Skyclad01

"Handle the vinyl with kid gloves"? Im not familiar with that term.

I handled them with respect, I just always had bad luck with them for some odd reason.

kefrank

I own over 100 records and have never had one fall out of the jacket. Records should be in an internal sleeve and placed in the jacket such that the sleeve opening is not on the same edge as the jacket opening. It's painless and safe. I also don't really understand what you mean by "awkward to carry around." I have no trouble carrying a small stack of records from room-to-room and if I need to take them elsewhere, I use a record bag (obtained free on Record Store Day, in fact!).

What is a "pain" about an adjustable pitch turntable? The fact that you have to press a button to change from 33 to 45 rpm? Please explain.

My turntable is no bulkier than any other electronic component in my rack. In fact, my receiver is bulkier than my turntable.

Every decent turntable has a cue lever, eliminating these concerns.

I'll give you this one, partly. Changing the stylus on most modern moving magnet cartridges is actually pretty easy. However, if you decide to change the whole cartridge, that can be a delicate and nerve-wracking process.

Understandable. Vinyl is not a "convenient" medium, but not everyone chooses their music format of choice based on convenience. More on that later...

Nearly all of the cracks, pops, and hissing you refer to can be nearly eliminated with minimal maintenance: just keep your records and stylus clean and store your records appropriately. In fact, sound quality is an advantage of the vinyl medium, not a disadvantage, as the warm, analog sound and tweakability are preferred by many music-lovers.

Then by your own admission, you haven't really given vinyl much of a chance and your extremely limited experience is likely not a representative one.

Here's why I and many others enjoy records:
-- They are aesthetically pleasing (large format cover art, colored vinyl, etc) making them more fun to collect than other formats.
-- The sound quality debate will probably go on forever, but I prefer the sound of records. I find it less fatiguing if nothing else.
-- They are interactive. Yes, the "inconvenience" of records is actually a big reason that I like them. The physical interaction of placing the record on the turntable, dropping the needle, switching sides, etc makes it a more active listening experience, which I prefer. There's a level of tangibility that no other format can match.

Don't get me wrong - digital formats (CD, SACD, MP3, etc) have distinct advantages of their own, but when I want to really listen to and involve myself in an album, vinyl will always be my medium of choice.

kefrank

Here's my Record Store Day haul...

RSD exclusives:
The Velvet Underground - Live 1969 Vol. 1 (180g white vinyl)
The Velvet Underground - Live 1969 Vol. 2 (180g black vinyl)
Mastodon - Blood Mountain (blue vinyl) [I wanted the even more limited 2LP 180g 45rpm version, but couldn't find it]
Sonic Youth - Evol (180g pink vinyl)
Sonic Youth - Confusion is Sex (180g white vinyl)
Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica (180g 2xLP)
Passion Pit - Little Secrets 7" (red vinyl)
Grizzly Bear - Live on KCRW 7" [2009 RSD exclusive]

And just for good measure:
Modest Mouse - Autumn Beds 7" [limited edition #3943 / 4000]
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic (2xLP - one yellow vinyl, one blue vinyl)

RagingBull80

There's nothing like putting a record on the turntable, cranking the sound, grabbing the sleeve, hitting the bed/chair/floor, looking at the big beautiful cover art and going over the sleeve notes.

Skyclad01

Being born in '71 made me pretty young when I got into records. So being in my pre to very early teens, I didn't know about turning the internal sleeve upwards. I always kept the opening of the sleeve the same as the jacket. Made it easier to get the record in/out. And as being a young tyke, carrying records were very awkward. Even when holding them as you would a book, if you had several in one hand, they would tend to become unbalanced and I would always have to check the corners of them to make sure none were tipping and threatening to fall out of my hand.

I never heard of a record bag till just now. Never seen one either.




Thats changing the speed. Changing the pitch is using a fine tuning knob and having to look at the lines on side of the turntable thats lightened with an amber light next to it and having to get the lines to balance out as it spins.




That is true these days, but back in the early 80's a nice potable "Boom Box" was so much more convenient since you had a radio on there and you could easily bring several cassettes with you.




ok.. Thats true, but a lot of them would tend to drop pretty fast after some time




Even on new records I would still hear cracks, pops and hissing. Actually the hissing was a constant, it was the nature of the needle against the record


True, this experience is only limited to myself. And the reason I never given vinyl a chance was cause every experience with a record I have had was a bad one. Plus I could never stand the hissing, pops and cracks you would hear when listening to a record.




True, the large cover art was great, that I cant nor wont deny. Colored Vinyl in my experience was very, very rare and hard to find. Once in a while I would see a red vinyl record, but that was it. They were usually flexi's at that.

As for the sound, we all have our preferences, and im not gonna shoot down someone else's preference over mine, that just wouldn't be right or fair. Though as you can read, my preference of the sound of a record differs greatly from yours.. But thats just me.





Fair enough, I can respect that. Records are just not for me.

Maybe I was born a generation too late to truly appreciate records. (though im not saying age makes a difference. My ex girlfriend is one year older than me, and to this date still loves, buys and listens to vinyl). For me, at that time, it was all about cassettes!

kefrank

To be honest, most of the above concerns seem directly related to poor equipment, not the vinyl medium itself. The pitch slider and strobe dots you referred to aren't present on most "audiophile" grade turntables. Pitch accuracy is easily achieved without them using outboard power supply solutions. The cue lever on a decent turntable should not wear out or "drop pretty fast" if properly used. The hissing that bothered you was most likely due to a poor stylus or improperly balanced tonearm. A quality cartridge properly set up should not produce constant hiss. And brand new records most certainly should be cleaned, just as used records should. A good record brush should also be run over each side before every play.

All of this doesn't come cheap or without some fiddling, so obviously it's not for everyone, but it's all part of the tangible experience I previously detailed. I think we can agree to disagree, but perhaps you can now at least understand why some of us love vinyl.

For the record (no pun intended!), I was born in '79.

Skyclad01

Fair enough

I guess all in all, records are just not for me.

roughdraft_zero

I spent half the day split between four record stores (two Amoebas and two Rasputins) and spent way too much money, despite actually getting some pretty good deals. I didn't get any RSD exclusives, but did pick up a lot of stuff I couldn't find at decent prices elsewhere. My haul included:


CDs:
Burzum - Det Som Engang Var (Misanthropy digi)
Burzum - Filosofem (Misanthropy digi)
Circle of Ouroborus - Tree of Knowledge
Liturgy - Immortal Life (digi)
Liturgy - Renihilation (digi)
Mortifera - Vastiia Tenebrd Mortifera
Solefald - The Linear Scaffold
Solefald - Neonism
Veil - Sombre

LPs:
Acid Bath - When the Kite String Pops 2LP (red and blue colored vinyl)
Big Black - Songs About Fucking
Blatz/Filth - The Shit Split
Crystal Antlers - EP
Alela Diane - To be Still 2LP
Four Tops - Anthology 3LP
Gallhammer - Ill Innonence 2LP
Ludicra - Another Great Love Song
Ludicra - Ludicra Three-Song EP
Ludicra - Fex ubris Lex Orbis
Made out of Babies - Coward
Orthodox - Gran Poder 2LP
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
Thorr's Hammer - Dommedagsnatt
War - The World Is a Ghetto
War - Why Can't We be Friends?
Witch - Paralyzed
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters 2LP
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Lose All Time
You Say Party! We Say Die! - XXXX