Not that this is new but today on Fox news there was a report that more and more label companies are stepping up on Vinyl!

I'm so glad because they produce better quality sound than MP3's. Don't get me wrong I still download music on MP3's but I'm glad to see that more and more people are realizing what they have been missing.

Who knows maybe cassette tapes, just a thought.

I recieved an email from amazon.com with a sales pitch to buy brand new set of albums. Sure enough they are making albums

And it's a nice thing. I make my own flavor of MP3s; CDs are practical, but direct-to-analogue such as vinyl (and cassette) is just as good.

Does anyone have any experience with any recent big-label vinyl releases? I'm just wondering if they're from the same masters that are over-compressed to get the most possible loudness that so many CDs have been over the past 10 years+. (I have relatively very few releases newer than about the late 90's, but many of those newer CDs I've gotten are simply cringe-worthy because of this.)

Yes I went to Best Buy the other day ,and I was really surprised at how much vinyl they have,and good stuff too.....

In the report a rep. from some recording company stated that you can buy a Beach Boys album with the exact cover, sleeve and of course recorded from the master exactly as the ones that were sold in the late 60's.

Thats cool in my book!

I watched a cable special (History channel, etc.) where they interviewed the owner of a Los Angeles based vinyl record company. He still makes current vinyl record for new artists as well limited productions of current artists for professional DJs, etc. Maybe Skippy or other S2G members who are DJs can shed some light.

Nashville,TN. based company is still pressing.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFhPXw9XnLs

quote:

Originally posted by HLR:
Does anyone have any experience with any recent big-label vinyl releases? I'm just wondering if they're from the same masters that are over-compressed to get the most possible loudness that so many CDs have been over the past 10 years+.

Got a few, and they're what you might term 'hot' presses IE; loud and 'in ya face' sounding, certainly on 12" singles but more difficult to achieve with LP grooves being so tightly spaced.

A decent, crisply mastered 12" single from the 80's played on the Technics deck through my Nad amp is still an absolute joy to my ears.

to be honest the return of vinyl really has little to do with the sound quality of it.
i mean it is not about the sound quality at all.
this has been a growing trend for the last decade.
this will continue to grow for the next little while.
it will never be the way it was however it for sure will get a little bigger yet.
the people that fueled this trend were not audiophiles.
the people who helped keep the vinyl record alive were people who just loved the entire concept of vinyl records.
everything from the cover art to the liner notes.
so many off the radar bands released vinyl records over the last decade.
of course with more vinyl records now being released and for a broader maturing audience,there could very well be a resurgence of good consumer level gear to listen to it.
currently there is a big boom on used recievers amps and record players.
the cost of producing vinyl records is still fairly expensive per unit.
not to mention shipping costs space required on a shelf to store them.
so the price is pretty high for new vinyl.
i think it is cool to see it happening.
i think some of the products bands are releasing are pretty cool.
its a nice thing to see and it is going to get a little more popular yet.

i would also add that is has been arty to do a cassette release for a while now to,that does seem to have run out of steam a little.
there was a label out of new york for a while that was doing punk and indie releases on cassette for a bit.

quote:

Originally posted by ford93:
In the report a rep. from some recording company stated that you can buy a Beach Boys album with the exact cover, sleeve and of course recorded from the master exactly as the ones that were sold in the late 60's.

Thats cool in my book!

Very C L indeed!

the new depeche mode record is the best depeche mode record in a long long long time.

CD is an awesome medium and I have some great CDs that sound stunning. However, as the digital realm has started to dominate the industry,

i agree there is some cds that just sound so good and well vinyl versions of them dont sound as good. usually due to a bad mastering job
everything getting so squashed(compressed) that it looses dynamics.


studios often compress the sound as much as possible to eeek the most sound they can into an MP3. The prevailing thought is that loud=good.

it is a necessary evil with todays media players. i mean for the most part
also may modern recordings are mastered for radio play as well.
often they end up just sounding like a wall of noise on a radio but you can still hear the vocal track fairly well.


Mastering for specific vinyl release requires much more delicate care to maximize dynamic range. But nowadays, who cares about that?

not many people i mean the truth is most people cannot tell the difference.
for the average person if they can hear the song and it sounds reasonably good that is all they care about.
also you can get five different people together to master a recording and end up with five different results.

Well, I think the resurgence of interest in the market for old amplifiers, tape decks and turntables is a result of the current generation starting to demand more out their sound.

i could not agree more. people have suddenly woken up and said.
hey this ipod sounds like ****e.
i am surprised there has been no offerings of recievers with some kind of dsp for compensating for the bit rate distortion of mp3s.
alot of people dont care about the aliasing of mp3s but for me it drives me crazy.

