Advise buying a record player?

Wow, now that would be something cool to see.

 

I was pretty happy yesterday as I found out I have an actual Robert C. Ludwig Masterdisk record! For those who don't know, Robert Ludwig is basically a very talented man when it comes to mastering music. His name is gold and a sign of the uppermost quality. I know that there are many "real artists" that have had the Robert C. Ludwig Masterdisk treatment but I couldn't care less about the Stones, Jimmi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and so on. I was very surprised to see that he'd worked with Duran Duran (yeah, I'm a child of the 80's since that's when I became aware of music). This particular pressing of The Wild Boys sounds much better than what is on the CD I bought during the 90's. It truly does sound much richer and "cleaner" in a good way.

You can tell if a record is by Masterdisk due to the handwriting style print on the dead wax area. There also should be the initials of the master, in this case R.L.

 

Anybody here know where I can pickup some decent pre-terminated speaker cables? banana jack terminated.

I've purchased: Wharfedale Diamond 6R speakers, A Pro Ject Debut Carbon turntable and I'm bidding on a Cambridge Audio amp right now i expect to win. For my phono/rca cables from turntable to amp I've opted for a Cambridge Audio AUD100 cable. what I need is speaker cables pre-terminated with banana jacks because I don't trust myself to build my own.

 

Oh you jackasses (you know who you are) always pull me back in on some threads.

I just made the leap in vinyl myself. I picked up a jensen turntable, it was well reviwed and had an MP3 ripper built in. I hasn't arrived yet though. I have some Charlie Parker, Thenlonus Monk and Van Halen I picked up just begging to be played.

This is the one I picked up

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1#customerReviews

 

Do it yourself. It's easy. Strip wire, insert into plug.

If you REALLY don't think you can cope putting a banana plug on, just go bare wire - nothing wrong with that. Technically speaking, there's less "crap" between your cable and the connectors that way.

Yeah... that right there is your indication that it's crap. Sorry! That's pretty much a toy. Take a look at the review in a hi-fi magazine at your local newsagents - you may not even find it reviewed.

 

Does that Jenson turntable have a fan on the side?

 

Hey at least it's not a record shredder like a Crosley.

no idea if it has a fan or not, it hasn't arrived yet.

THIS is toy



What I got was just something to get me started.

by the way I had that as a kid. Kinda miss it.

 

I'll make the jump real soon. I snagged some prebuilts off eBay, but knowing me one day real soon I'll just decide to get the stuff and build my own. I'm back to leeds soon anyway so I can hit up richer sounds instore.

The advice I'd give to people, is skip the all in one stage, it's NEVER enough and you'll end up wanting a proper setup, better to have it from day 1 imo.

and the newer ones (possibly all) have a tendency to wreck your records, especially the crosley's.

 

Well my turntable arrived yesterday. Sounds good, the stylus doesn't seem like something that will grind records to an unplayable mess. I've played 40 year old stuff, 60 year old stuff, brand new stuff, everything is fine.
It's the Hifi system in my basement that looks like it'll wreak my records, The arm and needle looks like a giant hook.

The only issue I had with my turntable was when I first hooked it up it made a horrible warping sound. For the AHEM Record, the first thing I played on it was Queen's Sheer heart attack. It just didn't sound right. So I took it off put something brand new and unplayed on it, same issue warped sound, I unplug the cables I hooked it up to the stereo with, turned it on played, sounded fine through the unit's internal speakers, plugged it back in, sounded great.

 

You need to change cartridges regularly. Don't dig out your parents' old record player that's been in the attic since the Eighties and expect it to play records well.

As for that Fisher Price thing, it looks vaguely familiar... but in the UK, the red and white one without a cover was the norm. Is that one the same - plastic discs with bumps and the arm has several sensors that play different notes? They were awesome... and someone's made a program that allows you to make your own records and use a 3D printer to make them! Unfortunately, the notes the record player can play are very limited and the software is a bit buggy when it comes to speed! Nice idea, though.

They re-released it a few years back, but it was poor in comparison. I think it played MP3s and the arm didn't sense the bumps in the record - if anything, it might detect which tune you wanted to play, but was pretty much for show. Not the same!

