Vinyl Records & Set ups!

[Wes Mantooth]

I just think it's pretty easy to get caught up in everything about the record that doesn't have to do with the music, you know?

True but we are also on a forum centered around a similar concept (not exactly the same, but similar). It's fun to discuss the intricacies of different sounds

[D.o.S.]

NOT COMPARABLE AT ALL IN THE SLIGHTEST EVER.

[Wes Mantooth]

NOT COMPARABLE AT ALL IN THE SLIGHTEST EVER.

[D.o.S.]

[retinal orbita]

I know for me, I won't buy those Four Men with Beards pressings, even if I want the album. I bought the Cluster 71 reissue and it sounded like shit. Clicks, pops, poor sound. I'll stick with the CD copy I bought years ago, thanks. That label does not reveal where they source their pressing from, and I'd suspect 100% of the time it's from the CD version ripped to WAV.

I am not anti digital. A lot of CDs sound great, unless they're brickwalled to shit. A lot of LPs sound like shit, because the label didn't bother to master it for vinyl. And frankly sometimes I'd rather buy a $12 CD reissue from amazon than hold out for the $80 LP version. Plus most LPs released these days were recorded digitally anyway, and 99% of the time they were transferred to digital during the mastering process. Like unless you have the plant master from the original reels, it becomes digital at some point in the process.

I also know that I've been buying vinyl for 20 years and unless you were at a yard sale or flea market you never had to wade through thousands of shite condition dusty scuffed records that suddenly everyone thinks are "worth money" (they aren't) and you also didn't see such blatantly disrespectful grading. I used to be okay with ordering a VG+ LP on ebay, nowadays I'm always worried. VG+ does not mean you ate a pizza off it and used the jacket to wipe your dog down after a run in the park. Now every record store seems to be filled with shit quality records they've marked up to hell and back.

I honestly don't miss living downtown.....

[Uncle Grandfather]

Yeah I've used rice paper liners for ever, the mofi liners are alo really nice but expensive...and I buy what I would consider a lot of records all the time. Part of a record, new or used entering my house is going through my cleaning ritual, lol. After they get washed on my VIP machine they get placed in rice liners and sealed in resealable outer sleeves. Unless its an abused used record I don't get any surface noises at all, and if I do it's removed from the music. Even or especially brand new records get washed first things first, and then there are no problems. If someone has pops clicks etc with a new record I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't treated first.

[Wes Mantooth]

My Schiit Asgard 2 and HiFiMan HE-400s came today! Hooked them up to my turntable on my lunch break and it sounds glorious

The HE-400s blew my AKG 271s out of the water. I'm still keeping the AKGs as recording monitors though, definitely handy to have a pair of closed back headphones. I haven't even broke the new ones in yet so I'm looking forward to even better quality.

When i was doing research on headphones on head-fi I came across people who said a headphone cable needed hours of break-in time. A FUCKING CABLE?! What the fuck would there be to break-in?

[Uncle Grandfather]

My Schiit Asgard 2 and HiFiMan HE-400s came today! Hooked them up to my turntable on my lunch break and it sounds glorious

The HE-400s blew my AKG 271s out of the water. I'm still keeping the AKGs as recording monitors though, definitely handy to have a pair of closed back headphones. I haven't even broke the new ones in yet so I'm looking forward to even better quality.

When i was doing research on headphones on head-fi I came across people who said a headphone cable needed hours of break-in time. A FUCKING CABLE?! What the fuck would there be to break-in?

You'll be surprised, either your cables break in or you become more familiar with the sound of your new gear. You're gonig to love the hifiman's.

[Wes Mantooth]

My Schiit Asgard 2 and HiFiMan HE-400s came today! Hooked them up to my turntable on my lunch break and it sounds glorious

The HE-400s blew my AKG 271s out of the water. I'm still keeping the AKGs as recording monitors though, definitely handy to have a pair of closed back headphones. I haven't even broke the new ones in yet so I'm looking forward to even better quality.

When i was doing research on headphones on head-fi I came across people who said a headphone cable needed hours of break-in time. A FUCKING CABLE?! What the fuck would there be to break-in?

You'll be surprised, either your cables break in or you become more familiar with the sound of your new gear. You're gonig to love the hifiman's.

Yeah I could not decide which headphones to get, went back in the thread and saw you had some so I figured I'd be very pleased with them.

I still don't get how a cable could change sound noticeably throughout its life (except getting worse from wear and tear) but I'll reserve my judgement. I can't wait to get off of work and listen to more records. My first test was predictably Dopesmoker and the HE-400 excelled, great bass response and it just envelops me more than the AKGs. Can't wait to break everything in! I would have brought them to work if no one was siting by me.

[Uncle Grandfather]

Yeah I could not decide which headphones to get, went back in the thread and saw you had some so I figured I'd be very pleased with them.


I still don't get how a cable could change sound noticeably throughout its life (except getting worse from wear and tear) but I'll reserve my judgement. I can't wait to get off of work and listen to more records. My first test was predictably Dopesmoker and the HE-400 excelled, great bass response and it just envelops me more than the AKGs. Can't wait to break everything in! I would have brought them to work if no one was siting by me.

It's a weird thing, but noticeable as you get into higher resolution gear. I have cards golden reference cables In one of my set ups and if I physically move the cables around there is a Settling back in period....no shit. Could just be placebo or the aforementioned getting broken into the sound of your new gear? Regardless it proves interesting. At the end of the day, anything you do to your stereo equipment...say mass loading...is going to have an audible effect. I find cables do break in, and sound better as they age? Go figure? Even raising your cables off your carpet with something as simple as spent toilet paper roll cable elevators can have an audible effect. Or not?

[D.o.S.]

Reminds me of Monster Cables and Coat Hangers.

[Uncle Grandfather]

Reminds me of Monster Cables and Coat Hangers.

Lol

[Wes Mantooth]

Well I don't know how it works but if my cables just sound better with age I'm going to enjoy it rather than question it. I've found evidence that headphone break-in has some truth to it. Can't really find anything about cables. Eh, I like the mystery of it. I don't give a shit about science, I just want to enjoy what I'm listening to. I'm guessing that the nicer gear you have the more revealing it is of subtle changes in conditions of your gear.

[D.o.S.]

Reminds me of Monster Cables and Coat Hangers.

Lol

For anyone that doesn't know what I'm referencing:
http://consumerist.com/2008/03/03/do-co ... er-cables/

Serotonin release and OCD tendencies being sated from being able to use and fiddle with your new toys isn't something that should be underestimated when it comes to the really important thing (positive consumer experience), but as you said, it's a fucking headphone cable.

[Uncle Grandfather]

I'm guessing that the nicer gear you have the more revealing it is of subtle changes in conditions of your gear.

This. Plus it's all about having fun.