I'm interested in starting my own (modern) vinyl collection, I'd like to start with choosing a reliable vinyl player, does anyone know which vinyl players are best bang for buck? Which brands offer the best sound?
I'm currently in the process of moving house and I have a spare room to use for music listening with a nice, comfortable set-up and whatnot.
I'm leaning towards a music collection of modern, organic electronic music. Project Mooncircle, Blockhead, Bonobo, Amon Tobin, etc - which player is best suited for this?
technics 1210s will last you forever and they are quality turntables, but it depends on your budget.
Agreed, I like anything based on the sl-1200. There's a lot of stuff that isn't named the sl-1200, but is based on the same design, and many parts carry over from table to table (at least the electronics). I think they made sl-1300 up to 1800 at one point. I have an sl-d3, and I think the d2 is pretty similar. By moving away from the sl-1200, prices (typically) go down and you can get some interesting features. For instance, I love that the d3 has auto-cuing, meaning I can hit start and just leave the turntable playing, it stops itself and puts the tonearm back when its done. It also cost me about half what a 1200 in similar condition was running in my area at the time.
Interesting, thank you for your feedback. I'll look into it.
Is it worth it, in general, getting into a vinyl collection of (underground; non-mainstream) electronic music? Or is it too expensive? Or is it worth investing in a quality sound system instead?
Interesting, thank you for your feedback. I'll look into it.
Is it worth it, in general, getting into a vinyl collection of (underground; non-mainstream) electronic music? Or is it too expensive? Or is it worth investing in a quality sound system instead?
I'd say that is probaly a matter of philosophy rather than anything based on facts... You will be spending lots of money and time looking for stuff.
I strongly disagree you need to invest in a Technics turntable for home listening. I've been using a $125 belt driven Statson for over five years w/ a decent needle and cartridge and never had an issue.
There is no turntable that is "better" for a particular kind of music, especially if you are just listening.
I enjoying listening to vinyl. It is more expensive. I don't spend a lot on mine. I rarely, RARELY, buy new. I look for weird stuff to sample. Its quite different than just loading up Pandora or putting on an iTunes playlist. I like grabbing a bunch of $1-3 used old dance records and just seeing what cool, old, forgotten bangers I can find : ) I also collect 80s and 90's promo vinyl with instrumental and a cappela b-sides.
I do some stuff that's not super popular, but I wouldn't call any of my collection underground. I got lucky, when I expressed interest, my grandparents gave me their whole collection. Then my parents dug a bunch of their old stuff out. So I have a solid collection of classical, classic rock, country, and some pop from the mid 60s until the mid 80s. I've actually only bought some daft punk and justice albums, I'm thinking I want to get Ratatat and Aphex Twin next. So far, I haven't had to pay more than 30 USD for an album, and I get everything on amazon. Just a matter of waiting for shipping really.
These days, a lot of albums either come with a digital download of the mp3 (Flac or wav if you're lucky) or, in some cases, I've gotten an actual CD packaged in there, albeit in an envelope instead of a case. Sometimes, you get super sweet posters in there too, and the art inside of the album fold is sometimes really neat. For what you pay, new albums are a pretty good deal IMO. I haven't had to go digging for older ones, but if you only pay what you think they're worth, I don't see how you could let yourself make a bad deal.
I think it's mostly a matter of maintaining perspective. Yes, there are $20,000 turntables that are better than yours, and yes, there's a $1000 record cleaning machine that's going to make you wonder if you could get more out of your collection, and it would be pretty sweet if I could afford an original pressing of a mint Beatles album imported from Britain. But, I have a lot of fun with my technics, cleaning my records with bottled water, listening to what I already have. I'm surprised at how little I've spent given how much I could find a reason to spend, but I just don't feel a need to because I'm already having so much more fun than any other way I've listened to music.
yea thom...straight up...most of my stuff is old dnb, scratch/beat/acapella records, and just gernerally obscure forgotten dance music...need to save a 20 and head down to the shop soon!
I often think of the aging, possibly piss-poor, lonely musicians that worked on this lesser-known, obscure club stuff and think "I wish they knew that someone out there is discovering their stuff, loving it, dancing to it, and thanking them for it."
I often think of the aging, possibly piss-poor, lonely musicians that worked on this lesser-known, obscure club stuff and think "I wish they knew that someone out there is discovering their stuff, loving it, dancing to it, and thanking them for it."
I am really bad at digitizng stuff. Need to roll a spliff and have a coffee some Sunday and get to it! I know I have stuff for which there are no longer masters...
I am really bad at digitizng stuff. Need to roll a spliff and have a coffee some Sunday and get to it! I know I have stuff for which there are no longer masters...
