Help with a beginner Vinyl system

[W9TR]

Here is the question, and I expect the answer will vary -
Overall, do you enjoy the vinyl experience over digital, even with the headaches of vinyl? Does the extra effort cause you to be more involved or just annoyed?

For me vinyl and digital are now two totally different experiences.

With Vinyl, the palpable weight and feel of the album is very pleasant. It's almost like handling a relic from a time long past. Removing the record from its sleeve and placing on the cleaning machine is always satisfying. You have a nice physical asset and are taking good care of it. The cover art can be a joy to look at and the liner notes are done in something bigger than 6 point type so I can actually read them. Placing the clean record on the TT, and in my case giving the 50 Lb platter a spin with my hand to get it going is very organic. Mine is not a pushbutton TT. The needle drop and subsequent background noise, however slight, somehow anchors the sound. Then the beautiful music starts flowing. Something so last century andso primitive has no right to sound as good as it does.

With digital, high quality streaming has changed the way I consume music. I tend to roam around from song to song and group to group, discovering new music as I go. It's very satisfying in another way, more dynamic, more 'out there' and experimental.

Sound? With my system, good vinyl and good digital both sound fantastic. The production and mastering now make more difference than the medium. They have converged.

Tom

[Mille162]

I was looking for a second table for a 2nd apartment. Gave my local dealer (and one of most knowledgeable audio geeks I’ve ever met) the same $3k budget. Granted I already have the Mcintosh mha252 with MM phono built in, so my budget was for table and cartridge only. His opinion (and then we went over the build details and features of various models live in the store) was at $1100, the Pro-ject Classic cannot be beat by anything else under $3000. Put a Ortofon MM black cartridge ($750) on it and it’s up there with much higher priced tables. Leaves you approx $1200 to find a phono preamp. Or, just buy the classic, have it set up properly at your dealer. Use supplied RCA’s and use the stock cartridge. Even if you use the basic Pro-ject phono preamp at ~$150, you’re going to fall in love with vinyl. Go buy a decent pressing or two, and listen. Most you loose is a small restocking fee and what you paid for the vinyl. Like everyone else has said above, you’re only regret is going to be not doing it sooner.

[mulveling]

Originally Posted by Mikado463

yes, exactly ......... LOL !! your statement above that is. To say there is no comparison is simply ridiculous.

Your're the one being ridiculous. It's my opinion, responding to the above poster who solicited personal opinions. I'm not wiring in a scientific journal saying that this is an objective truth or universal experience.

[Jack in Wilmington]

Originally Posted by mulveling

Your're the one being ridiculous. It's my opinion, responding to the above poster who solicited personal opinions. I'm not wiring in a scientific journal saying that this is an objective truth or universal experience.

We have two conflicting opinions, I don't see the problem or has this become like a stereo magazine and you can't say anything negative?

[Mikado463]

Originally Posted by mulveling

Your're the one being ridiculous. It's my opinion, responding to the above poster who solicited personal opinions. I'm not wiring in a scientific journal saying that this is an objective truth or universal experience.

again......there is always a comparison , see Tom's comment below

Originally Posted by W9TR

Sound? With my system, good vinyl and good digital both sound fantastic. The production and mastering now make more difference than the medium. They have converged.

Tom

sums it perfectly Tom !

[The Lost Bears]

The mastering and production do make a big difference. Nothing will fix a poorly recorded album. Also some of the modern vinyl pressings don't seem to be very high quality. I mean the actual vinyl pressing process. Recently I have had a number of records that I have had to return because their were flaws in the vinyl. Strange square hash marks.

But with the same version of an album, in my system vinyl wins over digital. It just sounds more three dimensional.

[clpetersen]

Thank you for the feedback! Did not intend to create a vinyl vs digital debate.

I can certainly appreciate the gratification of spinning up an album vs pressing a button. Streaming and a personally curated digital library aren't so bad either.

Well, the holidays approach...

[Mikado463]

Originally Posted by The Lost Bears

The mastering and production do make a big difference. Nothing will fix a poorly recorded album. Also some of the modern vinyl pressings don't seem to be very high quality.

agreed

But with the same version of an album, in my system vinyl wins over digital. It just sounds more three dimensional.

no doubt this 'can' be true but if a LP was mastered digitally and then converted back to analog ....... no way !

[The Lost Bears]

This is true. Especially stuff from the 1980's and 1990's. The original master may only be 16-Bit/44.1 kHz. So putting it on vinyl is not really going to help. I have some Grateful Dead Dicks Picks vinyl albums that used CD quality masters. Very disappointing.

Remember the AAA mark that told you the recording and mastering were both done in the analog domain.

[Mikado463]

Originally Posted by The Lost Bears

This is true. Especially stuff from the 1980's and 1990's. The original master may only be 16-Bit/44.1 kHz. So putting it on vinyl is not really going to help. I have some Grateful Dead Dicks Picks vinyl albums that used CD quality masters. Very disappointing.

Remember the AAA mark that told you the recording and mastering were both done in the analog domain.

I remember it well, it was in the early days of cd's, there were a handful of studios that got it right early on. GRP, Sheffield Labs, DMP and for the most part Telarc to name but a few.

Fast forward to today my comment was aimed at current LP production that was mastered digitally and then converted to analog for the pressing of Lp's, pretty much all garbage IMO.