Does anyone still use or like vinyl?

[Dave2002]

I switched from vinyl (and cassette) to digital long ago, but there are still some out there who like vinyl.
Some have claimed that vinyl sounds better. Mostly I have disregarded these, but over the years I have noted that vinyl can sound very good with very good equipment. Perhaps the same would also be true of CDs however.

Pound for pound I reckon that CD is better (generally much), but if money is no object then maybe there's not so much in it.

Also, for some old recordings, it may be that vinyl actually has retained the music better than CDs recently digitised off tapes which have deteriorated over time.

[salymap]

Charity shops around here arefull of vinyl, it is my old favourites I play occasionally though, Cortot,Thibaud, Casals things, old bits of chamber music, John Shirley-Quirk singing RVW- lots of Frank Sinatra and a bit of jazz. I had fairly basic player given me last year but with a weighted pick up arm and I wouldn't be without them

It'sthe cassettesI never play now,hundreds of them,just listed by number

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It'sthe cassettes I never play now, hundreds of them, just listed by number

I'm the same. I still have a large LP selection, most of which are in pristine condition. But many cassettes are now virtually unplayable.

[Anna]

I inherited some vinly, from the 60s, no interest to me, Who, Rod Stewart, Led Zep, Pink Floyd etc., it all went to charity shops

I have around half a dozen cassettes that still I play; Dr. Robert and The Blow Monkeys is my number one main man, then Depeche Mode, The Smiths. I guess I should get the cds, but, something of my childhood makes me think the cassettes of the time were cool and I want to be Retro.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I don't have a player for my LPs (I have about 40 - 50: ones that never reached CD) nor for my hundreds of Cassettes (which played perfectly, last time I tried: it was the player that conked out.

I get a nostalgic glow every time I hear a needle touching the "lead-in" groove, and the cover art of an LP also brings back all sorts of memories (not to mention the superior liner notes and booklets) but I've loved the durability, running time and storage of CDs from the first time I bought them in 1985.

[Roehre]

Both LPs and Cassette tapes are used regularly here.
Many of the works on there are either the only copy I've got (completely independent whether re-issued or how many alternatives are available), or an off-air recording which never made it to LP or CD.

[umslopogaas]

Vinyl is something of an obsession of mine, I've collected the classical variety for about thirty years and have around seven thousand discs. They take up a lot of space, just about every wall in the house that will take the weight is covered in shelves. Since I live by myself there is no restraining hand to prevent me from indulging, though since I have retired I have had to throttle back because I no longer have spare cash. In any case, I have moved far away from my old main sources (Ben's Records in Guildford and Fine Records in Hove). But seven thousand is probably enough ...

Vinyl is not only hanging in there, there is an increasing interest. My local hifi shop sells a good range of turntables and new and secondhand discs. The new ones are pricy: around twenty five pounds each.

I like vinyl and find the sound quality with a good cartridge quite acceptable to my ears. I'm not sure if the old, 'valve cut' discs really do sound better, but plenty of people think they do.

And before disposing of unwanted vinyl to the charity shop, I'd advise taking careful advice and checking ebay for bids. Some discs are worth a very surprisingly large amount. Chief among them in the classical field are early stereos by Decca, Columbia, HMV etc. Violinists fetch a particular premium because the driving force in the market has been the Far East, and the Japanese and Koreans are particular fond of the violin. I have one first label Columbia of Leonid Kogan playing the Tchaikovsky concerto that would probably fetch four figures. That's a lot of money for one old LP.

Having said that, all the dealers I know say that the trade is declining and this is confirmed by ebay, the majority of LPs are listed for 99p and attract no bids. The older generation of collectors who grew up on vinyl, like me, are dying out and the next generation are not interested.

Despite my fondness for vinyl, I have no doubt that CDs are a superior medium. You get more music, they are almost indestructible, they take up less space, you can play them in the car and they never wear out.

[Gordon]

Although I got rid of most of my many LPs years ago I have kept my Sondek and use it fairly regularly. There are some LPs, about 50 odd, that I kept back - "audiophile" pressings, Mobile Fidelity/Nimbus half speed mastered etc etc - but also recordings that never made it to CD despite the sterling efforts of Australian Eloquence with Decca. I collect Kingsway Hall recordings and although many of these are on CD nowadays they are by no means all there and so I scour the web and second hand shops for vinyl.

There is all that faff with LP and the wow from eccentric discs is annoying as is the surface noise and dishing [I use a clamp]. I don't really miss LP and before CD was launched my purchases of LP had dropped because of the defects. I have only ever had 1 faulty CD which I still have - it's an Erato disc of Poulenc Organ Concerto -which is fine - but the Concerto Champetre has a large thumb print embedded in it about 15mm diameter and it doesn't play that bit!! How that go there and through QC goodness knows.

I had a Revox A77years ago to tape Proms etc off air and all of those have been transferred to CD now and the machine has gone. I do have a few cassettes and a good player but most of those are off air from years ago. I use both the Sondek and cassette player to convert LPs and tapes for friends using a Tascam recorder that does 96kHz wav.