Great topic. I have been buying vinyl consistently over the years. It's never been better. The original cover art (gate folds, inserts) are being reprinted and the vinyl disk is coming in 180 gram and higher. The product has gotten better, and the price is dollars less than any CD, in some cases.

Today's listeners are used to ipod earphones hanging from their ears. This is a totally different musical experience, than using the acoustic device called your "head". (as you say JT, mp3's are compressed like a mother!)

When someone comes into my listening room, they are amazed at how spacial, directional, and separated the sound is. Analog is a brighter, wider experience, and all it takes is to get the ear plugs out, and listen with your ears and body. You should feel the music, and that's what's missing from the ipod with ear buds.

I could'nt agree more Daiwa, I feel the same when listening to Vinyl.

Not to sound crazy but it's a spiritual and relaxing moment when listening to Vinyl. You get to really appreciate the music.

Man all you need is a dam good Turntable, Cartridge, Amp, Preamp and Speakers and it comes to life!

I did see at the MediaMarkt store a vinyl section! , a few months ago there
were just 10 albums or so, but in the meanwhile
there are over 50, and alot old albums!, I even
did buy Bruce Springsteen born in the usa abum!
and there were even Queen and Iron Maiden albums

* must have *

also in the 80s most albums were too expensive
for me to buy so from the 80s I just have a
few albums maybe 10, but singles I could
aford once in a while so during the 80s and
early 90s when vinyl singles still were available
I did collect about 250 of them! , and
some of them I did not use more them 4 or 5 times as
I did tape them anyway, so in fact they are
still as new!

So now I have the chance to extend my album collection
once again and as Daiwa did say they are even
more cheap as those poop cd's, the Bruce Springsteen
album was just €12.99

Hope the olden record stores who still are there
after all these years (not much of them did
survive ) will sell them also and will be
as great as they once were

Also hope the clear plastic covers for the albums
will be available again as the smoke plastic
album stands

And a good album of course

quote:

Originally posted by ford93:
I could'nt agree more Daiwa, I feel the same when listening to Vinyl.

Not to sound crazy but it's a spiritual and relaxing moment when listening to Vinyl. You get to really appreciate the music.

Man all you need is a dam good Turntable, Cartridge, Amp, Preamp and Speakers and it comes to life!

It's the feeling of hearing 'the original sound' too....
So many CD compilations / reissues have screwed the sound quality by trying to be too smart with so called 'improvements' to the original,

for example; I have a stunning sounding 12" of 'Love Town' by Booker Newbury III which is a joy to listen to, but I have the same track on a recent-ish CD compilation of 80s grooves on which that track has been subject to the most horrific noise-gating to cut out any minute trace of hiss from the original master (like you'd notice on that tune!) and the net result is the song is virtually unlistenable with it's awful gating/pumping effect

Give me the hiss and the original recording any day

quote:

they are amazed at how spacial, directional, and separated the sound is. Analog is a brighter, wider experience, and all it takes is to get the ear plugs out, and listen with your ears and body. You should feel the music, and that's what's missing from the ipod with ear buds.

Wow Daiwa. You are so right on So many have either forgotten the experience or the young-uns have never experienced the magic. Well stated my friend.

Thats our Dave...always a pioneer and wordsmith.

