Do you still collect vinyl?

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

I know some of you still own and enjoy sizeable collections of vinyl LPs, but how many of you are actually still actively seeking and acquiring LPs? Anyone? I make the rounds (2 or 3 stores) here in Vancouver on a monthly basis, but I still miss Amoeba in San Francisco and Berkeley, as well as Canterbury and Pooh Bah in Pasadena (CA).

I still enjoy hunting around for stuff (although I've tired of garage sales and people with all of their "rare" 78s of Toscanini, Caruso, et al. they think must be worth a fortune); however, at this point, I'm interested in finding a few good dealers (even trustworthy sellers on eBay) with some choice items--mostly historic monos, but also some more recent stereos, jazz, etc. Can anyone suggest some good dealers with reasonable prices?

Have you made any interesting discoveries on (or about) vinyl lately? 

[Harry]

When the cd came around 1980, I stopped buying vinyl. Even on a high end level I was irritated by the bad pressings, the clicks and tics. When I heard the cd, not perfect, but without all these irritations, I switched over immediately, and after 3 years sold my entire vinyl collection to someone that payed me a hefty sum. With that I could buy the first 2000 cd's.
Never regretted it!

[Mark]

Never collected vinyl, largely for the reasons Harry cites. I'm very much of the CD generation.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

I actually meant this thread to go in the Great Recordings forum; whatever.

My days of arguing the CD vs LP thing are long over, but I will say that among the vinyl collectors I know (including myself), there is an aesthetic appreciation of the medium and all of its trappings that goes beyond mere considerations sound quality. Anyway, I have many CDs that I greatly enjoy as well as my LPs. 

[zamyrabyrd]

If I can get them real cheap with an eye to selling them in the future.

ZB

[techniquest]

I wouldn't say that I 'actively' collect, but if I am in a charity shop I will always have a look through the bin of old vinyl and there among the Herb Alberts, Mrs Mills, and 'Hits of the 70's' sometimes find something more akin to my tastes. I think my most recent was a Mahler 2 conducted by Bruno Walter which was in A1 condition and cost me £2. I have also bought some rare HMV/Melodiya LP's from ebay for next to nothing e.g the Shostakovich 'Execution of Stefan Razin' with Kondrashin.
I don't think I could part with my LP collection as I have many rarities that i don't think you can get on CD e.g. Jon Lords' 'Gemini Suite', Petrovs' 'Poem on those who died at the Siege of Leningrad', and so on.

[Cato]

I actually meant this thread to go in the Great Recordings forum; whatever.

My days of arguing the CD vs LP thing are long over, but I will say that among the vinyl collectors I know (including myself), there is an aesthetic appreciation of the medium and all of its trappings that goes beyond mere considerations sound quality. Anyway, I have many CDs that I greatly enjoy as well as my LPs. 

Space considerations forced me to give away my vast collection from the 50's through 1984 to my brother, who used to have all kinds of room in his house before he took over my records!

His goal is to digitize them!?

I suppose the CD will give way to MP3 chips and pure electronic downloads, where you never actually see the "thing" containing a specific work.

[Maciek]

Well, they're cheap and I'm poor, so yes, I still buy vinyl records once in a while. And there's the consideration someone above mentioned: you can get stuff that was never re-released on CD!

I'll move the thread to Great Recordings presently.

[dtwilbanks]

Once CDs came out, I got rid of my vinyl pretty fast.

[Mark]

I agree with those who argue in favour of vinyl's warmth and overall fidelity, but storage is at a premium in my home, so CDs (and now downloads) have to rule. It breaks my heart, however, when I find terrific LPs in perfect condition going for next to nothing in charity shops ... which is often. I don't buy them simply because I no longer own a turntable.

[Cato]

I agree with those who argue in favour of vinyl's warmth and overall fidelity, but storage is at a premium in my home, so CDs (and now downloads) have to rule. It breaks my heart, however, when I find terrific LPs in perfect condition going for next to nothing in charity shops ... which is often. I don't buy them simply because I no longer own a turntable.

