[rohrt]

I was in Barnes and Noble yesterday and they had a center section full of brand new vinyl records. Boy that was a nostalgic blast from the past. All the classic records with they original album cover art.

Some were newer artists but most ranged from the Beatles to the Jacksons.

What struck me as funny was they were selling USB turn tables with them. Lets see I'm going to take a analog and convert back to digital. Seems I just lost the reason for buying the record. Oh well it was still cool to see.

I remember my brother and I joining Colombia house records and getting our first Albums for a penny back around 81 I think. Aldanova, Lover Boy, Michael Jackson (Yeah I know). I can't remember what else. Good times.

[Icefan71]

A friend at work collects old vinyl. He has a couple thousand maybe. He complains about the new records being made today being way to expensive, $30 and up.
I remember joining Colombia House in the early 90's. I got CD's. But they never stopped. It was like that scary doll movie. They never went away.

[67Twistytee]

My brother is in to this for the analog sound. There's a great used record store here in town where I get him old albums. Agreed the new ones are way too expensive. Like all things where old is new again, the big music labels are trying to cash in. A lot more profit margin here then selling downloads thru iTunes. Even if the market size is much smaller.

[The Boss]

Old is new again - my daughter has a new turntable & has been rifling through my collection.

[rtanner]

im looking for a brand new turntable myself, staticly old records mm mm good!!!

[bird72]

Bird "Mr Analog" 72 here to weigh in.................

Yes, "New" vinyl is being reissued on old classic recordings and in the case of new releases is being released new on vinyl along with the digital mediums.

The Good:
High grade reissues of analog done on heavy vinyl and mastered carefully analog all the way and quality pressed. OK, simple enough.

The Bad on old reissues:
There is a risk here of two things. One is the cardinal sin for analog freaks. That is a remix done somehow where digital technology was used. The second part of this is remixes in general are often worse than the original, and the original sound is lost. It is redone to suit what someone thinks is what people in 2015 want to hear (aka punchy aka compression, and then lots of bass, with a resulting mid range loss).

The myth on new releases on vinyl (usually):
It is smoke and mirrors gimmicktry at it's best here. Releases issued on vinyl to please the newfound record people (young generation) who like the sound, the graphics, the big format, etc of vinyl...... But the problem often is: Music performed (analog) is recorded and mixed digitally. Then it is reformatted analog and pressed on vinyl. You have an A to D to A thing happening. Once you go through a digital process, you lose it (the ambience and sound of analog). Vintage records are pure A to A (don't play them through a techy home theater deal, vintage gear required pure analog again).

Side note (good news) there is a cult resurgence of recording music analog again. There are bands carting around old 16 track Studer consoles on the road

My fun in vinyl is hard to find scores, great condition ones (they are out there) and "the hunt"...... multi hundreds here and adding.... storage becomes a secondary subject

Vinyl and Reel to Reel Forever here man......................

[Alvin]

Couldn't find the vinyl record radio program heard Wednesday, but these are still on topic and interesting http://www.npr.org/tags/146206667/vinyl-records

Although I did purchase a AT-LP 120 USB Turntable & Shure M97x Cartridge & Needle, set up alignment gauges, original "DiscWasher" cleaning kit, etc.; few yrs ago I discovered a remembrance of how short time wise each side of an LP is and having to flip it over to play the other 15 mins - what a hassle!

And forget about recording and converting same sounds I can play from Pandora...or CD's

Still fun to look through Record Racks @ 1/2 Priced Books (used) stores and new offerings.