you know the resurgence of vinyl is driven by people for the most part who were under thirty.
this started back in the early part of this century with the indie scene getting together and deciding to release vinyl records.
it really was only a tiny handful of us that did it.
there was so much creativity and talent just exploding out of the desire to keep alive something that really was near death.
i am very proud to have been amongst the first to release new vinyl back at the start of this revival.
people laughed at us when we would be asked what we were releasing, i have to be honest most of the people who laughed were in my age bracket.
the kids thought it was fantastic and our records sold well and still sell to this day even tho we have been broken up.
we always had the coolest product and our contemporaries referenced us with their own releases.
this current trend of big labels doing releases on vinyl is without a doubt a extension of the trend within the indie underground.
it was really about saying there is no reason for this industry to die out.
it was about preserving something sacred and iconic to our culture.
soon after our release there was more and more new vinyl. it was a really fantastic feeling walking into a record store in sand diego (A REAL RECORD STORE) and seeing my record besides some other band under the banner new vinyl.
maybe a dozen or so albums up there,but it was growing every month.
labels like k records global symphonic and gold standard laboratories to name a few.
for every one that suceeded there was dozens that would fail.
lack of organization planning funding or lack of the strength to keep going took alot of them down.
pretty much every idea the big labels come up with now comes out of small cottage industry from some point.
doing a release on vinyl for a vancouver based band or any band in 2000 was extremely unheard of.
despite doing many many releases now of different formants vinyl is always the ones that hold the most pride and sense of achievement for me.
we wanted to do interesting things with both the actual product as well as the music itself.
some releases would include the cd as well inside the jacket.
others would have different cover art.
there was is so much fantastic music out there,on new vinyl that kids made.
i mean they sacrificed everything to do it and it was young people that bought the records.
vinyl has been making a huge comeback over the last decade.
it has taken a while for the majors to get behind this trend,but the majors dont take big chances in this day and age on anything.
that being said if they can see something working on a small scale they will capitalize on it.
i plan on doing alot of cool new vinyl releases with the new band.
one idea i have is doing a boxed set of ten inch singles. i still like that format and well its pretty arty so i like the idea of it very much.
i am very lucky as a artist to have been able to produce some of the most well respected vinyl releases over this last decade.
our peers now respect us for helping to truly pioneer the vinyl revival it is a experience i would not trade for anything.
i mean the people that do something first usually end up being glossed over and forgotten about however this is a case where i can truly say.

the records speak for themselves.


MY RECORDS







so please to those who dis the youngins saying they dont know this or that
there was thousands of kids who gave pretty much everything to produce records and keep vinyl alive.
nothing is truer in this story of vinyl making a comeback than that.
i have seen kids go without food in order to pay the pressing plant for the releases they put out.
the squalor they have lived in to sacrifice for there passion for the vinyl record.
working three jobs and still being broke.
some of the got rich really rich.
some of them died
some of them are still out there trying figure out what to do next.
it wasnt about being cool for them or being hip.
it was about doing something they were passionate about.
it is so much harder to do this than release a compact disc or just a direct to itunes release.

i am very glad i did it. i owe a lot to the kids who allowed me to work with them despite the age difference.
allthough some of them have moved to places far aways and some are no longer here i will never forget any of them.
sometimes i see some of them picking up a gold statue now that success has finally come to them.
sometimes i see some of them trying to score smack on the street.
the record industry is filled with triumphs and tradgedy.
the survival of the vinyl record is one of the triumphs.

this is a nice package

music is cool too

I was under thirty but not in this century.

yes i remember those days too.

quote:

Originally posted by JT:
Here is the primary culprit to the decrease of quality hifi sound in much of the music mastered nowadays: Loudness Wars
...

Thanks for posting this. I intended to, but when I went to wikipedia to look for it I got sidetracked (seems to happen a lot when going there) then was away for a bit.

IMO CDs seemed best around 1990-1992 or so. By then studios had "learned how" to make them better, with fewer inconsistent and mediocre-sounding releases, and this loudness-war stuff hadn't yet started in earnest. A lot of pop music doesn't have a lot of dynamic range to begin with, but the quality of tracks can still suffer badly from this over-compression. Replay-gain'ing doesn't fix it: the damage is already done. With a few CDs of mine, I can only imagine and wish what they'd sound like if decently mastered. (Rod Stewart: Stardust: The Great American Songbook Vol. III comes to mind immediately. I had to reduce the level by at least 30% to match with other tracks for a mix compilation. And it still sttms the aural equivalent of smashed bread.)

I was hoping that recent vinyl releases would be more quality-minded and not suffer from this. But with the risk of overmodulating the groove when cutting a record, it's not surprising it still goes on.

As an aside, I'll confess to this: when I convert tracks to MP3 format I'll sometimes "remaster" them a bit to get a more consistent level, usually bumping up the level to take advantage of most of the available dynamic range, to the extent they match most other tracks I've done. If necessary I'll edit down a few spurious spikes by 10-15% so they don't clip. But also I try not to make them over-loud, and when doing an entire album where dynamic range is important, will do it all at once so the relative dynamic range is preserved.

And add the additional level of processing done by radio stations to the already nasty sound of modern CD's and it's all just a mush of fatigue inducing nothingness.

I remember the days when FM radio stations used a line-limiter and an engineer manually oversaw the main broadcast levels... ahhh the potential of FM radio to exhibit near-hifi sound quality has been snubbed out for good it seems

quote:

As an aside, I'll confess to this: when I convert tracks to MP3 format I'll sometimes "remaster" them a bit to get a more consistent level, usually bumping up the level to take advantage of most of the available dynamic range, to the extent they match most other tracks I've done. If necessary I'll edit down a few spurious spikes by 10-15% so they don't clip. But also I try not to make them over-loud, and when doing an entire album where dynamic range is important, will do it all at once so the relative dynamic range is preserved.

