Model Train Journal

The Compact Disc was introduced roundabout 1982. Much to my chagrin, the aforementioned event occurred after I had managed to amass a substantial collection of vinyl LP's. (snickering is permitted at this point ) I resisted for a time, but eventually succumbed and started buying CD's, and ultimately managed to replace 99.9% (if not all) of my vinyl with CD reissues, and I've never looked back.

During the time that I acquired my vinyl LP collection, I found LP's that were wavy enough that they resembled "potato chips", with center? holes punched other than in the center, and enough "snaps, crackles, and pops", that I thought i had purchased cereal! I don't ever recall having to return a defective CD, though I've read where some that were "cheaply" manufactured ended up unplayable, and the possibility exists of the aluminum backing material corroding if exposed to air.

Considering all the possible issues that can affect/occur with LP's there is a large group of "audiophiles" (I was tempted to call them something else ) That contend that the sound from LP's is superior to the CD. Some say they sound "warmer" (maybe they should back off the thermostat) yada, yada, yada (can't recall all the other reasons).

A Cd played a gazillion times will (theoretically) have NO wear. An LP played the same amount, not so much. I will NOT be buying any more vinyl LP's!

Maybe I have a tin ear! Commence firing!!!!!

PS: I wonder how many plays one can get from a vinyl LP before it is toast?

Wikipedia's take on the CD:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_D ... ital_Audio

If you have an absolutely top-drawer turntable and a top-of-the-line cartridge vinyl sounds pretty good...however it still gets ground to shavings eventually. To my ear compact discs sound pretty good...I think the vinyl proponents are sitting on a mountain of the stuff and are trying to talk up demand.

Now cassette tapes - they are great!!!

Sell your vinyl on eBay. It's a hot item. Throw out your cds. My laptop and cell phone sound just as good

healey36 wrote: To my ear compact discs sound pretty good...I think the vinyl proponents are sitting on a mountain of the stuff and are trying to talk up demand. Now cassette tapes - they are great!!!

One of the vinyl proponents I'm thinking of is a PBS radio station, with one of their many taglines being "Vinyl at Heart", so I don't see an economic thing there. I have no idea of how much, if any, of what they play is on vinyl, but they seriously promote it.

As for tape, my main issue with it was faults (or maybe gaps) in the oxide layer. I had both 10 1/2 and 7 inch reel to reels, and the 10 1/2 inch reels tended to have drop outs (as in spots that wouldn't record) or maybe it was a recording head issue. Will never know as I sold that deck way back.

I made quite a few "customized" cassettes, but have pretty much shelved that operation since most cars come with CD players. Got to be a PITA installing tape decks. Guess I am getting old!

robert. wrote:Sell your vinyl on eBay. It's a hot item. Throw out your cds. My laptop and cell phone sound just as good

Ain't happening! You can't tell me you get as good a sound quality out of those gizmos as opposed to a GOOD home stereo system speaker. I don't even own a cell phone! Guess I'm a dinosaur!

Top end equipment playing vinyl has different characteristics; having stated that I have not played any vinyl in close to 20 years other than to convert my vinyl to mp3 format strictly for convenience and portability on either a iPod or on a flash drive. I have an iPod player in my work shop that's portable and the flash drive plugs into a port in my car; can also plug in the iPod there.

The real question is whether our ears at our respective ages can even tell the difference anymore. While I know my sound level detection / discrimination is still pretty good, I also know that my full spectrum range of hearing is nothing like it was 40 years ago.

I now spend most of the day listening to my internet radio station on the computer speakers - pretty decent speakers or "good enough" for what I'm using them for while at the keyboard.

As it turns out I can also dial in that same internet radio station on my Kindle for which I also have external speakers - again, "good enough".

It is rare that one gets a defective CD. However, they do not have unlimited play and there is some wear over time. That copy on the computer is also subject to degradation over time.

I long for the days of having a reel-to-reel, but I know that's just irrational - sound was good, and it was fun to use, but the sound through my external computer speakers is better; the sound in my car is better. I no longer concern myself about systems and only get what is good enough. and then I buy more music to explore.

One huge advantage of second-hand vinyl - there's still a ton of stuff that was never transferred to the compact disc format or has long ago dropped from the catalogs. Trying to run down CD versions of James Gang or Dead Kennedy's, for example, can be a fruitless exercise, but diligence on-line and at used record shops can yield old vinyl. As Rufus pointed out, a nice vinyl-to-MP3 turntable is a great tool.

healey36 wrote:One huge advantage of second-hand vinyl - there's still a ton of stuff that was never transferred to the compact disc format or has long ago dropped from the catalogs.

There are some services that will burn CD's from LP's, and the few times I've used them, the end product came out very well. That was sending a pretty much mint LP, as in the old GIGO (garbage in, garbage out).

I've had an amazing rate of success replacing LP's with Discs, and some of the stuff was relatively obscure.

Some of my sources:

Amazon (pretty obvious that)
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss ... =&x=8&y=18

CD Connection
http://www.cdconnection.com/

Ebay
https://www.ebay.com/rpp/cds

CD Baby (a good site for Indie music)
https://www.cdbaby.com/

Itunes
https://www.apple.com/itunes/

When CD's 1st popped on the market, I must agree they didn't seem to have the warmth and fullness I got with vinyl. Probably just my prejudice! I had a B&O turntable at the time and it was the best I'd heard and had an accutrac before that. But, as speakers improved, the difference seemed to go away and I never missed the static, that just about every record had as it aged.

But, my son introduced me to the MP player a few years agos and I need to get my collection of CD's transferred, as this is the only way to go today. He also introduced me to Pandora and downloading movie soundtracks and new age music is just so easy.

BH

It seems to me that with the introduction of each new type of recording alot of the new stuff had to show the advantages and sound differences by
making tricky sounding stuff. After a while it seemed to settle down and little difference could be heard.
I'm shocked by the price of new vinyl recordings compared to CDs.

After I'd gotten out of the Navy, I set up all the stereo equipment that I'd bought through PACEX. I'd put the Moody Blues "Question of Balance" on the Pioneer turntable, kick up the volume on the Pioneer Amp, and lay on the floor surrounded by 4 Pioneer CS88A speakers. Thought I was in Seventh Heaven.

Now I listen to DooWop over the internet on the computer, and it seems good enough for me.

I never could hear the difference between the $200.00 and the $1000.00 speaker. I could the $50.00 ones.
I had friends that argued over all kinds of subtle things with stereo systems. I could hear differences with bass sounds.

I had a friend from Vienna, Austria who loved opera and attended the opera very often when he lived there. His father,
father and mother-in-law were all executed by the Nazis, He was able to get his wife and mother to England in 1939 and
to the U.S. in 1946. He had a huge collection of 78 RPM opera recordings. They were scratchy and did not sound good at
all. But he would listen to them with a look of pure bliss. I found he did NOT here those recordings, he heard what he had
heard at the Vienna Opera. Several friends and I bought one of the all in one players for LP, 45 and 78 records for him
along with several LP operas. He was amazed that it was possible to get so much music on one disc. I think what we
gave him cost @ $100.00. He wouldn't have been happier if it cost $1000.00. I think I am a little like that.

Well, I am having lots of trouble with CDs. They start skipping like a broken record, and no amount of cleaning seems to fix it. We have actually had to replace some - my favorire Emmylou CD skips on my favorite songs. I think I had better luck with LPs.

bob turner wrote:Well, I am having lots of trouble with CDs. They start skipping like a broken record, and no amount of cleaning seems to fix it. We have actually had to replace some - my favorire Emmylou CD skips on my favorite songs. I think I had better luck with LPs.

I know you work with metal. I wonder if the CD might be electrostatically attracting fine metal chips?

Much like vinyl, compact discs do require some level of care. If you scratch or otherwise damage the encoded side of the disc you might obliterate some of the etched surface which the laser "reads". This can lead to lost passages or "skipping" during playback. I buy a lot of used CD's from various sellers through Amazon. I try to buy from folks that test the disc before selling it...have never had a problem.

DVD's seem to be a different story. I have an old JVC player and it routinely has trouble with DVD's, nearly all of which are new. I need to upgrade my player.