Yes, as mentioned above, I gave away my Bang and Olufsen record player to my brother, along with the collection.  My school  recently had a "Garage Sale" in the gym and all kinds of 60's and 70's records were a nickel.  Very few classical things, mainly embarrassments         like Debby Boone, Peter Frampton, Captain and Tennille,       etc.   

Actually the nice thing about vinyl was the notes on the back cover in a size you could read without a microscope or magnifying glass!  Much good music history in those notes!

[orbital]

Can anyone suggest some good dealers with reasonable prices?

I am sure you know them already, but http://www.parnassusrecords.com/catalogs.htm has a large LP catalogue.

[SonicMan46]

As w/ Harry et al, I bought my first CD player (a Yamaha) at the end of 1984 (when the price dropped below $500 - a promise to my wife; it was $499 -  ) - sold my beautiful Denon turn table to my brother-in-law & just included my vinyl LP collection (was not that large) - never looked back; OTOH, my BIL had about 3000 LPs at the time and was not about to start replacing them! 

[johnQpublic]

I probably buy 6-12 LPs a year.

Most contain selections/composers that I can't currently find on CD.

My average price is around $12 per record. Although I went the Princeton Record Exchange for the first time in my life 2 months ago and picked up a real jewel for $1!!

[carlos]

I begun to buy vinyls about 1960. I still buy some specials
or very rare ones. But haven't the equipment, so I made it copied
to CD, and later sell the vinyl.In the last years I did that with
about 300.

[Maciek]

A question to the people who transfer their LPs to CD: how do you go about that? Do you have someone do it for you? Do you do it yourself? Is it possible to do properly without some sort of high-end equipment? I know loudav uses some sort of set-up entirely of his own design and making...

(If there's already been a thread on the subject, please direct me there. )

[orbital]

A question to the people who transfer their LPs to CD: how do you go about that? Do you have someone do it for you? Do you do it yourself? Is it possible to do properly without some sort of high-end equipment? I know loudav uses some sort of set-up entirely of his own design and making...

(If there's already been a thread on the subject, please direct me there. )

I'd say the easiest way would be to output the turntable to your computer's soundcard. Turntable will probably have an RCA cable so that should be easy, no conversion needed. Play the LP and record what is playing directly as a WAV file and then burn it as a CD You might want to pause between tracks to have them recorded seperately. Since the LP recording is analog you have to record it at 1X1 speed for optimum sonics.

[head-case]

I'd say the easiest way would be to output the turntable to your computer's soundcard. Turntable will probably have an RCA cable so that should be easy, no conversion needed. Play the LP and record what is playing directly as a WAV file and then burn it as a CD You might want to pause between tracks to have them recorded seperately. Since the LP recording is analog you have to record it at 1X1 speed for optimum sonics.

That sounds bizarre.  A phono pickup needs a pre-amp, do you connect the phono to the microphone input?  In any case, the sensible thing to do is to connect a "line out" or "tape out" from your amplifier or preamplifier to a sound card.

[orbital]

That sounds bizarre.  A phono pickup needs a pre-amp, do you connect the phono to the microphone input?  In any case, the sensible thing to do is to connect a "line out" or "tape out" from your amplifier or preamplifier to a sound card.

yes of course, what I meant by "from the turntable to soundcard' is of course that. Connection from the amp or the receiver that the turntable is connected to

[Szykneij]

A question to the people who transfer their LPs to CD: how do you go about that? Do you have someone do it for you? Do you do it yourself? Is it possible to do properly without some sort of high-end equipment? I know loudav uses some sort of set-up entirely of his own design and making...

(If there's already been a thread on the subject, please direct me there. )

Vinyl to CD thread here:
http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,119.0.html

I've accumulated 1,000+ albums over the last few months, all for less than a dollar each. Classical LP's tend to be well taken care of and there are tons of recordings never re-issued on CD. I buy music cdr's in bulk for 40-cents each and sit down and listen to an LP I've never heard before. If it's something I want to hear again, I press the record button on the machine while I have a second listen and make myself a CD that goes onto my shelf.