Yup! I know exactly what you mean... Which brings up another big difference between digital and analog. Not necessarily specific to vinyl vs. CD, but moreso related to recording digital vs. onto tape...

Once you flatline a peak in the digital realm, you can really, really hear it, and it sounds really ugly. It's pretty much black and white. Either you're within the limits and it sounds okay, or if you push it just a bit to far you can end up completely screwed. (thinking about my CD recorder, line in on the PC, or minidisk recording w/o using the auto levels)

But, in the analog realm there is this wonderfully fuzzy gray area where distortion gets held at bay just a bit longer... And depending on the quality of the recording medium, you have various levels a gray sandwiched in between the black and white...

I gave up mastering any new mixes on CD for several reasons.

1) Its only 80 mins. Tapes are 90 & 100 mins.
2) If I screw up, toss the disk.
3) If the levels get just a bit out of control and I hit 0db, peaks get flatlined and the recording could suffer dramatically.

Instead, I have actually been using a Panasonic hifi VHS recorder that I have with separate L/R recording level controls and very detailed VU meters. When recording audio at the fastest speed on a T-120 I can go for two full hours without interruption, and the specs on this thing are mind-blowing for tape. Tape hiss is NOT an issue, and neither is distortion if the levels get push past 0db. Although I prefer to let the recording breath and keep the levels peaking around 0db, I have seen the VU's creep up to around +6 and still end up with a clean sounding recording! If the levels were to get out of hand like that on a CD recording, I would have just made another shiny coaster.

quote:

Originally posted by enskanker:
I was under thirty but not in this century.

...or the last!!

...hummm, how did you get a pic of me with my blackpowder rifle?

Hands-on music, looks good, sounds amazing!

is that a kenwood 3055 in that picture aka the rock.
nice turntable. pretty rare nowadays.

Sorry for going off-topic with this...

quote:

Originally posted by JT:
Instead, I have actually been using a Panasonic hifi VHS recorder that I have with separate L/R recording level controls and very detailed VU meters.
...

Goes to show just how nice-sounding VHS hi-fi can be. (With some movies I have on both VHS and DVD, the VHS sounds warmer and nicer.) I've used VHS strictly for audio a few times myself. I ran into a couple problems though. One is, sometimes (rarely, actually) there would be some short bursts of noise, like what you get when the tracking is off, maybe caused by dirty tape or just not having the best player. The other came up when I was using VHS recordings of cassettes becuase I needed to play them back twice for later synchronization (playing the cassette would have some very slight speed variations and not work). Sometimes a field would be skipped or repeated during playback, and the synchronization thrown off.

I have an 80's-era NEC N965U with Dolby NR, recording level settings and VU meters, that I still need to repair. It'd probably work beautifully for this sort of thing.

In my case I'm making MP3s from CDs, cassettes and LPs. (Whenever I need to "remaster" a track I archive it in FLAC format.) Recording mix tapes is fun, but usually CD and MP3 are more practical for my situations. I buy and listen to pre-recorded tapes frequently though, and LPs now and then.

quote:

Originally posted by Daiwa:
Hands-on music, looks good, sounds amazing!

Purrrty. Vintage Kenwood... I wonder if a "bent" tonearm is a status symbol in turntables. I have two turntables but both have straight tonearms.

quote:

Originally posted by THAFUZZ:
I watched a cable special (History channel, etc.) where they interviewed the owner of a Los Angeles based vinyl record company. He still makes current vinyl record for new artists as well limited productions of current artists for professional DJs, etc. Maybe Skippy or other S2G members who are DJs can shed some light.

hey FUZZ i think your talking about rainbow records in santa monica. thats were all records were pressed in l.a. for a long time. they still do it but only in limited #'s but i hope they do alot more with the way things are going with records. i love listening to music on wax, its the best sound.

Our ears got used to the harsh sound of the digital stuff. Vinyl is still the best way to enjoy music.
I have to say that the CD sounded good when it came out in the 80's . Before the loudness war

quote:

Originally posted by Daiwa:
Hands-on music, looks good, sounds amazing!

Hi Daiwa, is that your rig? I have the older, bigger brother to your mixer in my setup.. The Behringer DX 1000. Bang for the buck, you can't beat the Behringers! (pun intended!)

quote:

Sorry for going off-topic with this...

quote:
Originally posted by JT:
Instead, I have actually been using a Panasonic hifi VHS recorder that I have with separate L/R recording level controls and very detailed VU meters.
...

