Vinyl or Hi-Res

I was in the same position, and I chose to stick with files. Mostly due to the fact that if I went vinyl I would be starting fresh, and with the current prices of vinyl (ridiculous) I could not justify going that route. 

I wouldn't wish to live without both !

Vinyl done well is just so much more open and enjoyable than hi-res.  Hi-res done well is just so much more convenient than vinyl.

If you've got any vinyl right now, don't make the mistake of getting rid of it or your turntable, you'll live to regret a decision like that.  At the very least, consign your LPs and player to a well protected cupboard where it can be discovered again once the rush of excitement with streaming has died down a little in a few months or even years.

Roger

PS - and if you don't have any vinyl right now, just hang in there... you have a joyful experience to come some time in the future.

I have all the excitement of listening to CDs, LPs and digital files. I found Listening to Tidal is the easiest way but then it's only temporary & for fun for new music as you have mentioned.

My serious listening would be from vinyl with a great naim black boxes & LP12 in another room.    Personally analogue is my taste, the music flows like a fluid with PRAT in it.

Cheers, Nasa.

If you can get the music you want as downloads, I'd stick with that, as it avoids the need to buy more hardware. A good hires album has a lovely natural quality, but then again there are some real rip offs that sound no better than cd quality. 

If it helps a friend of mine got rid of his LP12 saying that he was only really interested in digital stuff now. Less then 6 months later he was buying a Rega RP10, Apheta and Rega phono amp. Compared to the CDS3 he uses I'd say 50% of the time I/he prefer the vinyl and 50% the digital, and that's the problem I think you will find.

files ! I saw a second hand non special version of space oddity for 20 quid in Altrincham the other day- really taking the piss!

if you have a massive collection its different but for new vinyl buyers its just stupid

sjw posted:

files ! I saw a second hand non special version of space oddity for 20 quid in Altrincham the other day- really taking the piss!

if you have a massive collection its different but for new vinyl buyers its just stupid

+1

Files!

I have vinyl, cd, files and tidal.  I still listen more cd's than anything else, because the cd collection is larger than files and don't have the patience to rip them all, then files and  then vinyl (have only about 300). I grew up with vinyls, and replaying  them is especially emotional for me. Tidal and before spotify just to discover new things. I buy music in all mentioned media.  But I think that starting a vinyl collection by these days has little sense.  If I had to make a decision today, I would prefer to have 1000 HR albums  more instead of the TT.

Regards. Erich

I don't know about hi-res, but what I wanted to offer is that vinyl is great fun and getting set up with something not that expensive.  What I enjoy is that my vinyl collection is based on second hand LPs, mainly from 70's, 80's and some 90's, whereas my CDs are more recently released material.  Sometimes I do end up with stuff I like in both formats, and I do have some recent items only on vinyl, Keith Richards latest for example, is very enjoyable and really suits the format.

Vinyl for anything recorded before mid-80's. If possible an original one.
For other music - CD or HiRes depending on what is available.
I've just realised I buy all formats in equal measure

I don't have any hi res material nor a record player, though I do have a large collection of vinyl stored up in my loft ( which one day in the future will get an airing ) . Don't need either and I'm happy with red book - even MP3.

Vinyl in the loft rings alarm bells !!!!   I had a few hundred 50's & 60's rock 'n roll 45's - all collectables these days.   The heat over 3 summers distorted them & made all but a few unplayable.      Might be worth having a check.  

Vinyl! But...

The reason I got a turntable is that there were a couple of albums I wanted I could only find on vinyl. My re-entry to vinyl replay was purely pragmatic you see. However now that I have a decent turntable I do 90% of my listening on vinyl and usually prefer it to digital copies, even hi-res ones, of the same recordings. I have vastly more music on my server but I don't care, my music collection has effectively been reduced to what's in my record collection unless I'm listening to DJ mixes on SoundCloud.

In the OP's case, I'd suggest giving vinyl a pass until they have a compelling enough reason that it becomes a "need" rather than a curiosity.

Taking up the point raised by Mike-B, I would agree that the loft is not the best place to store vinyl, however mine came down after 15+ years up there and I was surprised to find it all in good shape. (bar needing a clean) although I don't know how the grime/dust got in! 

I kept my old TT, a Heybrook TT2 / Linn basic V and having just re installed it I find that the jury is still out as to whether it is worth perusing a new vinyl collection over new Hi Res files played on my SU.

A big part of this for me is that digital media gives access to music at the SU, around the house, in the car and on the go, this convenience is a big item in its favor. The nostalgia and ceremony of putting an LP on the TT still has its attraction, but whether this is enough for me to run/maintain both, I'm not so sure.   Time will tell.  

If I didn't have vinyl I doubt I'd start now.  But I do - 45 years worth - and it's probably 50% of my listening, the rest being 25%FM (mainly in the car) and 25% CD.  The whole streaming/NAS/hi-res thing I still have to properly investigate.

Regards,

Lindsay 

The Strat (Fender) posted:

If I didn't have vinyl I doubt I'd start now.  But I do - 45 years worth - and it's probably 50% of my listening, the rest being 25%FM (mainly in the car) and 25% CD.  The whole streaming/NAS/hi-res thing I still have to properly investigate.

