Vinyl vs. top-notch digital

Violin's response reflects my experience too. Good digital and good vinyl reproduce different things well. How important each aspect is helps determine which is more important to you.

With my digital surround rig, I can play bombastic orchestral pieces such as Holst's "The Planets" or Moussorgsky's (arranged for orchestra) "Night on Bald Mountain" at live concert levels sitting in the first three rows. With 1200 watts on tap and a 200w sub ready to go to 20Hz, I can play Telarc's 1812 Overture no sweat.

My analog rig can creat a great illusion for pieces such as this from the 15th row or the front of the balcony, especially if the orch. used a starter pistol into an oil drum for the cannon.

But for small acoustic ensembles, whether classical chamber music, James Taylor/Joni Mitchell/Gordon Lightfoot folk, or small jazz ensembles such as LA Four, Miles, Brubeck, Coltrane ... vinyl RULES!

And it can be anything. I don't care if it's 40-yr-old vinyl from the $1 bargain bin or a new $50 45rpm pressing from Acoustic Sounds, I just *love* the sound of vinyl on a wide variety of material.

In absolute terms, I'd say my 45rpm Acoustic Sounds reissue of Water Lily Music's "A Meeting by the River" and some direct-to-disc LPs are the best-sounding recordings I have from *any* source.

As for the others, I likes me LPs, but if you're hung up on a little noise and the occasional tic/pop, stick with digital.

By the standards of these wacky A-goners, I have a very modest analog rig: Technics SL1210 M5G, Audio Technica AT150MLX cart, LPGear Zupreme headshell, Cambridge Audio 640p phono stage, Outlaw linestage, 1980s Amber Series 70 power amp, and Mirage Omnisat spkrs w/matching LF150 sub.

Yet this silly little rig beckons me to the sweet spot whenever I spin vinyl on it. And long after the record is over and I put it away--sometimes for days afterwards--the best of this music continues to haunt me in a way that digitally sourced music NEVER did.

06-22-08: Pryso
...There are three basic choices for buying vinyl today. First there is a growing supply of favorite (and some not-so-favorite) albums being reissued. Most of these cost from $30-$60 when remastered by established engineers. Other label-generated reissues with unknown mastering may sell for $10-$20.

Ah, but this harkens back to when the recorded music had value and was prized by all. I remember when the going rate for an LP in 1969 was $4.50. Run it through the inflation calculator and you'll see that everybody was paying the equivalent of $26.55 then for any run-of-the-mill mass-produced vinyl LP. If you were a typical teenager/early 20's guy working minimum wage, an LP represented 3-4 hours pay.

As for audiophile special releases, I remember paying $10 in 1974 for the Sheffield direct-to-disc "Lincoln Mayorga and Friends vol. II," which in 2007 money is $46.19. So the $50 I just dropped for the 2-LP 180g 45rpm reissue of "A Meeting by the River" is in the ballpark, and is actually a better and better-sounding album.

So I guess the real question is, are you ready to throw off the de-valuing of music through CDs, CD-Rs, ripping, and digital downloads and pay for a (relatively) laboriously made analog copy of what went down in the studio that day?

Next is the vinyl resale market on line or from a few remaining stores. Here you can expect to pay from about $5 to three figures, depending on rarity and knowledge of the seller.

True enough, though these record stores often have dollar bins, and I've gotten a lot of records in excellent shape from such. Sometimes I don't even know how the record ends up there. I've gotten some ECM releases and some of my favorite rock/pop from the '70s/'80s from these.

I got a near mint 2-LP Gordon Lightfoot "Gord's Gold" at such as store for $2.99. I like Lightfoot, especially what's on this particular collection.

And if you're at a good store that is picky about what they'll accept and put out for sale, the $5-10 range gets you some great music in excellent shape. Last year the store with the best selection in my town (Seattle) had a half-price sale on everything through the summer. I came out with some great music in great condition, including most of the Beatles that I wanted, the Police discography for about $10 total, several of my favorite jazz albums, etc.

And if you like classical music, these stores practically give it away. I typically pick up like new LPs for $1-3, including RCA Living Stereo, DG w/Herbert Von Karajan, stuff with Heifetz, Rubinstein, etc.

Lastly, there is something known as "dumpster diving". This entails visits to local thrift stores to scrounge through their collections of used LPs. Prices can be cheap ($.25-$4) but it can be dirty and time consuming to sort through all the rejects to find anything of interest (artist, music, and condition). Who knew there were so many copies sold of Firestone Christmas music, Ray Conniff and Herb Alpert?

... and Neil Diamond, John Denver, Barbra Streisand, and Jerry effing Vale. Hoo-boy. It's rare to find a popularly prized album (that holds up over time) in a thrift shop. I've gotten one Rolling Stones album at a thrift shop--only time I've seen one. Neven seen any Beatles, Beach Boys, Led Zep, etc. I once saw a Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, but it looked unplayable to me.

But it also depends on the thrift shop and your taste in music. I picked up a huge stack of Haydn on Nonesuch at about 50 cents per, and last week I just came away with 16 box sets from Time/Life's "Great Men of Music" series at $1/box. Each box has 4 LPs, and is of a specific composer. I got (among others) Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Sibelius, Stravinsky, Ravel, etc. These are mostly culled from RCA Living Stereo archives, so they feature Fritz Reiner & the Chicago Symphony, Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony, Artur Rubinstein and Van Cliburn on piano, Heifetz on violin, Julian Bream on guitar and lute, etc. And one thing I found out--people almost never played these subscription series box sets. Most of the vinyl looks gleaming and unplayed.

There are two more ways to get vinyl--the Internet via eBay, Amazon, GEMM, and the like, and local private transactions via moving sales, garage sales, estate sales and Craigs List. You can often get excellent condition stuff privately, and I've gotten some really cool things off eBay, including some still-sealed new old stock at reasonable prices and a collection of unplayed special broadcast pressings that included both volumes of Ella and Louis on Verve and The Monster by Buddy Rich (also on Verve).

Pryso: I didn't mean to criticize your post. What you said is true. I was just trying to point out how the value of recorded music has dropped since moving to the digital age, and getting back into vinyl demands a reconciliation to the old relationship between music lover and software. Getting new LPs cost about the same in adjusted dollars as they did 30 years ago. From thrift shops and bargain bins, however, you can get whole albums ($1) for the price of a one-song download.

What's true regardless is that going to vinyl requires a different relationship to the software than if you source from CDs, servers, or downloads. It could easily cost more money, and it definitely costs more attention and especially, maintenance.

06-22-08: Rccc
I dont think its necessary or even wise to spend a ton on an analog rig to experience vinyl. My 2nd system is a technics dd with a shure V15/4 into a 25 yr old NAD int amp and is preferred to cd by everyone in the house.

That's what's going on at my house too, except my number one rig *is* a Technics direct drive. I have made some modest upgrades over the year (Cambridge 640p phono stage, Audio Technica AT150MLX and much faster, more transparent line stage), and now we enjoy both the smoothness and continuity *and* a higher level of resolution and detail.

My wife, who came from a strong background of vocal music, treasures all the operas and oratorios I've been about to pick up at the thrift shops for next to nothing. We always prefer the LP, and especially love it for vocals.