Records

[CameronDuke]

Got a record player during the 2020 portion of the COVID pandemic. My wife and I love to open the living room windows, open a bottle of red, and groove to some vinyl.

We have about 75 records now. It is my new “thing”. We are collecting vinyl now.

Anyone into vinyl? What record players do you have?

What are some of your favorite vinyl records you can recommend to this guy?

We love visiting Vintage Vinyl in St. Louis (her hometown) to peruse their collection!

By the way, we’re eclectic city folk. Any and all recommendations welcome.

[moonpie23]

i'll start...and this just off the top of my head...


every single fleetwood mac record...

[CameronBlue]

Got a record player during the 2020 portion of the COVID pandemic. My wife and I love to open the living room windows, open a bottle of red, and groove to some vinyl.

We have about 75 records now. It is my new “thing”. We are collecting vinyl now.

Anyone into vinyl? What record players do you have?

What are some of your favorite vinyl records you can recommend to this guy?

We love visiting Vintage Vinyl in St. Louis (her hometown) to peruse their collection!

By the way, we’re eclectic city folk. Any and all recommendations welcome.

Are you finding variability in the vinyl pressings the way it used to be?I’ve kept my vinyl collection over the years but as I was learning the format it quickly became apparent that certain labels we’re far superior to others even among labels that cater primarily to the rock industry. You might expect some of the classical labels like Deutsch Gramophone to be superior and they were. I first noticed it when I purchased a copy of Steely Dan’s Aja. It was a superb pressing on ABC Records. I was given a copy of America’s hat trick album on Warner Brothers which was total trash. The needle wouldn’t even track a song all the way through there were so many imperfections in the vinyl and it was warped straight out of the sleeve. I found similar Warner Brothers pressings to be equally bad. I never really research the reasons why I just avoided everything on Warner Brothers from then on..

[aimo]

My mom still has all my parents' old records. LPs and 45s. Lost of Blues and Country. My brother has crates of early U2, REM, Dead Kennedys, etc. I have all my LPs and 45s from the 80s except I cannot find my Purple Rain. Pretty ticked about that.

[Phredd3]

Anyone into vinyl? What record players do you have?

I have a Technics linear tracking turntable which is highly mediocre (one of the last "mainstream" consumer turntables, since it was purchased in the CD era before records were cool again), and I have an Pioneer model that I inherited from my father, including a very high-quality moving coil cartridge.

I'm not "into" vinyl, but I have a lot of records left over from the day. I'm actually looking to digitize them (some of them are one-offs not available in any other format), but I just haven't found the time, yet.

[aimo]

Oh, I have my dad's old Sony turntable from the 60s or 70s. Actually a really nice one. He did not do cheap on stereo equipment.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Saw this thread and had a difficult time imagining what records might be set this this season.

[killerleft]

An original copy of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and featuring old-timers like Roy Acuff, Jimmy Martin, Doc Watson, etc. is something I would treasure. The liner notes are amazing. The music is otherworldly, and really does sound like they're playing in your living room. It includes some conversations between the musicians during the sessions. You can't introduce a major talent to the world any better than saying "How does it go, Vassar?"

I have a newer version of the 3-record vinyl collection, but it lacks the liner-notes.

This 1972 album convinced a lot of us boomers that string music was not only cool, but a very important part of American music.

[Phredd3]

An original copy of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and featuring old-timers like Roy Acuff, Jimmy Martin, Doc Watson, etc. is something I would treasure. The liner notes are amazing. The music is otherworldly, and really does sound like they're playing in your living room. It includes some conversations between the musicians during the sessions. You can't introduce a major talent to the world any better than saying "How does it go, Vassar?"

I have a newer version of the 3-record vinyl collection, but it lacks the liner-notes.

This 1972 album convinced a lot of us boomers that string music was not only cool, but a very important part of American music.

That's one of the ones in my collection. That album is one of many that are in digital form already, of course, so it likely won't be part of my digitizing project. But it's here in my living room.

[CameronDuke]

Thanks all. Any John Prine fans? His vinyl sounds amazing.

[burnspbesq]

If you can find them at a price that doesn’t require you to take out a second mortgage, original Mobile Fidelity (half-speed mastered) and Sheffield Labs (direct to disc) are some of the best-sounding vinyl ever made. I had a bunch, including “Abraxas,” “American Beauty,” “Fleetwood Mac,” and “Waiting for Columbus.” The Sheffield Labs Thelma Houston record was mind-glowingly good.

A couple of great-sounding classical records worth seeking out are Janos Starker’s recording of the Bach solo cello suites, and the first recording of Shostakovich Symphony No. 13, with baritone Tom Krause and the Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy.

[burnspbesq]

I have a Technics linear tracking turntable which is highly mediocre (one of the last "mainstream" consumer turntables, since it was purchased in the CD era before records were cool again), and I have an Pioneer model that I inherited from my father, including a very high-quality moving coil cartridge.

I'm not "into" vinyl, but I have a lot of records left over from the day. I'm actually looking to digitize them (some of them are one-offs not available in any other format), but I just haven't found the time, yet.

The mission-critical piece of gear for digitizing vinyl is the analog-to-digital converter. I can enthusiastically recommend the Hilo, from Lynx Studio Technology. Expensive, but worth it (it’s also a very good DAC and headphone amp). It’s also worth investing in a good record-cleaning machine. I know a number of people who swear by the ultrasonic cleaner from Audio Desk Systeme.

[Phredd3]

The mission-critical piece of gear for digitizing vinyl is the analog-to-digital converter. I can enthusiastically recommend the Hilo, from Lynx Studio Technology. Expensive, but worth it (it’s also a very good DAC and headphone amp). It’s also worth investing in a good record-cleaning machine. I know a number of people who swear by the ultrasonic cleaner from Audio Desk Systeme.

Thanks. I have the ADC already, I just haven't put it into service, yet. I will probably manually wet-clean the records. I have some unique material on records, but not an amount to think I need to make an investment in another level of equipment. This is for my personal collection, not for posterity, and I'll do some post-processing to cover the gaps. I'm not a "vinyl-for-the-sake-of-vinyl" guy. This is about preservation, and explicitly not because I think vinyl sounds better.

[OldPhiKap]

Thanks all. Any John Prine fans?

There are only two types of people: (1) John Prine fans, and (2) people who need to discover John Prine.

[jimmymax]

There are only two types of people: (1) John Prine fans, and (2) people who need to discover John Prine.

He was a treasure!

[Ggallagher]

He was a treasure!

I'm with you guys. He was amazing.

[dudog84]

My contribution:

far side.jpg

[MartyClark]

There are only two types of people: (1) John Prine fans, and (2) people who need to discover John Prine.

Amen. I've been a John Prine fan since 1972. I finally heard him live about 5 or 6 years ago. He opened for the Avett Brothers at Red Rocks. One of the Avett Brothers reverently discussed the irony of John Prine opening for them rather than the opposite. The Singing Mailman delivered that night.

[OldPhiKap]

John Prine >>>> Aerosmith, for sure.

[jimmymax]

For Triangle area folks with the disclaimer that he's an old acquaintance (though I've not seen him for years) and a rabid fan of the Cheats.

https://turntabledoc.com/