When I was a kid our vinyl was black

[wrathfuldeity]

After 40 years of lugging vinyl, a 200# granite slab for the turntable and not setting it up from 25 years due to little kids. I gave it all away except for 2 albums. Both imported, a bootleg Zep and a pristine original pressing of Santana Lotus with all the fold out/posters...don't ask me where they are, idk...they're someplace in the house.

 

[Fuelish]

Virtually all of my vinyl stash is black….. IIRC, I have a yellow LP by The Dickies, and a swirly blue and green EP by The Flying Lizards…. Pretty sure the rest are black ….. I DO have a Monty Python with “3 sides”. One side is a normal length side, the other side has “ grooves within grooves,” so depending when/where you set the needle down, you have two different half length “sides” on the same side.

 

[Vegetable Man]

Been collecting since I garbage picked a copy of Paranoid in the 90's. . .I buy new if it's cheaper or something that I can't find used in good shape.

My son (15) is really onto it, as well.

 

[Lawdawg]

In terms of sound quality there's really no technical comparison. The dynamic range and frequency response provided under the 40 year old Red Book format (16-bit/44.1khz) well exceeds that of vinyl. Digital recording got a bad rap early on because there were a lot of old records that were re-released on CDs that were not properly mastered from the original master tapes for digital playback. This doesn't even factor in all of the mechanical issues with playing a records on a turntable.

Streaming can be a different story and some of the early mp3 formats were so heavily data compressed that there were noticeable reductions in quality. With far better internet bandwidth streaming formats have likewise improved and most of the big streaming services like Spotify and Apple are now offering lossless audio formats -- yay!

All that being said, I personally find that there's an intimacy and pleasure in the experience of listening to records on vinyl that you miss even with CDs let alone streaming services. I think a lot of the claims that vinyl sounds better than digital are the result of a more enjoyable overall experience listening to vinyl. I just picked up several boxes of old 45s that my dad and uncle bought as kids in the 50s and 60s -- tons of old Elvis, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry -- and can't wait to given them a spin!

 

[Hamstein]

I still have records, although I don't play them that much now, when I do I really enjoy it!
Most are black! I do have some coloured, and a nice picture disc of Captain Beefheart!

 

[Doomguy]

I have a couple vinyls but haven't opened/played any of them. I got a copy of Sleep's The Sciences the day it came out, one of the limited additions on green vinyl. My favorite band's first record that came out in my lifetime, had to splurge. I also have Bong's Live at Roadburn box set with some three hours worth of music on it.

I really want to grab some Noothgrush records but don't have the money for that.

 

[Engine Swap]

Remember the Split Enz True Coulours album....it featured “I got you”?

I have one of the old vinyl copies that you hold up in the light and wave it around and bizarre geometric shapes appear on the vinyl. I love that record.

Pic asst. "laser-etched"

 

[Engine Swap]

Only have 5-6000...

 

[radiocaster]

I think they've had ones that are not black for a long time. I even have a green 78. I think it's pretty old, like 1950s.

But judging from my own collection, they got more popular in the 90s. And picture discs were available in the 80s.

 

[Lucius Paisley]

Mostly black, some different colours, and a friends band did a bunch of lathe cut releases a while back, those are clear, look like those old Fisher Price plastic "records", but play fantastically even on a modern turntable.

 

[Guitarteach]

I love the fidelity of the rumbles and clicks.. Every piece of lint muffling the needle and each scratch sound completely authentic.

Maybe people should use an audio interface and burn CDs of their vinyls playing to capture the experience.

Do you think there could be market there? Could call it Vinytal



Actually, the experience is part of it.., a commitment to play and listen.

 

[EsquireOK]

Never stopped owning vinyl. Just added CDs to the mix circa 1995 (still only ever got about 200 of them, though). My vinyl shelf holds over 1,200 LPs, and probably a few hundred 7" discs. That's after weeding out a whole lot of trashed stuff and duplicates, about five years ago, and selling off most of my old punk singles a few weeks ago.

I have no romantic ideas about the audible flaws in vinyl. They sound bad, and screw up your needle, which, in turn, screws up your records. Once vinyl gets worn out, I'd rather listen to a CD. Pretty much the only stuff I have left is in really great condition, so still sounds great.

I have only ever owned one turntable in my life too, since the '80s. It's a Pioneer PL-730 automatic direct drive, a discounted floor model from the Broadway in the Pasadena Mall, still going strong...through the Hitachi receiver purchased by my parents at a yard sale circa 1978...and the Bose 201 Series IV speakers I have had since new about 25 years ago.

 

[Timbresmith1]

I have a bunch of vinyl from the 60s 70s and a Philips 312 turntable i bought in the 70s and haven't used it for 20 years or more. Been curious how i'd feel about vinyl now after only digital for so long and i really wanna hear it. But i have nothing that i can plug the turntable in. Sold about a 3rd of my vinyl on ebay a few years back but i still have maybe 40-60 LPs. One of these days maybe ....

Do it! The 312 is a very good sounding table.

