phineas wrote: 
i dated a guy in the music industry for several years. got some great vinyl. and cds.

 kurtster wrote: 
Yep the microgroove record (both 33 1/3 and 45 rpm) were introduced in 1948 by Columbia....And the stereo record as we know it was introduced in 1957 though other stereo schemes had unsuccessfully been introduced as early as 1933..

Today is the 62nd Birthday of the Long Playing 33 1/3 rpm vinyl record.

Just heard it on the tube, no links.

So Happy Birthday old friends !!!!

 phineas wrote: 
Constantly played. I try and clean and play at least 5 a day on average....

 DaveInVA wrote: 
Cool. It's great that they get played at your place.

 phineas wrote: 
I volunteered as an engineer for my High School FM station all 4 years and also for 2 years with the College station. The station manager for the High School station actually preferred we took the rock lp's home so they wouldn't get "accidentally" played. He didn't like rock and only approved light rock and some pop. I also ended up with friends collections when they converted to CeeDee and were mostly going to just toss the lp's.

The Records - Radio Station promo with 7" EP and photos

Art Garfunkel - Breakaway - Promo

 DaveInVA wrote: 
I played mine until the grooves wore out.....

 DaveInVA wrote: 
You have lots of special issues and promos. Were you in the music industry?

Van Morrison - Wavelength - Promo

Deep Burple - Made in Japan - German pressing 2 lp

Them - Featuring Van Morrison 2 lp set

 black321 wrote: 
Well, yes and no. When cutting a record the recording time is limited by the width of the groove. There is just one long groove on each side of the record. If its wider it has to have wider spacing and therefore less recording time as the groove can't be as long. To counteract this they cut the bass at a standardized slope therefore limiting the width of the groove. However, on playback they boost the bass by the same amount that it had been cut so in the end the same amount of bass is there on playback as in the original pre-eq recording. They also boost the high frequencies before pressing and then cut them back down by the same amount on playback. This is done to give the record a better signal to noise ratio. This is called the RIAA curve and was invented in the mid 50's because each record company came up with their own eq and pre-amps had to have switch settings for all of them. The RIAA stepped in and standardized an eq  curve to eliminate all the different settings. This was when the RIAA was still doing something more useful and practical then suing grandmothers and 8 y/o kids.
Back to your question again - Without the eq and with sufficient bass it would also have been possible to make the records harder to track or at least would have brought up the cost of the cartridges that would have had to have better suspensions etc.
For instance, the Telarc 1812 Overture LP's cannons can't be tracked by some cartridges even with the RIAA eq. Also for some DJ and Radio Station Play only records they limit the time per side to 8-12 minutes allowing them to record the audio hotter by 6 db or more. These gives a lower noise floor though a well recorded standard pressing can approach 75 db dynamic range on its own. A CD is about 100 db but as most newer stuff is compressed as mentioned in my earlier post about loudness wars that limit is rarely approached. CD's have a response from 20 hz to about 20 khz. Records can record as low as 7 hz to over 50 khz but except for test records that is rarely done that low. Low frequencies are on test records mostly to test tone arm/cartridge resonances etc. As with CD mastering the actual sound of a particular record depends on the skills of the engineers that produce it and their bosses that may dictate some limits or preferences.

Now about turntables - To get a really decent new turntable can get into a lot of money. Used is the way to go for best bang for the buck. You can't go wrong with a used Thorens TD125 or TD126. If you can't afford those you can get a TD150 or TD160 pretty reasonably. These will all blow away any under $750 or so brand new turntable. Parts are easily available and lots of support for them. Many people that have to start with a new table like to start with something Technics SL1200 direct drive. These are good solid starter turntables but I like the Thorens tables better.

 DaveInVA wrote: 




Great comments from both. I recently upgraded to a nice universal player (Arcam DVD 139) with SACD and DVD-A. I, unexpectedly, fell in love with SACD, and cant wait to find some software to test the DVD-A, which I've read sounds even more impressive...shame there isnt more material to choose from, and I'm getting into this at the tail end with products virtually dying.

I've read another advantage of digital over LPs is with the bass...with lps they were limited so as to not have the needle bounce too much in the groove?

On a final note, I'm itching to dust off my old lps, but I dont have a working TT. Any recommendations for a solid used, or even a new TT (not too expensive). Heard good things about the Rega P1, which is about $350.

 phineas wrote: 
seriously

 DaveInVA wrote: 
I love this thread!

Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town - Promo

Procol Harum - A Salty Dog - french pressing on mfp label with alternate artwork

The Incredible String Band - The 5000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion