So I want to get into vinyl...

Well the 80s thread has prompted me to look into a whole bunch of 80s metal bands that surprisingly have not had proper CD issues / re-issues of their 80s records or in some cases, their CDs are no longer available but their vinyl records are... go figure...

Case in point, Bonfire.

There is a Bonfire boxset which includes 5 or 6 albums and then there's another which is a 2-in-1 pack but a brief perusal of the band's discography on wikipedia indicates that the band has a ton-load of albums from the 80s which aren't readily available on CD.

With that in mind - I am a total n00b to vinyl. I have admitted to this before but I am of the CD-generation having commenced my journey into metal and hard rock in the mid-late 90s so I completely missed out on the whole vinyl experience. By the time I was introducing myself to bands like Maiden, Priest, Metallica, Megadeth etc. vinyl versions of those bands' albums were obsolete from music stores (now ironically music stores are the ones becoming extinct).

Thus I need some tips on getting into vinyl and in particular, I need to know what type of equipment I will need in order to rip a vinyl to lossless format. As self-defeating as that may appear, I listen to my music collection on the computer or on my iphone / ipad / ipod whatever ... so I seldom even play the CDs themselves instead I rip everything to a lossless format.

So I would like to know how most of you deal with this issue and what I should look out for... Thanks.

I don't know alot about fancy brand names of turntables and such but I know you can buy turntables now that hook right up to your computer, and then I'm sure you just click something that would say lossless, flac, etc....just like any other type of cd ripping. Me, I just go old school: good turntable hooked up to powerful stereo, and I just spin the records and enjoy the music the way it was meant to be played. Once you go vinyl, your eyes (ears) will be opened for the first time.

Cd's are like a brand new BMW with all the options: nice and pretty and comfy and perfect.

vinyl is like a 1966 Charger with a 425 Hemi: ugly, obnoxious, and impractical; but ballsy, heavy, and it just feels and sounds so right.

take your pick, I know which one I'd want.....

Buying a Vinyl then digitizing it in the process makes no sense, Digital files has their limits, Vinyl to FLAC means you're basically dumbing it down, it will not make it sound 'warmer' or in any sense 'better', yeah it DOES sound different but those warm wave files were now greatly eliminated/drastically reduced during the digitizing process...I once tried DEATH's "Symbolic" and a bunch other METALLICAs (vinyl) for my iPod, then made a .Flac file out of it using VinylStudio software because a friend of mine owns the vinyls, guess what, I prefer the sound of the CD versions w/c I own.

I download Flac files a lot targetting those LPs that I do not own, as much as possible I avoid those 'vinyl rips' brcause they sound awful to my ears

for all us dumb @$$es

"perusal" (noun) reading carefully with intent to remember

EmoElmo wrote:

Buying a Vinyl then digitizing it in the process makes no sense, Digital files has their limits, Vinyl to FLAC means you're basically dumbing it down, it will not make it sound 'warmer' or in any sense 'better', yeah it DOES sound different but those warm wave files were now greatly eliminated/drastically reduced during the digitizing process...I once tried DEATH's "Symbolic" and a bunch other METALLICAs (vinyl) for my iPod, then made a .Flac file out of it using VinylStudio software because a friend of mine owns the vinyls, guess what, I prefer the sound of the CD versions w/c I own.

I download Flac files a lot targetting those LPs that I do not own, as much as possible I avoid those 'vinyl rips' brcause they sound awful to my ears

I have done some vinyl rips myself from a turntable right into the soundcard of my laptop, and I feel like they sound fairly good for what they are. No, they're not 1-to-1 quality with the turntable experience, but since I can't take a turntable into the car with me it works

That said, I would recommend an Audio Technica LP-120 turntable. It has been recommended to me by a friend and fellow vinyl collector in that it's the "bargain" version of a Technics 1200 table, which is a pricey low-end audiophile turntable, and the Audio Technica version is apparently quite a good facsimile. Plus it has USB capability for direct transfer, if someone wants that kind of functionality. I generally prefer to do direct-sound transfers, but USB capability is a nice feature. Vinyl rips are a good replacement for something you can only get on vinyl and cassette, as long as you take time when doing the rip and make sure you clean the vinyl thoroughly and have a quality cartridge/needle. But I would agree that a well-mastered CD version (from original masters, or a REALLY clean vinyl transfer) are far preferred to a run-of-the-mill "needle drop" rip any day.

