Rediscovering my LPs

Result.  I have the TKR - wonderful cartridge.  

I already had the TKR.  Definitely better than the TK I had before that.

I have experienced the same as you albeit with Origin Live Resolution/Conqueror. I also have the NDS/555ps and much prefer the vinyl sound. Proof of the pudding is that I have just under 200 albums (starting from zero) with just 7 CDs in that same time frame. I have also stopped buying HD albums.

Digital is a fact of life these days.  A lot of the things I like just don't appear on vinyl, alas.  That was the reason I bought my Naim CDS many years ago now.  CDS is boxed up and sitting on top a a wardrobe.  No second hand market for them as cannot repair if it 'dies'.

Have you actually tried to sell it?

Alba1320 posted:

Dungassin posted:

Digital is a fact of life these days.  A lot of the things I like just don't appear on vinyl, alas.  That was the reason I bought my Naim CDS many years ago now.  CDS is boxed up and sitting on top a a wardrobe.  No second hand market for them as cannot repair if it 'dies'.

When did you last try your CDS?

Four weeks ago just before I dismantled and disposed of the active 52/135/SBL system.  Was sounding very good.

Dungassin posted:

Digital is a fact of life these days.  A lot of the things I like just don't appear on vinyl, alas.  That was the reason I bought my Naim CDS many years ago now.  CDS is boxed up and sitting on top a a wardrobe.  No second hand market for them as cannot repair if it 'dies'.

The very same reason that I purchased a CDP 17 years ago...just couldn't get titles on Vinyl

GerryMcg posted:

I have experienced the same as you albeit with Origin Live Resolution/Conqueror. I also have the NDS/555ps and much prefer the vinyl sound. Proof of the pudding is that I have just under 200 albums (starting from zero) with just 7 CDs in that same time frame. I have also stopped buying HD albums.

I understand that you guys love your LP12 given that special analog sound aspect of it. However there are Lao quite a number of downsides as compared to digital.

...and I always have the feeling that people get even a tick more of the special analogue excitement with also switching to Valve Amps....., but that is just me talking about the extreme purity in the other direction.

I can unfortunately not explore this route, as I have cats...

DUNGASSINN, congratulations on the Radikal/Urika upgrade.

"Very happy! Just going to wait until my TKR needs replacing (probably another year) then I'll go for the Ekos SE, but don't know which cartridge yet. "

Regarding the above quote thought you might appreciate this..

This all sounds very familiar as I have done much the same thing over the last couple of years. I would not be too dismissive of the NDS though. Once you've become familiar (and pissed off) with the dreadful quality of current vinyl pressings (often warped or noisy or both) I'm sure you'll still be buying CDs to stream through the NDS. 

I'm still buying CDs.  Just got "The Colonel and The Governor" by Tommy Emmanuel & Martin Taylor.  I'm still be digitising any LPs I buy, just to be able to listen to them on the move and in other rooms (assuming SWMBO actually wants  a Muso).  Also if they get damaged/stolen, at least I will still have the digital backup.

Must pop into the used LP shop in Burton On Trent tomorrow when I go for my guitar lesson.

Tanita Tikaram "Closer To The People" LP is vg, BTW.

Dungassin posted:

I took the plunge and have updated my LP12.  It's now Radikal/Urika/Keel/Ekos 1/Dynavector TKR.   I wasn't going to do it so soon, but Peter et al had a used Radikal/Urika and I couldn't resist it.

Well, what can I say?  I've been listening to a LOT of LPs over the last few days.  Turntable now significantly better to my ears than my NDS/555PSDR.   Just been listening to Carol Kidd "All My Tomorrows",  John Hiatt "Bring The Family, Eddie Cochran, Gendron Bach Cello Suites, various Julian Bream albums, etc.  All sound absolutely lovely.

The bass end is the most obvious improvement, along with detail and the old 'I never heard that bit before' thoughts.  Now I no longer feel the need to switch the nSub in on some of the tracks.

I've started hunting around and buying LPs again.

Very happy!   Just going to wait until my TKR needs replacing (probably another year) then I'll go for the Ekos SE, but don't know which cartridge yet.  

Peter working with his magic hands again on LP12

Dungassin -  Peter profiled a range of upgrades for me (Ekos SE/TKR/even Tangerine's Stiletto - yikes that's an expensive game changer!), as against my then Ekos 1 1/2 and XX2 mk 2. I ended up with Ekos SE and TKR

I'm not sure what it is but vinyl replay in my room is so much more natural sounding than CD. It just seems to flow far more easily (via Superline/Supercap DR). And the TKR certainly digs far more out of the grooves.

Yup, it's all very good.  Incidentally, I think the Urika has a higher output than the Prefix S which it replaced.  Previously when recording to the Korg MR2 from my LP12 (prior to its upgrade) I had the line input always set to max.  Now I have to turn it down 3 or 5 dB to prevent clipping.

In a year's time when the TKR gets tired, I will be off to see if I can audition the Dynavector XV-1t (and 1s) against the Linn Kandid.   I have a basic rule of never to audition anything in case I want to buy it there and then!

