Vinyl records, original or remastered? Advice required

[Pale Rider]

Hmmm, you may be onto something here. Our rooms are broadly the same size, but his has carpet and lots of soft-furnishings and ours has a wooden floor, a lot more glass and is generally more minimalist.

Sounds (ho-ho) as if it may be a bit harsh acoustically.

Nickyboy was being sarcastic about egg boxes. but some acoustic damping boards are designed like a honeycomb.

They can be stuck to a wall, then plaster boarded over, skimmed and finished in the ordinary way.

Unlikely you will want to do all that, but a thick carpet would probably make a noticeable difference.

High ceilings generally don't work well with high-end domestic hi-fi.

None of this matters if like most of us you are content to listen to cds or mp3s on a midi system.

It is something you will need to think about if you want to get the best from expensive equipment.

One of the most impressive sounds I ever heard was in the monitoring room of a basement recording studio in a former abattoir in Clerkenwell in London - Smithfield meat market is nearby.

The room was no bigger than a large domestic lounge, had a low ceiling and every surface was rock solid making it acoustically 'dead'.

The recording engineer who fitted it out reckoned the room contributed as much to the sound quality as the professional kit.

He demonstrated this by playing a couple of CDs on a budget CD deck he'd bought from Richer Sounds.

 

[Grant Fondo]

I think a lot of recent vinyl sounds 'brighter' than say pre 2000 stuff, but latest Radiohead album sounds amazing on a moderate system like I have. 'Nevermind' is a good example of a badly remastered classic, they junked it.
Bought The Wall by Floyd again recently as original played to death and scratched but new version not quite so good IMO.
Haven't played a CD for 4 or 5 years now which says it all! Vinyl rocks.

 

[Fnaar]

Original.
Most remastered versions I have seem to have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

 

[tyred]

None of this electronic remastered nonsense if you please.

 

[swee'pea99]

1) Buy a gramophone
2) Buy some records
3) Play the records

 

[raleighnut]

If an album has been 'digitally remastered' then they have taken out that 'anologue' sound during the process generally making the sound 'brighter' but it depends on the re-mastering engineer and what he was using to moniter the sound and what you are listening to it through.

Positioning is critical with hifi, but not so important with music.

 

[slowmotion]

I bought this Doors album in 1970, and a re-mastered CD a few months ago. They are completely different beasts as regards the mixing. Stuff that wasn't in the original appears, and other stuff has disappeared. They are just different.

 

[slowwww]

Sounds (ho-ho) as if it may be a bit harsh acoustically.

Nickyboy was being sarcastic about egg boxes. but some acoustic damping boards are designed like a honeycomb.

They can be stuck to a wall, then plaster boarded over, skimmed and finished in the ordinary way.

Unlikely you will want to do all that, but a thick carpet would probably make a noticeable difference.

High ceilings generally don't work well with high-end domestic hi-fi.

None of this matters if like most of us you are content to listen to cds or mp3s on a midi system.

It is something you will need to think about if you want to get the best from expensive equipment.

One of the most impressive sounds I ever heard was in the monitoring room of a basement recording studio in a former abattoir in Clerkenwell in London - Smithfield meat market is nearby.

The room was no bigger than a large domestic lounge, had a low ceiling and every surface was rock solid making it acoustically 'dead'.

The recording engineer who fitted it out reckoned the room contributed as much to the sound quality as the professional kit.

He demonstrated this by playing a couple of CDs on a budget CD deck he'd bought from Richer Sounds.

Possible change of plan then. I might move my Denon midi system to the lounge and put the new system into my study which has solid walls, a low-ish ceiling, carpets, soft furnishings and only a small window. Thanks

 

[Drago]

I'm not sure of this talk about vinyl sounding 'brighter'. What does that even mean? At no point in the frequency range does vinyl reproduce sound more accurately than CD, assuming the same amp, speakers, etc.

I can understand why people dig vinyl, plain prefer it, or enjoy the trip down memory lane, but this idea that mechanically dragging a needle along a groove in a rotating disc is better at faithfully reproducing sound than CD is daft. There's no need for enthusiasts to trot out these clichés to justify their enjoyment of vinyl - it's ok to simply say you like it.

 

[SteCenturion]

Sorry for the temporary hijacking but ....

as I have a decent-ish collection, I was considering getting 'back into it' but neither want to do really budget crappy stuff or high end.

Is a dedicated phono amp absolutely necessary or just an amp with phono stage ?

& what is a good MOR budget example, i.e not £100 & not £2k ?

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Sorry for the temporary hijacking but ....

as I have a decent-ish collection, I was considering getting 'back into it' but neither want to do really budget crappy stuff or high end.

Is a dedicated phono amp absolutely necessary or just an amp with phono stage ?

& what is a good MOR budget example, i.e not £100 & not £2k ?

Get yourself into a hifi shop tell them the sort of thing you're after and budget stuff and they'll set it up for you in-store to have a go with, take in some of your own LP's and CD's and see for yourself!

 

[Profpointy]

Sorry for the temporary hijacking but ....

as I have a decent-ish collection, I was considering getting 'back into it' but neither want to do really budget crappy stuff or high end.

Is a dedicated phono amp absolutely necessary or just an amp with phono stage ?

& what is a good MOR budget example, i.e not £100 & not £2k ?

Need amp with a phono stage. Older amps will all have this, newer amps may or may not. I'm guessing a "dedicated phono amp" boosts the extremely low signal before putting into the normal amp - and of course doing the RIAA equalisation. You may or may not be aware that there are moving magnet pick ups (MM) and Moving Coil (MC).The MC ones have much lower output levels and thus need a phono stage to suit. MC tend to be the higher quality and cosltlier ones. Mid-range cartridges could be either so MM isn't per se bad.

To the question - if you don't have a turntable already, I'd look for a 2nd hand Rega, Logic, or if budget permits, Linn LP12. The latter might need a fettle / adjustment (Diy or dealer). Best budget for new cartridge too.

Do you have amp and speakers already ?

 

[User482]

Get yourself into a hifi shop tell them the sort of thing you're after and budget stuff and they'll set it up for you in-store to have a go with, take in some of your own LP's and CD's and see for yourself!

 

[srw]

The music matters more than the format. Stop worrying about a perfect sound, which you will only get by hiring live musicians to perform in your purpose-built concert hall, and start listening to the music.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

At least no one's started bollocksing on about expensive speaker cable yet.