Power Line News

vegastracon - 29 March 2008 06:30 PM

Here’s a sample:

http://members.cox.net/ivectru/HubertLaws_Family.mp3

(I’ll leave it up for an hour or so....)

That is pretty impressive thanks vegas.

Del Dolemonte - 29 March 2008 06:49 PM

Rhino30 - 29 March 2008 03:10 AM

I was thinking of my Dad the other day and about what fun we used to have sitting around listening to his record collection.  I decided you can’t get that character sound and feel from digital so I am going to start my very own vinyl collection.  Here are some albums I am going to start with.

I have an early pressing of the J. Geils Bloodshot album-it’s in clear red vinyl!

I that one of those special albums that are worth more than others?  “Bloodshot” was a great album but I also loved “Full House”.  My friends made fun of me for the longest time while I played that in my first car until they heard “Freeze Frame”...Then they were hooked LOL.  I to this day still think the best rock band ever assembled is “Boston” and that’s a pretty bold statement!

Rhino30 - 29 March 2008 07:02 PM

Del Dolemonte - 29 March 2008 06:49 PM

Rhino30 - 29 March 2008 03:10 AM

I was thinking of my Dad the other day and about what fun we used to have sitting around listening to his record collection.  I decided you can’t get that character sound and feel from digital so I am going to start my very own vinyl collection.  Here are some albums I am going to start with.

I have an early pressing of the J. Geils Bloodshot album-it’s in clear red vinyl!

I that one of those special albums that are worth more than others?  “Bloodshot” was a great album but I also loved “Full House”.  My friends made fun of me for the longest time while I played that in my first car until they heard “Freeze Frame”...Then they were hooked LOL.  I to this day still think the best rock band ever assembled is “Boston” and that’s a pretty bold statement!

Yes, typically LP records on colored vinyl are worth more in the collectors market than their “black vinyl” counterparts. Some examples I have seen include the Beatles’ “White Album” pressed on milk-white vinyl, as well as assorted “gold records” by people pressed on yellow vinyl.

As I said in my other post, the best resource is the publication Goldmine.

vegastracon - 29 March 2008 04:58 PM

Rhino30 - 29 March 2008 03:10 AM

I decided you can’t get that character sound and feel from digital so I am going to start my very own vinyl collection. 

Keep in mind that you can transfer the “character sound and feel” to a digital format.

I have an extensive collection of vinyl that I have digitally copied unaltered. Playback on the computer sounds exactly same as on the turntable. Scratches. Pops. Nearly all of the nuances are captured.

Let me be succinct.  Having sex with a condom on is NOT the same as without. The digital interception of a waveform reproduction is a nothing more than a musical condom.

The fact is that changing waveform sounds processed through tubes is NOT the same as CONVERTING the sounds to digits and then processing through a computer.

That’s like saying a 2008 toyota hybrid auto can run on the same gasoline as a 1964 Amanti.

There are LOTS of technical evaluations of vinyl-to-digital, and they all lack one thing.  Presence. I.e., the digital music destroys the feeling of “being there.”

Youngsters won’t understand it, and oldsters cannot explain it.  But a USB turntable is not the same as a waveform turntable processed through an old tube-type amp.  the music is TRANSLATED, and loses a lot of “High fidelity” in the process.

Marantz Quadraphonic 4-channel amp/receiver, with Dolby, for me, 1976, $861.

Still using it.

Did I mention that the ION turntable can also be used as a conventional turntable? In addition to the USB connectivity, it can also be jacked straight to an “old tube-type amp”.

Personally, I have no complaints with regards to sound reproduction. What I convert from waveform to digital for playback on a CD player has little to no sound degradation.

Granted. CDs cannot duplicate the crispness and cleaness of a pristine vinyl album played on a high-end classic turntable with an accompanied top of line stereo system. But the digital format comes awfully close.

Pandora - 30 March 2008 04:11 AM

Marantz Quadraphonic 4-channel amp/receiver, with Dolby, for me, 1976, $861.

Still using it.

Kewl!

Marantz was high quality stuff.  The LAST U.S. maker of stereo equipment if I’m not mistaken.

The last time I took my 4-channel Kenwood in to be “cleaned and serviced”, the young technician was amazed.  I think he almost would have done it for free just for the privilege of working on it.

<chuckle>

Those FIVE-way 120 watt Sansui speakers of mine with the 13” woofers can still blow the windows out - with QUALITY!

Friends and acquaintances began shipping the stuff home in the late 1960s from Vietnam and gave us all our first taste of high quality equipment for few dollars.

My father has a collection of 78 rpm records that literally occupies an entire closet.  For HIM, nothing sounds better than his 1950s Magnavox “Hi-Fi”.  I never have been able to convince him that the newer stuff sounds better.

LOL

I’m still using the Marantz, Rocketman, but it is indeed on its last legs. 

Despite taking excellent care of it, the last time I took it in for repair, the guy did what he could (which wasn’t much) with spit and baling wire.  There just aren’t any parts, other than the tubes.

It’s breakin’ my heart, I swear. I’ve had that Marantz for 32 years.

vegastracon - 29 March 2008 04:58 PM

Rhino30 - 29 March 2008 03:10 AM

I decided you can’t get that character sound and feel from digital so I am going to start my very own vinyl collection. 

Keep in mind that you can transfer the “character sound and feel” to a digital format.

I have an extensive collection of vinyl that I have digitally copied unaltered. Playback on the computer sounds exactly same as on the turntable. Scratches. Pops. Nearly all of the nuances are captured.

There are some good programs that take care of the scratches and pops.  And some work very well.

As for converting them all.  No.  Too lazy.  And let’s not kid ourselves.  The sound is subpar.  I don’t care how good your system is, with all the extremely produced, crappy sounding vinyl (a few get it right) it’s not worth it, when a HQ replacement is readily had in the nether regions of teh interwebs.  Only on a few that never made it to CD.  Most of my Head East LP’s comes to mind and until the past year, REO’s first album was never on CD.  99.9% of my LP collection has been released (somewhere in the world) on CD.

Rhino30 - 29 March 2008 05:05 PM

vegastracon - 29 March 2008 04:58 PM

Rhino30 - 29 March 2008 03:10 AM

I decided you can’t get that character sound and feel from digital so I am going to start my very own vinyl collection. 

Keep in mind that you can transfer the “character sound and feel” to a digital format.

I have an extensive collection of vinyl that I have digitally copied unaltered. Playback on the computer sounds exactly same as on the turntable. Scratches. Pops. Nearly all of the nuances are captured.

That is pretty neat vegas.  It really does not change a thing with the sound?  I think I will stick to my Dad’s old record player he gave me...it brings back good memories when I clean the needle.  How much do one of those digital record player doohickies cost bye the way?

You can use your own turntable.  Go from the tape out jacks of your amp, into your soundcard.  Have some recording software, and presto.  Ready to go.

Pandora - 30 March 2008 04:11 AM

Marantz Quadraphonic 4-channel amp/receiver, with Dolby, for me, 1976, $861.

Still using it.

Speaking of which, shoddy vinyl… And I know.  I’ve listened to my vinyl versions of the Moodies Core 7 over and over and over… They don’t come remotely close, to the new CD remixes.  So much detail has been brought out that it’s like listening to them for the first time.

Breathe deep the gathering gloom

/ahhhhh

Well ... Yaaaaaaaaaa ...

BUT, for MANY years quadraphonic was THE best sound.

Is digital high def 7.1 surround sound better?  Of course it is!

That’s what my video system is hooked up to.  The quad resides in my den.

.