[Alvin]

Check out this " DUAL GROOVE ULTRA LP & VINYL HOLOGRAM @ 33, 45 & 78 RPM" thread that was new in 2014 http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...ht=Dual+groove

Originally Posted by Alvin

Check this retro format - Vinyl LP - packed with current tech features:

Jack White's LAZARETTO ULTRA LP & VINYL
Over the past 5 years Jack & Third Man Records have brought to life many ideas that were new to the century-old vinyl format. Today they unveil the Lazaretto ULTRA LP:

- 180 gram vinyl
- 2 vinyl-only hidden tracks hidden beneath the center labels
- 1 hidden track plays at 78 RPM, one plays at 45 RPM, making this a 3-speed record
- Side A plays from the outside in
- Dual-groove technology: plays an electric or acoustic intro for “Just One Drink” depending on where needle is dropped. The grooves meet for the body of the song.
- Matte finish on Side B, giving the appearance of an un-played 78 RPM record
- Both sides end with locked grooves
- Vinyl pressed in seldom-used flat-edged format
- Dead wax area on Side A contains a hand-etched hologram by Tristan Duke of Infinity Light Science, the first of its kind on a vinyl record
- Absolutely zero compression used during recording, mixing and mastering
- Different running order from the CD/digital version
- LP utilizes some mixes different from those used on CD and digital version

Watch Jack and Ben Blackwell discuss and demonstrate the ULTRA LP features below.

http://youtu.be/i-8B-_Jq2ro

Amazing modern and previous artistic tech melding here.

[Old Blue 66]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Old is new again - my daughter has a new turntable & has been rifling through my collection.

My daughter is doing the same thing. Shes buying the new stuff too. I don't think she's spending $30 a piece on them though. I'd know about that!

[george kujanski]

bird72....you are a sick man

I still have a Dual turntable, Shure V15 type II cartridge tracking at 3/4 gram and a collection of Sheffield Labs direct-to-disc recordings, DiscWasher, etc.

Ever look at the stylus under a microscope? Looks like a lump of coal on it...that's the vinyl from the record.

I'll keep my vinyl, but I'll keep playing CD and MP3.

George

[ta6point6]

Looks like it is time to sell my old KISS records. I dont have a record player anymore so might as well sell them for some cash. KISS records were some the best since they came with extra swag like posters or tattoos. Some of my records still have this stuff in them. I just hate to ship records though

[69goatboy]

I still have all of the original Cheech & Chong on vinyl, and yes I still have the giant rolling paper from the Big Bamboo album.

[MikeNoun]

The vinyl industry has exploded in the past couple years. The producers of vinyl albums have preyed on nostalgic baby boomers with excess cash in their wallets, and created a whole cottage industry regurgitating classic music, in the classic vinyl format, to the masses.

But nostalgia isn't cheap. Vinyl albums are $20.00 minimum (Amazon) and around 20%-30% higher at retail outlets. That's for a standard reissue of an old album, not one of the repackages that has bonus material and an extra disc or two. Double albums are $30.00 and up. At Barnes & Noble or other retail outlets, buying three standard single album reissues on vinyl will run you $100.00 with tax. Because the producers of these vinyl albums are enjoying a 400%-500% markup, they keep kicking out new titles every day. They've re-released virtually every classic album you can think of, and even gone back to classic jazz and more obscure rock releases. They're even doing colored vinyl now, along with picture discs, and 45's.

Young people have discovered vinyl through their parents, or more often, recently deceased parents or grandparents that left a stack of vinyl records behind. To the kids, it's free music. The good part is that they soon discover what record companies have eliminated from music for the past 30+ years of CD's and downloads. Young kids are discovering the giant 12" artwork of an album, and the beauty of vinyl spinning on a turntable. And best of all, the old music was actually good, especially compared to the overproduced, overhyped music they have today that's designed to sell lipstick, perfume, and clothing.

I have a large collection of vinyl albums, and prefer original albums "with a little patina". There's always been a huge collector market for old records. Reissues and repackages, on vinyl, aren't affecting the value of original albums.

I guess it's like how people will pay a premium for an original classic car verses one restored with reproduction parts.

[bird72]

Yes, Mike, and in theory a reissue vinyl should use an old master (acetate I believe) or original tape as source. Lord knows how some of the flood of reissue vinyls are really created....

I know for a fact studios threw out / erased valuable tapes "from the day" and worse, junked the reel to reel decks. A guy I know who rebuilds decks told me of a studio having tapes and no deck. They spec'd him the deck they wanted, he rebuilt one instantly, and personally flew it on an airplane to them, as they had tape they couldn't play!

