Vinyl records are a pain to play. I have to select a record, gently take it out of the sleeve making sure there is no fingerprint, put it on the player and then take the tonearm and gently place it exactly at the edge of the record. Phew, that is a lot of steps. But I find myself going again and again and reaching out for my records.
So what is it that ticks the right boxes for the records?
I do have a decent but conservative music system for listening to my music in peace. It is separate from my 7.2.2 atmos/ dts-x media setup and entirely dedicated to my record and CD collection. I have nice and big Sony twin speakers, a 12″ Polk Audio subwoofer and I play them through a 2.1 channel Yamaha sound receiver. My vinyl player is a Audio Technica, and for my CD collection I have two gigantic and antique Sony players (a 1 CD and the other 6 CD changer). If I add them up it does not add up to a fortune, but I am comfortable listening to my music through this setup.
I have a decent record collection. Discogs values my records at over maximum $10K and that does not include any rare records. My CD collection is not bad either, but why do I keep on going back to my records? And for all the young at heart people out there, I do own cassettes and a cassette player :). But why do I take the pain to go through the hassle even though each side of the record only plays for about 20 minutes – and then I am back to the grind? Truth be told, I do not know the exact reason. Maybe it is the effort that I put in sweetens the sound I hear?
The Past
When I was growing up, I saw record players (or gramophone players) in posh households only, as they were very expensive. I did not have the luxury of owing a record player. However I always wanted to own one of them. At that time, I would listen to MW and SW radios limited to a very few stations (as they called it). I cannot select songs – I could only select stations. Later I did own cassette players and CD players, but I never had a record player in my childhood.
This is one of those logos that still bring back memories. His Masters Voice (HMV) was one of the biggest labels by Gramophone Co. Ltd. The dog in this image has a name – Nipper. I can still recall the spinning dog on a classic record player.
The Present
My passion for records never went away. So as soon as I could afford one, I bought a record player. It is not the most expensive one, but I went with good reviews. Getting the player is only half the battle. I then started hunt for good records. And what better place to get them than flea-bay? I bid, bought and then bid some more. Some I lost, some I won – but eventually I have a nice collection of records. I even bought 180g vinyls from big box stores for unheard of prices. I also got records from used record stores. That was one of my favorite joints to visit when I went traveling :).
Now I have records for every mood and I can search for something to play whenever I feel like it.
However, I still do not understand why I go back to the records. Maybe it is one of the following or a combination of them?
Audio Quality
I find the sound of records more warm. Maybe it is just me, but I like the occasional crackle that you get with records. MP3 is too pristine, and CD though not bad, does not bring the same coziness as record. I am not inferring that audio quality of CD or MP3 is inferior, they seem too clean for classic music. I think we can define CD/ MP3 sound as anachronous 🙂
Music Experience
I have premium Spotify. There are times when I would play an album on Spotify while I work. A long time may pass and eventually I see I don’t even know what song played. There is no effort necessary for Spotify – it can play for hours without intervention. At some point, you just stop listening. With the records, I feel because of the intervention needed every 20 minutes, I tend to listen more closely.
Album Covers
Album covers is the biggest attraction for me. A lot of the times I bought LPs just because the cover was attractive. An artist can get very creative on a 12″ by 12″ board. The covers looks much more attractive than equivalent CD covers. Also, some records have easter eggs. For example, Jack White has an album (Lazaretto) that has a spinning angel hologram when you play it.
Record Pressing
One very interesting thing about records is identifying the pressing. Record values vary based on where they were originally pressed. Manufacturers use the dead wax region to etch additional information about the pressing. It is a fun activity to look at the codes. Who knows, sometime you may hit one of the more expensive first pressings!
Value
Old vinyl records, if they are properly maintained, do hold their value for long. If we check discogs, you will see, CDs lose price a lot faster than records. If you want to create a family inheritance, what better way than to give a collection of records :).
Enough blabbering for a day. I think I can rest my case and go back to listening to something relaxing now. Should I play jazz, blues, country or pop? Oh, too many decisions. Let me find something interesting. Meanwhile, ciao for now!