What do you do with your vinyl doubles?

[yomptepi]

I , like many here, have been buying a few reissues as they appear , on vinyl. I have the Zeppelin, Beatles, Radiohead, Beefheart etc and as a rule I am pretty happy with them. However, it does mean I often have another copy of the same record. In fact I would think 20% of my collection is doubles.( ifyou count the cd reissues). I have been addressing it here and there by moving some on, but there are those I do feel an attachment to. I do not need Three white albums, or two copies of Physical Graffitti.

So what do you do with the surplus vinyl in your collection? A lot of these records I have owned for 50 years, and I feel like I have always had them. But do I need them twice?

[Six String]

I probably have more doubles in cds than lps. The Beatles are the only band/artist that I really bought multiple vinyl copies of and those are U.S. and UK copies so there are some obvious differences. I’ve been meaning to sell off those extras since I have a stereo blue box and the more recent mono box so I don’t feel I need additional copies. I only have a few doubles that include newer improved versions of other favorite albums. I like having cd versions of some albums so I can take them in the car or play them when I’m doing less active listening. My tonearm doesn’t lift at the end of a record so if I’m cooking, reading, etc. it’s not very convenient to play lps.

[Tom Waits For No One]

So what do you do with the surplus vinyl in your collection?

A lot of things that I pick up second hand, I tend to give away, nieces and nephews who are starting to 'get in to' vinyl, friends etc.
I'm a buggar for 'not leaving it in the charity shop' if I see a copy of something that I think someone might want/like.

Some things I have a few copies of: the sentimental one, a better copy or variation pressing.
Haven't quite worked out how to let go yet, although lack of space and a creeping realisation of getting older and what kind of shite am I going to be leaving behind is pushing me towards doing something about it.

[Walk In My Shadow]

I stopped buying vinyl in the mid-eighties. I can't understand that whole vinyl revival thing either except that the album covers were at least readable.
And I don't believe "the vinyl sounds better". Why spend £25 on the wax when the CD is £9?

As I don't have a turntable anymore all the albums I have left (couple of hundred) have not been played in 36 years. Some of them are 50 years old or slightly older.
I've sold perhaps 50 of them in the past 10 years. At Discogs prices.

Perhaps I should sell more actively.

[Jumper K]

Mummy, what’s surplus vinyl?

[C]

I stopped buying vinyl in the mid-eighties.

Ditto

click, click, click...





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[robertff]

Quite simple, I keep them.


With regard to the continual carping as to why people continue, or have just started to buy vinyl, it's quite simple - they like it ...... and they can afford it.



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[Good Night Austin, Texas]

Agreed - the snap and crackle gets exaggerated. If you simply take care of your records & have a half decent turntable then you will enjoy.

[robertff]

Agreed - the snap and crackle gets exaggerated. If you simply take care of your records & have a half decent turntable then you will enjoy.

Quite, those who know, know.



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[Rorschach]

So what do you do with the surplus vinyl in your collection? A lot of these records I have owned for 50 years, and I feel like I have always had them. But do I need them twice?

I think it depends on how much space you have.
I sold my copy of the Syd Barrett twofer over 40 years ago to a friend, when I was terribly short of cash. A couple of years ago I was visiting his house when I saw and recognised (after 40+ years!) my old copy. I felt really sad and wished it were still mine.
So I recommend hanging onto your old copies if you really have a sentimental attachment to them.

[Rorschach]

Agreed - the snap and crackle gets exaggerated. If you simply take care of your records & have a half decent turntable then you will enjoy.

Quite, those who know, know.

I think it's pretty clear that you get better sound quality and longevity from digital sources. However, if had the money I'd definitely like to go vinyl. I find the odd crackle rather comforting: part of the whole listening experience. And LPs are a lot more tactile and visual. A lot of it has to do with nostalgia, but if it makes me happy I really don't care.

Depends what you want, dunnit.

[robertff]

Agreed - the snap and crackle gets exaggerated. If you simply take care of your records & have a half decent turntable then you will enjoy.

Quite, those who know, know.

I think it's pretty clear that you get better sound quality and longevity from digital sources. However, if had the money I'd definitely like to go vinyl. I find the odd crackle rather comforting: part of the whole listening experience. And LPs are a lot more tactile and visual. A lot of it has to do with nostalgia, but if it makes me happy I really don't care.

Depends what you want, dunnit.

Not sure I entirely agree with your statement (in red) above. I'm happy with CD but I spent years trying to find a CD player that gave me a sound as near to the sound of a decent turntable. I cannot abide the clinical and fatiguing sound of most CD players but eventually, after working my way through a number of CD players, I came across one that I can listen to for the whole day if I needed to. I prefer the warmer easier to listen to sound of a good turntable, so I could argue with you about sound quality but it's rather a redundant argument as you like what you like and I like what I like. If you want clinical and fatiguing then clear digital wins easily but that's not what I want and perhaps from what you say not what you want either.

