Vinyl questions

[Crispy]

All those vinyl porn pics makes me wanna buy more vinyl!

I would, but LeanneP would kill me

She'll get over it. 

[Angelo]

With the release of JJ's album I think I am officially only buying vinyl or mp3s. Having spent 10 years of my life working in an indie record shop, I have amassed a shitload of CDs, about 2500 give or take. Records didn't really make a comeback when I worked at the shop. But I really don't care about starting over, I'm only 33 and if all goes well, I'll have plenty of years ahead of me to collect vinyl.

My main question I have for you guys is, are the tables with a USB jack worth getting? Meaning if I bought an old used record, could I rip it to my PC with the USB jack?

[headhunter]

With the release of JJ's album I think I am officially only buying vinyl or mp3s. Having spent 10 years of my life working in an indie record shop, I have amassed a shitload of CDs, about 2500 give or take. Records didn't really make a comeback when I worked at the shop. But I really don't care about starting over, I'm only 33 and if all goes well, I'll have plenty of years ahead of me to collect vinyl.

My main question I have for you guys is, are the tables with a USB jack worth getting? Meaning if I bought an old used record, could I rip it to my PC with the USB jack?

Angelo- as a resident vinyl lover and admitted record snob (I buy over 100 records a year and maybe 2-3 cds), I'd say that the switch from cd's to vinyl is the best move any music lover can make on many different levels.  Sound quality is better, listening is more fun, records are more interesting --liner notes you can read plus other goodies -- records listening is just BETTER.  That being said, imo, when you buy a tt with a usb jack, you often defeat the purpose buy breaking down the analog back to zeros and ones.  imo, the only reason to use a usb jack with a tt is if you have lots of cool old records you want to digitize for your ipod.  You would be able to digitize all of your vinyl but the sound quality will be (again my opinion) much less than vinyl and probably not even as good as if you just bought the cd in the first place.

And my personal opinion is that I don't think any TT that digitizes vinyl with a usb is nearly as good as those that are analog only.  A good starter Rega, Music Hall or other new tt's or a good used tt that can be picked up on ebay or audiogon will sound better than a new tt that also has a usb port.


McDonalds may sell the most hamburgers but if/when I want a good burger, I ain't gonna visit the Golden Arches.

Just my 2 cents ...

[Crispy]

I agree with HH here, I would go for a nice turntable, and then get one of these kinds of thingies to do the rips with. I should do this myself, I have a few old records with tracks that I might like to put on mixtapes.

[Angelo]

HH, thanks for your input. That would be the sole reason why I would want something with a USB plug. Having records are nice and all but their biggest flaw is their lack of portability. As any real music lover can attest, driving and tunes go together like chocolate and peanut butter! I know most new records come with a download code but that won't help me when I get used stuff.


Chris - I've never seen one of those before. If I can rip records onto my hard drive with that then I think my problem's solved! Also, your shelf project turned out great, well done! 

[LeanneP]

Having records are nice and all but their biggest flaw is their lack of portability. As any real music lover can attest, driving and tunes go together like chocolate and peanut butter!

Dude: cassette tapes!   

[Angelo]

Where can I find an 8 track player with a USB jack? I remember my sister used to have a Zeppelin 8 track when I was a kid.

[Fully]

Where can I find an 8 track player with a USB jack? I remember my sister used to have a Zeppelin 8 track when I was a kid.

See if this helps. I have no idea myself.

http://www.instructables.com/answers/Converting-8-track-tapes-is-there-any-usb-gadget/

[Angelo]

It was a joke party pooper. I guess I forgot to use the sarcasm font. 

[Crispy]

8-tracks are no joke, man. My best Dark Side of the Moon listening experiences were in my buddy's Datsun 210 with that 8-track whirring away. Just don't hit that goddamn "program" button!

BTW, an easy and cheap solution for record ripping is to just use an RCA plug adapter with a headphone-type cable run into the line-in jack on the sound card on your puter, then use whatever software you like to record, like Audacity. The thing I linked to on Amazon looks like an easier and (maybe) higher quality way to do the same thing.

[scosby2]

My stash...at last count right around 350...all of my cd's were stolen when my car got broken into the night of my birthday in 2005. i had just brought my parents stereo system to my apartment to listen to old records when i wanted to...(vinyl was not really making a comeback just yet at this time) i started doing some research and noticed that quite a few of the bands i liked were putting out vinyl records. and the obsession began, 4 years ago I added a very nice turntable and am about to get a high end receiver/tuner. next upgrade  after thatwill be some very high end speakers(have to pace myself) haven't bought a cd since other than a couple that were signed etc, i still have them for my car but most of them are burnt from vinyls i've bought or actual cds that came with the vinyl...the original pressings of all the mmj albums were some of the first things i bought...took about a year to round all of the ones that were out at the time up...so glad i did because they are getting harder and harder to find these days

[Crispy]

Scos, I am going to send you a stern message every day until you post a picture showing that you have put those records in boxes at the very least, so they're not stacked like that anymore, young man! 

