Pets?
Don;t talk to me about your trouble with yours.
Mine needed just as much care and attention.
I had to give away my pets when we closed down their home three years ago.
It was sad taking them round to a friend's house in a pram.
Three at a time!
On that logic, anything but a power OP AMP or a magic wire that makes power from nothing is an effects box. All devices add distortion ("colour" or whatever that means in the sense of audio. Video has colour. Audio has sound.
And the fact that records have been produced longer than eleectronic amplification has existed speaks volumes. A 100+ year fad apparently...
Awe Horses*it 😆 Unless you have an archaic or poorly implemented system, you just turn it on and play the music. Spherical and conical styli aren't nearly as picky about angles, and most people aren't using high end styli/cart/turntables, either. Protractors are each to find and use, too... 🙂 I use a line contact styli and even I was able to align it with a protractor within 2 minutes. Those of us in the GTA are also able to make an appointment and take a turntable to Bay Bloor Radio and they will set it up for you for free.
My Guinea pigs on the other hand cost me far more and give me FAR_LESS_ENJOYMENT than my tubes or records.
My setup much like my Guinea pigs does not require special treatment and yet refuse to die. Even today, due to an oscillation cause by poorly timed circuitry I had a 12GE5 glowing orange for about 5 minutes today. After power cycling the amp, it works as expected again - even with the tube that looked like a toaster element. It's like feeding your pets ethylene glycol attemping to kill them but they just like it and want more LOL
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One thing many people don't mention about LP records; they allow you hear into the future, constantly. You just don't get that (much) with other formats.
My German pressing of Revolver does this. I can hear the intro of Eleanor Rigby in the dead wax seconds before it actually occurs due to print-through on the analogue tape used to cut the stamper.
And I always through the Led Zep vocal pre-delay on "Whole Lotta Love" was some kind of studio trick.
For the Vinyl user, and especially the individual considering entering into the world of being a Vinyl User, there is a need to understand the ancillaries used to create the replay.
This has an element of importance, as there are different levels of understanding required for the different set ups that are on offer.
A Belt Drive as a simple description, and possibly the most common drive to be considered by a New Comer, can come with a Spring Mounting Design, along with a Belt, both of these parts of the design will need to be inspected over time and kept optimised, the understanding of how to keep the set up optimised is a skill set all by itself, and if this system is taken seriously a further outlay / cost to acquire an off board Speed Control Unit might be added to the set up as well.
The knowledge that the understanding of the maintenance requirement will be an important consideration, as this knowledge can be unsettling or even a unwanted practice.
A Idler Drive, if chosen, but most unlike a choice for a New Comer, will be best considered like a Belt Drive, as the Idler Wheel will wear and increase inconsistencies in the speed accuracy, and a further outlay / cost to acquire an off board speed control unit might become an addition to the set up.
A Direct Drive is commonly supplied without Springs used in the mounting and does not require a Belt or Idler Wheel to rotate the Platter, the Platter is rotated by a built in under platter drive, this most commonly interfaced with a very accurate Built In Speed Control system.
The maintenance of this type of System is not requiring as much fettling as the above systems, and might be a very good option for a New Comer to Vinyl to consider, it might leave monies available for a later upgrade to work with alternative ancillaries to support the system, as acquiring a add on Off Board Speed Control Unit will not be necessary as an upgrade path.
I'm sure the above Three Drives can be flogged to death in Pro / Con arguments by established Vinyl System Users, but for the New Comer, it will offer them a little food for thought.
This has an element of importance, as there are different levels of understanding required for the different set ups that are on offer.
A Belt Drive as a simple description, and possibly the most common drive to be considered by a New Comer, can come with a Spring Mounting Design, along with a Belt, both of these parts of the design will need to be inspected over time and kept optimised, the understanding of how to keep the set up optimised is a skill set all by itself, and if this system is taken seriously a further outlay / cost to acquire an off board Speed Control Unit might be added to the set up as well.
The knowledge that the understanding of the maintenance requirement will be an important consideration, as this knowledge can be unsettling or even a unwanted practice.
A Idler Drive, if chosen, but most unlike a choice for a New Comer, will be best considered like a Belt Drive, as the Idler Wheel will wear and increase inconsistencies in the speed accuracy, and a further outlay / cost to acquire an off board speed control unit might become an addition to the set up.
A Direct Drive is commonly supplied without Springs used in the mounting and does not require a Belt or Idler Wheel to rotate the Platter, the Platter is rotated by a built in under platter drive, this most commonly interfaced with a very accurate Built In Speed Control system.
The maintenance of this type of System is not requiring as much fettling as the above systems, and might be a very good option for a New Comer to Vinyl to consider, it might leave monies available for a later upgrade to work with alternative ancillaries to support the system, as acquiring a add on Off Board Speed Control Unit will not be necessary as an upgrade path.
I'm sure the above Three Drives can be flogged to death in Pro / Con arguments by established Vinyl System Users, but for the New Comer, it will offer them a little food for thought.
I prefer direct drive personally. That said, I considered a Fluance RT85 which is belt drive.
There are merits for all of them but I haven't seen a record player with idler drive since I got rid of my BSR MacDonald (I wouldn't even call idler a turntable - just a record player since you can't cue backwards (without damaging the idler pulley).
I would consider this to be an "entry level" turntable. Anything of poorer quality than this is a record player and will ruin your records over time and sound like cans on a string.
https://www.amazon.ca/Audio-Technica-AT-LP120XUSB-BK-Direct-Drive-Turntable-Black/dp/B07N3S4X3P
There are merits for all of them but I haven't seen a record player with idler drive since I got rid of my BSR MacDonald (I wouldn't even call idler a turntable - just a record player since you can't cue backwards (without damaging the idler pulley).
