[charles28722]

I have just ordered a new turntable and am putting together my first analogue system in 3 decades.  For those who offered TT advice in my thread a couple of weeks ago, thanks a million. 

I'm in the hunt for essential LP's and for those that you need to own because the digital version is garbage.  Some examples of great music on poor CD's - Kings of Leon (all of it), Radiohead (OK computer), Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc.  What have you found on vinyl that was noticeably better than the redbook CD?

[lazydays]

Right now if anybody on this board asked me this same question I'd say right off the top "Bitches Brew" by Miles Davis. (45 rpm). You might want to listen to the Allman Brothers Live At The Fillmore East. Look for the Buddy Miles / Santana LP's. Not the best quality, but the performance is to die for. The Led Zepplin stuff is pretty good (the new stuff).
gary

[rollo]

  I would look at "Classic Records" reissues. Start with Aqualung and be prepared to dance around the room a la Ian Anderson. Very very good .


charles

[charles28722]

Right on with all of those.  Bitch's Brew is a must and I don't find the sound quality of the CD bad.  If the LP is that much better, that's definitely something to look forward to.

CD playback is convenient - to the point that I surf alot.  Spinning vinyl, I look forward to putting the needle down and letting the whole album roll.

 

[orthobiz]

Go USED. Garage sales will abound. Record shows are in your area, go to recordshowsofamerica.com. I am constantly impressed with how good used vinyl frequently sounds, besting some of my carefully played albums from high school and college (I'm 54). Some of it is cheap.

Some of the reissues are not as good as you'd think. I've written before about the bad experience I had with The Yes Album on Rhino. I bought a pristine regular copy for 6 bucks and it is glorious. Go to stevehoffman.tv and check posts on various albums. You'll learn about reading the deadwax and which versions of individual albums are best. Like "LH" in the deadwax on Cat Stevens records...no need to drop big bucks on a reissue, especially since Teaser and the Firecat is from their digital copy, not having the proper analog version (or something like that) available. Best way to search is by going to Google, enter the following:
site:stevehoffman.tv "the yes album"
otherwise, it's a bear to find specific threads that don't have those three words in it.

Read this thread:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=77389
Goes over must-have Robert Ludwig masterings, from Led Zep to Hendrix, etc.

Check out Fremer's site, musicangle.com and read reviews of reissues.

Not only can CD's suck because of the analog v. digital thing, lots of times the master tapes were unavailable, like using an ABnormal brain in Young Frankenstein.

Just remember, if you do any of this stuff I suggest, you may find that you no longer have ANY free time!

And if you want to hear The Shirts, one of the great CBGB bands often overlooked, just try to find the 1998 CD, now out of print. I had it when it came out, it's great. My 15 year old scored a clean copy for 5 bucks in Grand Rapids at a record show two weeks ago...

Right now I'm listening to a great, cheap copy of Renaissance Live that I bought that day.

Paul

[95Dyna]

Right on with all of those.  Bitch's Brew is a must and I don't find the sound quality of the CD bad.  If the LP is that much better, that's definitely something to look forward to.

CD playback is convenient - to the point that I surf alot.  Spinning vinyl, I look forward to putting the needle down and letting the whole album roll.

Hi Charles,

Bitches Brew in any format is just plain otherworldly.  You don't have time to awaken from the Phaero's Dance trance before Spanish Key begins.  It's soooo much better than any mind altering drug.  I have the 24 bit remastered CD which sounds great but if somebody tells me the current LP is even better I'd spring for it in a heartbeat.  Like you, I am resurrecting vinyl replacing my circa 1975 Thorens TD 160 with a new VPI Classic with Benz Wood SL.  Can't wait til it gets here.

Regards,

Bill

[lazydays]

Right on with all of those.  Bitch's Brew is a must and I don't find the sound quality of the CD bad.  If the LP is that much better, that's definitely something to look forward to.

CD playback is convenient - to the point that I surf alot.  Spinning vinyl, I look forward to putting the needle down and letting the whole album roll.

the best way to compair the CD with the LP is to play them both in a dead dark room with yourself centered between the speakers about ten feet away. The first time you play the LP you will be caught up in all the seeming continously different arrays comming at you. All will of course be absolutely perfect (Miles Davis). Then play the same side on CD. Half way thru you'll be bored. But play that same side again with LP and you sudenly notice something you never noticed before. Everytime you play it you catch something else going on over and over. This is the single most studied recording in the world of jazz period, and most folks will say exactly what I'm saying. Later you start to pick up of the things that  actually make it what it is. The soft changeups as well as the hard ones. The interaction of all the musicians drawing the next one into the fold as they leave. A perfect four sides if there ever was one
gary

[lazydays]

Hi Charles,

Bitches Brew in any format is just plain otherworldly.  You don't have time to awaken from the Phaero's Dance trance before Spanish Key begins.  It's soooo much better than any mind altering drug.  I have the 24 bit remastered CD which sounds great but if somebody tells me the current LP is even better I'd spring for it in a heartbeat.  Like you, I am resurrecting vinyl replacing my circa 1975 Thorens TD 160 with a new VPI Classic with Benz Wood SL.  Can't wait til it gets here.

