# Describe in One Word What You Love About the Vinyl Sound



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Uncompressed.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Reverb


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Nostalgic


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Rogerx said:


> Nostalgic


Good one!


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Nada


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## Georgieva (7 mo ago)

Saudade


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## erudite (Jul 23, 2020)

Nostalgia.




Edit:
Oh hell. You asked for a word. I write an essay.

Apologies.
Yup.
Definitely the nostalgia.

Vinyl brings back many memories — the sound of it only a part.

The smell! Gorgeous… the newness wafting out as you split the cellophane wrap with a finger nail.

The opening of the large sleeve with the white liner sleeve, the sensual rustle as the vinyl slips out.
The tactile feel as you place the LP on the turntable, the spindle fitting easily.

The albums had sizeable artwork and some were genuininely beautiful to look at. Added to this, the liner notes usually legible and not micro sized as with CDs.

The size and heft of the boxed sets, often with books inside massive photographs and reasonably intelligent essays.

But that was way back then, when I started out as a teenager in the mid 70s.

So, the sound? Sure. But… I do not / cannot miss the snap and crackle, hiss and pop. Strictly digital nowadays. Convenience wins out over any perceived quality loss.

Thinking about it, for me, it is similar to reading books. But I still read printed books — the one area of my life where digital has made very little inroads. Nothing beats the experience of reading a printed book.

In another way my vinyl experience mirrors that of when I smoked. The ritual was as important. But I unhesitantly gave up on vinyl and smoking a long time ago.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Nothing. I started buying CDs 38 years ago and stopped buying vinyl at the same time. The superiority of CD is utterly clear. I do not miss: inner groove distortion, warped LPs, off center pressings, ticks and pops, having to flip the record to play side 2...there is absolutely nothing about vinyl to entice me to ever buy it or use it. And I still have about 500 in great condition to get rid of...


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

mbhaub said:


> Nothing. I started buying CDs 38 years ago and stopped buying vinyl at the same time. The superiority of CD is utterly clear. I do not miss: inner groove distortion, warped LPs, off center pressings, ticks and pops, having to flip the record to play side 2...there is absolutely nothing about vinyl to entice me to ever buy it or use it. And I still have about 500 in great condition to get rid of...


In 2015 I sold all 1,800 in my collection to a local store that had decided to start carrying vinyl again. Each was in a protective plastic bag, each had been lovingly cared for over the years, each was in near-mint condition. I have not regretted the decision even once.

"Uncompressed"? Apparently you know very little about how records are produced....

What I _did_ love about records? "Artwork."


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

One word, soundstage.

Compared to 16/44.1, vinyl usually has better soundstage, imaging, and other spatial cues.

However, 24/192 and especially, DSD 256, better vinyl in the above attributes.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Warmer.


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## FrankE (Jan 13, 2021)

crackles


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## Hogwash (5 mo ago)

Frisbee


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Bowls


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Atmosphere including a suitable degree of distortion!


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## PeterKC (Dec 30, 2016)

I guess we have to create an onomatopoeia on this. The sound of the needle dropping and hitting the groove. (Kratoung?)


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

To be honest sounds like a lot is based on nostalgia and the feeling of putting on an lp. I’m good with streaming. It is indescribably more convenient


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## PeterKC (Dec 30, 2016)

Well, it's always to be good to be honest. You will understand nostalgia when you are much older. It creeps up on you like molasses. Equal parts memory, happiness and melancholy

Fast food is also convenient, but I seldom partake.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

I'll add another word to describe vinyl: "veridicality." How someone talks about LPs pretty quickly tells you whether they're grounded in reality or not.


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## PeterKC (Dec 30, 2016)

NoCoPilot said:


> I'll add another advantage of vinyl: "veridicality." How someone talks about LPs pretty quickly tells you whether they're grounded in reality or not.


I like that!


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

sizzling-friedeggs


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

mbhaub said:


> I started buying CDs 38 years ago ...


That would be 1984. That was just two years after the first CD was manufactured, and well before the selection was robust. My first CD was in October 1984 (Peter Gabriel's "Security") -- what was yours?


