Preference for music listening.... Vinyl, CD, Streaming?
Discussion
I have only owned it for a couple of years. I very nearly bought this set up 20 years ago. I remember listening to the same set-up and being totally blown away, couldn’t quite stretch to it at the time. Fast forward 20 years and I finally have it!
The 10 disc Sony multi changer was a lockdown purchase this year for £20.00. It works, but It could blow up at any time...
The 10 disc Sony multi changer was a lockdown purchase this year for £20.00. It works, but It could blow up at any time...
I have two main systems - one is an LP12/Naim set-up in the sitting room which I love but listen to maybe one day/week. The other is in my study (which like everyone else, I have been forced to spend loads of time in) and is an Ariston RD11/Onkyo set-up (Ariston RD11 is identical to an early LP12) which I have today fitted a Goldring 2300 to. I prefer the LP12 but the Ariston is currently in use all day every day and sounds incredible - it reminds me daily that while vinyl may be compromised, it is such a comfortable listen. I’m currently trawling the net looking for more vinyl as the format forces me to listen to entire albums, which I increasingly enjoy.
I did have the Ariston up for sale but I’ve changed my mind as they are really rare in their early form and it’s a cracking turntable. Mine is a single point bearing version before Linn won their court case and forced Dunlop Westayr to move to a cup and ball bearing system. Any Hi Fi geeks in PH?
I did have the Ariston up for sale but I’ve changed my mind as they are really rare in their early form and it’s a cracking turntable. Mine is a single point bearing version before Linn won their court case and forced Dunlop Westayr to move to a cup and ball bearing system. Any Hi Fi geeks in PH?
selym said:
Crackie said:
outnumbered said:
Crackie said:
Very similar situation for me. I can't remember when I last purchased a vinyl record but it was probably in the late 80's / early 90s. Most of my listening is now streamed at pretty low res. I still have a Wadia CD player hooked up to the main system and an original Exposure CD in the dining room.......and a couple of early 90's Technics CD players too. The Wadia doesn't get much use these days but the others are in regular use.
From a convenience point of view, I agree that vinyl is a very compromised relative to newer alternatives. I don't agree that it is "such a compromised medium" as regards sound quality though. High quality vinyl is spectacularly good and has been since the 70's, imho the newer formats have only come close very recently.
I mean technically compromised. I get that some people like the sound of vinyl, and well mastered vinyl recordings on a good setup are going to sound great, but that doesn't stop it having limited dynamic range, variable distortions, prone to surface noise, etc etc. From a convenience point of view, I agree that vinyl is a very compromised relative to newer alternatives. I don't agree that it is "such a compromised medium" as regards sound quality though. High quality vinyl is spectacularly good and has been since the 70's, imho the newer formats have only come close very recently.
I use an LP12 so I'm light years away from faithfully reproducing the master tapes as I'm sure I'll be told!
Having said that most of my playback these days is amazon music HD through a NAD/Dirac streamer as I can't be bothered to get up to change records - still have about 2000 though and keep buying them.
sociopath said:
Me too, although its like Trigger's broom in terms of what is still original from when I bought it in 1981.
Having said that most of my playback these days is amazon music HD through a NAD/Dirac streamer as I can't be bothered to get up to change records - still have about 2000 though and keep buying them.
Mine's the same; it's on the third sub-chassis from new, a Russ Colinson plinth, Moerch unipivot arm. I think the platter/subplatter and top plate are original. I know that angers the purists but there you go.Having said that most of my playback these days is amazon music HD through a NAD/Dirac streamer as I can't be bothered to get up to change records - still have about 2000 though and keep buying them.
I have a CXN V2 for streaming and I use that quite often but I'll always defer to LPs. I only have about 1200 so I have some catching up to do. Space is my only limitation.
Edited by selym on Sunday 11th October 19:02
I'm planning to get a tape collection built up to compliment the LPs. A friend has a good collection of vinyl, I'm planning on copying some albums onto tape (when funds allow) Current decent reels of tape are £55-75... for 1 hours recording time.
I spent Lockdown electronically restoring the machine, its almost perfect, just scratches on the front panel from its life as an editing machine
I spent Lockdown electronically restoring the machine, its almost perfect, just scratches on the front panel from its life as an editing machine
bazza. said:
Another Vinyl /SME 5 Man here.
I remain in awe of just what is possible from vinyl. From a purely personal POV, I still think it has a naturalness that digital just can't match. Overall, I probably listen to 60% CD, 30% Vinyl and 10% Streaming (well, my CD's stored on a Bluos Music Vault and played through my main DACS).
I certainly wouldn't be able to distinguish between using the CD Transport or the Bluos for the digital stream in any kind of blind test, but I do find that, whenever I use the Bluos as source, I end up having a shorter listening session than if I'm listening to CD or Vinyl. My take is that I'm just not quite engaging with the music to quite such a degree when using the Bluos (either when track skipping or playing full LPs - it happens with both).
