Just curious: who still plays their LPs?

[Lance]

I know there are many people on CMG who still hold tight to their LP collections. I do.

For those of the younger set who do not know what an LP [long play record] is, it is a circular vinyl (plastic) disc, usually black in colour, and almost always come in 12-inch (sometimes 10-inch or 7-inch) dimensions. They revolve at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute. (I cannot believe I just wrote this description. You might be surprised how many young people have no idea about LPs, especially those born in the 1980s.)

Those of you/us that have both, LPs and CDs, which do you generally play today FIRST, the CD or the LP? Do you have a general preference about the SOUND quality of either format?

What are you planning to do with your LP collections as time moves forward, and just how extensive is your LP collection in numbers? Do you replace any LPs you have with CDs if they become available?

[david johnson]

I still have a few hundred lps and prefer the sound...but I mostly
play the cds.

dj

[Beckmesser]

I must have hundreds of LPs. Some have been reissued as CDs (e.g., the London Ring Cycle, Glenn Gould's Bach recordings, etc.) but many have not (e.g., a 4-disc set of Scarlatti sonatas recorded by Ralph Kirkpatrick for Columbia in the 1950s).

I still have my Denon turntable which I assume to be in working order but it had to be relegated to the closet to make room for the new hardware that we have acquired in recent decades (the DVD player, the VCR, etc.). Without the turntable the LPs are useless and they share the same closet. I would like to listen to them again, or at the very least, convert them to digital format.

[pizza]

I play those that haven't been released on CD, and a few whose sound I prefer to the CD. Klemperer's Mahler 7 on the original EMI pressing is one I play often because its sound is even better than that of the domestic Angel LP; the CD isn't even in the running, and the only reason I bought it was for the Klemperer Symphony 2 and his 7th String Quartet.

[Ralph]

Most of my LPs are in an inaccessible attic. I have a turntable unit in the living room but I haven't turned it on in a couple of years.

[Werner]

Disuse is a drag! I've still got my LP collection, which I built up over the years until the CDs came along - which are so much more convenient to use!

By now, I guess my LPs number a couple of thousand - nowhere near what our big-league collectors have accumulated, with perhaps an quivalent number of CDs, until I stopped collecting. I used to go on shopping trips. By now, I'll pick up an occasional CD that appeals to me, but otherwise make do with what I have.

I still have my good old Dual turntable, but there is a contact that seems to be unstable and causes noise. And with so much else going on here, the temptation is to go the "quick and dirty" way and just do what's doable.

[piston]

Yes, every week. Reason? Probably because I never had the means to replace everything with CDs and, also, because of my propensity to purchase what I do not have.

[hassid]

I love LPs but hate the sistem. I don't have the equipment, but I'm
always hunting rare LPs (there were hundreds of works and versions
on LP that haven't appear on CD, and maybe never will) But when
I get one, I made it copied to CD, and sell the vinyl.

[John F]

I do. Never saw any reason not to. Living in NYC and all, I hear a lot of live performances and listen less to records of any kind than I used to. But I expect to keep and use those LPs as long as I live.

[lismahago]

I have about 500 LPs (mainly acquired in the late 80s, when lots of them were being remaindered). I still play them on my trusty Linn Sondek, but as I keep getting tons of CDs, the recent acquisitions take precedence. The sound is pretty good if they're undamaged (the Telefunken Bach Cantatas seem somehow to stay pristine, despite being among the most frequently played). The convenience of CDs is enormous: three cantatas on a CD and you can easily pick out one of them! Not to mention that you can start your CD from the listening position, as opposed to releasing the stylus and dashing back, risking the footfalls knocking the stylus out of the groove!

Over and above the convenience, I find the sound of my CDs and SACDs to be better than that of my LPs.

[anasazi]

I still have a few LPs around and recently even aquired a new (used ) turntable on ebay. I don't play the vinyl as often as the CDs, but I still have a kind of love affair with record players and the art and science that went into their developement.

