let's talk about vinyl

[tangerine]

So I was recently gifted a really great record player and speaker set. I've been so overwhelmed with finding records (I'm really enjoying it, though!) and building a collection!

I really had no idea music sounded so much better on vinyl. I mean, I'd always heard people say things like that but in my head I would be like okay snob LOL.

Anyways I went through my mom's old records from the 80s and pulled a bunch out

Duran Duran
Depeche Mode
The Smiths
Tears for Feas
Boney M.

and I've bought a few myself

Mania by Fall Out Boy (don't drag me I'll never quit them, lol)
Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
and a few classic rap albums.

What are your favorite albums on vinyl? I'm so curious. I listen to everything so my options are very open, haha.

[Crow]

I was really glad to find out that my favorite artist, Jon Bellion, releases all his albums on vinyl as well. I own almost all of them now, along with tons of vinyl I've gotten from family and thrift stores.

[kittyray]

I never got into vinyl, but I wanted to as a teenager. There was a big secondhand record store in the town where I grew up and I used to go there and browse and even bought a couple albums I liked, but never actually tried them out. I actually found my Welcome To The Black Parade one when packing up my room a few weeks ago. My parents have a record player somewhere in the basement, maybe I should give it a whirl before going home.


I don't think I'm into music enough to pick up the habit, but as somebody who can be really sensitive to the quality of sound, I wonder if it would make a difference. Plus, I'm a big fan of owning physical media.

[dustyc]

I've been collecting vinyl for years now, and my collection started off similarly to yours- taking from my mom's collection she's had since the 70s/80s. I do have a bit of my own as well, from years of visiting music shops! I have too many to pick out a favorite, but one that sticks out in my mind at the moment is Tessa Violet's Bad Ideas album that I recently got on bright yellow vinyl. All of my favorites have to be the ones that are fun colors- especially when they're multi-colored!

If you're interested in really keeping track of your collection as it grows, Discogs is a great place to keep track of what you have, and what you want! The ultimate website for vinyl collectors.

[tangerine]

I never got into vinyl, but I wanted to as a teenager. There was a big secondhand record store in the town where I grew up and I used to go there and browse and even bought a couple albums I liked, but never actually tried them out. I actually found my Welcome To The Black Parade one when packing up my room a few weeks ago. My parents have a record player somewhere in the basement, maybe I should give it a whirl before going home.


I don't think I'm into music enough to pick up the habit, but as somebody who can be really sensitive to the quality of sound, I wonder if it would make a difference. Plus, I'm a big fan of owning physical media.

honestly I almost wish I hadn't picked up this hobby cause it was news to me finding out how expensive records are lol. I totally feel you about physical media though. Something feels different about it! When I was a kid my parents had one of those gigantic CD organizers that held maybe a thousand discs in their cases. What a specific memory lol. I miss it so much

I've been collecting vinyl for years now, and my collection started off similarly to yours- taking from my mom's collection she's had since the 70s/80s. I do have a bit of my own as well, from years of visiting music shops! I have too many to pick out a favorite, but one that sticks out in my mind at the moment is Tessa Violet's Bad Ideas album that I recently got on bright yellow vinyl. All of my favorites have to be the ones that are fun colors- especially when they're multi-colored!

If you're interested in really keeping track of your collection as it grows, Discogs is a great place to keep track of what you have, and what you want! The ultimate website for vinyl collectors.

Do you have any online shops you recommend? For used records in particular? I checked out Newbury Comics and I love that they have a bunch of exclusive colors/signed stuff but it can get so expensive, haha. I definitely think I should start checking out local spots too.

[kittyray]

honestly I almost wish I hadn't picked up this hobby cause it was news to me finding out how expensive records are lol. I totally feel you about physical media though. Something feels different about it! When I was a kid my parents had one of those gigantic CD organizers that held maybe a thousand discs in their cases. What a specific memory lol. I miss it so much

Maybe you could buy more used? I don't actually remember how much they were at the secondhand store I went to, but it was more a "buy cheaper" place than a "ooh, pricey vintage" type.

Honestly for me it's less that it feels different and more that I don't like owning my shit through a service like iTunes or my cable company. I actually still have one of those binders for DVDs!

[dustyc]

Do you have any online shops you recommend? For used records in particular? I checked out Newbury Comics and I love that they have a bunch of exclusive colors/signed stuff but it can get so expensive, haha. I definitely think I should start checking out local spots too.

Discogs actually has a shop section! If you visit the page of a certain album it will actually list if there's any for sale on their site, as well as the past prices people have paid for it on there. Sometimes small record shops will have an online storefront on Discogs as well. Other than that, the only place I can think to look is eBay. Admittedly I don't think I have ever bought a used record online- if there's a certain older record I'm after, I just prefer to keep an eye out for it when I visit record stores, since I think the hunt can be fun!

If you're looking for local shops in your area, the (you need an account to see links) is helpful too. You can plug in a location and it'll give you a list of stores that participate in RSD events, which are all smaller, independent stores afaik! Depending on the area you're from, sometimes around larger cities there will be record fairs/conventions too. I'm not sure there's a website that has a list of them, but if you just try and google them something might come up! I got probably at least half my collection at events like those. Just giant flea markets with nothing but records and music!