Regards,

Bill

if you look for the LP, do not buy the Columbia Legacey set!! The sound is great, but the pressing quality sucks. The performance by Chic Corea is his best I think! And he was pissed off when they recorded it!! When you think you understand music and it's mechanics; you start all over with Bitches Brew. Another one that kinda changed everything for the rest of us is Wes Montgomery's yellow LP. He changed everything, and just to hear his side man is worth owning the recording. And I must (without hesitation) add to this mix Bob Dylan's "Blood On The Tracks."
gary

[charles28722]

Lazydays and all -

Thanks for your passionate input.  I'm buying vinyl as we I write this.  The new TT is the new Well Tempered Labs Amadeus.  Needless to say, I'm pretty excited at the potential.

Charles

[SteveFord]

Congratulations on the new turntable!
I'd say just about any album is an improvement over CD although the remastered Beatles CDs are really good.
If you like PJ Harvey, the vinyl reveals a lot of detail which didn't make it onto CD.

[Ronm1]

Lazydays and all -

 The new TT is the new Well Tempered Labs Amadeus.  Needless to say, I'm pretty excited at the potential.

Charles

That's the one I will be testing/demoing next, my other forays to get back into vinyl were very disappointing.

[charles28722]

ronm1:

My good friend is a well-tempered dealer and can demo the Amadeus in conjunction with world-class gear.

[lazydays]

Lazydays and all -

Thanks for your passionate input.  I'm buying vinyl as we I write this.  The new TT is the new Well Tempered Labs Amadeus.  Needless to say, I'm pretty excited at the potential.

Charles

Before you ever do anything, do these things!
* Call The Elusive Disc and order in a couple hundred sleeves (I use the Mobile Fidelity ones)
* Buy a good cleaning brush, and let me know when you have it, as I'll show you how to make your own cleaning fluid.
* go to Radio Shack and buy one of their cheap red brushes (I recommend two brushes in use all the time)
* Buy three or four LP's at the flea market of somekind that are reasonably good. These are what your gonna learn to clean LP's with! Most LP's are ruined by the 5th time they've been played.
* you'll need a couple squeeze bottle for the cleaners


    I use the red brush to wipe the dust off the LP before doing the deep cleaning. I've found this helps in the cleaning process. Also plan on cleaning the LP a couple times at least between playings. You should see a build up of crud on the needle, and the first time you play the disc you will have to clean the needle a couple times to get rid of the build up (this is the stuff that's deep in the groove, and is really nasty stuff).
gary

 

               

[TheChairGuy]

CD playback is convenient - to the point that I surf alot.  Spinning vinyl, I look forward to putting the needle down and letting the whole album roll.

Totally

But, describing CD's as 'suck' probably is a bit harsh in today's day and age.

Redbook playback has come a lot further and for a lot less money than I ever in my wildest dreams prior to 5-6 years ago would've thought.  It's good, sometimes darn good...but never reaches spine tingling and hair raising like vinyl does

I still think much of the shortfall for CD is on the mastering side and this will never be overcome.  The interpolation of data on the playback side has made quantum leaps.  Slowly coming up to standard is our systems...capable of fully producing much greater 96db dynamic range in our listening rooms.

Still, Redbook is a technology developed around the time of the facsimile machine...and shows it's age.

DVD-A is a bit further and better down the digital path...but, still falls short of the complexity and warm feeling that vinyl leaves ya' (with the right setup, etc)

Like the esteemed orthobiz/Paul, used is the way to go.  You can accumulate a lot of titles you need to catch up with this way and save your budget...and also because new release quality these days tends to be quite spotty.  It's spotty likely due to heavy demand for vinyl nowadays and not enough pressing plants.  The quality control just isn't there like days of old, by and large

The other thing is that brand newly recorded releases are too often done in some enhanced mp3 technology (as most of the market is for downloads and CD sales still are many times larger than vinyl sales, overall).  Using mp3 technology as your master...is GIGO guaranteed (Garbage In, Garbage Out).  So, used is a great option for many, many reasons.

The above only applies to many newly (last couple years) recorded albums....prior to that you could get good-to-awful redbook 16/44.1 masters.  Of course, going back far enough to the golden days of pre-1985 in music...you get often wonderful analog bliss for your masters.

Welcome back to analog and that Well Tempered Amadeus TT seems an inspired choice

John