Vinyl!!!!!!
I, thanks in no small part to ihvpave and a long hunt and gather of additional yet required pieces, am finally listening to vinyl!
Next step of course is to then make the connections to the computer so that vinyl may be burned in and saved in a digital form. Eschewing the deservedly maligned and lossy compression format of the MPEG-1 layer 3 (everyone knows as .mp3 format), I'm heading straight for the .wav or, if I can, I'm going directly to FLAC. Then, I can move to CD Audio (burn them out) or convert to a high bitrate .mp3 to archive.
Once I get the connection to the computer made, let's see how long it'll take for me to run out of space.
Of course, the first vinyl played is my picture disc of
What's weird about that is that it's backward. As in, the image above is side 2. Side one's image is:
That is, minus the text. I wonder if all picture discs of DSOTM are like that. Interesting. So.. where do I go from here? I think I'll note what vinyl is played.
Next question... if I can connect the turntable, through the stereo, to the computer, then maybe I can play vinyl on the Internet radio broadcast... hm... the possibilities...
And to note, as I flip to side two, it is of course a pleasure to flip the record and the sound is so much warmer. I've missed it! Are we talking two years of no playing of vinyl? I noted in here when I organized my collection. Still have more to do now. Do I play the new things first? The new things that then were sorted and filed? Do I play ihvpave's records? I think I'll wait to listen to those until I can burn those in.
Issues to get to this point go back to when I set up the stereo and computer and then organized my records. My turntable, a nice Technics SL-8022, decided it would have problems. I thought it was the belt as I've had the thing for over 20 years now. Replace the belt and whenever I tried playing anything it would spark to my hand - is it a grounding issue or a static charge issue? I believe the motor is now blown as it does not spin at all. Then came a conversation with ihvpave via IM and LJ and even in person and now I get this Numark TTUSB. Am I using the USB port? Um... no. Those things are noisy. I had to get the head and the cartridge and then the counterweight. Is there another Numark dealer in town? Not according to Numark.com there isn't - so Sam Ash it is. Wow, this store is big - compared to the closets that are the "motherships" of Sam Ash up in Brooklyn, NY and the one on Rt. 4 in NJ. Still a happy customer of theirs though - I do still have and play my Carlo Robelli bass (thank you rampallion). Sad to hear they don't sell Carlo Robelli instruments anymore. Oh well... freaked me out that they had a Billy Sheehan Attitude bass. Oh my that's an incredible instrument. Nothing fancy, a straight forward bass with dual outputs (stereo, eh) and a Hipshot D-tuner. Okay, so there are fancy things on that, especially when you look at the passive EQ and the "partial scalloping" on the upper five frets on the D and G (which, honestly, is just cool as hell). Here's a pic of it:
But I digress...
Numark of course is out of stock of the counterweight and it's back ordered. Sam Ash has one in stock on the floor model turntable and it will take 4 weeks to get a counterweight into the store. So, the guy, and can I digress to say they're awesome there?... the guy (Paul in lighting and mixers), took one off the floor model and sold it to me. I had regaled the story of the amount of vinyl I have and my intent on burning it in and he didn't want to hold me up on this project. 1,500 plus new stuff, minus duplications that I might have. For example, I'm not going to burn in Pink Floyd as I already have everything by them in .mp3 format....though I might burn them in anyway to have a FLAC or maybe go all the way back to 1987 with the AIFF? More research shall occur.
Again with the digression....
So balancing a tonearm is a difficult process. Working through it, I believe I have it balanced and then I realize where I've put the turntable it's not balanced. I need a level. Thankfully, this turntable has feet.
I might be looking for gold connector audio cables.. or I'm taking it too far.
More later as it all progresses.
Next step of course is to then make the connections to the computer so that vinyl may be burned in and saved in a digital form. Eschewing the deservedly maligned and lossy compression format of the MPEG-1 layer 3 (everyone knows as .mp3 format), I'm heading straight for the .wav or, if I can, I'm going directly to FLAC. Then, I can move to CD Audio (burn them out) or convert to a high bitrate .mp3 to archive.
Once I get the connection to the computer made, let's see how long it'll take for me to run out of space.
Of course, the first vinyl played is my picture disc of
What's weird about that is that it's backward. As in, the image above is side 2. Side one's image is:
That is, minus the text. I wonder if all picture discs of DSOTM are like that. Interesting. So.. where do I go from here? I think I'll note what vinyl is played.
Next question... if I can connect the turntable, through the stereo, to the computer, then maybe I can play vinyl on the Internet radio broadcast... hm... the possibilities...
And to note, as I flip to side two, it is of course a pleasure to flip the record and the sound is so much warmer. I've missed it! Are we talking two years of no playing of vinyl? I noted in here when I organized my collection. Still have more to do now. Do I play the new things first? The new things that then were sorted and filed? Do I play ihvpave's records? I think I'll wait to listen to those until I can burn those in.
Issues to get to this point go back to when I set up the stereo and computer and then organized my records. My turntable, a nice Technics SL-8022, decided it would have problems. I thought it was the belt as I've had the thing for over 20 years now. Replace the belt and whenever I tried playing anything it would spark to my hand - is it a grounding issue or a static charge issue? I believe the motor is now blown as it does not spin at all. Then came a conversation with ihvpave via IM and LJ and even in person and now I get this Numark TTUSB. Am I using the USB port? Um... no. Those things are noisy. I had to get the head and the cartridge and then the counterweight. Is there another Numark dealer in town? Not according to Numark.com there isn't - so Sam Ash it is. Wow, this store is big - compared to the closets that are the "motherships" of Sam Ash up in Brooklyn, NY and the one on Rt. 4 in NJ. Still a happy customer of theirs though - I do still have and play my Carlo Robelli bass (thank you rampallion). Sad to hear they don't sell Carlo Robelli instruments anymore. Oh well... freaked me out that they had a Billy Sheehan Attitude bass. Oh my that's an incredible instrument. Nothing fancy, a straight forward bass with dual outputs (stereo, eh) and a Hipshot D-tuner. Okay, so there are fancy things on that, especially when you look at the passive EQ and the "partial scalloping" on the upper five frets on the D and G (which, honestly, is just cool as hell). Here's a pic of it:
But I digress...
Numark of course is out of stock of the counterweight and it's back ordered. Sam Ash has one in stock on the floor model turntable and it will take 4 weeks to get a counterweight into the store. So, the guy, and can I digress to say they're awesome there?... the guy (Paul in lighting and mixers), took one off the floor model and sold it to me. I had regaled the story of the amount of vinyl I have and my intent on burning it in and he didn't want to hold me up on this project. 1,500 plus new stuff, minus duplications that I might have. For example, I'm not going to burn in Pink Floyd as I already have everything by them in .mp3 format....though I might burn them in anyway to have a FLAC or maybe go all the way back to 1987 with the AIFF? More research shall occur.
Again with the digression....
So balancing a tonearm is a difficult process. Working through it, I believe I have it balanced and then I realize where I've put the turntable it's not balanced. I need a level. Thankfully, this turntable has feet.
I might be looking for gold connector audio cables.. or I'm taking it too far.
More later as it all progresses.