Best buy sells some nice turntables. Some of them have a USB jack on them that goes directly into the computer. I noticed one even had a port that you plug an ipod directly into the turntable and it loads the songs on the ipod directly. There is also alot of nice software at best buy. I bought a cassette player that plugs into the computer and it does a great job. This may sound odd but the cassette player puts the cassette (or record if i make a cassette) sound on the cd. It is almost like listening to the record or cassette. I like that on old material. I have even loaded some old 45s on the computer.

MetalFRO wrote:

EmoElmo wrote:

Buying a Vinyl then digitizing it in the process makes no sense, Digital files has their limits, Vinyl to FLAC means you're basically dumbing it down, it will not make it sound 'warmer' or in any sense 'better', yeah it DOES sound different but those warm wave files were now greatly eliminated/drastically reduced during the digitizing process...I once tried DEATH's "Symbolic" and a bunch other METALLICAs (vinyl) for my iPod, then made a .Flac file out of it using VinylStudio software because a friend of mine owns the vinyls, guess what, I prefer the sound of the CD versions w/c I own.

I download Flac files a lot targetting those LPs that I do not own, as much as possible I avoid those 'vinyl rips' brcause they sound awful to my ears

I have done some vinyl rips myself from a turntable right into the soundcard of my laptop, and I feel like they sound fairly good for what they are. No, they're not 1-to-1 quality with the turntable experience, but since I can't take a turntable into the car with me it works

That said, I would recommend an Audio Technica LP-120 turntable. It has been recommended to me by a friend and fellow vinyl collector in that it's the "bargain" version of a Technics 1200 table, which is a pricey low-end audiophile turntable, and the Audio Technica version is apparently quite a good facsimile. Plus it has USB capability for direct transfer, if someone wants that kind of functionality. I generally prefer to do direct-sound transfers, but USB capability is a nice feature. Vinyl rips are a good replacement for something you can only get on vinyl and cassette, as long as you take time when doing the rip and make sure you clean the vinyl thoroughly and have a quality cartridge/needle. But I would agree that a well-mastered CD version (from original masters, or a REALLY clean vinyl transfer) are far preferred to a run-of-the-mill "needle drop" rip any day.

Is that the same one that Wargod bought? That's a nice one!!!!

I have a Technics slbd20 that I bought in the 90s and a Kenwood kd3055 from the 70s that someone gave to me about a month or two ago. I have a yamaha disc burner that I use to rip vinyl.

chewie wrote:

MetalFRO wrote:

EmoElmo wrote:

Buying a Vinyl then digitizing it in the process makes no sense, Digital files has their limits, Vinyl to FLAC means you're basically dumbing it down, it will not make it sound 'warmer' or in any sense 'better', yeah it DOES sound different but those warm wave files were now greatly eliminated/drastically reduced during the digitizing process...I once tried DEATH's "Symbolic" and a bunch other METALLICAs (vinyl) for my iPod, then made a .Flac file out of it using VinylStudio software because a friend of mine owns the vinyls, guess what, I prefer the sound of the CD versions w/c I own.

I download Flac files a lot targetting those LPs that I do not own, as much as possible I avoid those 'vinyl rips' brcause they sound awful to my ears

I have done some vinyl rips myself from a turntable right into the soundcard of my laptop, and I feel like they sound fairly good for what they are. No, they're not 1-to-1 quality with the turntable experience, but since I can't take a turntable into the car with me it works

That said, I would recommend an Audio Technica LP-120 turntable. It has been recommended to me by a friend and fellow vinyl collector in that it's the "bargain" version of a Technics 1200 table, which is a pricey low-end audiophile turntable, and the Audio Technica version is apparently quite a good facsimile. Plus it has USB capability for direct transfer, if someone wants that kind of functionality. I generally prefer to do direct-sound transfers, but USB capability is a nice feature. Vinyl rips are a good replacement for something you can only get on vinyl and cassette, as long as you take time when doing the rip and make sure you clean the vinyl thoroughly and have a quality cartridge/needle. But I would agree that a well-mastered CD version (from original masters, or a REALLY clean vinyl transfer) are far preferred to a run-of-the-mill "needle drop" rip any day.

Is that the same one that Wargod bought? That's a nice one!!!!

I have a Technics slbd20 that I bought in the 90s and a Kenwood kd3055 from the 70s that someone gave to me about a month or two ago. I have a yamaha disc burner that I use to rip vinyl.

I have the LP-120, great turntable!

I recently bought the ATLP 120 turntable and I'm very happy with it. I ordered mine from zZounds.com for $199.00 and free shipping to boot!