I also sometimes (not all of the time) prefer the sound. Of course I do also prefer the more easily readible liner notes as well.

[sfbugala]

I have about 1200 LPs and 1200 CDs. When I first started listening to music, I'd use an LP until I got the "better" CD. Now, I try to find a CD I want used, and if I happen upon it's bargain LP equivalent, (if it's an old enough recording), I ditch the CD. Even in my modest system, LPs sound better, more three dimensional, and more tactile. I love the cover art. Somehow, World Premiere Recordings seem like special events.

I love going to book fairs and thrift shops and picking up cheap LPs. Some are still in the shrink wrap, unopened. It's enabled me to find artists, like Clara Haskil, who I had never heard of until I stumbled upon an interesting LP that made me wonder, "Who is that? I wonder what she sounds like?"

The one thing I love CDs for is portability. I'll never be an absolute analog freak. But I do see the merit, even beauty, of keeping vinyl. The one curse is that while I'm satisfied with the sound, I keep wondering if it can get even better. And so, like Icarus, I try to fly closer to the sun. I have a simple Dual 1219 with a Grado cart, and Grado preamp. But sometimes I daydream about acquiring a really fine turntable. But until then, my stuff gets the job done, and even manages to impress a few friends who thought vinyl was dead.

[Wallingford]

Hey, does a bear...(etc., etc., etc.)?

[Seán]

The vast majority of records in my vinyl collection are Jazz records. In the past eight months I have bought more than 200 hundred CDs almost all of them are Classical recordings. I mainly listen to Classical Music and rarely listen to Jazz.

I have a Clearaudio Champion LE turntable which produces a much better sound than my Primare CD player. but I am using it less and less because of my listening preferences.

I have managed to get a small collection of Classical LPs in shops in Dublin, interestngly I have managed to collect three different copies of Mahler's First Symphony and a copy of Mahler's Fourth with Szell and the Cleveland all of them are very good.

After all that I prefer LPs to CDs.

[johnQpublic]

I give some LPs a spin at least once a week.

he,he Last year I mentioned in class the term "LP" and a student very naturally asked what that meant?

[moldyoldie]

Sure, I still play 'em, but must admit that it's becoming increasingly inconvenient, what with the kid gloves handling, using the Disc Washer and all.

[Chalkperson]

What exactly is this term Vinyl, you keep referring to it but I have none, and LP is that short for Law Professor, like Ralph is...and giving them a spin, is that like in Politics where to try to justify your opinions...

[TopoGigio]

Lost Phone?

[Chalkperson]

Lost Phone?

No, I used to photograph Rock Stars, I had 4,000 Records (many very valuable ones) and they were in the basement of my Appartment Building in London and it flooded, I lost everything...when I moved to America twenty years ago I bought only cd's...

[dirkronk]

I still have LPs--between 2,000 and 3,000 classical, 300 or so '60s and '70s rock and folk, another 250 jazz and probably 150 "miscellaneous." This represents a cull down from about 8,500 LPs several years back. Easily 800 or more of my current classical LPs fall into the realm of "historic" recordings--and the next vinyl cull may come in this part of the collection, since this is one realm where digital transfers onto CD, well done, seem to be as good as and sometimes better (there ARE exceptions) than analog transfers onto LP.

I do prefer the sound of well engineered analog over digital, hands down. The operative phrase here is "well engineered." My main home system is set up primarily for analog--and I listen to LPs for an hour or so late in the evening, several nights a week. I also have a weekly full-evening listening session, with all music played typically analog, at one of two friends' houses.

I have a Linn Sondek (w/ Ittok arm and Dynavector MC stereo cartridge) that's currently out for a mod--due back tonight. I also have a Thorens 166 Mk. II that's now wired for mono--and after the Linn gets back in the system, I plan to fit the Thorens with a good cartridge with "fat" stylus to play all my pre-1964 mono items (anyone who's playing early mono pressings with a typical modern ultra-fine stylus needs to hear what a difference the wider radius can make--seriously!).