I would consider this to be an "entry level" turntable. Anything of poorer quality than this is a record player and will ruin your records over time and sound like cans on a string.
https://www.amazon.ca/Audio-Technica-AT-LP120XUSB-BK-Direct-Drive-Turntable-Black/dp/B07N3S4X3P
Direct Drive is, if properly designed, a great thing indeed.
But the "ruining records over time" is today due to the cheapening of some products.
Mass-production isn't what it used to be, nor is quality control.
I've got records that my parents played, many times over the decades, on their 1963 RCA Victor console stereo.
The "Studiomatic" record changer tracked at 5.5 grams, and I remember replacing the stylus on it a few times.
Those old records today sound great on my system, with no discernible wear and auto-dropping on that Studiomantic changer.
Yet, the "purists" would shudder in horror and instantly complain about such "abuse".
At the same time, they'll tout all those "cookie-cutter" look-alike turntables being made today which seem to have numerous issues with reliability or performance.
I'm talking about those "flat looking" board types of all makes.
And the need for "upgrades" of bearings, platters, platter mats, motors, etc.
Funny, a Dual 1000/1200/700 series from the golden era never needed any "upgrading" other than a choice of cartridge maybe.
Those styli were larger than more modern ones. I have records that sounded like a crackling fire on the BSR (with the ST9 or ST13 both were crystal and both were used by people who would tape a quarter to the headshell to make it stop skipping (instead of replacing the 5$ needle)) and even on a Stanton 500 with a spherical tip. Put in a line contact stylus though, and the record sounds new because it tracks along the unplayed surfaces lower in the groove 🙂
I guess there at least are two mechanisms, tape print through and pre-echo in the vinyl itself due to over cutting. Since you almost never hear tape print through on CD or high rez reissues of tape recordings I would suspect it is mostly distortion in the vinyl itself due to over cutting. I have a number of Analog Productions and Tape Project 15ips reissues and I have not experienced any print through with any of them. I have a significant vinyl collection (and have referred to it as vinyl for at least 4 decades - since the advent of the first CDs) and have mixed feelings about it. I've invested a lot of time and effort in maintaining a couple of TD-124, multiple arms, cartridges and phono pre-amps. Digital recently has gotten good enough here that I have little motivation to continue lavishing a lot of time and resources on vinyl playback. I will keep enjoying the records I own and perhaps very occasionally adding a new one to my collection, but both digital and tape seem more rewarding from a sound quality perspective.
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I unfortunately lost my collection in a flood. We just recently, 2-3 years ago, started playing records again. Purchased a nice mid level table and cart. built a phono stage and haven't looked back. We stream most of the time and all of my music has been ripped and stored on a network drive.
The records sound great. In comparison to the digital, well, maybe, maybe not better but that's not the point. With streaming we tend to wander off and almost forget we playing music to listen to. Most times when we choose an album to play we actually listen to it and usually it's the whole album too. That's what we like about listening to records, that and the physicality of playing them. You know the little ritual of cleaning the record and stylus before playing looking at the cover, etc..
Oh and I have to disagree about the no new music thing as well. My middle son buys a fair amount and it's always new music from current artists.
The records sound great. In comparison to the digital, well, maybe, maybe not better but that's not the point. With streaming we tend to wander off and almost forget we playing music to listen to. Most times when we choose an album to play we actually listen to it and usually it's the whole album too. That's what we like about listening to records, that and the physicality of playing them. You know the little ritual of cleaning the record and stylus before playing looking at the cover, etc..
Oh and I have to disagree about the no new music thing as well. My middle son buys a fair amount and it's always new music from current artists.
Yes, it's always there even if the coming groove is not over modulated. It may not be obvious in loud music, but it is there allowing you to continuously hear 1.8 seconds into the future. 😉
Then what would you say hearing the common term for vinyl in my contry? They call it 'bakelite'. Everybody. Everywhere.
(I understand that vinyl is closer to Edison's wax cylinder than today's digital media, and bakelite is something from the past of our grandparents, but I protest!)
I love Kodachrome. But the ASA 25 and ASA 64 film speed was something I had to constantly struggle with in the field (Hawaiian plants and general forest scenes, shots of people in shady gulches and valleys). Plus the cost of film and processing.... I use the iPhone now and while it has its limitations (at least the one I have has no optical Zoom, and the internal processing shifts color even when I do not want it to), its enough for me.
And thank you for your observation on digital transfer of analogue tape to digital, as compared with transfer to vinyl. I think the analogue folks would argue, and I would agree, that if the transfer to vinyl is done right, it does produce a "Kodachrome" sound that pleases more than the digital transfer. However, for me the deal-breaker is the finicky set-up and cost required to have a good LP playback experience.
Personally, if money were no object, I'd go for 15 ips copies of tape to tape, and play that back on a 3M M79 tape machine (forget Studer).
It's all about terminology.
People use terms in a sloppy way sometimes, and you have to figure out what the hell they're talking about.
It's the term "vinyls" that grates with me - as in "Low prices on vinyls".
Even the Oxford English Dictionary won't support changing the plural of "vinyl" to "vinyls"!
https://www.vice.com/en/article/z45...paign-to-change-the-plural-of-vinyl-to-vinyls
Even the Oxford English Dictionary won't support changing the plural of "vinyl" to "vinyls"!
https://www.vice.com/en/article/z45...paign-to-change-the-plural-of-vinyl-to-vinyls
Hate the use of "vinyls" as well. Seems to be popular in English speaking countries.
jeff