From: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2012 #1748 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Unsubscribe:mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe Website:http://jonimitchell.com JMDL Digest Wednesday, December 5 2012 Volume 2012 : Number 1748 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: Njc LP Records [Jussi Pukkila ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2012 23:46:37 +0200 From: Jussi Pukkila Subject: Re: Njc LP Records jlhommedieu@insight.rr.com wrote: >This week I hooked up my record player and started playing LP records again. (After moving, I did not unpack the record player for several months.) > >I have lots of titles only on record, so it is nice to be able to play them again. For example, I have "Mud Slide Slim" and "Slow Train Coming" only on vinyl. > >Does anyone else still play records? > >Jim L > > > I just bought a new expensive cartridge to my old turntable and a used (cheap but good) amp and started playing vinyl again, after a few years of not being able to. I'm very impressed with the sound and my old needle wasn't bad. I've been listening to music quite actively since about 1980 - when vinyl was all there was - but I've never been a hardcore hi-fi buff. I think you get good sound for a decent amount of money and after that it's window-dressing. My music collection (of physical products) is nowadays about 60/40 digital/analog. I'm not clinging to dated technology - but there's something about the physicality of vinyl. Mp3's and CD's are great, easy to play, portable, etc, but I think people have started to realise that there's something special in having to make a little effort to get what you want. Well duh, one only has to look at the second coming of vinyl releases and even cassette is being resurrected to some degree. (CD probably isn't considered portable anymore, now that you don't necessarily need any kind of physical "carrier" anymore!) It's a totally different experience to play through an LP, to brush off dust and drop the needle, then turn over the disc to get to the second half - compared to starting a playlist on a media player. It's also difficult to attach memories to a "virtual" product, at least not in the same way as to a physical LP sleeve, for example. Some download albums come with a digital booklet, but is it the same as handling the inner sleeve of a record? I would say no. I've also noticed that it's very easy to forget about mp3's, even when you made a conscious decision to buy an album on mp3 and paid money for it. The files and folders just get buried in the computer. Again, the physicality of vinyl keeps you aware of those records, in a kind of healthier way. CD is a physical product and it's great to have noise-free sound, but the digital nature feels a bit alien in the end. You feel a bit helpless, at the mercy of the laser beams. Once a CD doesn't play anymore, there's little you can do. Vinyl is never that merciless. Old vinyl gets noisy and wears out, but it doesn't get unplayable or start to skip uncontrollably instantly. There are great sounding CD's, but many, maybe the majority of today's CD's have really compressed sound. That's known as "loudness war", many have probably heard about it. What it means that the sound is deliberately compromised, or the dynamics in specific, just to make the overall sound louder. It's the most stupid thing, because the end user could achieve the louder sound simply by: turning up the volume..! Most labels or companies do it. So, the end result is that you can't even get music in true hi-fi on CD anymore (since ca. mid-90s actually) and the only way is the good old vinyl. The store where I bought the cartridge have a pro record cleaning machine. I tried it and was impressed with the results. It can't remove scratches, obviously, but most of the noise that comes from dirt was gone. The machine they have is Hans Acoustics RC20. It uses a fluid to remove dust and dirt and then vacuums it all out. If it was a little cheaper (about 500 ), I would buy it for myself. The shop has a "cleaning service", 1.50 per record, even less for large quantities, so that works just fine. Well, all that is still perhaps a bit technical and hi-fi. What matters in the end is the experience you get from listening... I have to agree that what they say about vinyl having the best sound could be true. It certainly is "reliable" and doesn't suffer from the problems of the digital counterparts. - --jussi ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2012 #1748 ****************************** ------- To post messages to the list, sendtojoni@smoe.org. Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe -------