The Dark Disc will soon call you to tubes-tubes-tubes for a preamp, than an amp (ideally monoblocks!), than a phono preamp, leading to a more expensive turntable and/or cartridge, isolation devices, rack, static gun, different record clearning solutions, and rice paper lp sleeves. Shortly, you'll discover the magic of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab discs, Nautilus, Direct Discs, and Half Speed Masters. At each and every new step a perceived new level of musical nirvana will be revealed enticing you to more and greater pursuit of audio esctasy. Welcome to the club of doomed souls - it ain't pretty but we have a helluva good time.
A Newbie's First Week Impressions -- Vinyl Rules
Well after owning my first turntable for a week and having let the cartrige run in a good bit (Music Hall MMF-5.1 with Goldring 1012 cart), I've come to the conclusion that I've heard nothing digital that even comes close to the realism here. In a way it feels as though somehow I have rediscovered music. Up until now, I had never heard a half-decent analog system, so I didn't know what to expect. I certainly didn't expect this much of a difference. So often on these forums I see comments posted by "vinyl zealots" and I can see how it is very easy to become one. And this is all with a very modestly priced turntable setup. I now feel as though my system has room to grow. Before I was always trying to dampen and smooth out the harsh sound of digital. I used to think that the harshness was caused by other things (solid state instead of tubes, bright speakers, etc.). After purchasing this turntable I discovered what the problem had been this whole time. I will probably never be able to afford a cd player that I think is capable of coming close to analog playback (I would imagine it would take a good $10k to reach that level). So to achieve audio playback that is acceptable to my ears, digital is just out of my reach.
So I guess this rant is really just my way of saying hello and welcoming myself to the vinyl crowd. I know I'm gonna be part of it for a long time.
P.S. Do you guys have any recommendations for record cleaning and ways to reduce static? I've already got a humidifer running...
So I guess this rant is really just my way of saying hello and welcoming myself to the vinyl crowd. I know I'm gonna be part of it for a long time.
P.S. Do you guys have any recommendations for record cleaning and ways to reduce static? I've already got a humidifer running...