[aaronsd]

Is the quality between vinyl and other media really that evident?? I've been on the fence for a awhile about buying a record player and getting into this a bit more, unfortunately I haven't grown around vinyls and record players so I genuinely don't know the quality difference. It's pretty cool how much interest there has been in vinyls the last two years, maybe a lot of people reminiscing or something, but really cool that artists are making vinyl records again. But as was mentioned, they are so expensive..... Over here they are like $60AUD brand new

[Alister]

Is the quality between vinyl and other media really that evident?? I've been on the fence for a awhile about buying a record player and getting into this a bit more, unfortunately I haven't grown around vinyls and record players so I genuinely don't know the quality difference. It's pretty cool how much interest there has been in vinyls the last two years, maybe a lot of people reminiscing or something, but really cool that artists are making vinyl records again. But as was mentioned, they are so expensive..... Over here they are like $60AUD brand new

It genuinely is, unless the digital file is lossless (no compression of the file to keep it a certain size) and you're using a DAC (digital-to-analog converter). The analogy I used to try to explain it to a friend was, try to envision the sound of someone's voice through a telephone vs the sound of their voice when speaking in person. There's a big difference in quality of sound.

@(you need an account to see links) I LOVE Tears for Fears, which album(s) of theirs did you get? My boyfriend is obsessed with Sowing the Seeds of Love lately.

Both of us are vinyl collectors, though my collection is paltry compared to my partner's.

my collection:

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my boyfriend's collection:

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My most listened to albums, as ridiculous as this may sound, are a few of my video game soundtracks: Streets of Rage 2 and Caslevania: Rondo of Blood. I write for fun and video game soundtracks hit in just that right spot. Of actual artist soundtracks, Roxy Music is an absolute treat because the production is so good and the layers of sound so creative and dense. I cannot more highly recommend Roxy Music - Country Life in general, but on vinyl, it's unreal. Another personal favorite from my collection is Giorgio Moroder - From Here to Eternity.

I love collecting vinyl too for the relationships you get to make with your local record store, if you're lucky enough to have one. I live in Austin where music is a very big deal so we're blessed to have a lot of great shops. My favorite is a place called Groover's Paradise. Boyfriend and I are on a first name basis with the owner at this point and will just stop by to hang out and chat about music. He knows what kind of stuff we both like and makes killer recommendations. Last time I stopped by, I told him I was wanting some stuff that sounds like it'd get played on the Old School Dance Party (a radio program our local station plays every Friday afternoon, classic funk & R&B ). He told me to hang on a minute, then came back with six albums that I bought for $50 in total. All but one album being artists I had never heard of, and they were all absolute bangers. The best of the lot being a Chic album that I think we played three times in a row the day I bought it lol.

[tangerine]

Is the quality between vinyl and other media really that evident?? I've been on the fence for a awhile about buying a record player and getting into this a bit more, unfortunately I haven't grown around vinyls and record players so I genuinely don't know the quality difference. It's pretty cool how much interest there has been in vinyls the last two years, maybe a lot of people reminiscing or something, but really cool that artists are making vinyl records again. But as was mentioned, they are so expensive..... Over here they are like $60AUD brand new

It’s sooo evident and I’m smacking myself for how crass I was when people told me it before lol. Everything sounds so rich and deep, like you’re sitting in a sound booth with no noise other than the music being played to you via studio recording. I’ve found shopping at local used spots is the best option for me because they’re significantly cheaper.

It genuinely is, unless the digital file is lossless (no compression of the file to keep it a certain size) and you're using a DAC (digital-to-analog converter). The analogy I used to try to explain it to a friend was, try to envision the sound of someone's voice through a telephone vs the sound of their voice when speaking in person. There's a big difference in quality of sound.

@(you need an account to see links) I LOVE Tears for Fears, which album(s) of theirs did you get? My boyfriend is obsessed with Sowing the Seeds of Love lately.

Both of us are vinyl collectors, though my collection is paltry compared to my partner's.

my collection:

Please log in to view spoilers.

my boyfriend's collection:

Please log in to view spoilers.

My most listened to albums, as ridiculous as this may sound, are a few of my video game soundtracks: Streets of Rage 2 and Caslevania: Rondo of Blood. I write for fun and video game soundtracks hit in just that right spot. Of actual artist soundtracks, Roxy Music is an absolute treat because the production is so good and the layers of sound so creative and dense. I cannot more highly recommend Roxy Music - Country Life in general, but on vinyl, it's unreal. Another personal favorite from my collection is Giorgio Moroder - From Here to Eternity.

I love collecting vinyl too for the relationships you get to make with your local record store, if you're lucky enough to have one. I live in Austin where music is a very big deal so we're blessed to have a lot of great shops. My favorite is a place called Groover's Paradise. Boyfriend and I are on a first name basis with the owner at this point and will just stop by to hang out and chat about music. He knows what kind of stuff we both like and makes killer recommendations. Last time I stopped by, I told him I was wanting some stuff that sounds like it'd get played on the Old School Dance Party (a radio program our local station plays every Friday afternoon, classic funk & R&B ). He told me to hang on a minute, then came back with six albums that I bought for $50 in total. All but one album being artists I had never heard of, and they were all absolute bangers. The best of the lot being a Chic album that I think we played three times in a row the day I bought it lol.

Wowowww these collections are IMPRESSIVE! I think I’m going to do the same and contact a local woodworker for a custom shelf, because I want one that I can 1) put the record player on and open it upward and, 2) stand records vertically! I’m exhausted of looking at options on amazon, target because I feel like I’m gonna end up disappointed if I can’t decide for myself what I want.

The Tears for Fears album I own is Songs from the Big Chair, but I visited a local record shop last week and found every single one of their other albums too, and they were all under $10!! Local is definitely the way to go. My city has a university that has around 46k students at it so that area is FULL of small shops and I’m really trying to build those relationships because I honestly have a hard time making new friends but I find it’s so easy to bond with people over this!