Why I don't think I'll ever return to vinyl - brief rant
I am not a vinyl guy. I have a half decent turntable and a half decent cartridge and a mid-fi at best phono preamp.
But I do get the bug every now and again and will buy a vinyl album. These are mostly from new-ish artists. I buy them from their websites hoping to support them. Sometimes I am rewarded. Mac Saturn’s only album sounds really good. The Tesky Brother’s album Run Home Slow sounds amazing and is better than the CD and streaming options. I suspect it is less compressed.
Well, the bug bit again recently and I bought the Red Clay Stray’s double live album recorded at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. It was $45 on their website. There is no CD for this album. The vinyl is thin. The edges are rough. They had some type of dusty residue on them. At then end of one of the album sides there was a spot that looked like some sort of stain or smudge. I cleaned the records and got all the residue off of them. But the one side with the stain on it, that produces an audible pop, would not come clean. The pop persists. It is at the very end of a song, mostly in the crowd noise but it still sucks.
I contacted ’support’ on their website but never got a reply. No big deal. Its $45 and it supports a band that I like.
But that sure puts me off from buying more vinyl.
As a 69 year old audio enthusiast, I am in overall good health but have significant essential tremor in my hands since my twenties. It has worsened with time. Where I used to be able to solder headshell leads and mount cartridges to my fixed head tonearm, now I am in danger of destroying my stylus every time I play a record. It’s frustrating… Hence the magic of streaming. It’s a serious drawback of vinyl for me. Luckily, my streaming setup is superior to my vinyl setup, good but dated. |
It can be frustrating purchasing new vinyl. I’ve purchased quite a few defective albums. The key is to buy from a store that will allow returns of defective LPs. Rhino Hi Fidelity are excellent choices as are Mobile Fidelity. To the person that said to give it up because there was one click or pop that’s not what this forum is about. Go to instagram with your rant. He’s genuinely asking for good advice not a sarcastic remark. I’ve purchased LPs that had incredibly load pops throughout the LP that made it unlistenable. I have never had any problem, returning them and getting another copy or credit. |
It can be frustrating purchasing new vinyl. I’ve purchased quite a few defective albums. The key is to buy from a store that will allow returns of defective LPs. Rhino Hi Fidelity are excellent choices as are Mobile Fidelity. To the person that said to give it up because there was one click or pop that’s not what this forum is about. Go to instagram with your rant. He’s genuinely asking god advice not a sarcastic remark. |
@n80 Exactly my take as well. 15K streams sounds about right, depends a bit on platform with Spotify paying at the low end and Tidal/QB being "better" but still woefully low. Souldisco on YouTube recently did a video on it, worth checking out if you are fluent in German. |