The only drawbacks I personally find in collecting LPs are shelf room and collective weight, especially when I have to move the darn things. I learned good LP handling habits decades ago and I've never strayed from following them, so I consider it normal procedure and not "kid glove" treatment. YMMV, of course. As long as the vinyl record is in good condition to begin with, I find few things to annoy me sonically. If "tics and clicks" manifest, a run through my Nitty Gritty cleaner usually solves the problem.

Of course, all this has not kept me from amassing large quantities of little plastic beer coasters...er, CDs...but their playback is typically limited to a second "bedroom" system at home, used mainly by my wife, and a boombox at work.

FWIW,

Dirk

[SONNET CLV]

Who still listens to their LPs? I do. Someone want to make something out of it? Huh?

I think the real trick to absolutely prefering vinyl to CD sound is a matter of what equipment one plays one's records on. If you have 3-5 thousand to invest in a good table, tonearm, cartridge, phono preamp, and record cleaning system -- Did I say only 3-5 K? -- you can enjoy some great sound. Of course, some folks will argue that that same amount of dough will purchase a lot of CDs. Sure. And then there are those who will prefer to throw away that perfectly good money on the mortgage, food and gasoline! Can you imagine!?

Long live the LP. Me and my trusty VPI Scout salute you.

--SONNET CLV (reminded of this post at SparkNotes some time back)--

[Lance]

Well, as I've said before, I'm not about to give up my LP collection, which has taken a lifetime to put together. I, too, play more CDs these days because of the sheer convenience of finding tracks, etc., and in presenting a radio broadcast, I try to use CDs whenever possible. The only time I use LPs is when there isn't (or I don't have) the CD of the same music.

So, thank you, SONNET CLV, for the nice article you wrote. It's uplifting to know there are still people out there who love their LPs. I do think we are in the minority today, however.

[PGS]

I only play the LPs when I want someone to hear the track more carefully cause I prefer the sound. The ones that I like to play again and again, I usually record them in CD format. When I'm sad I only use my vinyl collection.

[Auntie Lynn]

Indeed, a lot of my LPs are out of print on CD and no longer available. Just as an aside, an old CI chap sent me an LP copy of Burgmuller's La Peri which I desperately needed - so you see, these boards aren't just CD's and current events, there's some real help out there if you go after it. The guy's name was Jay and he lived in New York. Thanks again...

[Seán]

It's uplifting to know there are still people out there who love their LPs. I do think we are in the minority today, however.

We are a significant minority.

[sfbugala]

The numbers are growing though. I post to Vinyl Asylum, and there's a sizable classical crowd.

[Lance]

The numbers are growing though. I post to Vinyl Asylum, and there's a sizable classical crowd.

We might be interested in having some of them join CMG. ANYBODY interested in classical music, LPs, CDs, live concerts, performing artists, etc., could find an interesting home here as well. Are you familiar with people there to extend an invitation? We would be honoured! Can you give us the link for Vinyl Asylum? I'd love to visit their site.

[sfbugala]

I really only post there occasionally. So, I don't have much of a relationship, so to speak. However, here is their link: http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/bbs.html

Regards,
Steven

[Imperfect Pitch]

For those of the younger set who do not know what an LP [long play record] is, it is a circular vinyl (plastic) disc, usually black in colour, and almost always come in 12-inch (sometimes 10-inch or 7-inch) dimensions. They revolve at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute. (I cannot believe I just wrote this description. You might be surprised how many young people have no idea about LPs, especially those born in the 1980s.)

Those of you/us that have both, LPs and CDs, which do you generally play today FIRST, the CD or the LP? Do you have a general preference about the SOUND quality of either format?

Funny, I was just tagging along with an LP-collecting friend this weekend. We hit some record stores in Harvard Square, a couple of which had sizeable LP selections. One store had a pretty good audio cassette collection too (remember those?).

