I purchased close to 90 LP's this year and my experience with them has been so underwhelming and heartbreaking that I have decided to abandon records for good. I've been collecting high resolution flac and DSD files ranging in quality from 24bit/96Khz, all the way up to DSD128 & SACD for the last 5 years or maybe slightly more. The majority of today's records are pressed from these exact digital sources. Mostly, gone are the days of high quality record pressings with a pure analog audio path. You need to buy records pre 1990's to start getting the lack of a digital audio path.
I hate to break the news to you but the majority of the music listening public is not doubling down on Jazz, Classical and Blues.
To me, the entire reason to buy a record is to listen to the artists unaltered pure analog sound without much or any manipulation. Yes, it's purely psychological. I want to live in that experience for the moments I have with the record because it's an even to play a record with all the cleaning and flipping required.
However, I just bought Neil Young's 180gm reissue of Harvest that is supposedly all analog. Great, that to me seems like the perfect reason to buy a record. Except... the record is mostly plagued by static and crackles. I gave it something close to an hours long wash in the Degritter Ultrasonic record cleaner and the noise is still there. The crap is in the pressing.
Same with several other records I bought this year. One in particular, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil's Tattoo was supposed to sound incredible due to it's recording and pressing but has far too many crackles and pops. Again, scrubbed the sh!it out of it for a long time in the Degritter and still sounds trash.
Other records are pressed off center causing them to swish in crackling.
Unfortunately, the bulk of my collection sounds this way. Not every single one, but most. All are new and sealed with no used titles at all. I can say that my equipment is not to blame since I have the 180gm Led Zeppelin titles pressed in Germany and they are fantastic. Clean and dynamic. The latest remaster of KISS - Destroyer on 2LP 180gm is amazing as well. So too are some others.
But not nearly the percentage of successes I need to justify keeping this hobby alive.
What irks me most about this is, I have the HD Audio versions of nearly every record I own and they are all superior to the records in every way. So what's the point really? Why would anyone today buy a new record when the 24bit/96Khz or greater edition can be bought on any of the several online stores for cheaper and sound way better with the proper gear?
With the amount of money people invest in turntables, stylus' that wear out, analog playback gear, tubes... I'm convinced that money could buy an amazing DAC and give you just the same or better results, especially considering LP's limited dynamic range. There's irony in those records you buy because they are already sourced from the digital files you can buy cheaper than the record probably cost and still not sound as good. There is this placebo effect that limited dynamics somehow creates a smoother more analog sound. The lack of clinicalness in the recording somehow sound more natural. Wrong
Who is still buying new records and what's your justification for listening to the vinyl pressing of that digital source file?
Please understand, this poll is about HD Audio with a minimum of 24Bit/88.2Khz, not MP3's or CD's. Technically, if one where to debate things to death, an audio CD could be considered lossy due to the fact it is the baseline minimum recording at 16Bit/44.1Khz and theoretically, could, under the proper circumstances sound inferior to it's vinyl counterpart.
There are good reasons. The only two sensible ones are because you have a legacy collection, or you are collector and you want to seek out rare discs not available in digital form.
I have a large legacy collection. It is in good condition. I have bought very few LPs since the CD advent in 1984. I did buy quite a few discs though out of a large collection on eBay. This was from an estate collection of an owner who had superb equipment. All those discs were perfect and unblemished.
There are several issues about LP playing. Old LPs in general had superior manufacturing standards to most current offerings.
A turntable rig has to be to a very high standard and obsessionally set up. In addition handling and care of LPs has to be equally obsessional.
So, I agree that unless you are fascinated by the whole ethos of disc playing, have a legacy collection or want to collect rare discs, or music not otherwise available there is no pressing reason to get into LP reproduction. It is not something to undertake in a casual manner.
I own four turntables. All are vintage. Three I have owned for over fifty years, the other one, is a classic, that I restored after buying it cheap on eBay parts or repair.
It is complimentary to my reel to reel tape recorder collection and associated noise reduction units. It forms what I call the museum aspect of my system.
This is important, as playing equipment over a half century old in optimal condition shows actually that the progress we have made has been largely on convenience.
There is one other aspect to this, that in many ways recordings were far better engineered back then compared to now. Recording was a career with job security. Firms like EMI and Decca kept highly competent teams together over a long period of time. The results show.
I have astounded many visitors with the superb audio quality that can be obtained from these vintage pieces. These are items for view only, but to still savor and enjoy.
Many exotic modern efforts are full of the flavor of the day audiophoolery, whereas back then it was true research and engineering driven. It was not driven by over active imaginations.
Studio vintage turntable case.
Left to right Garrard 301 with Decca professional arm Decca cartridge H4E for LP and a Decca MK II for 78. Preamp is Quad 22 tube preamp with the codes to equalize pretty much any 78 RPM disc ever pressed. This has recently had a restoration and custom power supply with smoothing to HT and LT.
Middle is a Thorens TD 150, with SME series III arm and Shure V15 xmr. Preamp is Quad 44. On the left another Garrard 301, with SME series II improved, and Shure V15 xmr. Preamp is Quad 34.
Garrard Decca rig playing LP
Playing a 78 RPM disc.
Thorens TD 125 MKII with SME series III arm and Shure V15 xmr.
Preamp is Quad 34.
Disc reproduction is not plug and play. It takes experience and careful set up to get really good results. If you blindly forge into it, the overwhelming odds are for a poor result.
