[jsaliga]

I clean my records with a VPI 16.5 RCM when I log them into my collection.  If they are especially dirty then I use a steam cleaner.

Once the records have been cleaned, I do not clean them again as a general rule.

--Jerome

[Guy 13]

Hi all Audio Circle members.
I have both, vinyls and CDs and I enjoy both in a very different way.
Vinyl is like a ceremony requiring careful manipulation and seeing the vimyl turning is seeing the music unroll in front of you.
Handling CDs is like a production line, faster and faster...
My description stinks, but I am sure some Audio Circle members can do better than me in their English native language.
Like everything on this planet, each item and technology as his strength and weakness.

Guy 13

[thunderbrick]

No, Guy, your description is beautifully stated!

[Guy 13]

No, Guy, your description is beautifully stated!

Hi thunderbrick (I love that name) and all Audio Circle members.
Thanks thunderbrick.
Guy 13

[FullRangeMan]

I clean my records with a VPI 16.5 RCM when I log them into my collection.  If they are especially dirty then I use a steam cleaner.

Once the records have been cleaned, I do not clean them again as a general rule.

--Jerome

Thanks. So its not much boring as I though.
Other LP feature that affect me is the short time, 25m only in each side prevent a deep musical enjoyment.

[jarcher]

Just ONE thing?  C'mon folks, vinyl's a PITA - or to put it more politely, a "labor of love".  Apply "LAST" to the stylus (how often ? no one agrees).  Even w/ my VPI 16.5 it seems every time I put the record on it's accumulated dust, which a "discwasher" style brush just seems to shift & pile up in one line vs removing.  P.s. anyone have a recommendation on a good brush or device for dust removal for each play?  Pop & cllcks are the least of it (if the record doesn't skip) - except maybe w/ very quiet music (why is probably why I prefer to listen to classical w/ a lot of quiet parts on digital). 

So why carry on ? - because at it's best vinyl delivers those "wow" moments I've rarely heard from digital, particularly for me vs early digital (80s) that hasn't been remastered.  That & it is nice to have ample stock of $1-$3 music......

But if we ever get to the stage where digital reliably and consistently surpasses vinyl - I'll be the first to defect.....

[SteveFord]

The one thing that I miss is the record stores have pretty much vanished and the ones that remain are primarily used albums.
I miss sorting through all of the bins of new albums.

For the dust removal, I use a Parastat and distilled water - every so often a new one will show up on eBay for around $25.

[FullRangeMan]

I live in a quiet area around 30-33dB in my room after 20h, some years ago it was 28-29dB.
Maybe these people imperturbable with the vinyl noises live in a busy street.
And with headphones matters are worse.

[Elizabeth]

Cleaning? i only clean them with a vacuum cleaner. I have a brush I keep just for vinyl.

If the Lp has dust in the grooves or other yuck which a quick vac off does not work then i rinse the LP off in the sink. Lukewarm water rotate each side twice through the stream. Pat dry with a paper towel, and then re-vacuum.
Works great.
I buy mostly used Lps and rare to find one my method does not get all the dirt out of the grooves.

As for Stylast it should be applied for every LP side. that has been the suggested and approved application since day one.

[jarcher]

Cleaning? i only clean them with a vacuum cleaner. I have a brush I keep just for vinyl.

If the Lp has dust in the grooves or other yuck which a quick vac off does not work then i rinse the LP off in the sink. Lukewarm water rotate each side twice through the stream. Pat dry with a paper towel, and then re-vacuum.
Works great.
I buy mostly used Lps and rare to find one my method does not get all the dirt out of the grooves.

As for Stylast it should be applied for every LP side. that has been the suggested and approved application since day one.

What brush do you have just for vinyl, pray tell? Don't want to have to wash / rinse / dry etc the LP for EVERY listen......

Stylast for EVER side?  Sure, that's what Stylast recommends you do so as to use more product, but really is it necessary or recommendable from real experience.......?  Somehow hitting the cantilever / stylus with a substance every time you play a side runs the risk of damaging something or leaving a residue?  I know - it's only suppose to go on the stylus, but it's hard to always be so precise, especially after a few drinks....

[raysracing]

- except maybe w/ very quiet music (why is probably why I prefer to listen to classical w/ a lot of quiet parts on digital). 

So why carry on ? - because at it's best vinyl delivers those "wow" moments I've rarely heard from digital, particularly for me vs early digital (80s) that hasn't been remastered.  That & it is nice to have ample stock of $1-$3 music......

But if we ever get to the stage where digital reliably and consistently surpasses vinyl - I'll be the first to defect.....

I dont like classical on vinyl mostly because almost all of my classical was not my own ot start and therefore in horrible condition when I try to listen to it. I have not purchased a new classical record except maybe one. So yea, I prefer classical streaming or on CD.

[jimdgoulding]

I dont like classical on vinyl mostly because almost all of my classical was not my own ot start and therefore in horrible condition when I try to listen to it. I have not purchased a new classical record except maybe one. So yea, I prefer classical streaming or on CD.

Jeez, Ray, you need to get out more.

[FullRangeMan]

What brush do you have just for vinyl, pray tell? Don't want to have to wash / rinse / dry etc the LP for EVERY listen......

Stylast for EVER side?  Sure, that's what Stylast recommends you do so as to use more product, but really is it necessary or recommendable from real experience.......?  Somehow hitting the cantilever / stylus with a substance every time you play a side runs the risk of damaging something or leaving a residue?  I know - it's only suppose to go on the stylus, but it's hard to always be so precise, especially after a few drinks....