Personally, I am all about the iPod. I know that CD's theoretically sound better than compressed iPod files, and many swear that LP's sound even better than CD's. None of that matters to me because the iPod sounds good enough for my purposes, and lets me carry my entire music collection with me everywhere - at home, in the car, at work. For me, the sheer practicality of it outweighs any marginal loss in sound quality. When I do buy a CD these days, I promptly download it and stash the disc away.

So, I guess my answer to Lance's question is "other." Still, I will say that LP collectors seem to share a certain camaraderie that iPod-ers do not. You just can't talk about download bitrates in the same way you can about vinyl.

 

[Chalkperson]

. You just can't talk about download bitrates in the same way you can about vinyl.

Really, you should have dinner with Chad, he loves Bit Rates...He and I can talk about onesandzerostillthecowscomehome...

[Imperfect Pitch]

Really, you should have dinner with Chad, he loves Bit Rates...He and I can talk about onesandzerostillthecowscomehome...

Good to know I'm not alone ... I've actually spent more time than I care to admit thinking about bitrates. Finally settled on 192 kbps using AAC.

 

[Chalkperson]

Really, you should have dinner with Chad, he loves Bit Rates...He and I can talk about onesandzerostillthecowscomehome...

Good to know I'm not alone ... I've actually spent more time than I care to admit thinking about bitrates. Finally settled on 192 kbps using AAC.

I chose Apple Lossless, he eventually ended up with FLAC...

[SONNET CLV]

Some intriguing responses here.

Now ... anybody want to start a "Do you still play eight-tracks?" thread?





--SONNET CLV (who finished a Memorial Day listening session with a hearing of Roy Harris's Third Symphony, on CD, excuse me)--

[Lance]

Well, we COULD do that, but ONLY if YOU still play YOUR eight-tracks! Can machines still be purchased for these devices?

I know, too, that many people still play their cassette tapes. In reality, this was a very convenient form (except for finding tracks) to hear music and the sound quality was really outstanding.

Some intriguing responses here.

Now ... anybody want to start a "Do you still play eight-tracks?" thread?

--SONNET CLV (who finished a Memorial Day listening session with a hearing of Roy Harris's Third Symphony, on CD, excuse me)--

[sfbugala]

I'm kinda stunned to see what certain reel-to-reel tapes sell for on ebay. With thicker tape, I could imagine the sound is better than a standard cassette. But I'd worry about the tape oxidizing after all these years. (Or is my concern about that over-rated?)

[lmpower]

I still have about 200 LP records. I played them occasionally until my turntable quit. I have thought about replacing it with a quality machine, but it might not be worth it. The CDs are certainly more convenient. I have only replaced a handful of the LPs with the exact same CD. I wonder how many of you still play your 78 RPM records. Unfortunately I lost mine along the way.

[Lance]

I still have about 200 LP records. I played them occasionally until my turntable quit. I have thought about replacing it with a quality machine, but it might not be worth it. The CDs are certainly more convenient. I have only replaced a handful of the LPs with the exact same CD. I wonder how many of you still play your 78 RPM records. Unfortunately I lost mine along the way.

I've told this story many times on CMG, but NO MORE 78s for me. I'll leave that to the restoration engineers such as Ward Marston, Mark Obert-Thorn, Mike Dutton, David Lennick, and a few others. I actually put over 10,000 78-rpm discs out on the curb for the garbage collectors a couple or years ago. (They hated me!) Something had to go. I could still play them on a fine Thorens turnable, but it wasn't often. I tried to find a home for the 78s but, alas, no takers, either libraries nor individuals. I'm afraid LPs may go the same way, but many dyed-in-the-wool collectors are not willing—yet—to dump them. (I am one of those.)

[Lance]

I'm kinda stunned to see what certain reel-to-reel tapes sell for on ebay. With thicker tape, I could imagine the sound is better than a standard cassette. But I'd worry about the tape oxidizing after all these years. (Or is my concern about that over-rated?)

