[vigneshkumar31]

This thread is for audiophiles who are into analog audio. Turntables, Reel to Reel Cassette players and the like.

The vinyl renaissance is happening now, and LP record sales have hit the roof. The records culture in India is fast catching up, or I should say reviving and I see quite a few people spinning LPs.

I'm sure that there are BHPians who are into records and turntables and Hi-fi in general, this is the space to discuss gear, music and setups.
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My setup:

Analog Source: Pro-ject Turntable with OM20 Cartridge
Phonostage : Schiit Mani
Head-fi Amp : Schiit Magni Heresy
Headphones : Audio Technica ATH M50X DG Limited Edition Studio Monitors.
Cables : RCA-RCA Belden Interconnects
Digital Source: Allo Digione Raspberry Π based streamer/SPDIF transport
DAC : Schiit Modi 3 DAC
Speakers : Edifier S1000 DB Active Monitors

I'm a thorough Jazz and Blues head.
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What's your setup? What kind of music do you spin?

[R2D2]

I had a Technics turntable in the distant past but gave it and my collection of LPs away to a friend. Ditto with my reference master Namamichi and Akai tape decks. The move to digital was complete though I still have many metal/ferrous/chrome cassette tapes only for memory sake. The only analogue player I have is my fathers 2-in-1 again retained in his memory.

All that said, I love analogue sound though hi res files do kind of make up for the smoothness of LPs. Some people I know still swear by turntables and have retained their very high end set ups. They have vulgarly expensive turntables tonearms and cartridges but the sound is absolutely heavenly.

I hardly use my surround sound amp and speakers now. Prefer the intimacy of listening via headphones. Depending on my mood and what I am listening to select from my collection of cans - Sennheisers, Audio Technicas, Grado Sony, and Bose among them. When plugged in via bluetooth the codec is LDAC for near lossless streaming otherwise I use a FIIO K5 Pro DAC+Amp or my computer's Xonar Essence STX sound card. I had a Schiit Lyr and Bifrost combo that my brother gave to me but that's been returned to him. PLan to buy more contemporary Schiit gear and a couple of high end headphones in the future. BTW Fiio makes good stuff, you must check out some Chi-fi gear from Fiio, Topping, Shanling etc, they're very good VFM.

Genres are varied - rock, pop, Jazz, RnB, Soul, house, vocal trance and last but not the least classic Hindi movie music. Most frequently heard? Jazz, Soul, RnB and rock.

[anjan_c2007]

Am and have always been an audiophile with a special like for vinyl. Have just brought back my good old HMV 1515 stereo turn table of 1979 back in working condition. I still have my old collection of a few 78 rpm records , 45 rpm records (incl EP's) and 33 rpm (many LP's and a few EP's). During the 1980's they had started manufacturing 33 rpm vinyl EP's with three songs on each side, if you can remember.

The older ones with me from the 1950's and 1960's are from my father's time (quite a few still remain) and the later ones have been added by me till the mid 1980's, when VINYL was KING. Vinyl has its own charm and is likable by many folks, who vie for music on this age-old format.

There's a good page "Turntable & Record Enthusiasts" dedicated to turntable lovers with 41 K members on FB:-

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1774832536073527/

Thanks for starting the new thread.

[saket77]

I’ve special corner in my heart for any physical music medium. Be it cassettes or vinyl; but more so for vinyl. It all started with my father’s humble HMV fiesta and his collection of records which I used to give a spin. Later, acquired a couple of Philips stereo record players and one more HMV. Finally my quest stopped with acquisition of a Technics direct drive which is my main rig now. Though all others work too, and old Hindi vinyls sounds much warmer and nice in the older players. The Technics sports a nice Shure cartridge and I find it a nice balance with the amount I can spend on this stuff and my analog music satisfaction.

[keroo1099]

Great thread which brings back fond memories of my Thorens TD125 with a lovely Audio-Technica arm which I stupidly sold when I lost all my LPs in my shift from Baroda to Bangalore.

It's really funny how audio has come a full circle where people are willing to spend crazy amounts on digital front ends to make them sound more 'analogue'.

[srini1785]

Good Thread. It would be helpful if we can pool in our resources to find spares, city wise technician contacts , DIY guides and everything associated with these analogs. For the record, i am not much of LP guy but I have a Crown portable which is boxed up and waiting for repairs for ages. I am however fully into tape players and have a triple deck MG-345 boombox which needs a lot of repairs. I am not able to find time and proper technician to support it. I have fiddled around with tube amps and radio and i still have my Grandfathers Murphy, which was running till some time back. I don't know if AM stations have stopped in Bangalore.

[deathwalkr]

I have my grandfather's old wind em up HMV gramaphone. I polished the wooden case but have no clue about how to make it work (it still spins)

And his and my dad's record collection (lot of tamil with hotel california, boney m, jim reeves etc as well)

I really wish modern music would not be a wall of sound anymore :( I mean a dynamic range of 5 seems to be the trend. Listening to vinyl playback on youtube itself makes a difference.

Maybe ten years down the line i would be able to invest in a good LP setup.

Any good tape decks still around? with a line out?

