or a Carbon fiber brush, cue up the LP and listen.

Reading my description does make it seem rather complicated and energy wasteful (I'm a very lazy person). It's no big deal to me as I've been doing the same thing for 35+ years.

I never left LP's. When CD's and the players became available I started buying them as new LP's began to disappear. My LP collection has stayed. After CD's I didn't, and still don't, buy much vinyl. However, I never completely stopped buying it or listening to it.

All of my vinyl has been cleaned in a vacuum RCM. All of the paper inner liners have been replaced. For LP's that have a special inner sleeve, the liner is kept. 85% of my LP's were bought new. Those that weren't came mostly from fellow enthusiasts who were moving completely to CD's. Very few of my LP's have any ticks, clicks and pops.

 

[Grenadeslio]

Petrol is a necessary evil.. Music, and the equipment needed to reproduce it, hear it.. is a 'want'.. we don't need it.. some of us just enjoy it..
And we pay for it.. some pay a little, some pay a hell of a lot more.. and, occasionally, someone finds that 'holy grail' in a barn..

And some use premium gas

 

[donprice]

I feel like an outcast here. Went from cassettes to CDs in high school ('82-'85) and never owned an LP or turntable. CDs ripped to FLAC or streaming is just too simple.

Not knocking other's choices even if crazy

Rock on

 

[Rdenney]

So-called audiophile pressings (example: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) were always expensive. Most of my recently made LPs have been similarly made—heavy weight, appropriate sleeve, etc.

In a transition to a boutique market brought on by a perceived technological improvement, the losers are the price-point products aimed at budget or non-discriminating buyers. The market becomes (perceived) quality-conscious. And margins have to increase to overcome the loss of cash flow from mass-market cheapies.

This has happened with both turntables and LPs. There are a few really crappy USB record players on the market, but proper turntables even at the low end have higher market intentions than low-end stuff 40-50 years ago.

CDs are in bigger trouble than LPs, because they haven’t transitioned that I can see to a boutique market. And their mass market has migrated to low-quality streaming already.

That said, I’m quite choosy about the LPs I buy these days. But I want to be able to play those that I’ve owned for decades.

Rick “CDs are cheaper than LPs for a reason” Denney

 

[Swokie63]

How I read it was that it sounded rather silly. What one person finds satisfying can be so staggeringly different from another makes statements like the above quite impossible to believe. When I was a kid I love to change my own oil in my cars, I loved the feeling that I got something accomplished and all that other jazz. Now that I am in my 50s I have zero desire to do anything to my cars except the wash and wax once in a while. It is all so subjective.

It wasnt intended to be a silly comment, the concept that playing a record is so labor intensive it isnt worth listening to the music, is silly..( unless of course there is a physical disability that makes it difficult or impossible)..
I'm 57 years old, still mow my lawn, trim my trees(or cut em down and stack em because of weather damage), still crawl thru attics running wire from A-B, thru the rafters prewiring new construction..
And honestly, concerning oil changes, the oil change shops can do it in 5 minutes for almost the same amount we'd pay for the products necessary to do it ourself.. I do still change the fluids and service my bikes myself though..
And yes, I do still feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in what I do...

 

[grillebilly]

The OP has vanished so we're just talking to the shithouse door now
Records are a hassle and expensive, no way around it, compared to the alternatives. Still fun and rewarding. To each their own.

 

[Bodyblue]

It wasnt intended to be a silly comment, the concept that playing a record is so labor intensive it isnt worth listening to the music, is silly..( unless of course there is a physical disability that makes it difficult or impossible)..
I'm 57 years old, still mow my lawn, trim my trees(or cut em down and stack em because of weather damage), still crawl thru attics running wire from A-B, thru the rafters prewiring new construction..
And honestly, concerning oil changes, the oil change shops can do it in 5 minutes for almost the same amount we'd pay for the products necessary to do it ourself.. I do still change the fluids and service my bikes myself though..
And yes, I do still feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in what I do...

It is indeed silly if one does not want to do it. What part of that dont you understand? Not everyone gets the same sense of satisfaction from the same activities.

I get no satisfaction from playing records so it seems a pain in ass for me do do it. Ipso facto, it's silly.

 

[bimasta]

Maybe the OP is long gone, but his question should be answered for others considering Vinyl. To start up now, with only a few LPs and nothing else, is just pointless. I have over 3000 LPs so getting the best out of them is a worthy challenge; I feel I've met it, and no longer seek new toys. My CDs sound just as good, lacking only that je ne sais quoi a good rig provides — especially with a very good DAC, which I didn't have till 10 years ago. Now that CDs are as "obsolete" as LPs once were, they're as cheap as LPs once were.