Goes to show just how nice-sounding VHS hi-fi can be. (With some movies I have on both VHS and DVD, the VHS sounds warmer and nicer.) I've used VHS strictly for audio a few times myself. I ran into a couple problems though. One is, sometimes (rarely, actually) there would be some short bursts of noise, like what you get when the tracking is off, maybe caused by dirty tape or just not having the best player. The other came up when I was using VHS recordings of cassettes becuase I needed to play them back twice for later synchronization (playing the cassette would have some very slight speed variations and not work). Sometimes a field would be skipped or repeated during playback, and the synchronization thrown off.

I have an 80's-era NEC N965U with Dolby NR, recording level settings and VU meters, that I still need to repair. It'd probably work beautifully for this sort of thing.

In my case I'm making MP3s from CDs, cassettes and LPs. (Whenever I need to "remaster" a track I archive it in FLAC format.) Recording mix tapes is fun, but usually CD and MP3 are more practical for my situations. I buy and listen to pre-recorded tapes frequently though, and LPs now and then.

Yea, I've been lucky with the tracking on this Panasonic NV-F55 and that hasn't been a problem. A previous Hitachi VCR I used in this manner would sometimes have tracking problems in the first minute or two of the recording, so learned to wait until the VHS has recorded dead air for at least a minute or so before I start recording anything. I still do that.

Also, VHS is terrible for anything you want to fast-forward or rewind, which can also throw off the tracking. So, the only thing I record onto hifi VHS tapes are when I'm beat-mixing a DJ session. Otherwise, I will record onto regular cassette, CD or minidisk.

quote:

Originally posted by JT:
Hi Daiwa, is that your rig? I have the older, bigger brother to your mixer in my setup.. The Behringer DX 1000. Bang for the buck, you can't beat the Behringers! (pun intended!)

Yep, those are my babies JT. The Behringer is very cool, I sold my old Gemini - didn't have half the features as the Behringer.

I have more 1500 records and i buy every month new records or re-issue .
I have technics SL 1210 M5G and Denon DP 3000 .

http://www.musicdirect.com/

they have a bunch of LP's available

Thanks for the link. I plugged in a few searches, and everything I looked up was $24.99. Seems pricey for the stuff you can pick up at garage sales for a buck or two, but a great resource for the rare stuff that they do have.

yard sales would mostly be used, that store is all new, probably the price difference.

for me and my 2500+ vinyl collection
vinyl never went away,i have and always will love it by far my fav music source no doubt!

quote:

Originally posted by Jaredscottfla:
for me and my 2500+ vinyl collection
v

2500??????

yes Nicolle i've been a record collector since i was 9,i'm now 42 still collecting

Hey Jared, Good for you! I have about that many too!....been collecting/playing records since I was 4...now I am 42!

Thanks pal,4 yrs old? cool u got me beat. I'm trying to remember what records i had at 4-5 yrs old,i can def remember a flintstones record,where fred first gets dino and fred and barney get unwittingly involved in a bank robbery,i honestly think that and pinocchio were my very first records

As I've said before, I'm a long time lover of the black slabs of musical delight, dunno how many I've got but I know the biggest boxes I really struggled to carry when I moved to my current abode! Mainly comprises of 12" singles and a few LP's (always preferred singles!) and quite a healthy stockpile of 7" singles which were typically 80's UK chart singles and more recently (from about 1995 onwards) reggae singles, many imports from Jamaica.

Here's a few classics:

Tape Comeback too??

Looks like its not just vinyl making a comeback!!!

Very interesting article above...

jt,hey i love my tapes too. Goodwill is always solid for maxells,sony's and tdk's. Today i got andy williams,jose Feliciano,David Bowie,scandel,Frank Sinatra, Hank williams Jr, and The 5th Dimension Tapes,(i have a very eclectic and varied taste in music,lol) for .25 ea and 6 sealed sony hi fi's for 1.00 not too shabby at all!

Alright how about that!

Hey Jared....My very first 45 I paid for with my own "allowance" money ( at 4 yrs. old)..was Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" ...because my mom loved that song so much, and it ended up being the number one hit of 1970! I also remember these other 45's I played out back in the day:
Brian Hyland - Gypsy Woman
Norman Greenbaum - Spirit In The Sky
The Archies - Bang Shangalang
Daddy Dewdrop - Chick a Boom
Ray Stevens - Gitarzan
Mac and Kate Kissoon - Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep
...and I can keep going, but don't wanna bore anyone! I miss the 70's!!!

that's awesome!