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Is vinyl still worth the cost and inconvenience?

Have to agree re Made in Japan,my Porky's whilst having been played to death,still sounds alive and fresh even with a bit of surface noise.
I very rarely buy vinyl now,maybe half a dozen LP's a year,there aren't too many new artist's that interest me and many re-issue's I have purchased just don't manage to catch the atmosphere of the originals.I used to buy lots of LP's just because I wanted them,now I only buy what I need.
As per the OP,I couldn't afford to now replace my collection and my vinyl set up as it would cost me at least 2 years salary.
 
formbypc said:
Sought-after to the extent of £240, based on recent sale on eBay ... with the vinyl equivalent going for £130
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Wow, that surprises me, Hoffman vinyl usualy goes for more which is understandable given he is a ‘true believer’ and reckons CD loses way more at the mastering stage.
 
I've met many vinyl enthusiasts who are pretty 'naive' and ill-informed about vinyl records. They think that all vinyl records sound warm and fuzzy. Many just want to buy only new reissues, thinking that they are the best. Some expect vinyl records to sound perfect and totally without ticks and pops. Others want the ticks and pops in order for it to be an 'authentic' experience. Some diehard vinyl fans don't even know what speed 7" singles run at and wonder how you play those records with the 'big holes' in the center.

All these examples just tell me that these people don't really know WTF they are talking about.
 
I run a fairly high end system, Vinyl, which I prefer, two very good cd players and a magnum tuner all are very good but this thread has moved on a bit from the original question. Some records are dodgy with pops and clicks( chuck them out) but good vinyl is sublime. When I first heard digital via a Trio player I thought wow as did most people, listening to the silence between tracks rather than the music.

After a short while people became to dislike in the early days digital harshness. Cd players have greatly improved as have turntables. If you have an existing record collection, stay with it...except many people miss out because they do not or cannot afford a twelve inch arm and phono stage to make vinyl really sing.

Enjoy all formats is the answer.
 
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Tony L said:
Once again: source first, i.e. mastering > format. It really is that simple. As an example a cheap MM cart on say a Planar 3 will slaughter high-res digital, and I mean utterly slaughter it if the record is a nice US original Blue Note and the digital the RVG Edition. If you are serious about music you need multiple sources.
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This is the correct answer. No need for the thread to be 7 pages long.
 
One central question in the OP was, is it worth the expense? Starting out from scratch now, my costs would be-
TT £3K
Arm £4K
Cart £3K
Phono stage £3k

£13K for a vinyl replay set up alone. I'd just not do that now- I'd be far more inclined to settle for an enjoyable deck, like my second TT, an old LP12 and invest the £13K in hi res digital file replay- Melco/Devialet specifically.
 
mercalia said:
I think LPs are for OAPs who need to get up move around ( lift the arm off the record and turn the LP over ) then go back to sit down again ie to force them to get some exercise to keep their heart pumping ;) Modern remote controlled things are for the fit and healthy who dont need the exercise
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I do that but with CD and because my preamp has no remote.
SQ wise, today, digital playback has caught up I believe but I still prefer a physical medium rather than just streaming.
 
TheDecameron said:
One central question in the OP was, is it worth the expense? Starting out from scratch now, my costs would be-
TT £3K
Arm £4K
Cart £3K
Phono stage £3k

£13K for a vinyl replay set up alone. I'd just not do that now- I'd be far more inclined to settle for an enjoyable deck, like my second TT, an old LP12 and invest the £13K in hi res digital file replay- Melco/Devialet specifically.
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I run two phono inputs to a Devialet 250 Pro for stereo and mono, using a Claro deck set up with two arms. The Devialet has a superb phono processor that then sends a digital signal to the DAC/amplifier. So I enjoy digital and analogue without preferring one over the other.

You can do good cheap digital (Aries Mini) and Analogue (Rega P3) for similar prices into a Yamaha with phono and DAC, under £1000 all in. Can go expensive digital (dCS Vivaldi) and analogue (Vertere). To say one is better than the other is pointless.
 
With regard to the article, I once watched a very revealing discussion among industry heavyweights about analog vs. digital. We are talking about serious people (producers, recording, mixing and mastering engineers) not audiophile personalities although Michael Fremer also participated. No one (except Fremer) thought that analog was superior in sound or that vinyl was closer to the sound of the master tape, and a few expressed reservations like in the article. One noted mixing engineer in fact felt that the SACD best reproduced the sound of what he put down in the final mix.
 
hockman said:
With regard to the article, I once watched a very revealing discussion among industry heavyweights about analog vs. digital. We are talking about serious people (producers, recording, mixing and mastering engineers) not audiophile personalities although Michael Fremer also participated. No one (except Fremer) thought that analog was superior in sound or that vinyl was closer to the sound of the master tape, and a few expressed reservations like in the article. One noted mixing engineer in fact felt that the SACD best reproduced the sound of what he put down in the final mix.
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http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...l-sacd-or-a-1-1-analog-reel-tape-copy.133328/

Mastering engineer Steve Hoffman reckons vinyl is closer to a tape master than CD or a tape dub.
 
vinyl really kicked off from the 60s for most of us. my collection really started after owning 78s of elvis Lonnie, and everlys. .first new vinyl was elvis first album . and vinyl is still around ,most would have started ripping cds less than 10 yrs and now most are of these are using streaming services now., turntable sales are increasing alittle ..lps are being taken from the lofts and played again. owning vinyl and playing them has a magic quantity for so many
 
Mainly LP's for me although I do own some CDs. With records, it's about the full package, the cover art etc. The writing being illegible on CDs.

Many complain about recent LP releases being of poor quality, well yes some are but they IMO are far outweighed by the excellent ones, Sgt Pepper 2017, being a great example.
 
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mega lord said:
For me, vinyl reminds me of being very young in the second half of the1970's and all the happy memories that brings. When i put Abba on my LP12 i am transported back. My mum used to play it all the time. For these memories it is priceless. :)
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exactly for me it was War of the Worlds DSOTM & the Moody Blues on my dads JVC system in the late 70s - my mum had Carole King, The Carpenters & Abba - I grew up on that stuff.
 
I dont think so, in fact I think all formats have their days numbered as streaming becomes more and more. The convenience just out ways everything and the sound is there now. Lets face it who wants to be messing around with media and loading it when the sound is there now, and has even surpassed these formats. Nostalgia will always play a part but its time to move on.
 
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