Regards,

Lindsay 

Aye, Lindsay - that pretty much sums up my thoughts. As much as I love my vinyl, I wouldn't bother with it now if I was starting a music collection. It's not what it was. The physical and sonic quality of vinyl peaked in the late 1980's for me. New vinyl is generally at the mercy of over-compressed mastering for the mp3 market.

That said; there are a few notable good examples from the likes of Steven Wilson, but they are not the norm.

The thought of having my music collection at the mercy of a computer network and the internet still scares the willies out of me. I'm much happier being able to hold it in my hands.

John.

After some 3 years of deliberation, I finally bit the bullet and bought a TT last November. I had sold all my vinyl in 2002. I Have  3500 ripped CD's and around 50 HiRes albums. For me Vinyl is superior particularly with pre 90's music. With Hires it is more variable some better some much the same. I have now bought 120 albums, around 90 being second hand. What I find astonishing is that virtually all of the pre-owned times, after washing and vacuuming, are virtually all noise free, and far better than newer releases. I am restricting my buying to CD's for new releases, and expect my vinyl collection to top out at around 250.

It's good to get hold of albums never released on CD.

Mike-B posted:

Vinyl in the loft rings alarm bells !!!!   I had a few hundred 50's & 60's rock 'n roll 45's - all collectables these days.   The heat over 3 summers distorted them & made all but a few unplayable.      Might be worth having a check.  

Our loft doesn't get too hot in summer, maybe being a small house and being in less sunnier Cambridgeshire. Other option of being in the garage was more worrying from damp and cold.  Apparently the worst place for vinyl is in the suitcase area of a commercial airplane.

Glad to hear its OK,  but it did ring alarms with me so felt I had to say something.   My problem was twofold - heat & storage method.  My loft can go over 60'C with solar radiation & that lasts until well after sunset;  & I had the records in boxes laying flat & stacked about 15 inches high in the boxes.  They softened in the heat & drooped to the collective compound thickness of the labels,  the records at the bottom of the stacks were not so bad but the ones at the top were significantly warped.    

TOBYJUG posted:

Mike-B posted:

Vinyl in the loft rings alarm bells !!!!   I had a few hundred 50's & 60's rock 'n roll 45's - all collectables these days.   The heat over 3 summers distorted them & made all but a few unplayable.      Might be worth having a check.  

Our loft doesn't get too hot in summer, maybe being a small house and being in less sunnier Cambridgeshire. Other option of being in the garage was more worrying from damp and cold.  Apparently the worst place for vinyl is in the suitcase area of a commercial airplane.

Yes, I remember those agonising decisions about which LPs to take on holiday...  in fact, I've all but given up holidays... can't imagine a week (or even two) without music these days - doesn't bear thinking about*  

* - which is why I added my two pence worth to a different thread about Naim's service turnaround and the deirability of seeing current timescales published. How nice it would be to have accurate information about how long your treasured item will be in Salisbury... 

.

rjstaines posted:

TOBYJUG posted:

Mike-B posted:

Vinyl in the loft rings alarm bells !!!!   I had a few hundred 50's & 60's rock 'n roll 45's - all collectables these days.   The heat over 3 summers distorted them & made all but a few unplayable.      Might be worth having a check.  

Our loft doesn't get too hot in summer, maybe being a small house and being in less sunnier Cambridgeshire. Other option of being in the garage was more worrying from damp and cold.  Apparently the worst place for vinyl is in the suitcase area of a commercial airplane.

Yes, I remember those agonising decisions about which LPs to take on holiday...  in fact, I've all but given up holidays... can't imagine a week (or even two) without music these days - doesn't bear thinking about*  

 

* - which is why I added my two pence worth to a different thread about Naim's service turnaround and the deirability of seeing current timescales published. How nice it would be to have accurate information about how long your treasured item will be in Salisbury... 

I was considering the dilemma that faces your average International DJ.     No wonder they put everything in a USB stick these days

I can't understand how audiophiles obsessed with sound quality can tolerate the pops and crackles associated with vinyl playback? I know this can be reduced with thorough cleaning but I imagine it's very difficult to eliminate.

If we had the same pops and crackles with digital playback (CD or streaming) we'd be up in arms.

We all loved Rice Krispies as children, otherwise we would recognise digital as the best!

Some of us preferred the silent porridge, and, for pudding, semolina!

Those of us brought up on home cooking - at least some of us - have thoroughly embraced the digital revolution!

ATB from George

Zinpaw posted:

I can't understand how audiophiles obsessed with sound quality can tolerate the pops and crackles associated with vinyl playback? I know this can be reduced with thorough cleaning but I imagine it's very difficult to eliminate.

If we had the same pops and crackles with digital playback (CD or streaming) we'd be up in arms.

Not all turntables are equal when it comes to crackling and popping.

I'd say 95% of the LP's I listen to are second hand. I don't usually clean them, (although I do own a RCM) yet it's rare that I notice crackles or pops when played on my main turntable. I put this down to the fact I'm using a good quality MC cartridge on a good arm. Occasionally I use a Dual 505 or Marantz T40 with a MM cartridge and do hear crackles and pops.

With regards to the difference between High res and vinyl, the quality of streamer and turntable come into play. A high end streamer will wipe the floor with a budget turntable and vice versa. The same is true for High res V CD. I use a SBT at the moment but previously owned a CDS2, no matter high the resolution gets to in the future, played through a SBT the SQ will be nowhere near that of a CD played through a CDS2.