Man now I understand how you withstands vinyl noises.
How I can not drink I will keep listening digital.

[jimdgoulding]

Man now I understand how you withstands vinyl noises.
How I can not drink I will keep listening digital.

FRM,  Hi.  Would it be accurate to say that you began your pursuit of high fidelity or truth to the source after the advent of digital?  Much experience listening to live music have we?

[FullRangeMan]

I started in the late 60s, with aluminium 78rpm from my uncle stored in the house, after to LP and cassetes.
The cassete tapes lasts just til the next winter due humidity.
The LPs from 60s were much better/thicker than the 70/80 tough and much cheaper too.

[jimdgoulding]

I started in the late 60s, with aluminium 78rpm from my uncle stored in the house, after to LP and cassetes.
The cassete tapes lasts just til the next winter due humidity.
The LPs from 60s were much better/thicker than the 70/80 tough and much cheaper too.

How about you springing for a ticket to Houston and being my guest for weekend.  My CD player is sub par, but, not to worry.

[jsaliga]

Thanks. So its not much boring as I though.
Other LP feature that affect me is the short time, 25m only in each side prevent a deep musical enjoyment.

I don't think I can overcome all of your objections to vinyl so I won't bother to try.  The things you don't like about vinyl are not a problem for most vinylphiles.  There are many things I don't like about digital music, and digital devotees will not be able to change my mind about them.

It's a good thing that we have a choice.  It allows us to enjoy the music we love in a format that we prefer.  Happy listening. 

--Jerome

[vinyl_guy]

What brush do you have just for vinyl, pray tell? Don't want to have to wash / rinse / dry etc the LP for EVERY listen......

Stylast for EVER side?  Sure, that's what Stylast recommends you do so as to use more product, but really is it necessary or recommendable from real experience.......?  Somehow hitting the cantilever / stylus with a substance every time you play a side runs the risk of damaging something or leaving a residue?  I know - it's only suppose to go on the stylus, but it's hard to always be so precise, especially after a few drinks....

I clean the records one time on a Loricraft PC-4 when I buy them, new or used. I place them in MoFi or sleeve city poly sleeves. If you take care of your records you won't be plagued by pops and tics and surface noise and you won't need to clean them again. I clean my stylus before each play with a small soft brush that came with the cartridge. sometimes I use a stylus cleaner like LAST or from Lyra. Neither leaves a residue.

As Jerome said above, vinyl is not for everyone. For me, there is nothing about playing vinyl that is a PITA. The music I hear makes it all worthwhile. Digital is good for the car and for background music when I'm cooking, cleaning or working in the yard, but not when I want to enjoy the music.

[rollo]

  For some recordings I perfer vinyl over CD and visa versa. The quality of the recording is the determining factor for me. As Guy stated each format has it advantages and disadvantages.
    For the topic , PIA sometimes is getting up to change the LP. That's nitpicking though. Another factor is the quality of ones CDP and TT. For example Jerome's beautiful TT vs say a class "C" DAC. Or visa versa.
    In the end one would have to rip my TT out of my dead cold hands.


charles

[jsaliga]

Well, if this is turning into a vinyl vs. digital debate then IMO that is a horse that has been beaten to death several times over on audio forums.

Where those discussions break down is that people tend to see the formats as the only difference and all other things are taken as equal.  In addition, no one is immune from their own biases.  For example, I have a strong preference for analogue recordings, and I believe that analogue recordings sound better on analogue formats such as open reel tape or vinyl.  Is that a fact that analogue is better?  That is debatable, but I accept that my bias strongly impacts what I hear and how I judge sound quality.  If you are predisposed to prefer analogue recordings the way I do it will be a pretty large mountain for digital to climb to overcome that bias, I don't care how good the system is.

I also believe that the single most greatest determinant of what you hear is the quality of the recording itself as the original tracks were laid down and mixed.  The best way to improve your sound is to improve the quality of the recordings you are buying and listening to.  Doing this takes a lot of knowledge and experience, regardless of which side you are on in the analogue/digital divide.  And not everyone will have the same experience.  For example, one of my focuses in vinyl is classical music recordings made in the 1950s and 1960s.  I have a considerable collection of vintage RCA Victor, Mercury Living Presence, Decca SXL, London ffss, and Deutsche Grammophon vinyl pressings.  I love many of the RCA recordings, but in my experience RCA Shaded Dog pressings are a bit overrated when it comes to the quality of the record pressings.  I find they have more surface noise than I would prefer, and they also have more than their fair share of pressing defects.  On the other hand, Decca SXL and London ffss pressings are consistently superb and very quiet.  In addition, Decca produced consistently excellent sound quality and had some of the most talented recording engineers in the business.  But someone else with similar tastes and experience as mine may not agree.

The loudness wars really started to turn me off on CD audio, and I came to view 16bit/44.1KHz digital audio as the format optimized for mobile devices.  I have no interest whatsoever in listening to music that has had the life compressed out of it.  But having said that, I do have some very nice digital recordings.  Most of them are high res 24bit/192KHz, DSD64, and DSD128.  I don't necessarily feel that more bit depth and higher sampling rates equates to better sound, but I do think that higher res digital recordings are better mastered and do not suffer from the same Tom foolery that plagues CD audio.

--Jerome