Good Article: 24 Things You Should Know Before Starting a Vinyl Collection
If you’re thinking about jumping on the vinyl bandwagon, this list from BuzzFeed will help you get started from a technical point of view.
Just be aware, digital kids, that vinyl demands time and attention. It’s damned inconvenient. It’s not very portable. Getting started is expensive. And vinyl (and its attendant gear) is far more fragile than your digital music players.
But if you’re willing to making the commitment, you will be rewarded with a sublime listening experience. Trust me.
I WISH I had grabbed my mom's vinyl before she got rid of it, she basically had every quintessential album of the 70s. Alas, when I moved out (mid-90s), I was all about CDs (and tapes!). At this point I have no interest in starting from scratch, so CDs are my vinyl in terms of a tactile music collection. I have a decent collection of 300 or so, and it makes for a fairly impressive display. That said, hi-res downloads are now creeping into my life as much as I hate the concept of paying for something I can't see or touch. But sweet merciful crap, 'Hesitation Marks' or 'The 2nd Law' in 24/96 through a pair of Sony MDR-7506s? Vinyl….can't…touch it.
I was amazed at what people today don't know about vinyl, as explained in this article. I have hundreds and continued playing them even as CDs came along. I felt the return to vinyl was a scam unless there was something new and better in the quality of newly manufactured vinyl. Apparently there isn't. Disks priced at $35 apparently sound the same as the same disk issued in the 80s. While accepting that a vinyl disk and sleeve are attractive this to me is hardly a reason to prefer it to a CD or iTunes download at $10. To hear any difference in the 'warmth' of the sound demands very expensive audio equipment (which I have, and I can't tell the difference, and prefer the dynamic range of CD). Anyway, one thing I have learned is that my vinyl disks may be worth more that the $0.50 I have asked for them at garage sales. Sorry folks, but someone has to tell everyone that the emperor has no clothes.