Turntable update needed.........perhaps, perhaps not

[sterling shoote]

I spent 30 years listening to vinyl and got used to all the noise. It doesn't bother me that much. I always took good care of my records. I didn't dub to a computer but rather to a digital audio tape unit directly. I had a digital mixer and the most common processors - compresser, limiter, EQ and so forth but no click and pop filter.
Listening to the music is what audio is all about.

Yep, I too used to copy my LPs to DAT and I edited the DATs via A-B roll, having two Sony PCM-7010F's and a RM-D7200 Editor. Since the Sony's are accurate to three frames at 29.97 I could edit pops out nicely but it was still a lot of time consuming work.

 

[fmw]

It looks snazzy. My DAT was the Panasonic 3800 which was the industry standard unit back in the 90's. It had no processing since it was assumed the studio had all of that stuff available separately. The DAT finally went out of style with the practice of recording directly to hard drive. I replaced the DAT with a stand alone multi track hard drive recorder when those became affordable. Today everybody uses a computer for recording.

 

[highfigh]

I'm certain B&N does not check or even care about my observation. For the last 5 years I have regularly returned defective albums to B&H for cash refund and I've always been accommodated by B&N, meaning no questions asked and a big smile from clerks too. It's like they know some of their albums are destined to come back, and, perhaps they have no skin in the game to care about the reality of my claims. At any rate, the disappointment, frequency and inconvenience of returns has now prompted me to look outside of my neighborhood for LPs, although I am not looking hard, since I am occupied right now with SACD searches for music I think I might enjoy.

LPs are back!

WooHoo!

The quality sucks.

DOH!

 

[Eppie]

I recorded vinyl early on, like back in the Napster days, but too much space and effort needed. I learned to live with the noise too.

DAT was a great sounding format but suffered from the same seek issues as all tape formats. Doesn't matter whether it's reel-to-reel, cassette, VHS, DAT or computer tape. If you're at the start of the tape and you need to get to the end, it's a PITA.

 

[Mikado463]

LPs are back!

Doggone it, I've slept so soundly I never knew the left !

 

[TLS Guy]

LPs are back!

WooHoo!

The quality sucks.

DOH!

No, the quality does not suck, but you have to put in effort and knowhow, to not make it suck. You have to carefully maintain it. That is especially true of tape, but also vinyl discs. I can easily play you discs, that you would not know you were not listening to a CD.

 

[TLS Guy]

I recorded vinyl early on, like back in the Napster days, but too much space and effort needed. I learned to live with the noise too.

DAT was a great sounding format but suffered from the same seek issues as all tape formats. Doesn't matter whether it's reel-to-reel, cassette, VHS, DAT or computer tape. If you're at the start of the tape and you need to get to the end, it's a PITA.

I don't know what you guys did and do to your LPs to create all this noise. We must have a careless bunch here. I do not have surface noise and only the occasional pop or snap. In the overwhelming majority of plays background noise is comparable to digital.

 

[highfigh]

No, the quality does not suck, but you have to put in effort and knowhow, to not make it suck. You have to carefully maintain it. That is especially true of tape, but also vinyl discs. I can easily play you discs, that you would not know you were not listening to a CD.

You probably wouldn't be affected by most new LPs because you listen to Classical- the ones that are badly made are for the mass consumer who came to vinyl only recently and don't know how it was in the past. The pressing can completely undo the parts of the process that came before- if they don't check the quality frequently, the only thing that's happening at that point should only be considered 'plastics manufacturing'.

WRT noiseless, you're preaching to the choir, in my case. I don't abuse my LPs, never lend them to others because I may/may not know how they'll be handled and don't even play used ones because I don't know what kind of abuse they received.

 

[highfigh]

I don't know what you guys did and do to your LPs to create all this noise. We must have a careless bunch here. I do not have surface noise and only the occasional pop or snap. In the overwhelming majority of plays background noise is comparable to digital.

You would be appalled by the way I have seen people handle LPs. For that matter, I worked with someone who asked to borrow one of my CDs and as he stood there talking with the customer, he was rubbing the disc in a circle on the case. That didn't go well for him.

The noise, if it's not clicks & pops, are from the carbon black- it's very abrasive and that causes noise- it's not possible to be totally noiseless on vinyl. That said, I have heard LPs played and any noise was only noticeable if the volume control was turned up, while near the speakers and only if listening for it. The same can be said about a lot of CDs, but the fact is, Classical music production uses higher standards in many cases.

 

[sterling shoote]

No, the quality does not suck, but you have to put in effort and knowhow, to not make it suck. You have to carefully maintain it. That is especially true of tape, but also vinyl discs. I can easily play you discs, that you would not know you were not listening to a CD.

I can play LPs from my collection that sound indistinguishable from CDs, meaning no snap, crackle, or pop, and some of these LPs sound better than CDs of same music in most manner that better can be discerned. But I can also play LPs which, while properly cleaned, still sound lousy due to defect. The reason I can play these LPs is I was too lazy to just return em to the seller for a refund. At any rate, THE QUALITY OF NEW LPs DOES SUCK, big time. This makes me think you have not purchased any new LPs recently.

 

[sterling shoote]

It looks snazzy. My DAT was the Panasonic 3800 which was the industry standard unit back in the 90's. It had no processing since it was assumed the studio had all of that stuff available separately. The DAT finally went out of style with the practice of recording directly to hard drive. I replaced the DAT with a stand alone multi track hard drive recorder when those became affordable. Today everybody uses a computer for recording.

I have much experience with the 3800. My advertising agency employed a post production studio which mastered my radio advertising production to the 3800, as well as a Fostex DAT Recorder. My $17,000 Sony DAT System was mostly used for DAT distribution and commercial archiving. I purchased the system in 1992 and it was obsolete by 1996 or thereabouts when mp3 technology permitted radio commercials to be emailed to radio stations instead of FedX'd to them, even though the sound quality was awful.

 

[Eppie]

I don't know what you guys did and do to your LPs to create all this noise. We must have a careless bunch here. I do not have surface noise and only the occasional pop or snap. In the overwhelming majority of plays background noise is comparable to digital.

Careless by who's standards? I have plenty of LPs that are in pristine condition in anti-static sleeves stored in a cupboard to keep dust away. I also have cherished LPs that I inherited from my father which were played on an old Dual TT and handled by the whole family. I also have used market finds, some in great shape, others not so lucky. Regardless, even in good condition I still hear the lead in groove when the stylus drops down and the lead out groove when the album is finished, or in between tracks. Would love to hear a setup that can eliminate groove noise.

A lot of us have probably heard the tale at one time or another where someone played a blank record and called out "listen". The friend exclaimed that he didn't hear anything. The audiophile replied that was the whole point.

 

[Mikado463]

At any rate, THE QUALITY OF NEW LPs DOES SUCK, big time. This makes me think you have not purchased any new LPs recently.

not all Sterling, I'll give you but one example.......

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, superbly recorded and all analog from beginning to end !

 

[sterling shoote]

not all Sterling, I'll give you but one example.......

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, superbly recorded and all analog from beginning to end !

Not you, I was responding to TLS Guy. Nevertheless, I appreciate your example of an LP that delights you. I have examples too but few of those were purchased recently, the exception is Classic Hauser on the Sony label.