Does anyone still use or like vinyl?

[teamsaint]

A sort of serious question.......

Why do people want to own/posses so many recordings ?
It sometimes strikes me as a bit like the libraries in many stately homes where the pages of the books haven't even been split (there's a technical term for this that I can't remember ???) and the library is more a "badge" or the owner appearing to be "educated".
I am someone who has thousands of recordings but sometimes wonder why ?
When I go way on holiday I no longer listen to any music at all , preferring to hear the sounds of where I am

and am reminded of Cage (in "M")

moved to the country for city reasons: to start summer theatre; to set up electronic music studio.
Instead took to walking in the woods.

(I've only just noticed that he spells "Theatre" in the English way .......... hummmmmm)

Part of the Journey? you did your Brahms at college, other people, who perhaps haven't spent their professional life in music. are doing it now.
There is lots of music I want to hear, and to be fair, it is often so cheap to buy stuff now, (just bought Turangalila for £2.50) that you end up buying almost by default.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Why do people want to own/posses so many recordings ?

1) Because a lot of the Music that most interests me isn't otherwise available.
2) So that I can listen to a work whenever I need to.
3) So that I don't get used to thinking of the one record of the work I own "is" that work.
4) So I can isolate a passage/passages in a piece and "study" it/them.
5) I'm a bloke! It's what we do - hunter-gatherer stuff!

[Hornspieler]

I agree. It is silly, but I do it nevertheless.

Sometimes for sentimental reasons.

"Nostalgia isn't isn't what it used to be" the cynic said, but a disc, can bring back fond memories of those no longer with us, that we shared we shared it with as listeners.
Another reason for retaining our vynils or 78s is that we find them preferable to the present day "here you are, note perfect in every respect" to be encountered with modern CDs, Ipods or whatever.

I believe that digital recordings lose something of their spontaneous sound quality that we had with vynils and, more importantly with tape recording.

Last week, the widow of a former valued colleague and friend rang to say that she had come across some 20 open-reel tapes and could I help her to identify them.

So I set up my old Akai stereo tape recorder (which had lain dormant since 2003) and set to work this weekend.


I was absolutely amazed by the sound quality of those 19cm/sec recordings; made using paper-backed BASF LR56 tapes (as used by the BBC) which, apart from anything else, have withstood the test of time that causes so many CDs (and cassette tapes, to be fair) to deteriorate.

Why on earth was I so stupid as to sell my Revox B (19-38cms/sec and with 15" NAB spools) back in 1989?

Too late now.

Hornspieler

[LeMartinPecheur]

1) Because a lot of the Music that most interests me isn't otherwise available.
2) So that I can listen to a work whenever I need to.
3) So that I don't get used to thinking of the one record of the work I own "is" that work.
4) So I can isolate a passage/passages in a piece and "study" it/them.
5) I'm a bloke! It's what we do - hunter-gatherer stuff!

[richardfinegold]

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.

I developed an interest in audiophilia about 10 years ago. Until then I was content to have a large CD collection played back through a rather prosaic and modest system.
I began reading audiophile magazines then, and many are UK based. Most are very biased in favor of lps. Now they are on the computer music bandwagon. CDs just can't get a break.
My lp collection was destroyed in a flood at the dawn of the CD
Era. Prior to this I had become very frustrated with lps and I spent the next 15 years
Collecting digital.
I am now on my 3rd turntable upgrade since I rediscovered vinyl and I have purchased over
100 lps. I have concluded that digital is still the superior media.
Most lps are in terrible condition, and the vinyl artifacts still drive me crax

[Dave2002]

So I set up my old Akai stereo tape recorder (which had lain dormant since 2003) and set to work this weekend.

I was absolutely amazed by the sound quality of those 19cm/sec recordings; made using paper-backed BASF LR56 tapes (as used by the BBC) which, apart from anything else, have withstood the test of time that causes so many CDs (and cassette tapes, to be fair) to deteriorate.

Why on earth was I so stupid as to sell my Revox B (19-38cms/sec and with 15" NAB spools) back in 1989?

Too late now.

Hornspieler

There are still some available. One is apparently unused and sells for nearly $5000! Not this one, though.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/revox-b77-mark-1-/110954010221?pt=UK_Consumer_VintageAudio_RL&hash=item19d55fd66d

[MrGongGong]

Nice machine
I always liked editing on the B77
when I was a student we had several A77's but they always seemed very clunky in comparison
it always makes me chuckle when I see University studios with the B77 and VCS3 on display

like this



There has been an interesting discussion on the CEC list recently about "old technology" (Canadian Electroacoustic Community)
along the lines of

"Mastering for vinyl is great. I just went out and bought a machine to play them on."

and

I once showed an LP to one of my students from China. She said .... "what the hell is that?"

