Vinyl Records are Back!

I’m looking to buy a new record player. I want the traditional Vinyl sound that I enjoy. However my budget is not huge. If I were to buy a brand new player (one of the usb conversion ones that can connect to my hifi) would this give me that great sound. Or do I need to buy an old record player?

Also I know they wont sound the same but can I get almost as nice a sound through my HiFi speakers as through old speakers designed for a record player?

Avoid those nostalgic record players in the wooden boxes. They have very cheap needles and ain’t very loud. and in some cases the speed is incorrect. i had one that played at a fast 34 rpms and 47rpms.
i would buy a simple turntable but look around, look at the specifications.
is it belt driven(mechanical noise) magnetic drive (quiet) sound stabilization legs (no vibrations on the record to distort) make sure it has auto return (most cheapo players don’t) antistatic mats are good (what you lay your record on). most turntable record players have built in amplifiers and will make it louder, otherwise a good set of speakers, eq, and amp will make a difference in sound too. Old or new player it doesnt matter as long as the needle is new and the playing surface is flat.

go to vinylrecordstoreinny.com

There is an unopened original vinyl record of Cheech & Chongs "Lets Make A New Dope Deal" for sell of $20. Before buying, I’d like to know how much an original unopened of this is worth. Note: It’s not the ‘digitally remastered’ version, its the original vinyl.

I did a search on ebay for that album and there are only 5 listed, from 8-20$. On musicstack there are 12 listed from 5-45$. Realistically your record is probably worth in the 20-30 range.

Researching opening a vinyl only record shop sell brand new albums not second hand or classic. How and where can I buy stock as there doesnt seem to be a lot of info online and emailing record companies direct seems hard to impossible. Looking to sell indie/rock guitar music but not pure underground, Want contemporary stock that anyone would recognise (anything you’d find in nme or Q music say). Any info or leads would be fantastic.

I would start looking for record conventions. Lots of record store owners go to these things to acquire records to sell in there store. Maybe you can meet some people there and find what your looking for.

I recently bought a record player and want to start a collection.
I prefer older bands, and say if I want to buy a Beatles record is it preferable to buy a genuine one from the 60s or a re-released one now? I’m taking into account sound quality as well as what would make a better collection.

It depends. If you have some possible candidates that are on your want lists … just do some research on customer reviews and screen responses. For instance … a good review of a particular album would be … "I (Joe Smoe) own the original and also the brand new 180 gram version of this album … and I can tell you that X sounds better. If several people chime in with agreement … maybe you follow their advice. There are no hard and fast rules. Sometimes the original sounds better and sometimes the re-issue sounds better.

I want to get into listening to vinyl records, can you tell me what I need to know when it comes to this hobby

Yes they do, only some bands do though. I would suggest finding the records online or in a record store (yes they still have those)

I have an Ion Lp turntable and I recently noticed that the post in the middle of the turntable seems to be rubbing or creating friction with the vinyl. I’ve tried my best to clean the stuff off when my record is done. Is this just a common occurrence with new records as the holes in the center are not quite big enough? If this is not normal does anyone know what to do about it?

Yes, new records can quite often be a bit of a tight fit. I’ve never experienced a turntable actually melting records before though. Do you mean that it’s cutting off little shavings of vinyl that leave a bit of goo behind? If so, it’s not really a problem and it won’t be doing any permanent damage to your records. If it’s physically melting your records away though, that sounds a bit more serious. I’ve used a knife on the hole before to scrape away some of the vinyl and widen it a little, so you don’t have to flex and bend the vinyl to get it off the platter before. It doesn’t cause any damage.

I understand why record collectors seek out old vinyl I have DJ friends that are into that. But what is this new gimmick of putting new music of records.

I saw Hot Topic selling records! LOL! And people were buying them! I find this both amusing and disheartening. Because it shows the ignorance of your average consumer. New vinyl now is produced at the same crappy quality as MP3s not great warmth of vinyl sound you find on old records so if you are buying for "sound quality" what a laugh. I guess it is another fad or gimmick set up by record companies and I would think artists would not lower themselves to such things but even artists I admire like Loreena McKennit and Brian Setzer and Sharon Jones have done this! Though I can’t say that their records have bad post-production work like most popular music as they have more control over their product.

Oi… I guess it’s just the times and I’m old except I’m not old… but trapped in these times. Does nobody care about sound quality any more?

I saw an ad from Best Buy recently that said they would give you a free turntable if you bought ten records for twenty bucks a pop! It was one of those usb turntables and I’m sure they were the new records. I didn’t go for it…..

I saw that you can get quite modern record players over the internet. I was wanting to buy a record player that can convert to CD’s and things like that but from an actual shop, near Stockport England.

Just buy the CDs.

Record do sound better, but only through a turntable.

once you convert it to digital it is broken into sample bits and is compressed. Then if you apply click removal it takes away some of the sound…

In the end, it won’t be worth going through the trouble, the CDs will sound better

I can’t find any. FutureGroove is mentioned on a few sites but not on the website of the shopping centre it’s supposed to be in…

Vinyl records are an obsolete medium and so very few music stores stock any at all. As drum and bass is a relatively modern phenomenon, CD’s would be your best bet as only the oldest drum and bass recordings would be on vinyl