Well, I'm sitting here listening to my NDS.  Got an Air Supply CD (my music tastes are VERY wide and varied - this one was a gift).  Clicked on play for the album.  Stopped after one track ... WTF ...  Entered the album again from track 2 "play from this track".  Same thing happened.  Switched the NDS Off/On, waited for it to reboot.  Now working OK.  Not the first time this has happened, but it is annoying.   Can't recall what version of firmware it's running (and can't remember how to find out!).  Can't be the latest because I couldn't be bothered to install the last one I saw which I think just added DSD playback.  Must check which version of the Naim App (iOS) I am using.

Totally unrelated, but this is a 'remastered' greatest hits CD.  In common with a lot of others, it seems to be worse than unremastered tracks (I have the odd one or two on an original CD).  Come to think of it, most 'remastered' CDs seem to be worse than the original.

Dungassin posted:

In a year's time when the TKR gets tired, I will be off to see if I can audition the Dynavector XV-1t (and 1s) against the Linn Kandid.  

Assuming a change to Ekos SE, then my money would be on the Kandid  

Do you have Chord Sarum TA on the Urika?

It is a Chord lead (the Linn one wasn't long enough.  It's bright red cloth covered, so I assume it's a Shawline.

Dungassin posted:

Well, I'm sitting here listening to my NDS.  Got an Air Supply CD (my music tastes are VERY wide and varied - this one was a gift).  Clicked on play for the album.  Stopped after one track ... WTF ...  Entered the album again from track 2 "play from this track".  Same thing happened.  Switched the NDS Off/On, waited for it to reboot.  Now working OK.  Not the first time this has happened, but it is annoying. 

The same thing happens to my NDS about once a month. The same fix works for me too - switch the power off, wait 10s, switch it back on. 

Love my LP12 and thankfully never sold my LPs in the 1990s although I did pick up a fair few from those who did. Especially useful when narrowband goes down which is all to frequent around here. 7 meg in this day and age - pedestrian or what....and they expected me to pay for another 0.5 Evidently we might see more in 2017 when they can be bothered to put another card in the green cabinet.

I must admit having seen the reviews I'm starting to wonder about the new Tranquility mod to go with the Keel, Khan and Radikal....perhaps one for the other forum

i also picked up a second had VPI cleaner from a certain auction site - works very nicely although it's as loud as one of those upright Hoovers!

Bert Schurink posted:

I understand that you guys love your LP12 given that special analog sound aspect of it. However there are Lao quite a number of downsides as compared to digital.

...and I always have the feeling that people get even a tick more of the special analogue excitement with also switching to Valve Amps....., but that is just me talking about the extreme purity in the other direction. 

I can unfortunately not explore this route, as I have cats...

Now that's a rationalisation not a reason. Plenty of people had and have both, you just need a sensible turntable with a lid you can close when it's playing, not something that looks like it belongs on the dogger bank. You don't lose that much sound quality playing with the lid on, not as much as you do playing digital. If it was children I could understand, then no more than a basic Rega and a MM with a replaceable stylus might be sensible for the duration but to go without altogether!

I taught my daughters how to use my LP12 (with Archiv/Karma) as soon as they were 8 years old.  Never had any problem with them.

Thanks to vinyl I've started to re-discover music again. 
Generlally buying more and more music than I ever have in the past - the main challenge is now finding time to listen to it all.

This week I've finally managed to track two NM albums which hold a special place in my heart - Tangerine Dream 'Underwater Sunlight' and 'Le Parc' - they should me making their way to Warsaw now.... Cannot wait....

Bert Schurink posted:

I understand that you guys love your LP12 given that special analog sound aspect of it. However there are Lao quite a number of downsides as compared to digital.

...and I always have the feeling that people get even a tick more of the special analogue excitement with also switching to Valve Amps....., but that is just me talking about the extreme purity in the other direction.

 

I can unfortunately not explore this route, as I have cats...

Not me, I auditioned the LP12 against rivals in the past and bought the 'superior' alternatives. Also three dealers in the 70's 80's told me that they could not continue selling rivals to the Linn otherwise their supply would be discontinued. 

With my recent return to vinyl it was  important that the TT was aesthetically pleasing which  the LP12 could never be in my view. 

As for downsides I am not experiencing any, there about five albums out of the 195 I have bought recently that have intrusive clicks which I have exchanged/returned. The surprise to me is the lack of surface noise on the remainder even those bought second hand and up to 38 years old.

Other than the physical album sleeve, and of course nostalgia, I struggle to understand the attraction of vinyl. I grew up with it and loved it, and in the early days found digital to be no match - but, and I know this ia anathema to analogue die-hards, these days digital is, or can be, way ahead in sound quality (subject to the quality of mastering, of course). Presumably the preference for vinyl can only be for original analogue recordings (a high proportion of things recorded in the past maybe 3 decades  started off digital before being converted to analogue and cut as an LP) - if not it clearly is a subjective preference for the colouration arising fromo the deficiencies of the medium and nothing to do with sound quality.

Given that a significant number of people on this forum have identified Hugo as having an 'analogue-like sound', however you interpret that, maybe those of you who still prefer vinyl over various digital solutions including the best Naim has to offer should audition a DAC from the Hugo family.....

Or cutting a disc and replaying it filteres out the digital hash (meaning everything that makes digital replay less satisfying) more effectively than domestic digital replay can manage. 

The major drawbacks with vinyl are that to get the digital beating performance, you have to be willing and able to learn how to set it up properly or be prepared to pay someone to do it for you and keeping the records clean. It really comes down to whether you can be arsed.