What I like about vinyl records (it's not the sound quality)
About 2 years ago, I went to my parents' house to stay for a few days. I went back home with my father's turntable and 10 records. I can't remember seeing this turntable being used as a child because I was really young when my parents started to listen to CDs and cassettes and stopped using the turntable. So it spent more than 20 years in its box, somewhere in the house.
When I got back home, I plugged it in to see if it worked, and… It did! This turntable was 40 years old, had not been used for more than 20 years, and it still worked perfectly! I still had to get an amplifier and a stylus, so I couldn't use it yet, but I was so glad because I was finally about to be able to listen to vinyl records. And I was also glad because this is the turntable my father bought with the first paychecks he made, when he was 18 or 19 years old, in the early eighties, and 40 years later it was my turn to use it!
Anyway, I ended up listening to the records I had, and I loved it! It is quite different from using any audio streaming service or a CD. Not that I despise it, I have been using Spotify for more than 6 years now, but it provides a different listening experience.
Some people argue that the sound is better on vinyl records, that it is warmer, and there are probably plenty of other arguments that you might have heard about vinyls before. I can't tell for sure to what extent this is true, as I haven't done an actual comparison yet. But what I can tell for sure is that vinyl records are fragile. You can easily damage them. You have to make sure that:
- you store them properly
- your turntable is well adjusted (if the tracking force is too high, your stylus might dig the grooves and damage you record prematurely)
- you handle the record carefully
- you are careful when dropping the needle.
Using CDs or audio streaming services is much easier in comparison.
But I still like vinyl records. It is kind of a ritual to pick an album, take the vinyl out of the sleeve carefully, put it on the turntable, turn on the amplifier, turn on the turntable, and finally drop the needle. And then, you can enjoy your album peacefully. I don't know why, but I find it soothing. I think it is because it forces me to take some time for myself, it is not immediate.
The other thing I love is to dig in the crates. I have a few record stores near my place, and I like to go there from time to time. It is another way to discover new artists, as sometimes I might find a record from an artist I've heard of but never listened to, or I might simply find an album with a cover I love, and I can then listen to it at the store to see if I will buy it or not. And I find it kind of magical to have records that were pressed in the sixties or the seventies that still work! I even have a few records that predate stereo vinyls!
Here's a picture of my turntable, it is a Technics SL-D202 😌