 

[smartsoul72]

I remember when CDs came out and everyone was amazed at the clarity and how much better your favorite old LP sounded on CD.
Now CDs are going the way of the 8trk. Everybody is into vinyl. I keep hearing how much better the vinyl LP sounds than the cold, digital CD.
Whatever... As for me, I like CDs for their convenience.

 

[Larry F]

My parents had a red vinyl disk of white-washed Hawaiian numbers. I want to ask if it would have been possible for the vinyl to be a little translucent. I think I remember that the disk was lighter and somewhat bendable. Not by a lot.

 

[Jared Purdy]

When I was a kid our vinyl was black...

My 30 y/o son, somewhat unexpectedly, has really gotten into vinyl, and he now has about 5 milk cartons full of records.

Great stuff! There really is something audible about vinyl records... after decades of digital, you can really there the subtilties in audio quality when listening to vinyl.

I'm somewhat surprised how big the vinyl market is now days. Do you have a vinyl collection?

What I find interesting is how much art is on the vinyl records themselves these days. All kinds of colors, patterns, images. It is very cool.

I've even bought few old favorite albums myself and donated them to my son's vinyl collection.

Do you buy new or used vinyl albums? What are your thoughts on vinyl sound quality vs digital?

As a grumpy old man, I think its damn cool that vinyl has made a comeback.

I got back into vinyl about six or seven years ago. I sold my old collection about twenty years ago. Many of those records I had for decades.

When I got back into it I knew I wouldn't be buying all of that 60's and 70's rock music that I had converted to CD. 99% of what I have now I never had. And yes, I can concur, there are some interesting colours out there: baby puke, baby pink, sea blue, white, clear, orange, yellow green, red and multicolour are a few of the colours I have amassed. And of course, the ubiquitous black. I don't know how many I have, but about 22 hand made, milk-crate-sized, hard wood boxes full.

And yes, the audio is incomparable. It's more interesting, engaging in the tactile performance of putting on a record, and watching it spin. Turntables are functional works of art, or they can be.

 

[ponce]

I had Dave Mason’s Alone Together, in the marble vinyl it was pressed on.
I also had J Geils Band’s red vinyl Bloodshot album.
Fifty years ago.
Yikes!

Was gonna mention how 'Alone together' was pressed like that even back then. According to Dave, the purpose was to force the listener to listen to the whole record, since it was hard to find out where each song started.

 

[Nick Fanis]

What are your thoughts on vinyl sound quality vs digital?

Digital sounds much better but vinyl is nostalgic for those who care.
I don't so I have given away all of my 3500 records, most to a DJ friend of mine.
I have 1000 CDs left that I never listen too.
All my music is stored in my various computers, the cloud and of course Spotify is what I use most.
All my sound reproduction units are still connected to my ancient MISSION Cyrous amp and my ,killer,Mission speakers, that's what REALLY counts.

 

[radiocaster]

I remember when CDs came out and everyone was amazed at the clarity and how much better your favorite old LP sounded on CD.
Now CDs are going the way of the 8trk. Everybody is into vinyl. I keep hearing how much better the vinyl LP sounds than the cold, digital CD.
Whatever... As for me, I like CDs for their convenience.

I don't think so. Where I live, bands often put out CDs if they have any physical medium to sell. Vinyl is for better known underground or hipster bands. Most people do not own a turntable.

 

[bottlenecker]

In terms of sound quality there's really no technical comparison. The dynamic range and frequency response provided under the 40 year old Red Book format (16-bit/44.1khz) well exceeds that of vinyl. Digital recording got a bad rap early on because there were a lot of old records that were re-released on CDs that were not properly mastered from the original master tapes for digital playback. This doesn't even factor in all of the mechanical issues with playing a records on a turntable.

Streaming can be a different story and some of the early mp3 formats were so heavily data compressed that there were noticeable reductions in quality. With far better internet bandwidth streaming formats have likewise improved and most of the big streaming services like Spotify and Apple are now offering lossless audio formats -- yay!

All that being said, I personally find that there's an intimacy and pleasure in the experience of listening to records on vinyl that you miss even with CDs let alone streaming services. I think a lot of the claims that vinyl sounds better than digital are the result of a more enjoyable overall experience listening to vinyl. I just picked up several boxes of old 45s that my dad and uncle bought as kids in the 50s and 60s -- tons of old Elvis, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry -- and can't wait to given them a spin!

I think it's an old myth that digital got a bad rap because of some old records that weren't properly mastered.
And don't forget ADATs and DA-88s, and all the excuses that were made for how bad they sounded in their day.

I personally like CDs, and I think they sound pretty good, but they have some real sonic drawbacks. The bitrate is too low. The sample rate is barely enough, for most things, as long as you never have to remaster from the final format.
Digital audio should be 24/96, and we never got a widely accepted 24/96 end format.

Comparing the CD format to vinyl is a draw, imo. To my ears, vinyl wins when played back well for most music I like, CD wins every less ideal scenario, where the consumer can't do more than hit play.

Streaming loses all around for me, because all the records aren't available, some that are won't stay available, and the sound quality stinks.