Records over MP3

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For some reason music played through a record player (and to a lesser degree a CD player) calms me down more than music on a computer or iPod. I think it's the physical act of choosing the record, taking it out, putting it on the platter and dropping the needle that does it, but I'm not sure. Anyone else find this or something similar?

Absolutely. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING digital can match the dynamics, especially in the lower ranges (bass), of a vinyl recording. Vinyl, unfortunately, takes a lot of work to maintain, and even if you do everything possible, you can't undo what the stylus does to it. Every time you play vinyl, microscopic peelings come off. And no matter what you do, dust will get on it, and the diamond will grind it in.

If you can put up with that, or listen to music that's loud enough to get over the crackle, there's no matching the crisp bass if you can manage to isolate your turntable from feedback. Of course you can't beat the artwork either. There's something very different about being able to hold it in your hands. Cassette and CD cases, or digital imagery on the computer just isn't the same at all.

I've noticed in comparing some mp3 version vs. lossless versions of song that the "goosebump effect" is less with mp3, even if I can't consciously hear a difference.

And mp3 does actually alter the sound. It's based on the concept of "psychoacoustic masking," which means that the human brain tends not to hear sounds under certain conditions. I.e. if two tones are close to another and one is less by a strong by certain amount, the brain won't register it -- so the mp3 encoder deletes that sound. There also temporal masking effects, but I forget how that works.

But ultimately, mp3 uses a model of what the human brain will and won't detect -- but I've always wondered how accurate that model is across the population (especially if your brain has weird sensory processing). Also, testing of mp3 (during it's development) was done with expert listeners -- but I wonder if there are qualities of music/sound that have a subconscious effect.

It's good to see USB turntables out, and to see vinyl making a comeback. I didn't like the USB turntables like some of the cheap (looking) ones I've seen. Instead, I bought a top-end model used.

I also love to go to thrift shops and look through their collections of old vinyl records. Such places are where I also built a great stereo system for less than one piece of it would have cost new.

Of course, all my stuff is fairly old-school, except for the IR remote-controlled amplifier, which cost me $7. Heavy as it is, it's probably worth at least that as scrap!

It's good that it gives you a good feeling. It makes me feel good to listen to those old records as well. Doing so takes me back to another time.

Have A Great Day!

Rob

People still listen to vinyl??! !

I find the same thing as well. I've always preferred records and CDs over MP3s.

clicks, crackle, hiss and rumble drive me batty, i absolutely am incapable of listening "through" such spurious sounds to the music underneath. CD/digital recording for me, was a godsend- FINALLY, no more damned NOISE! i have some old records that are so crackly you'd think firecrackers were going off in the room! the old burwen declickers made the crackles less obnoxious but still left behind enough of 'em that you could never forget about 'em. CEDAR finally came out with a semipro/semi-consumer model declicker that made short work of the crackle, which is what i've been using for the past decade or so, but even with the crackle suppressed/removed there is still all the other grungy noises on phonographic recordings. i found that if i wanted to compress onto MP3 my records, i had to remove all the noise or else i'd get these weird aliasing distortions caused by both noise and signal competing for too few available bits. with the noise out of the way, i finally could truly enjoy listening to the old music in my collection, i could finally relax without worrying about being jolted by a loud pop or click. LP-loving acquaintances of mine said that if i just listened to my music at a background level like they do, the record noise wouldn't be so obnoxious, but i find the hysteresis of the low-level signals [when played back at insufficient volume level typical of background music listening] to be just as objectionable as the noise.

The artwork is definitely much more pleasing because of the much larger area. I disagree on the quality degrading over time however, I managed to get an original 1969 copy of Best Of Cream, it sounds clear as anything and sounds better than it does as an MP3. Obviously this copy has been well kept, but throughout my (admittedly small) collection the quality is equal to that of a CD, these are all original pressings other than one reissued 7". I think by taking fairly simple steps to prevent dust, ie keeping them in good condition dust sleeves, the quality can be retained almost indefinitely. That's just my opinion though

I disliked CDs because they seemed so easily scratched or damaged. I don't understand the design that seems so vulnerable to wear and tear. Even the old Floppy computer disks where inside a protective covering. If CDs had been inside a cover like those small plastic floppies with the sliding door I would have been happy with CDs. Even some Minidisk companies had designed their product to be in a protective cover.

I'm usually careful with my CDs but s**t happens. I've decided to embrace the convenience of digital and carry my MP3 player every where.

I rip them from CDs at the highest quality but I do wish I could do Lossless WAV. Well I can but my portable player doesn't recognize that format.

I love mp3 (or whichever format) for the portability - having my entire music collection in my pocket is, for me, the very best of modern technology. When I'm at home though, it's full fat audio all the way. Mp3's compression leaves music sounding either dull and flat at low volume, or the source of a wall of noise headache at loud volume. It has to be a CD or record player sending an undiluted signal to a sizeable amp, driving a pair of large speakers that can properly get those air molecules moving.

I prefer flac files to mp3 (if I can) though nothing gives me the floating feeling of analog. Still waiting for that to be replicated digitally.