 

I'll probably upgrade to an Audio Technica since that seems to be a better turntable but for now I think I'll be fine. There is an order form/website for ordering a new stylus for my turntable now but I think when it comes time to replace, I'll just make the upgrade. ALthough the arm on my current turntable feels very light, not so light it can't stay steady but not super heavy either. I guess that's a good thing?

It wasn't until I ordered the turntable and it shipped that I actually looked into reviews for it. Not one person said it ruined records, but every so often I'd read "it's crap" With the shit I'm buying (Alot of very rare Jazz albums) I may have to get a better turntable in a year or two.

The Fisher Price Turntable I showed, was an actual record player it sounded like shit and lord knows what it did to the records I played on them but that was my childhood. Lord knows how many hours i spent as a wee kid listening to Thriller, Rick Springfield and Wham on that thing.

 

Ah yeah, I think I do remember it. Haha, served a purpose, I guess!

You're best off getting a cheap Rega Planar or Pro-Ject turntable when you upgrade. Less is more when it comes to turntables - less buttons and gizmos, that is. A quality tonearm and quality cartridge are important if your vinyl is worth looking after and getting the best out of it.

You don't want a load of weight on your vinyl, but you also don't want your arm skipping across the surface whenever you breathe! Arm setup is quite the art.

 

I use an AudioTechnia myself. It's not a bad bit of kit to be honest. The newer models use aluminium turntables with a quality thick antistatic rubber mat. Then don't do 78rpm mind you. Here's mine taken yesterday with the phone through the case.

 

Yeah my next turntable I'm eyeing is a drect drive Audio Technica, I couldn't find the exact one. But I've been told it's better to have a direct drive Turntable than a belt drive.

We'll see how long this one lasts but the second it harms something, it's in the trash.

I have a pair of 180 gram Jazz albums, when I take them out of their sleeves they're full of static. I haven't the slightest idea why these two in particular have static on them (they are both from the same Label, Wax Time,a company in spain that reissues classic Jaaz albums) and my others don't. Discharging them is a pain in the ass too. I wipe everything with a microfiber cloth before I even think of playing anything but that doesn't seem to discharge 100% of it.

 

Indeed it is!

Everything arrived yesterday, however I was out with work and way too drunk to handle it when I got back in, regardless this morning I've got the whole setup going and can confirm everything works.

Like you said though actually setting up the arm is a skill and I just don't think i've got it.

It doesn't help that I've got fingers like sausages. What especially doesn't help is that I shake like a shitting dog when it comes to things like this. I just can't quite get it right, and if I do get the arm horizontal, I can't then configure it to not skip around without fucking up the counter weight and frankly I don't wanna knacker my records or the stylus by configuring it wrong.

I'm going to see if there's a hi-fi expert in my area or if richer sounds do call outs. I'll be paying a fee, but knackered records/stylus would quickly usurp that fee and I could probably pick up a few tricks from him.

 

Best to call someone out mate. You really don't want to kill your records.

Talking about knackered records just check out how good this 1977 7" single still sounds even when played on my cheapish turntable - www.segagagadomain.com/auction/Godiego-MonkeyMagic.mp3

The file was recorded in 24bit PCM at 192,000Hz (yeah, I know it's over kill) then saved as 48,000hz 320kbps MP3. Why not use FLAC I hear you ask. Well, to be honest, the difference in quality isn't that big to the human ear plus it doesn't justify file sizes ten times bigger.

 

That is one sexy track. Exactly the kind of shit I'm looking for too. Mostly Jazz, House, Pre gangsta hip hop, and Metal is what I'm looking for.

 

I'm booked in for Richer Sounds to come out and set it up, apparently they go through it also, The price I'm paying it only takes 4 knackered records before I should've had them out.

 

Oh well, at least you can now listen to your records perfectly. Were the nacked records easy to replace titles?

 

Nah they haven't been out yet, and thankfully I've only used one record on the turntable when it was kind of skirting all over the joint and not properly set up, and it wasn't on there long, so it shouldn't be damaged, it would only be about £20 to get a replacement copy though