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Rogerx said:


> Nostalgic




Last night Captain 6 sides


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I came to reading this post a short while after finishing a listening session that ended with Beethoven's First Symphony from the 1975 box set of _Nine Symphonies_ featuring Solti and the Chicago Symphony on London Records 70-5667.










The well-cared-for vinyl disc (now nearly 50 years old) played flawlessly on my VPI Scoutmaster fitted with a Maestro Wood cartridge and amplified via a JoLida tubed amp fitted with Gold Lion KT88s in the powering positions, feeding sound to a pair of French designed Triangle Antals.

As I listened I was struck with a sense of regret. So many of the folks who labored to produce this recording (from the composer, Beethoven, to the conductor, Solti, to many of the instrumentalists and the production crew) and, as well as, I suspect, many of those who designed and/or built the equipment I depend upon in my listening room are no longer with us. Yet, this document of sound which attests to their lives and their life's work survives and provided me with a good half-hour of pure pleasure. 

One word rings loudly to describe my vinyl experience this evening, for it works equally well to describe the pristine vividness of the music as rendered by my sound system as well as the vital experiences that went into composing, performing, and producing such a masterpiece as the Beethoven First Symphony. _And_ the word describes, as well, how I felt listening to this music.

Alive!


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## vincula (Jun 23, 2020)

*Ritual*

Regards,

Vincula


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## LKB (Jul 27, 2021)

Nothing.


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## Hogwash (5 mo ago)

Groovy!


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## AndorFoldes (Aug 25, 2012)

MoFi-gate.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

AndorFoldes said:


> MoFi-gate.


LOL. It's only a scandal if the perpetrator does something wrong. In this case it was the unwary customers who were proven to fooling themselves.


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## golfer72 (Jan 27, 2018)

I dont miss vinyl at all. CD's all the way. I still marvel at the quiet background of CD's.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

FrankE said:


> crackles





HenryPenfold said:


> sizzling-friedeggs


I do know what you people are listening to, but I have well cared for vinyl recordings, that are dead quiet. Even after being played for decades.

The amount of wear per play has been drastically overstated over the years. Especially if using a stylus geometry such as a line contact, Shibata, MicroRidge / MicroLine, etc., that has been properly setup. 

I've got decades old vinyl, that has almost no clicks, pops, crackles. 

Now, that being said, I am mostly a digital guy, but I believe much of the derision vinyl gets, is based on only hearing it through some pretty mediocre equipment.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Simon, do you hear any low-frequency groove rumble? I don't know how else to describe it, but it's the sound of the needle traversing 1500 feet of vinyl canyon at about 0.8 mph.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Simon Moon said:


> I do know what you people are listening to, but I have well cared for vinyl recordings, that are dead quiet. Even after being played for decades.
> 
> The amount of wear per play has been drastically overstated over the years. Especially if using a stylus geometry such as a line contact, Shibata, MicroRidge / MicroLine, etc., that has been properly setup.
> 
> ...


Maybe you weren't around in '74


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Anachronism


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

NoCoPilot said:


> Simon, do you hear any low-frequency groove rumble? I don't know how else to describe it, but it's the sound of the needle traversing 1500 feet of vinyl canyon at about 0.8 mph.


My system has 2 subs capable of response down to the mid 20 hz range, in room. I never see my woofers 'pumping'.

My TT is a direct drive, well isolated, with a record clamp to remove any warps (if they exist), and a 12" tonearm (no audible inner groove distortion).

So, there is no rumble from the turntable (-70 d, I believe), my records are flat, and I don't hear rumble.




HenryPenfold said:


> Maybe you weren't around in '74


Sure I was.

But I have always had substantially better than average equipment, and always treated my records well. I was a very early adopter of: record cleaning machines, advanced stylus geometries (to lesson record wear), and other methods for preserving records, and preventing adding noise.

As I previously stated, I have LP's from that period that are very quiet. I have had people in my listening room, that never heard good analog, who claim I am tricking them, and actually playing a digital source.

While digital is better than analog, on good analog equipment, the difference is far less than most people think.