Yes, tape oxides in time ... the stuff sometimes just flakes off in pieces, regardless of the brand, Scotch, BASF or any of them. The problem with the acetate reel-to-reels is that the tape gets brittle and sometimes just breaks. Polyester stretches a bit. I understand there is a method to preserve reel-to-reel tapes (something about baking them in the oven, or something to that effect). Unless one has had proven experience doing this, I would not attempt it.

[Lance]

For a thread that has had ALMOST 800 hits (May 20 2008), there must still be great interest in LPs. Only a small percentage of those hits have responded. With that thought in mind, those who have not responded to this thread are requested to do so. Maybe I should just take a vote on this.

[piston]

I thought I had already voted. Apparently not! A resounding "yes"!

[TopoGigio]

Rarely, I vote or Rarely I Vote?
My first LP collection gone, i have the second,made of the rests of an agonic industry...i never had a LP that did not have cracks and crocks...
of that I am sure!
I transferred the most rare to fifty+ CD, including LeDemon of Rubinstein (40s),the one which had many rayed sections...a work,suppresing the rayed sections...and even so, I missed one! Its easy to correct this but I left the rayed section to...the Devil. I dont want to return to the work in
a long time.I have Sarka of Fibich in the WaitingRoom...that was the
last opera I bought in LP...and in the cheapest way! They give me
that with all pianomusic of Smetana, the symphonic Pan of Novak and many more for nothing, in a library! What Strange Finale of the
LP Age!
But if I played very few the LPs is for practical reasons of spacetime,
no for music/sound problems.I like almost all what I have...

[Beckmesser]

This thread got me to thinking about my LP collection which has been languishing in a closet for the past 15 years. So today I was inspired to haul out the old Denon turntable (from the same closet) and set it up. The installation was accompanied by a couple of moments of doubt (is this a moving magnet or a moving coil cartridge?) but I eventually succeeded.

Which record to try first? I picked an old favorite—Gluck’s one-act comic opera Der Betrogene Kadi (performed by Camerata Academica des Salzburger Mozarteums, Bernhard Paumgartner conducting, on Epic LC 3645). Although I haven’t heard it in many years the themes are still running through my head and I’ve been longing to hear it again.

Sigh. Disappointment. It sounded dreadful. All the old snap, crackle, and pop were there. I fully expected that. But the sound was also terribly distorted. Well, I thought, I did play this disk an awful lot so maybe it’s just a sign of badly worn grooves.

Next I looked for a disk that had not been played much. I found a Phillips recording of Mahler’s Eighth which couldn’t have been played much because I didn’t even remember owning it. There was less snap, crackle, and pop and the sound was somewhat smoother but there was still distortion at certain frequencies and at the climaxes.

Lastly I tried a Delos recording of piano music performed by Carol Rosenberger. Recorded in 1979, it was in its day considered a high achievement in recorded sound. It sounded pretty good (the powerful bass strings of the Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand) but there was still distortion at certain frequencies.

So far this has not been the experience I had hoped for. There is a problem somewhere in my sound system but finding it will be a challenge for a low-tech guy like me. Perhaps the stylus is worn, but I doubt it because I replaced the cartridge not long before giving up LPs altogether. Maybe the stylus pressure is wrong. Maybe the distortion lies in my ancient Tandberg amplifier (25 years old). Maybe there is a problem with the speakers (same vintage). I don’t know if I have the patience to find out.

It’s so much easier to slip a CD in the player and forget about it.

[TopoGigio]

Among my transfers from LP to CD:

Mose in Egitto ,Rossini, Gardelli
Falstaff,Salieri, Pal
Hary Janos, Kodaly,Ferencsik
Brockes Passion, Handel, McGegan
Der Geburtstag der Infantin, Zemlinsky, Albrecht
Meditations, Messiaen, Rössler
Königin von Saba, Goldmark,Fischer
Cardillac, Hindemith, Keilberth
Verdi, Attila, Gardelli
Verdi, Macbeth, Muti
Smetana, Devils Wall, Chalabala
...
...and I was exhausted...but one day I will make the transfer of the Melodiyas...RimskyKorsakov Operas (I already made the Katschei...)
Mussorgsky'Marriage, Dargomyzhsky'Stone Guest ...
...and other strange stuff, Shostakovich'Song of the Forest op81...
all russian!