[Serial_Apologist]

I have no doubt that CDs are a superior medium. You get more music, they are almost indestructible, they take up less space, you can play them in the car and they never wear out.

This was how they were first sold to us as the superior replacement for vinyl. Remember Tomorrow's World demonstrating how you could throw the things on the floor, stamp on them etc? It's certainly not the case that CDs are indestructible; for me, there has been nothing more annoying to acquire new CDs that stick at certain places, or jump forward or back at the slightest fingerprint or invisible scratch, (or DVDs for that matter). I shall never regret keeping my old LPs, EPs and 45 singles.

[mangerton]

A very interesting thread. I have all three media. My several hundred cassettes dating from the mid 70s are rarely played. Although I still have a good player, the cassettes themselves, almost all home recorded live or off-air, have not worn well. And they were not cheap tapes, but good brands.

I have over 100 LPs which I still play. These date from the mid 60s to 80s, when I started to collect CDs. All three media reflect my changing tastes over the years and there are classical and non classical recordings in each format.

umslopogas makes a very good point about checking disc prices before disposal. I saw a vinyl copy of Disraeli Gears by Cream in a charity shop in Edinburgh this week. It was priced at £29.99. I have a copy of that, and quite a few other LPs from the same era. I must have a look on eBay, but I'm not sure I'd want to sell them. As ferneyhoughgeliebte says, there's something rather magical about dropping the stylus on to a record (turn the volume down first, though!) which CDs just don't have.

On a related note, I have two open reel tape recorders. One is an Akai 4000DS Mk 2, still in good working order. The other is a Grundig valve model dating from the 50s. It hasn't been used for about 20 years, so would require a good deal of work even before power could be applied.

[teamsaint]

still got all my old vinyl...albums, and a lot of singles. They are never going anywhere that I don't !!
still have a reasonable system to play them on, and they get a reasonably regular outing. Spend the odd evening listening to singles also.
I have plenty of cassettes, and again, an Ok system...they get less regular run outs, but the best still resurface from time to time.
I would like to transfer the cassettes to MP3, but my boss thinks i should spend my days "more productively" !!

Quality wise,, the vinyl has stood up well, think I have only replaced about 10 albums with CD.

[Gordon]

It's certainly not the case that CDs are indestructible; for me, there has been nothing more annoying to acquire new CDs that stick at certain places, or jump forward or back at the slightest fingerprint or invisible scratch.

I'd certainly agree that CD's invulnerability was oversold all those years ago. The only trouble I have had with CDs sticking etc has been because of a faulty player. Nevertheless I always make sure the disc is clean before I play it - a wipe with soft cloth and my breath - distilled water for free!! I had terrible trouble a year or so back with my machine refusing to play SACD and CD-Rs but this has been solved now and the machine is working well.

Years ago I did try that experiment of drilling a 1/8" hole in a disc and much to my surprise it was fine on my then Marantz player!! But on some friends machines it didn't!!

#7: I don't want to start that old valves/solid state thing off again as well as this vinyl one, but I think that people like the sound they like regardless of the technical background. To each his own. I learned my electronics when thermionic devices were still widely used. Early solid state HiFi amplifiers were not very good but soon got better. "Valve sound" is characteristic to a degree because distortion contributes a lot and there is soft limiting. Recording companies never did use much oxygen free copper back then either!

[mangerton]

Years ago I did try that experiment of drilling a 1/8" hole in a disc and much to my surprise it was fine on my then Marantz player!! But on some friends machines it didn't!!

Would you explain, please, or post a link? I haven't heard of this.

[Lateralthinking1]

That Mr Y Tone who I posted the other day creates his 'music' from mangled CDs but then he is a fluxus chap.

My cherished items are tape reels as I don't know what is on them and they are the dabblings in electronica of an eight year old. One day there will be a need to purchase a second hand Grundig to find out more. I do know that I was given some BBC sessions of the Beatles before they became famous. Thought at one time they would make me a millionaire but they aren't worth anything in pounds, shillings and pence. Still, there could be something extraordinary on them simply by chance, not that I expect it.

My vinyl only came after cassettes. I always kept the records in A to Z order like a librarian but played them to death, hence they are not in good condition. I duplicated everything with CD over many years and then added considerably to that collection.

I prefer the sound of vinyl. Records are double, treble, even quadruple the value of the equivalent CD. I compared them yesterday in a nice but strange local shop which specialises in second hand books, classical music and jazz. It is like a step into the past - dusty, never any customers, a man with a dog or a woman with a cat at the counter, and it opens just Thursdays to Saturdays.

Also went to the local fete before the crowds arrived some weeks ago and felt that I should buy something. The plants were unconvincing so I bought a Harry Belafonte album for £1. The first thing on vinyl for several decades. The young guy with the baseball cap looked at it like it was from another planet but the way he took the money suggested capitalism was his hobby.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

There is something special about lowering the pickup into the groove, having cleaned the record scrupulously and done as much as possible to remove static. The listening experience was possibly more intense, as each playing theoretically degraded the disc slightly, so not paying attention seemed to be something of a waste, placing a greater value on the music that had been recorded.