[Alvin]

Vinyl's Comeback Keeps Record Pressers Busy
http://www.npr.org/2015/05/13/406380...-pressers-busy

There are about 16 vinyl press plants still operating in the U.S. While there were about 9 million vinyl records sold in the U.S. overall last year — that's just a sliver of total album sales.

(SOUNDBITE OF JACK WHITE SONG, "HIGH BALL STEPPER")

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is the song "High Ball Stepper" from Jack White's album "Lazaretto." It sold 86,000 copies, making it the top-selling album last year on vinyl at a time when old-fashion record albums are having a resurgence. Lydia Emmanouilidou has more.

ANGELA SAWYER: All right, that is 54.75.

LYDIA EMMANOUILIDOU, BYLINE: Angela Sawyer is the owner of Weirdo Records in Cambridge, Mass.

SAWYER: I've been working in record stores around town for about 25 years.

EMMANOUILIDOU: Sawyer says there has been resurgence of vinyl in recent years, but...

SAWYER: When people talk about a surge in the vinyl industry, they're talking about from flat line zero to a tiny blip. And neither of those have anything on, say, the number of Eagles records that were pressed in the '70s.

EMMANOUILIDOU: And she's right. Billboard reports vinyl sales hit a record high in 2014, up 52 percent over the previous year. But that's still less than 4 percent of all album sales that year. Still, even that tiny bump is keeping the plants where records are made very busy.

JAY MILLAR: We've been running at capacity for quite some time.

EMMANOUILIDOU: That's Jay Millar of United Record Pressing in Nashville, Tenn. The plant is running at capacity because it's just one of about 16 vinyl press plants still operating in the U.S. Millar says they're pushing records out their doors as fast as they possibly can.

MILLAR: We average 30 to 40,000 records a day, six days a week, 24 hours a day on average.

EMMANOUILIDOU: But at United and other pressing plants throughout the country, you won't find your typical assembly line.

MILLAR: It's a very, very human process.

EMMANOUILIDOU: Millar says aspects of the process are automated, but for the most part, assembly is done by hand.

MILLAR: The records accumulate on a press and, you know, stack up on a spike, where an inspector comes up and grabs those, by hand, off the press, takes them to an inspecting table, where each record gets visually inspected one by one. And then we also listen completely to about one record per press per hour.

EMMANOUILIDOU: That degree of human touch is what's keeping Matt Earley of Gotta Groove Records in Cleveland, Ohio, from expanding hours of operation at his plant, even in the vinyl boom.

MATT EARLEY: It's something that we may have to do at some point, but we've resisted it thus far, mainly because how hands-on and how much human intervention there is in making good records.

EMMANOUILIDOU: He says finding people who can do the job well is no easy task because...

EARLEY: Really, it's an art. It's something that it takes a while to learn.

EMMANOUILIDOU: And the machines that press the vinyl are even harder to come by than the people who know how to operate them. Again, Jay Millar of United Record Pressing.

MILLAR: We're operating currently 28 presses. So if the largest has 28 presses, it's not a real enticing thing for the company to try and create more presses.

EMMANOUILIDOU: Instead, United has been acquiring and restoring used pressing equipment from closed plants.

MILLAR: We've gotten some from as far away as Italy. It's just whenever one would hit the market, we'd do our best to snap it up in anticipation of all this growing.

EMMANOUILIDOU: And United is banking on that growth. It plans to open another vinyl pressing plant later this year. For NPR News, I'm Lydia Emmanouilidou in Boston.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

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[pmdclassics]

Those old original albums have that distinctive smell just like an old car. Also the gatefold albums could be used for other things...lol

[bird72]

Originally Posted by pmdclassics

Also the gatefold albums could be used for other things...lol

I just replaced my million played Allman Brothers at The Fillmore East album. It was not an original pressing (Capricorn tan) and I found a near virgin original pink label in an antique store ("the hunt"). The cool thing about original pressings is often the album jacket / inserts / and paper material may be different than later pressings. So the ABB Fillmore original, I had forgotten, but the inside gatefold was matte paper (later was gloss). So to your point "other things", I had forgotten in the day that album was a great choice for cleaning "other things" like they had then with seeds, as the matte paper was great for that

[67Twistytee]

Originally Posted by bird72

I just replaced my million played Allman Brothers at The Fillmore East album.

