Vinyl albums seem to go in and out of print on a fairly regular basis. I don't know if the record companies just don't keep a lot of stock on-hand or if there are distribution issues.

As such, there isn't really just one good source for buying vinyl online.

There's Amazon and Barnes & Noble, of course. I've never used B&N for vinyl myself, but I have been very unsatisfied by the way they ship books. (Generally just dropped in a tight box that insures the corners will get crushed during the shipping process, so I don't know if I would trust them with records.)

eBay can be a good place to pick stuff up, new or used. get_importcds is a reliable seller that offers discounts if you buy multiple LPs that I've had luck with.

And then there's discogs.com, which can be a good resource for rare or hard-to-find albums.

And lots of b&m indie records stores also do mail-order on the side.

eil.com is one I've used a few times and have been satisfied with. They're based in the U.K. and have a very good selection of new and collectable vinyl from around the world. They ship their records in the fold-over cardboard packaging, which is a plus. They've been around since the 80s. Here's a quick little blurb ...

Yeah, discogs for me - you can find pretty specific stuff through them, right down to a specific pressing-plant, but lately, prices have been really inflated.

I don't have one source, I buy vinyl from Amazon, Deep Discount, Sound of Vinyl, Discogs and often direct from the record label, or from the artist via Bandcamp.

Oh yeah, my record player came with this thing, but it didn't have any instructions on what it was for. Am I supposed to be protracting something?

It's a tool to make sure your cartridge is properly aligned. Probably not something you need to worry about now; I think most new turntables are already aligned. You mostly use them when you're changing cartridges or otherwise making adjustments.

Here are a couple of videos that show how it's used:

I'd check the alignment on a new turntable regardless. Sort of like when you buy a brand new guitar, the first thing you have to do is all the adjustments. Like, why doesn't it come already set up right at the factory.

Then, when you want to improve your cartridge (cough cough Ortofon Red cough cough) you'll definitely need the protractor

Yeah, and a misaligned cartridge can cause record wear, but since Joe is new to vinyl and turntables, I'd suggest he use for a couple of weeks and familiarize himself with the hardware before he takes a screwdriver to his cartridge.

Or if he knows someone who can align cartridges, he could have them align his and show him how to do it.

I'm actually sort of surprised that a turntable with built-in speakers even came with the protractor. Or is that something that all turntables come with now?

I've been buying and playing records since the mid-80s and never knew about aligning cartridges until the past few years. Granted, I was using a cheap record player back when I was in junior high and high school.

I've been looking at getting a new turntable, and considering Ortofon options. But I'll post about it later...

I recently got a blue and it seems pretty good. Not sure about the tracking on my 1812 Overture yet.

I've put about three years into my Red, I'm sure it's time for a new stylus (keeping the cart, natch) and I'll almost certainly go Blue.

Blue is a great choice.
If you don't mind spending a bit more, Ortofon Black is even better.
Keep in mind, they need about 20 hours of playing records to "break in" properly.

The Ortofon Blue sounds excellent on my Technics SL-1200MK7.

I'm also happy with my 2m Blue on my Rega P1.

Paff, you might already be aware, but upgrading from red to blue is just a matter of buying the blue stylus. The cartridge is the same for both.

*edit* Reading comprehension strikes again... I see you already mentioned keeping the cartridge.

A bit more is triple the price, but the Black seems to be a great cartridge. The Bronze falls between them and might be a good choice, especially since you can swap for the Black needle in the future.

I've had the Red, Blue and Bronze. I felt the Bronze was worth the incremental spend since I noticed more of an improved output over the Blue than I did when I upgraded from Red to Blue.

Note that I've since moved on from MM carts to MC and likely won't go back.

What is it that you prefer with MC?

I have 2 Technics 310MC cartridges, one in my SL-10 and a new one still in the box, and I'd really like to use them. The SL-10 needs some work and it's a great turntable, but it does seem to make some faint noise as the arm gets pulled along its rail.

I've been looking at p-mount to standard converters but they seem on the heavy side. What turntable are you using?

I run a 2.0 setup and have noticed more detailed highs and lows as well as larger soundstage with MC and I've used a few - Hana, Benz and Denon. The Denon is what I'm currently using and is my preference. I believe it also depends on the music you listen to where I'm pretty much rock, metal, country 60s-80s. TT is a Thorens from 1980-ish. Receiver is an Outlaw Audio with built in phono stage - have toyed with the idea of adding a pre-amp but hasn't been high on the list -- feeding a pair of Wharfedale Heritage speakers.

An Outlaw receiver, nice! I'm currently mostly using headphones with a very nice and inexpensive Schiit Mani 2 preamp that can handle MM or MC. I've been digitizing my record collection so I can listen away from the equipment but I want to get back to listening through my old Marantz 4400 receiver or the Crown amp I picked up a while ago. However my massive AR-9 speakers need the foam around the 4 woofers replaced so I have to do that first.

So I learned something new last night .... Got a new record, Explosions in the Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place and decided to get baked and listen to it.

So I turned off all the lights, turned on my lasers and visualizer on the projector and took out the records. it's a 2 piece set, and none of the sides were labeled A,B,C, or D, so I just had to guess where to start. The side I choose only had the last song on it, which is fine. So after that played, I flipped the record over, started it up, and then laid down on my bed, took a fat rip and waited for the music to start. Instead of music, and heard the most god awful RRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! noise ... so I jumped up to see what was going on. The needle was already on the center of the record where the label was. I had no idea what happpened, so I had to turn on the lights and inspect it.

Turns out I was trying to play side 4, and there's nothing on side 4. It's dead. Which I didn't even realize was a thing. Not only that, but that side had a bunch of birds carved into it. Maybe the dead bird on the label should have been a clue? I dunno. Hope I didn't hurt my needle too much trying to play that!



Is this common?
1) having side D be empty?
or
2) having pictures carved into a side?

Yes, there's lots of 3-sided records with etchings on the 4th side.
My favorite being the last Ben Folds 5 album...

Do you think I fucked up my needle?

Maybe? Maybe not?
Play a record you're familiar with and listen closely.

Yeah, I have a few records with "dead" sides, including GNR's Appetite for Destruction (side four has some laser etchings) and Nine Inch Nails' Broken EP (side two has an ugly looking scratch spiralling through the side, when I first got it I thought the record was fucked before I realized that all five tracks were on side one). Not sure if your needle is fucked, but I concur with slop's advice.

They should just have an endless lead-in groove, to eliminate most instances of potential stylus damage.

That would be a good idea, a locked groove right at the beginning.