Vinyl

[ClausThomsen]

Had my vinyl rig since the 80s. Stuck with it and argued my case about superiority over cd to all the magazine readers who flowed with ad-men generated peer opinion rather than the evidence of their own ears.

Delighted we've produced a generation at last who recognise the wonderful medium.

Having said that, I've embraced HD streaming to my heart over the last year.

The irony being that the reverse is now true with a generation seemingly going along with the idea that vinyl is the superior format for everything regardless of what their ears tell them. It's on vinyl so it's better. Always qualified with terms such as warmth or blithering on about the decay of the cymbal. Even with the older generation coming back to vinyl things such as the Mo-Fi scandal has shown how marketing and post purchase rationalisation has left 'analogue purists' looking rather silly.

There has always been some awful pressings out there and it's got worse in the last few years as albums made during peak CD era are crushed onto vinyl completely ignoring the limitations of the format just to get a slice of the action.

There's a lot of albums where the best release available is on CD and likewise a lot where the best sounding release is on vinyl. Substandard mixing and mastering blots both formats and the basic manufacturing QC of vinyl has never been 100% across pretty much all different labels and genres. I'd say that in particular has got a lot worse over the last few years as the market puts a strain on supply.

 

[ClausThomsen]

Really wanted mellon collie and infinite sadness and the only version is a £100 plus

The CD is fine. It's a mid 90s album produced by Flood with a load of work on Pro-Tools.

£100 plus is just ridiculous even for an album as great as Mellon Collie.

 

[neil999]

The CD is fine. It's a mid 90s album produced by Flood with a load of work on Pro-Tools.

£100 plus is just ridiculous even for an album as great as Mellon Collie.

Agree, would never pay that...theres some nice artwork and a book with it...but still, silly

 

[coollino]

Agree, would never pay that...theres some nice artwork and a book with it...but still, silly

This is a problem that Record Store Day created. It started a nice idea but they a huge flux of 'special edition' records came out with so many extras, and the it started to alienate normal buyers.

Take Mellon collie for eg, you get a remastered album which is fine - but then book, pics, probably an LP or two of demos. Nice if you are a hardcore fan (maybe), but why not just release a version with the remastered album and no extras

 

[neil999]

This is a problem that Record Store Day created. It started a nice idea but they a huge flux of 'special edition' records came out with so many extras, and the it started to alienate normal buyers.

Take Mellon collie for eg, you get a remastered album which is fine - but then book, pics, probably an LP or two of demos. Nice if you are a hardcore fan (maybe), but why not just release a version with the remastered album and no extras

There's a similar one for in utero, but it's only 40 quid(only hahaha) so not sure why Mellon collie is THAT much

 

[Rita_Poon]

You spend a day sifting through boxes untouched for years (no sniggering at the back!), and you stumble across a rare find, something you never expected, or better yet that something you were hoping for and it's in good condition. I'm a fan of a trance producer named Mike Dierickx and I found a piece of work of his under an alias that I got for less than a fiver. Big bucks. It's thrilling when it happens. Then there's the check and the play through and the planning a mix set. There's a reason John Peel was happiest spending days and weekends crate diving.

 

[coollino]

There's a similar one for in utero, but it's only 40 quid(only hahaha) so not sure why Mellon collie is THAT much

Some artists are just really expensive, I've never really understood it

It's the same with some dance artists too. Some release 12 inch records are £40/50 for like four songs max. I'm not surprised so many dj's are sacking off vinyl these days

 

[Rita_Poon]

Some artists are just really expensive, I've never really understood it

It's the same with some dance artists too. Some release 12 inch records are £40/50 for like four songs max. I'm not surprised so many dj's are sacking off vinyl these days

An awful lot can't beat match, they need the digital cheats to sync up their sets for them. Glorified party attendees.

 

[No Alla Violenza]

 

[coollino]

An awful lot can't beat match, they need the digital cheats to sync up their sets for them. Glorified party attendees.

Plenty of really good dj's dont use vinyl now due to the cost, it's not really their ability

The weight of taking them into a plane, the chance of the airline losing your baggage and there there are things such as a club with poor condition turntables which wrecks the records

I think even people like Jeff Mills don't bother with it all the time. I can't remember what they are called at all, but a lot use like this turntable simulator where you plug a USB in each and then DJ as if they were turntables

 

[Rita_Poon]

Plenty of really good dj's dont use vinyl now due to the cost, it's not really their ability

The weight of taking them into a plane, the chance of the airline losing your baggage and there there are things such as a club with poor condition turntables which wrecks the records

I think even people like Jeff Mills don't bother with it all the time. I can't remember what they are called at all, but a lot use like this turntable simulator where you plug a USB in each and then DJ as if they were turntables

Pioneer XDJ RX3 for instance.

 

[coollino]

View attachment 244848
Pioneer XDJ RX3 for instance.

Ha yes I was just going to include this video



Although, I do actually mean something slightly different - it pretty much looks like a basic turntable with just a mixer and two empty decks

 

[Blue 1]

I'm a big fan of AiC from that era. Something about that time gave us Cornell and Staley and Cobain and Vedder.

Swap Eddie Vedder out for Mark Lanegan.

Lanegan is my favourite of the lot of them. Not really a fan of Eddie Vedder's voice. He's got power and feeling but his diction is terrible, it's all bit Vic Reeves club singer.

 

[chrismpw]

The irony being that the reverse is now true with a generation seemingly going along with the idea that vinyl is the superior format for everything regardless of what their ears tell them. It's on vinyl so it's better. Always qualified with terms such as warmth or blithering on about the decay of the cymbal. Even with the older generation coming back to vinyl things such as the Mo-Fi scandal has shown how marketing and post purchase rationalisation has left 'analogue purists' looking rather silly.

There has always been some awful pressings out there and it's got worse in the last few years as albums made during peak CD era are crushed onto vinyl completely ignoring the limitations of the format just to get a slice of the action.

There's a lot of albums where the best release available is on CD and likewise a lot where the best sounding release is on vinyl. Substandard mixing and mastering blots both formats and the basic manufacturing QC of vinyl has never been 100% across pretty much all different labels and genres. I'd say that in particular has got a lot worse over the last few years as the market puts a strain on supply.

You're right - there's lots if bad vinyl out there. There's also lots if bad cd. Sadly much stuff is mixed so it sounds most impressive on a car radio - since that's where most people are exposed to the music. So top selling stuff is compressed (equally loud) boom and tizz music. Fortunately the music I like best- folk, jazz, classical doesn't suffer from those production qualities. Maybe that's why I prefer those genres.

At their best, vinyl is still better, with more life. However I confess to using HD streaming (certainly not spotify) a lot more for its variety and convenience. Mind you, to get anywhere close to my vinyl setup it costs thousands on a dac.

 

[Blue 1]

Plenty of really good dj's dont use vinyl now due to the cost, it's not really their ability

The weight of taking them into a plane, the chance of the airline losing your baggage and there there are things such as a club with poor condition turntables which wrecks the records

I think even people like Jeff Mills don't bother with it all the time. I can't remember what they are called at all, but a lot use like this turntable simulator where you plug a USB in each and then DJ as if they were turntables

Most venues don't even have turntables these days. Usually Pioneer NXS2 and Rekordbox is the standard.