Itsallicanafford said:
I own 3 DAT players. All a pain in the ***** When they work their fine, avoid Panasonic. Sony are probably the best of the format PCM2700 are the machines I've had least issues with. I use to maintain DAT machines many years agoEdited by 996owner on Sunday 11th October 22:32
Edited by 996owner on Sunday 11th October 22:33
miniman said:
Part of the appeal of vinyl for me is that CDs and every other digital media is about capacity to store ones and zeros, but vinyl is this:
Seeing pictures like that, I always find it amazing that vinyl works AT ALL as a medium, let alone is capable of actually sounding good 
I'm very happy with the 1s and 0s though.
I was into vinyl until I was 18 in 1990, when I switched wholesale to CD.
In the intervening 30 yrs I have collected about 3,000 CDs, I was, for a large part of the 1990's and 2000's, what my mate in the record distribution business calls "50 quid bloke" - every trip to HMV resulted in 50 quids worth of CDs being procured.
In 2015 when we had our son and my wife gave up work we had to look at where we could save money, so I knocked all that on the head, stopped buying CDs unless I really liked the artist, and signed up for Aplpe Music instead. That was great for 5 yrs, as most of my listening was done over headphones on my iPod inside my motorbike crash helmet. You don't really tend to worry about bit rates etc when hooning along the M4 with a bit of wind noise added to the party - although I wear custome made audio earplugs to listen to my tunes.
Then the lockdown came and my wife and I got her old 'broken' Sony turntable down from the loft. Turns out the belt had just slipped off, took me a minute to repair it. We dusted off our respective 30yo vinyl collections and loved listening to it. I am now working at home for the foreseeable future, and because we have not been going out spending money socialising, I have got into buying vinyl again, lots of reissue stuff from the Britpop era specifically.
Currently I am taking a break from my IT job every lunchtime and going to listen to a classic album in its entirety which I have a sandwich and a chill out. It's a real stress reliever. Me and one of the other dads I see at school drop off who also works at home have got into sharing suggestions of daily listens that we chant about the next day!
I've also grown a beard and got (even more) into craft beer, so along with the vinyl I now tick most middle-aged wannabe try-hard hipster boxes, just need to get into artisan coffee and it's job jobbed!
My retired friend owns the holy grail of a Linn Sondek turntable with a ridiculously expensive cartridge, and a man who comes to service it every year. His hi-fi man says he's never been busier than during the last six months!
In the intervening 30 yrs I have collected about 3,000 CDs, I was, for a large part of the 1990's and 2000's, what my mate in the record distribution business calls "50 quid bloke" - every trip to HMV resulted in 50 quids worth of CDs being procured.
In 2015 when we had our son and my wife gave up work we had to look at where we could save money, so I knocked all that on the head, stopped buying CDs unless I really liked the artist, and signed up for Aplpe Music instead. That was great for 5 yrs, as most of my listening was done over headphones on my iPod inside my motorbike crash helmet. You don't really tend to worry about bit rates etc when hooning along the M4 with a bit of wind noise added to the party - although I wear custome made audio earplugs to listen to my tunes.
Then the lockdown came and my wife and I got her old 'broken' Sony turntable down from the loft. Turns out the belt had just slipped off, took me a minute to repair it. We dusted off our respective 30yo vinyl collections and loved listening to it. I am now working at home for the foreseeable future, and because we have not been going out spending money socialising, I have got into buying vinyl again, lots of reissue stuff from the Britpop era specifically.
Currently I am taking a break from my IT job every lunchtime and going to listen to a classic album in its entirety which I have a sandwich and a chill out. It's a real stress reliever. Me and one of the other dads I see at school drop off who also works at home have got into sharing suggestions of daily listens that we chant about the next day!
I've also grown a beard and got (even more) into craft beer, so along with the vinyl I now tick most middle-aged wannabe try-hard hipster boxes, just need to get into artisan coffee and it's job jobbed!
My retired friend owns the holy grail of a Linn Sondek turntable with a ridiculously expensive cartridge, and a man who comes to service it every year. His hi-fi man says he's never been busier than during the last six months!
outnumbered said:
PurpleTurtle said:
I've also grown a beard and got (even more) into craft beer, so along with the vinyl I now tick most middle-aged wannabe try-hard hipster boxes, just need to get into artisan coffee and it's job jobbed!
Spend a lot of time hanging around in the Harris Arcade too ?996owner said:
Itsallicanafford said:
I own 3 DAT players. All a pain in the ***** When they work their fine, avoid Panasonic. Sony are probably the best of the format PCM2700 are the machines I've had least issues with. I use to maintain DAT machines many years agoEdited by 996owner on Sunday 11th October 22:32
Edited by 996owner on Sunday 11th October 22:33
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