Vinyl

[Crybaby Bunting]

After raiding through my parents old collection I've claimed a few to start a collection of my own. I guess the only notable ones are U2's 'War' and Duran Duran's 'Rio', as well as some Simon and Garfunkel, Johnny Cash and misc 7"s that I'd rather not discuss (Last Christmas by Wham *shudder*).

I already have a stupidly big CD collection but I get the feeling that vinyl might end up being more... nostalgic in the long run. If some of those albums have been passed down in that good condition, I'd love to pass down my own collection in the future... but I hear digital cds don't last anywhere as good as vinyl :/

So who collects vinyl here and more importantly, is it worth it?

I see vinyl collecting more as a gimmick now than an actual way of finding music, but up until I've never really noticed how awesome some album art is on a huge square... the presentation is half the package.

At the moment Amazon is the only place where I seem to be able to find great albums < £10 brand new, does anyone know of any other sites that sell good albums on the cheap?

[EddieG]

I have a lot of vinyl, being a (part-time/retired) DJ, mostly trance and techno stuff.

I also own a limited edition of Meatloaf's Paradisse By The Dashboard light

[K]

Vinyl shopping is something you need to do in person. Go find a record store.

[METALMAN]

but I hear digital cds don't last anywhere as good as vinyl :/

It's the exact opposite way round. Vinyl deteriorates much faster than CDs. Hence the frequent jumps and stutters you here when playing an old record.

[Skummy]

Yeah...there was a story out a couple of years back saying "hang on, actually CDs don't last as long as we thought they did, maybe not as long as well looked after vinyl", but it's bullshit - in good conditions a factory-pressed CD will last almost indefinitely, while it's nigh-on impossible to get that kind of a lifespan from vinyl. If you look after it, a record can last for decades, but that's a lot more work than making sure a CD doesn't get scratched. The changing sound of vinyl over the years is what a lot of people like about it, though, they find a kind of romance in the cracks and pops of an old record.

[Slash22]

I have a few I bought to display

Fugazi

Smashing Pumpkins

A few Nirvana ones including a Nevermind from Sweeden

Mudhoney 7"

Nine Inch Nails which was given to me

The local record store here tends to carry them and it's awesome going in and finding one I want.

[hackerjack]

Ay the condition thing is rubbish. Well looked after CDs will last pretty much as long as you will, The problem is because they can take much more of a hammering and still work just as well (as opposed to one bash of a vinyl and it's done for) people just dont look afte them. You would never consider leaving vinyl's lieing around next to the player without at least putting it back in the sleeve for instance yet people regularly buy a CD and it doesn't see the inside of it's case for 6 months.

The sound quality is one difference, digital can never quite capture the subtlety of analogue, though of course it does retain it's precision whereas vinyl will not, even well kept vinyls will change shape over time so the sound will change slightly, this is just a result of how the chemistry of solid objects work. Lots of people say vinyls sound more like the real thing and yes they probably do to an extent, but it depends on what you prefer from your music to be honest. However if you are talking about a collection to hand down then you simply wont be playing them that often anyway, or you will damage them.

To be honest if your talking a collection like that then yes Vinyl is the way to go, mainly because no-one knows how CDs will fair in that regard yet, after all Vinyls are still collectable, yet tapes are not, my feeling is that because whatever replaces CDs will be digital then the music will go with the format, Vinyl is probably going to be the last really collectable format, at least the last one that will be worth anything in money terms.

And please don't go with Amazon or any other online service for buying vinyl, it really isn't worth it because everything you get will be damaged in one way or another as 99% of it was pulled out of someones attic. Find a local music shop or a place where they do record fayres. Speak to a few club DJs if your not sure where those are near you, they usualy know.

[Tarheels.]

Online is usually not the best way to go unless you know of somebody who consistently gets from that store and has never had shipping problems. I got one of my vinyls shipped to my with the spine bent to hell the corners were practically ripped. The best bet is to find a record store nearby and go there as often as you can. The nearest to me is 45 minutes away so I usually wait a month or so then make a trip to pick up a few.

[wolves]

I collect vinyl to the best of my ability. I've slowed down over the past three years or so because it got EXPENSIVE. We have a total lack of stores in my area that sell vinyl so I've always relied on the internet. My experience with buying vinyl in person is that it's very much over priced. For some reason, record stores immediately think that it should be almost double what the CD version costs. I think I put down 25 bucks to get Plans by Death Cab for Cutie on vinyl.

Most of the stuff that I own is rare as that's all I'm interested in as far as vinyl goes. Anything else I just download. I've focused on things that are tour pressings only, colored, out of print, or test presses. I also have some radio station versions of stuff from the 80's. Lots of times record labels will give you a ton of extras if you buy an album on vinyl instead of CD. Last year when I bought "Static Tensions" by Kylesa I got the deluxe version for maybe 40 bucks. It came with a gatefold double LP case with deluxe version only swirl vinyl plus stickers, a poster, and a patch. It's nice to have stuff like that because it's not regular merch that you can pick up anywhere.

Some of the favorite stuff in my collection is a England only single for the song "Head Over Heels" by Tears for Fears. The actual record is cut into the shape of a four leaf clover. They only printed so many of them (maybe 2000) and it came out in the 1980's. Finding a copy was a pain but I tracked one down in Japan. The guy owned a record store and had a special Tears for Fears display holder for the record with Japanese text on it. I've also got some really limited stuff like a tour only pressings of albums from Ed Gein, Daughters, and Another Breath (that one is number 7 out of 10!).

Probably the weirdest thing I have is a record that was never supposed to come out. This band Neil Perry was a screamo band that broke up some time ago. They had this EP ready to go but the record label shut down while pressing the record. They album never came out but they gave away the test presses at random live shows. The songs are on the record but there isn't any label or artwork. I think the only other way to get those songs is through their discography CD.

Sorry to ramble on so much about my stuff but I can talk music/records all day. Depending on what kind of music you listen to, if the bands are on smaller labels the labels will usually press everything on vinyl. Buying straight from them ensures and new wrapped copy and like I said earlier, probably some bonuses. If you go the eBay route, you can usually score "lots" which are just tons of records in bulk. I've gotten a few of those and not only will you get hard to find stuff but you'll find new bands. Not to mention you can get lots of hardcore or metal with about 20-30 different bands sometimes for as cheap as 20 bucks.