Possibly one of the most emulated slide guitar sessions ever. Duane's intro on that version of Statesboro Blues was nothing short of an epiphany...regardless of what you were using the matte paper for. Lol.

[Alvin]

Check price guides before unloading old vinyl

http://www.cnet.com/news/check-price...ing-old-vinyl/

I don't consider myself a vinyl collector. Although most of my music is on vinyl--about 700 records, compared with less than 200 CDs and a smattering of digital-only files--I buy it because I like the sound, and pay little attention to original labels versus reissues, imports versus domestic, cover art, and all the other arcana that collectors concern themselves with. Still, like anybody else who haunts record shows, I've always hoped in the back of my mind that I'd stumble on the next Butcher Cover--that's the original cover of the Beatles album "Yesterday and Today," which the record company pulled almost immediately and can now fetch $1,000 or more (especially if it's one of the ones that the record company recalled and pasted the new cover over).


Would you pay $70 for this record?
This weekend at my local record store, I saw an LP I sold on Craigslist last year for five bucks. It was the 2001 Built to Spill album, "Ancient Melodies of the Future," used, in near-mint condition. (For all I know, it was the same copy I sold.) I listened to it twice, didn't like it, never got around to listening to it again, and finally cleared it out along with a bunch of other indie-rock vinyl I'd bought in the last decade but never liked. (Wolf Parade, The Rapture, The Walkmen, and other regrets.)

At first, I thought I had misread the price tag. $69.95? That had to be a mistake. I've never--never--been able to sell a used record to a record store for more than $5, and usually got a lot less, which is why I finally turned to Craigslist. I asked the guy at the counter how they came up with that price, and he said that there are various record guides, and that I should really do my research before selling anything.

I know I looked it up on eBay, but turned up blank, so I mistook the lack of supply for lack of demand. Perhaps I should have checked GEMM or the Discogs Marketplace (free registration required). If I had, I might have noticed that the only version of this LP available online was listed at more than $30, and that's for very good condition. ("Very good" means pretty bad, but not quite unlistenable...don't ask me, it's a collector thing, same as with coins). Another site, Music Price Guide, listed it for as much as $69, although this seems like a scam ad-link-farm--most of the items on sale link to long-expired eBay auctions. Still, it gives you an idea what people have been asking for a particular title.

Did it have the poster? I'm pretty sure it did. Oh well.

[MikeNoun]

The prices shown in price guides are for MINT condition examples. Similar to sports card price guides, the prices shown in guides are misleading.

They inflate prices, because that's good for the hobby (just like how they do in the collector car world). When a rare record album is on display for $200, everyone thinks their beat up copy they have at home is worth that too. Most $200 record albums (and sports cards) are worth about $10. Condition is everything. With record albums, to get "price guide prices", they have to be virtually unplayed and pristine, with perfect jackets and sleeves, no flaws. Record collectors (and sports card collectors) are very picky.

A sealed copy of a rare record is something else. They can bring double the prices shown in a price guide.

I have a large collection too, lots of original Beatles and Beatles solo material. But I also have a lot of 1950's to 1980's stuff, ranging from rock to jazz.

Just a note on the Jack White "Lazzaretto" album. It's REALLY cool, very innovative what they did. A few of those gimmicks had been done before, like two sets of grooves on the same side that play different songs, but the hologram that pops up is awesome.

On the downside, the album is horrible. It's the same old Jack White, same old "cram 30 words into one line" technique, followed by a screaming guitar solo, and a chord change you can see coming from 12 bars away. But it still beats the heck out of Taylor Swift or Katy Perry.