[GTO]

Out of curiosity, is there any advantage at all to records? Like, I know Moderator Navin still uses CDs for the absolute sound quality he desires. Is there any similar advantage to records? Or just nostalgia?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by GTO

Out of curiosity, is there any advantage at all to records? Like, I know Moderator Navin still uses CDs for the absolute sound quality he desires. Is there any similar advantage to records? Or just nostalgia?

There's no advantage but the sound is very natural and easy on the ears. This of course depends a lot on the record/vinyl itself and the cartridge/tonearm + record deck AKA turntable. I hasten to add as with all things audio these things are very, very subjective and one has to audition the same track on an LP record, CD and hi res FLAC to ascertain for oneself if it makes a difference.

Though I love records for their sound, their cumbersome and delicate nature, the hassles of maintaining them + the wear and tear experienced by both the record and pickup needle make them impractical in today's world. It was for this reason I got rid of my analog setup including 2 high end tape decks. I choose digital for its clarity, robust nature and very importantly the portability. Ditto with my camera system I shot both film and digital till I saw the writing on the wall and decided to move with the times. My film cameras are retained only for nostalgic reasons much like people retain classic cars.

However, we are now in an era where even the CD seems like a dinosaur, everybody wants compressed lossless or lossy audio streams (and files) to play on their phones or Digital audio players. Millions of songs in the palm of your hand with easy access to multiple record companies' vast libraries. Now the sheer convenience of that can't be beat. It's a win all the way. The new generation won't even know how to operate a tape deck much less a record player.

PS - another example - mechanical wrist watches vs quartz digital and/or analogue movements. I use both but the quartz watches get the most use and are in general more reliable than their mechanical counterparts mainly due to fewer moving parts. When it comes to accuracy it is quartz all the way.

[deathwalkr]

@GTO, the medium as such not so much i would reckon. Just that over the years music has been compressed to sound loud and punchy in the common man's music setup.

For example, metallica's death magnetic has a Dynamic range of 3! Just noise! Will just cause ear fatigue.

The vinyl of that is not much better.

So more than the medium the master is what will make the difference. Most remasters of old albums are just boosted and brickwalled.

Check out vinyl playback videos in YouTube. Compressed and Lossy as they are in YT, it sounds so much better than the usual remastered versions that are mostly available now.

(My experience is mostly with rock and metal)

[greenhorn]

Anybody with Linear Trackers here?


The black one in the foreground is mine
The silver one in the belongs to a random dude on FB for whom i offered to fix it for free (and did) - Technics linears are a bit more complex than regular DD's, but still simpler than other makes
There is actually a third technics direct drive in the background (but only a piece of it visible)

I have 4 more at home in india

I've actually moved on to CD's now!
Anyone else seen a top loading CD Changer?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Technics linears are a bit more complex than regular DD's, but still simpler than other makes There is actually a third technics direct drive in the background (but only a piece of it visible) I have 4 more at home in india

I've actually moved on to CD's now! Anyone else seen a top loading CD Changer?

I have seen both linear TTs and CD changers. The changer was a Sony though. Both belonged to a friend back in the early '90s

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Check out vinyl playback videos in YouTube. Compressed and Lossy as they are in YT, it sounds so much better than the usual remastered versions that are mostly available now. (My experience is mostly with rock and metal)

Yes modern recordings have limited dynamic range. They are more in your face and cause listening fatigue. I subscribed to those vinyl channels last year. Helps me enjoy vinyl sound on the go and have someone else do the hard work My absolute fav track on vinyl is "Your Latest Trick" by Dire Straits from their 1985 Brothers in Arms album. Love the sax intro, solo and outro. Masterpiece.

[Entsurgeon]

Originally Posted by GTO

Out of curiosity, is there any advantage at all to records? Like, I know Moderator Navin still uses CDs for the absolute sound quality he desires. Is there any similar advantage to records? Or just nostalgia?

The sound signature is totally different. Listen to any song on pc processed by its basic sound card and the tinny, synthesised, shrill voice would make you wonder if its a cover version you are playing. With not very high end cd players, you would be able to make out similar sound signature to a smaller but definite extent. The vinyl on the other hand is best for natural timbre and on a good system, you can almost see vocal cords of the singer. I d say, a stradivarius played on vinyl will be closest to real thing of all the mediums.
However, imho, the era of sound recording also has a role to play. 70s and 80s bollywood music would sound much better on a vinyl than a cd. These days they are issuing some new titles on vinyl which were originally recorded digitally and released on cds. These ones sound better or equal to a vinyl at much lower price point.
By the way i have a project xpressions with 9cc carbon fiber arm and ortofon 2m red. Have a collection of over 5k vinyls.

[kar_thikr]

I'm a total noob to this scene, so this might be totally stupid, but My mother has a collection of old heavy slate-style records and she wants to play it as she used to on the old gramophone. When I looked for a player most of them are listed for vinyl only. When I asked the guy who was selling it he didn't have much clue either. My question is can I use those players for the records that I have?
or should I go for something else?
If so which would be my fellow BHPians suggest for a beginner user ?

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by Entsurgeon

By the way i have a project xpressions with 9cc carbon fiber arm and ortofon 2m red. Have a collection of over 5k vinyls.

Sir, you can't leave a comment like that and not post pics!