[karlhenning]

The convenience of CDs is enormous: three cantatas on a CD and you can easily pick out one of them! Not to mention that you can start your CD from the listening position, as opposed to releasing the stylus and dashing back, risking the footfalls knocking the stylus out of the groove!

Over and above the convenience, I find the sound of my CDs and SACDs to be better than that of my LPs.

Also, no matter how well you treat your LPs, each use is wear.

Yes?

Cheers,
~Karl

[Seán]

The convenience of CDs is enormous: three cantatas on a CD and you can easily pick out one of them! Not to mention that you can start your CD from the listening position, as opposed to releasing the stylus and dashing back, risking the footfalls knocking the stylus out of the groove!

Over and above the convenience, I find the sound of my CDs and SACDs to be better than that of my LPs.

Also, no matter how well you treat your LPs, each use is wear.

Yes?

Cheers,
~Karl

If you take good care of them they will wear well and are worth the effort.

[moldyoldie]

Recently listened to Stockhausen LP recordings on DG from the '70s and some pickups from library sales.

I'll be the first to extol the sonic virtues of vinyl, but I don't see how it can find a market outside that of the niche audiophile, not when an entire generation has grown up with the ease and convenience of CDs and the portability of mp3s.

Besides, "snap-crackle-pop" isn't part of any music I know.

[mnmleung]

I have some LPs of mono Perlemuter (Chopin), Cherkassky (Schubert), Gilels, Richter, Berman, Pletnev etc that I can't find on CD (some Melodiya and some various). Oh, and a Furtwangler Ring Cycle... So I play them once a while. It costs too much to replace something I already have.

[Seán]

I bought several LPs in Berlin on Saturday. Given the choice I'll buy Vinyl in preference to CDs anytime. The sound from my TT is superior to that from my CD player

[Wallingford]

I've got this to report: Sunday, I spent most of the afternoon (more than I'd wanted) lugging aboard about four different buses a 12x12x12" stack of vinyl albums, in an effort to pare down. Finding first that the Everyday Music chain--along with all the stores on that block--had shut down, I toted them over to The Second Time Around. I should've known better: for 3 years they've been a co-op with another business built in the same space, and they could only take the 7 or 8 pop items I had (all the rest, classical). Hard to believe : a couple of beat-up Simon & Garfunkel LPs took precedence over excellent-shape classicals! Realizing the local Half-Price Books chain (for which I hopped another bus, after having the second store manager hold my albums overnight) would pay anything, even if just a nickel, I felt I'd finally come to my senses. BUT: those guys are now slopping over with records, and they can't take anymore. Well, that puts an end to one of their policies!

I merely told the Half Price folks to take it off my hands, for nots.

[Seán]

I've got this to report: Sunday, I spent most of the afternoon (more than I'd wanted) lugging aboard about four different buses a 12x12x12" stack of vinyl albums, in an effort to pare down. Finding first that the Everyday Music chain--along with all the stores on that block--had shut down, I toted them over to The Second Time Around. I should've known better: for 3 years they've been a co-op with another business built in the same space, and they could only take the 7 or 8 pop items I had (all the rest, classical). Hard to believe : a couple of beat-up Simon & Garfunkel LPs took precedence over excellent-shape classicals! Realizing the local Half-Price Books chain (for which I hopped another bus, after having the second store manager hold my albums overnight) would pay anything, even if just a nickel, I felt I'd finally come to my senses. BUT: those guys are now slopping over with records, and they can't take anymore. Well, that puts an end to one of their policies!

I merely told the Half Price folks to take it off my hands, for nots.

There you go, I would love to take them off your hands.