Strange black things.

[rhinochopig]

Today I was forced to go into our loft to hunt out some objects that I'd pretty much forgotten about. The reason, a shiny new record player had arrived. The last time said records were played was probably about 15 years ago, and then on an all in one 80s Aiwa with spectrum analyser etc.

So after spending the last hour learning about tone arm balance and anti-skate, I was ready to try and remember the art of record - dust jacket extraction, without touching the surface.

Wow, suddenly I was transported back to my child hood - and also realised what poor taste I had in music back then (early 90s techno was dire).

I'd forgotten what an 'experience' playing a record was; something you lose in today's double click and listen world. There is something magical about the way light catches an old vinyl record, and the experience of watching the stylus slowly bobbing up and down whilst you absorb the music: surely the musical equivalent of a roaring fire?

Surprisingly the sound quality was also rather excellent with barely a pop or a crackle - something that couldn't be said with my old 80s all in one.

So tonight, after my son comes back from nursery, he will be getting a short history lesson in the prehistoric world of vinyl.

Oh and the important thing, it's a Debut III with USB and pre-amp (a bargain £180 in an open box sale) http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.c...

[rhinochopig]

Z4monster said:

I recently rediscovered my turntable in the loft and tons of black shiny round things. Started thinking about running the lot through and making MP3 files of them all so I can enjoy the sounds of my youth once again.

Memory lane here we come!

Once I'd played one album I remembered how scratchy and damaged most of my records actually are. They are now back in the loft along with the deck.

One particular album was Genesis Invisible touch. How I adored this album when it was released. My favourite track on the B side was Domino. Once I played it and it skipped about 30 seconds of the track, I remembered that it had a huge scratch which was added during a particularly fun party.

Ah well, maybe I can get it on CD sometime. Back to my unscratched and hissless music server.

That's the thing though, even through my fairly crappy stereo there was virtually no hiss, which really did surprise me. Perhaps your turntable was just past its sell by, or needed a new stylus / needle whatever the experts call them.