Radio is going through some changes

[Chuck]

Beware the turntable operator! "Give him a plinth, he'll take a mile," haw haw.....

The BBC reports that vinyl LP sales went from 454,000 in 1007 to over 803,000 so far this year. I know it's an insignificant market share but it's an intriguing trend, especially given the demographics I noted earlier.

Then again, given the record industry's abysmal sales trends, the phonograph record sales phenomenon may be more significant than the mere numbers might indicate. (The record industry may be the only one comparable to the radio industry in terms of myopia and inertia.)

It's pretty hard to download a vinyl LP. Or if you do, it pretty well negates the reason for buying the LP in the first place. Maybe the record companies will eventually discover that it might be a profit center.

 

[mimo]

I saw a turntable that had a usb port and a dock for an mp3 player, it was capable of uploading the album to mp3 format, but I agree, why would you want to do that. Something sounds like it's missing when I hear a song on a CD that I'm used to hearing on vinyl.

 

[Chuck]

Actually, I take audio off of LP's and save it to a hard drive all the time. A lot of the music that runs on my radio station comes from vinyl. It sounds fine, but it is not quite the same once it is transferred. I doubt that anyone notices listening off the air. They simply have nothing to compare it to.

The reason for the digital conversion is because of convenience, not quality. It would be tough to run an automated radio station from a lot of vinyl disks. Seeburg hasn't made one of their 50 LP changers in quite some time...

I am told that one of the attractions of vinyl among the younger set is the tactile advantage of a large album jacket with lots of liner notes. That is something that went away with the advent of CD's. Remember when some LP's came with lyrics, pictures and stories? Most CD's don't include that.

A major reason that vinyl is making a comeback is the current interest in "scratch mixing." There are digital substitutes that can create a similar effect, but there are some tricks you can do with two analog turntables that are very difficult to accomplish in the digital domain. It is of no interest to me (other than when I used to sell this stuff) but I assure that it is of interest to your average club-going 20 something wanna-be DJ.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

I saw a turntable that had a usb port and a dock for an mp3 player, it was capable of uploading the album to mp3 format, but I agree, why would you want to do that.

If you have some vinyl albums that were never released on CD, a USB turntable would be quite useful.

 

[Mike Walker]

Exactly Chuck, Dumber. LPs are great. I've got my closets full of the ones I play less frequently, and shelves full of the others. But they're kind of hard to listen to in the car. Or in the hammock under the shade tree! Which is why I have a turntable connected to my computer, just like you guys. I do a 70s show carried by about a dozen stations, and lots of my music comes from lp (and 45). With my turntable, I'm able to get the audio into my 'puter, tweak it until it sounds as noise-free (notice I didn't say GOOD, don't want to stir that hornet's nest!) as digitally-sourced material.

For anyone tweaking lp sound in the digital domain, if you're as bothered as I am by the occasional "spitty" distortion caused by lots of hf information near the center of the disc (where groove velocity is lowest)...on "s" sounds, cymbal crashes, etc...here's how to eliminate it. These effects typically last only a fraction of a second. Open the file in your workstation (Adobe Audition is mine), highlight JUST THE TINY PORTION where the distortion lives, and convert that tiny segment to mono (or blend it to almost mono). Your ear will never perceive such a tiny mono segment in a stereo recording, and the "spittiness" will disappear!

LPs are great. But having the music you want, when and where you want to listen, is priceless!

 

[KB1OKL]

Exactly Chuck, Dumber. LPs are great. I've got my closets full of the ones I play less frequently, and shelves full of the others. But they're kind of hard to listen to in the car. Or in the hammock under the shade tree! Which is why I have a turntable connected to my computer, just like you guys. I do a 70s show carried by about a dozen stations, and lots of my music comes from lp (and 45). With my turntable, I'm able to get the audio into my 'puter, tweak it until it sounds as noise-free (notice I didn't say GOOD, don't want to stir that hornet's nest!) as digitally-sourced material.

For anyone tweaking lp sound in the digital domain, if you're as bothered as I am by the occasional "spitty" distortion caused by lots of hf information near the center of the disc (where groove velocity is lowest)...on "s" sounds, cymbal crashes, etc...here's how to eliminate it. These effects typically last only a fraction of a second. Open the file in your workstation (Adobe Audition is mine), highlight JUST THE TINY PORTION where the distortion lives, and convert that tiny segment to mono (or blend it to almost mono). Your ear will never perceive such a tiny mono segment in a stereo recording, and the "spittiness" will disappear!

LPs are great. But having the music you want, when and where you want to listen, is priceless!

Yes I agree, LP's are a PITA even for me in my own home but when I really want to hear some fine sound I put on the good old LP's.