18 or so months ago I created this thread asking for help with getting my first turntable:
https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/turntable-advice-planar-2-vs-planar-3.262895/
I've been meaning to do a follow up for ages now, so here it is.
I'm of the digital generation: why did I want a turntable?
Because a lot of my favourite bands only release stuff nowadays on download and vinyl (and, increasingly, cassette but lets not go there...), and I'm a huge fan of owning my music physically in my hands rather than hoping that the 1s and 0s are still in the correct order computer to computer. If I can get it on cd I do as a first option, otherwise I'm stuck with vinyl.
What I'm trying to say is I didn't get into turntable ownership because I hankered after sound quality or yearned for yesteryear or because its fashionable nowadays: it was literally a functional decision so that I could play the small collection of records I'd amassed over the years. All I wanted was something that wouldn't be embarrassed by my digital front end.
Enter, the Rega Planar 3. It came with an AT VM95E however the first several records sounded thin so I upgraded to a second hand VM95ML stylus and the problem went away. I upgraded my Project phonobox to a Schiit Mani and again, things got much better indeed. Compared to the outlay on the turntable I figured these additional bits were definitely value for money.
So, million dollar question: have the deck and additional bits provided what I needed and do my records sound good?
Answer? Well, it depends.
And here we get into my experience with vinyl: playing records is a FAFF. And finding a record thats been pressed well is even more of a faff.
The problem with smaller bands releasing limited edition vinyl is its as much about looks and presentation as the actual product. Which I absolutely get and completely understand that at 0.005p per stream no band will pay the rent without selling the 180g gatefold super deluxe limited edition in rainbow splatter. Problem is these are a) very expensive (most recent purchase was £50 on record store day for the latest ultra limited re-release I was after) and b) I get the distinct impression they weren't really designed for listening to: the better sounding records I've found have been the bog standard more mass produced black vinyl releases.
My first record playing experience on my brand new deck:
1) set up deck
2) re-watch countless videos to ensure counterweights etc are all floating correctly and everythings properly aligned
3) eagerly select the most sought after record in the small pile of records collected over the years
4) unwrap it and look at it. Ooooooh, isn't it pretty? And look at the artwork! Beautiful. I can really see why vinyl and the physical media is a thing: there's considerably more pride of ownership of this than the million cds I have
5) hang on: there are four sides here and NONE of them are labelled. Wtf?
6) seriously, what the hell side is side A?
7) (scour sleeve for some form of clue)
8 (find none)
9) hold record up to the light: there's something scratched in the record near the label
10) squint and second guess and squint again.
10) Aha! Why can't they print the damn thing on the label!?
11) place record correct side up
12) position tonearm
13) triple check its the right height and balanced correctly etc
14) start turntable
15) wtf? why isn't the record flat?! Its been in a flat box its entire life.
16) lower needle, run to armchair
17) why is it so quiet? I've got a phono stage, thats supposed to bring everything up, surely?
18) run back to amp, check connections etc, all are sound. Turn volume up significantly.
19) run back to armchair
20) what is that damn popping sound? I checked for scratches, couldn't see any on either surface.
21) plus, this is a BRAND NEW, fresh out the shrinkwrap record.
22) poppings gather in volume, both literally and, well, literally
23) there is a static sound between tracks. Whats going on?
24) two whole songs into the album (this is the 2LP ultra limited edition, remember: thats maximum 3 songs a side to fill up all four sides) the record runs out.
25) what? I was literally just getting into that. Best jump up and rescue the needle from the run out groove (I created a thread about that a few months later: does leaving it in there for a while damage the needle. Apparently it doesn't. but I didn't know that 18 months ago)
26) raise tonearm
27) WHAT THE HELL IS THAT CRAP DANGLING FROM THE NEEDLE?!?!
28) dust. Its dust and other assorted rubbish from inside the grooves. Wtf? This was a brand new, shrinkwrapped record. Where the hell has all that come from?
29) Aaaah - thats the weird static sound between the songs. Also possibly why the sound lost impact near the end of track two.
30) clean literal dangling ball of crap off of stylus.
31) turn record over.
32) scrabble around in the box the turntable came in for the antistatic brush the dealer chucked in.
33) 'clean' record. The brand new, sealed in the box record. Mutter obscenities to self.
34) lower needle back onto record
35) run back to armchair
36) fewer pops this side
37) get up after three whole songs more to change the record.
I've learnt a lot since then. I've learnt that unlike literally-any-other-brand-new-product-in-existence you have to clean brand new records. This is LUDICROUS. I'm not about to get a record cleaning machine however I have invested in a velvet record brush to go alongside my antistatic one, as well as a stylus brush. So now before playing a side I antistatic brush, then velvet brush, then stylus brush, THEN listen. I've come to terms with the fact that you only just start sinking into an album before you have to change sides, brush everything x3 and then play the second half - thats just the limits of the medium.
But you know what? I'm buying less and less vinyl. Before, it was the limited edition super ultra version that I'd seek out and justify the expense over the cd if a cd was even available. Nowadays, I buy the vinyl if there is literally no other way I can obtain the physical release on cd anywhere else, new or second hand (discogs is a wonder!)
And you know what I do when I buy a brand new, sealed in the shrinkwrap cd?
I open my cd drawer, pop it in, amble slowly to the armchair, aim the remote and listen to it.
Simples.
I admit that I've overegged this one a little. As someone who grew up on cds and ipods vinyl really is pointlessly cumbersome, and the gamble of whether or not the damn thing will actually sound decent or not when you've finally brushed it and the stylus is really, REALLY getting old.
Listening to music on records is the absolute antithesis of 'convenience' Quite how the vinyl revival is gathering pace (or not - we've all read the articles about it) I have no idea as clearly the people buying them can't be playing them.
But you know what? When you get that one in 10 record that actually has no damn pops, very little warping, and has more than two tracks per side, I must admit: on my humble Planar 3 it sounds STUNNING. Better than cd? No, just different. There is always more weight and bass impact on the cd version. But for sheer imaging perfection and some form of ephemeral, tingling je ne sais quoi...?
Yup, I get it. I really get it.