[robb]

the original pressings of all the mmj albums were some of the first things i bought...took about a year to round all of the ones that were out at the time up...so glad i did because they are getting harder and harder to find these days

I won that ebay auction a couple years ago that had that huge lot of MMJ vinyl and I couldn't be happier about it, I had just gotten into collecting records at the time that somebody (probably Yac) posted a link on the forum, and for around $150 (if i'm remembering right), I made out like a bandit.  The lot included:

TTF
AD
ISM
Z
Evil Urges
Okonokos
Chocolate & Ice
Celebracion de la Ciudad Natal
Off the Record 7"
Tribute To

Hell, You can't even get Okonokos for that price any more, and everything was brand new and unplayed...easily my best MMJ score to date.

[scosby2]

Scos, I am going to send you a stern message every day until you post a picture showing that you have put those records in boxes at the very least, so they're not stacked like that anymore, young man! 

hahaha...they are now in the box that my new home theater system came in...i tried my best not to stack them like that but obviously i ran out of room a little while ago and thats the best i could do...you can rest easy now, crispy....they are safe

i am getting my grandmothers old magnavox cabinet style record player from the 60's...still works great and sounds good so a lot of them are going to go in there when I get it moved over here...will use my more modern better sounding setup for the listening but I really need the cabinet for storage space...plus it will be a nice conversation piece..i'll post pics when i get it moved to my place

[Crispy]

Scos, I am going to send you a stern message every day until you post a picture showing that you have put those records in boxes at the very least, so they're not stacked like that anymore, young man! 

hahaha...they are now in the box that my new home theater system came in...i tried my best not to stack them like that but obviously i ran out of room a little while ago and thats the best i could do...you can rest easy now, crispy....they are safe

i am getting my grandmothers old magnavox cabinet style record player from the 60's...still works great and sounds good so a lot of them are going to go in there when I get it moved over here...will use my more modern better sounding setup for the listening but I really need the cabinet for storage space...plus it will be a nice conversation piece..i'll post pics when i get it moved to my place

Ooo, those old cabinets are sweet! Just make sure you get a new cartridge in there if you do decide to use it for listening...you know some of those old guys have tube amps in 'em.

And you're still not off the hook with the record storage! Pics or it didn't happen.

[he.who.forgets]

For those interested this is a fantastic watch:
When Albums Ruled the World

[adastra]

BTW, an easy and cheap solution for record ripping is to just use an RCA plug adapter with a headphone-type cable run into the line-in jack on the sound card on your puter, then use whatever software you like to record, like Audacity. The thing I linked to on Amazon looks like an easier and (maybe) higher quality way to do the same thing.

This won't really work because if you don't go through a phono preamp you won't have the RIAA equalization curve or necessary gain applied. Basically what you'll get without that is an extremely low signal with no low end, due to the way records are pressed. This is why you can't plug a turntable into an "aux" or cd input, it needs a true phono stage.

[Crispy]

BTW, an easy and cheap solution for record ripping is to just use an RCA plug adapter with a headphone-type cable run into the line-in jack on the sound card on your puter, then use whatever software you like to record, like Audacity. The thing I linked to on Amazon looks like an easier and (maybe) higher quality way to do the same thing.

This won't really work because if you don't go through a phono preamp you won't have the RIAA equalization curve or necessary gain applied. Basically what you'll get without that is an extremely low signal with no low end, due to the way records are pressed. This is why you can't plug a turntable into an "aux" or cd input, it needs a true phono stage.

Ah, very true. So I guess what one would need to do is run a line from the old tape monitor output on one's amp rather than the TT itself. I should go ahead and try it myself before I spout off any more speculative advice.

[Hawkeye]

BTW, an easy and cheap solution for record ripping is to just use an RCA plug adapter with a headphone-type cable run into the line-in jack on the sound card on your puter, then use whatever software you like to record, like Audacity. The thing I linked to on Amazon looks like an easier and (maybe) higher quality way to do the same thing.

This won't really work because if you don't go through a phono preamp you won't have the RIAA equalization curve or necessary gain applied. Basically what you'll get without that is an extremely low signal with no low end, due to the way records are pressed. This is why you can't plug a turntable into an "aux" or cd input, it needs a true phono stage.

Unless, of course, your table has a built-in preamp (like the AT-PL50).  I've recorded several albums with that table.  Sounds perfectly fine to me.  I now have a Rega RP1 and Bellari VP-130 preamp...haven't tried a recording with that yet.  Kinda wish I saved the AT-PL50 for that reason (now I'll either have to move my table or find a laptop to bring to the table), but I gave it to a friend to get him started down the vinyl path.  Paying it forward I guess.

[adastra]

Yeah, a tape out on a Preamp/Reciever is the usual method.  Looks like the Bellari has 30dB of gain which for some cartridges will still be a bit shy of line level but for most that would work pretty well.  Nice receivers will often have a unity-gain buffer across the tape outputs which is good for impedance but on the other hand its another stage of electronics to put your signal through.  The cadillac approach would be a dedicated ADC (analog to digital converter) taking a line level in and outputting s/pdif or i2s to your computer. And don't get me started on Codecs... I don't mess with it much but I have heard some vinyl rips that were pretty amazing!