 

[reddodge053]

CD's are making a come back! Get them while they are cheap!!

 

[whell]

Maybe the OP is long gone, but his question should be answered for others considering Vinyl. To start up now, with only a few LPs and nothing else, is just pointless. I have over 3000 LPs so getting the best out of them is a worthy challenge; I feel I've met it, and no longer seek new toys. My CDs sound just as good, lacking only that je ne sais quoi a good rig provides — especially with a very good DAC, which I didn't have till 10 years ago. Now that CDs are as "obsolete" as LPs once were, they're as cheap as LPs once were.

^^^This. Tried going back to vinyl several years back. Then the family grew and I just didn't have time to "tend to my records" to get the most out of them. Then I found streaming and the rest is history, as I sold my vinyl and turntable (made money on the table but lost my a$$ on the vinyl).

 

[Rdenney]

Everybody has to decide what’s important in life. All hobbies are pointless, but we do them because of the satisfaction we earn doing something well, even if within constraints. If a person wants to build a way to play vinyl records for doing nothing more than making 20 needledrops, then they can sell what they bought and move on knowing that they did something as well as they could, themselves, just for the joy of doing it.

I listen to an LP maybe twice a month just to listen. Was it worth sustaining the ability to do so? It certainly was for me. I’ve doubtlessly spent much more time and treasure on stuff that brought less enjoyment.

Rick “invested in the serious business of having fun” Denney

 

[sqlsavior]

The vinyl revival was well under way eight years ago, when you dumped your record collection. Pragmatically, this says that your attachment to the format is tenuous. If you really want to hear the 50 you still have, get a turntable. Otherwise, don't bother.

 

[tom67]

I got back in in late 2017 after a 30 year absence. I cleaned approx 350 existing records. I loved it at first. Probably played a few records every day for about 4 months. The shine wore off quickly. I got tired of cleaning records and even fiddling with the jackets and blowing dust off the stylus. For another few months I made Friday afternoon my vinyl and vodka day, kind of like some kind of duty or ritual. I rarely play a record now and actually almost feel some kind of perverse guilt when I walk by the unused equipment. I think the addition of a streaming service with several million selections hastened the process. To address your question, I would not invest much up front until you make sure you actually like the ritual and will want to continue with the effort required. Like most, it's nice to seek out a new hobby, but not a new job.

My original comments were not made to disparage the record hobby. I was obviously intrigued and that's why I got back in. I was just cautioning the OP to try it for a while before making a large investment. In fact, I highly rate vinyl as a hobby involving collecting. You can't collect auto and large antiques without a lot of space and expense. Vinyl can be done inexpensively with little space needed. It can involve active repairing and tweaking of equipment in addition to the record collection aspect at your option. So, you can make it a small hobby or an all consuming one It's much better than most other hobbies especially those like collecting figurines which are static and involve just looking at the items. And, music is the by-product which exceeds the rewards of the majority of most competing hobbies.

 

[oscarinovp]

I just got back into vinyl a few months back (succumbing to the temptation of my old man's record collection) and am currently playing records on a forgotten TT I picked up for $50 a decade or so ago. I have been making the thrift store/estate sale route to avoid paying more than a buck or two for records (amazing what you can do to restore records with an Ultrasonic cleaning setup).

Eventually I will make the effort to convert my vinyl collection to DSD 128 (or higher ?) but this will take better gear than what I am currently using.

 

[bimasta]

I'm not "getting into" Vinyl — I'm using gear I got over 20 years ago. I don't know if I'd bother now to start at Square One. It was all considered "High End" at the time, and I don't think it can be significantly improved upon. I have cartridges that are still NOS to replace the ones I use, when the time comes, four "name" tonearms and 2 "highly regarded" TTs. I don't have to upgrade anything, and with 3000+ LPs, a lot of which I haven't even played yet, I rarely buy more unless they're extremely appealing.

But I'm happy to help and advise those who are "getting into" it, as there are many mistakes to avoid, and huge savings to be had. The main point of experience and knowledge is to share them, or else they just stay in your head — you can't take it with you.

As @tom67 mentions, the ritual loses its charm and becomes tiresome. Given the vast improvements in Digital since its disappointing launch so long ago, it's now approaching the inflated claim of "Perfect Sound Forever", and given its ease and convenience I now listen to it almost exclusively. Playing my records is a rare treat, and I may never hear the 1000+ LPs I haven't played yet.

I mean, who has really heard all 104 Haydn Symphonies, which he wrote only because he needed the money? Not many are "inspired". Or Vivaldi's concertos that all sound the same? Or a huge collection of African music I collected when I lived there, most of which basically suck?