[umslopogaas]

richardfinegold, yes, this is a reversion to our tender years. Vinyl is OK, when you've finally sorted the minuscule amount of surviving good stuff from the vast oceans of wrecked dross. I still maintain that digital is superior, but it now distances you from the object. I OWN my vinyl collection, but ever increasingly I find that digital is just something you access. rather than own. And if you access on someone else's terms, what happens when they change the terms, or up the price? I prefer to have the goods on my shelves, despite the cost (and the weight).

[Hornspieler]

I developed an interest in audiophilia about 10 years ago. Until then I was content to have a large CD collection played back through a rather prosaic and modest system.
I began reading audiophile magazines then, and many are UK based. Most are very biased in favor of lps. Now they are on the computer music bandwagon. CDs just can't get a break.

"High diddle-de-dee! An Audiophile for me!"

HS

[Dave2002]

mr GG

I didn't realise that the later Revox models only went up to 7.5 ips. The one I showed earlier went to 15 ips.

Here's another later model - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REVOX-B77-...item2a23383f7b I wonder who the service engineer is - interesting story ...

and the "new" over £3k model - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-VINTAG...item2c67cf0f45

[Hornspieler]

mr GG

I didn't realise that the later Revox models only went up to 7.5 ips. The one I showed earlier went to 15 ips.

Here's another later model - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REVOX-B77-...item2a23383f7b I wonder who the service engineer is - interesting story ...

and the "new" over £3k model - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-VINTAG...item2c67cf0f45

The B77 is the model that I inadvisedly sold. It was 7½ to 15 IPS and had a variable speed control.



BTW Going through a pile of open reel tapes for a friend, I have just discovered a recording of BUSONI's "FAUST"

Mono only but of superb quality and Faust is sung by Dietrich Fischer Dieskau.

Recorded off air and the announcer sounds like Cormac Rigby. Can anyone throw any further light on this broadcast?

Conductor, Other Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus, Date of transmission &c.?

HS

[Roehre]

....

BTW Going through a pile of open reel tapes for a friend, I have just discovered a recording of BUSONI's "FAUST"

Mono only but of superb quality and Faust is sung by Dietrich Fischer Dieskau.

Recorded off air and the announcer sounds like Cormac Rigby. Can anyone throw any further light on this broadcast?

Conductor, Other Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus, Date of transmission &c.?

HS

HS, ANY idea when it might have been recorded, or whether the original broadcast was a mono one?

[Hornspieler]

The B77 is the model that I inadvisedly sold. It was 7½ to 15 IPS and had a variable speed control.



BTW Going through a pile of open reel tapes for a friend, I have just discovered a recording of BUSONI's "FAUST"

Mono only but of superb quality and Faust is sung by Dietrich Fischer Dieskau.

Recorded off air and the announcer sounds like Cormac Rigby. Can anyone throw any further light on this broadcast?

Conductor, Other Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus, Date of transmission &c.?

HS

I can now answer some of my own questions:

BBC Third Programme. [B]"Excerts from Dr Faustus by Busoni"

Not listed in Groves under Busoni's name

A concert of Busoni's music in the Royal Festival Hall given by the Philharmonia Orchestra (led by Hugh Bean)
Conductor Sir Adrian Boult.
Dietrich Fischer Dieskau as Dr Faust. Otaka Kraus as Wagner. (Didn't catch the names of the 3 Students).

Followed by Tanzwaltzer - Busoni's tribute to Johann Strauss.

What a discovery!

HS

[umslopogaas]

#146, HS, there is a recording of 'Doctor Faust', with DFD as Faust, William Cochran as Mephistopheles, Bavarian Radio SO cond. Ferdinand Leitner. From 1970, it made it to CD, DG 427 413-2, and very good it is too.

I once (1986) went to a performance at the ENO, with Thomas Allen as Faust. Still got the programme, I remember being very impressed.

[Roehre]

I can now answer some of my own questions:

BBC Third Programme. [B]"Excerts from Dr Faustus by Busoni"

Not listed in Groves under Busoni's name

A concert of Busoni's music in the Royal Festival Hall given by the Philharmonia Orchestra (led by Hugh Bean)
Conductor Sir Adrian Boult.
Dietrich Fischer Dieskau as Dr Faust. Otaka Kraus as Wagner. (Didn't catch the names of the 3 Students.

Followed by Tanzwaltzer - Busoni's tribute to Johann Strauss.

What a discovery!

HS

Could be one of the very first Fausts done by DFD.

(Btw, Doctor Faust is mentioned in Grove's New Dictionary (1980 ed) under "Stage works")