All that being said, I am a happy digital audio fan. I would say that at least 80% if my listening is digital. Most of my analog listening is, recordings that never got a digital release, or a never got a good digital release. 

There are plenty of digital releases of analog recordings, that are inferior to the LP. And since they are either, almost unknown recordings, or the original master tape has been lost of damaged, there is unlikely to be a better reissue.


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## Judas Priest Fan (Apr 27, 2018)

Nothing.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Simon Moon said:


> But I have always had substantially better than average equipment, and always treated my records well. I was a very early adopter of: record cleaning machines, advanced stylus geometries (to lesson record wear), and other methods for preserving records, and preventing adding noise.


What, even when you were a kid? I ask, because so many records, that so many of us had/have had a chequered life! I come from a humble background and it wasn't until I developed my career that I was able to afford good kit.



> As I previously stated, I have LP's from that period that are very quiet. I have had people in my listening room, that never heard good analog, who claim I am tricking them, and actually playing a digital source.


Either you had good luck or confirmation bias!



> While digital is better than analog, on good analog equipment, the difference is far less than most people think.


I think they are different but equal


[/QUOTE]


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Simon Moon said:


> While digital is better than analog, on good analog equipment, the difference is far less than most people think.


I would definitely agree with this. The very BEST analog can approach the performance of digital.

In the 2000+ LP transfers I have done, converting to digital, cleaning them up, de-clicking and de-popping, then burning to CD-R, I have run across maybe a half dozen LPs that needed very little cleanup, like maybe 10-20 ticks per minute. These were mostly unplayed Japanese virgin vinyl releases. They STILL had the sound of the needle being dragged down the vinyl canyon, but because this sound is out of phase Left-to-Right, it can be reduced somewhat by reducing the stereo width for frequencies under 100Hz.

Every other LP I've ever done (1,994 give or take) has had anywhere from a couple dozen to thousands of non-musical artifacts per minute, regardless of cleaning regimen. These are tedious to remove as I've never found an automated process that performed to my satisfaction. The longest I've ever spent cleaning up removing ticks and pops was two months for one six minute song... because I REALLY WANTED it.

And then a couple months later it was released, dubbed from the master tapes. Mine actually sounded a tad bit better....


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Simon Moon said:


> There are plenty of digital releases of analog recordings, that are inferior to the LP.


It took several years for engineers to realize that mastering for CD is substantially different than mastering for LP. The majority of CDs reissued in the '80s, '90s and '00s were simply the LP masters dubbed to digital, with no signal below 50 Hz, no dynamic range above 60 dB, and sometimes even the RIAA curve still embedded.


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Based on a long history with vinyl: If one does everything right -which includes using the best direct-drive turntable, the best cartridge/needle, make sure that the cartridge/needle is balanced and is using an optimal weight to track, but not what will overly wear the groove, use records made with the best vinyl stock, keep the records clean and dust free (which can be hard because they can attract dust like a magnet), keep the records stored carefully- then vinyl will sound pretty good with a good preamp/amplifier.

But, no matter what you do, if you record vinyl directly or indirectly to a digital file and use a good set of headphones, you will be able to hear a background of needle-in-groove noise. Under optimal conditions, it will not be too bad, but it will be there.

IMO, using vinyl may be fun and some kind of a hobby, but it won’t take you to sound wonderland. All the effort to make it sound the best can result in a major placebo effect.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Nowt.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Not too distant from my first record player (1963):


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## golfer72 (Jan 27, 2018)

Simon Moon said:


> I do know what you people are listening to, but I have well cared for vinyl recordings, that are dead quiet. Even after being played for decades.
> 
> The amount of wear per play has been drastically overstated over the years. Especially if using a stylus geometry such as a line contact, Shibata, MicroRidge / MicroLine, etc., that has been properly setup.
> 
> ...


Maybe so but my CD's require no tuning or setup at all


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## Bkeske (Feb 27, 2019)

Breaths


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Unmissable


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

Improvable


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## Bernamej (Feb 24, 2014)

Carpet floors.


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