With regard to longevity, again I would argue that digital, and by that I refer to CD as I don't download or anything like that, doesn't necessarily last longer. I have LPs which I bought over 50 years ago which are still as clear sounding and untarnished as the day I bought them both covers and records - quite simply I take care of them and always have done. To be honest all the LPs that I bought from new are virtually as good as the day I bought them, the only ones that aren't are ones I bought second hand but most of those are in very good/excellent condition. As our friend Good Night Dallas Texas rightly stated above: 'If you simply take care of your records & have a half decent turntable then you will enjoy". I do not have any CDs which are anywhere near as old as some of the first records I bought so to compare is pointless, however all the CDs I bought from new are virtually in the same condition as when they were bought - again I take care of them.

This is not meant to be confrontational, just clarification and your concluding sentence hits the nail firmly on the head 'it depends what you want, dunnit' - I completely and utterly agree.


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[jimboo]

Agreed - the snap and crackle gets exaggerated. If you simply take care of your records & have a half decent turntable then you will enjoy.

It doesn't really. If anything the opposite is true. A fifty year old record will sound as good as new unless you play it all the time , surface noise is often there from new and static , well, you do your best.
Records have their limitations and that often praised warm sound rubbish , I mean, you want a warm punk album or a warm motorhead. Like the metallic digital complaint it's just one of them things that people believe along with thousand pound speaker cables and clean electricity.
I read a lot of hi fi forums and have listened to lots of products and owned a few , one man's nirvana is another's - you get the picture.
Good sound starts with the recording and that is almost never a consideration or as important to hi-fi buffs, better to spend the money on a new kettle lead. Heavyweight vinyl ( does what exactly) gold c.d's , half speed and re-mastered, endless. If you find the best version then cd or vinyl will both sound fantastic. I am not ready for streaming only or the ridiculous idea of storing your collection as files , just stream.
The future is streaming from servers, it is what is selling and the hi fi manufacturing firms are all moving towards it and the yoof are all for it.
I have collected records for forty years plus and still do but I know a good c.d isn't inferior to a record. The truth is I guess, if records are so good then why are we buying new coloured , re-mastered, re packaged versions.

[robertff]

Agreed - the snap and crackle gets exaggerated. If you simply take care of your records & have a half decent turntable then you will enjoy.

It doesn't really. If anything the opposite is true. A fifty year old record will sound as good as new unless you play it all the time , surface noise is often there from new and static , well, you do your best.
Records have their limitations and that often praised warm sound rubbish , I mean, you want a warm punk album or a warm motorhead. Like the metallic digital complaint it's just one of them things that people believe along with thousand pound speaker cables and clean electricity.
I read a lot of hi fi forums and have listened to lots of products and owned a few , one man's nirvana is another's - you get the picture.
Good sound starts with the recording and that is almost never a consideration or as important to hi-fi buffs, better to spend the money on a new kettle lead. Heavyweight vinyl ( does what exactly) gold c.d's , half speed and re-mastered, endless. If you find the best version then cd or vinyl will both sound fantastic. I am not ready for streaming only or the ridiculous idea of storing your collection as files , just stream.
The future is streaming from servers, it is what is selling and the hi fi manufacturing firms are all moving towards it and the yoof are all for it.
I have collected records for forty years plus and still do but I know a good c.d isn't inferior to a record. The truth is I guess, if records are so good then why are we buying new coloured , re-mastered, re packaged versions.

Quite simple to answer that last question really. It’s because records, (LPs I’m guessing that’s what I think you mean), are so good we can’t get enough of them and we want to buy certain ones over and over again, in what might well be a forlorn, but nevertheless anticipated, hope that they will sound better, if only very slightly, than the original.


P.S. I don’t buy coloured ones.



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[robertff]

Replicated post.

[jimboo]

Agreed - the snap and crackle gets exaggerated. If you simply take care of your records & have a half decent turntable then you will enjoy.

It doesn't really. If anything the opposite is true. A fifty year old record will sound as good as new unless you play it all the time , surface noise is often there from new and static , well, you do your best.
Records have their limitations and that often praised warm sound rubbish , I mean, you want a warm punk album or a warm motorhead. Like the metallic digital complaint it's just one of them things that people believe along with thousand pound speaker cables and clean electricity.
I read a lot of hi fi forums and have listened to lots of products and owned a few , one man's nirvana is another's - you get the picture.
Good sound starts with the recording and that is almost never a consideration or as important to hi-fi buffs, better to spend the money on a new kettle lead. Heavyweight vinyl ( does what exactly) gold c.d's , half speed and re-mastered, endless. If you find the best version then cd or vinyl will both sound fantastic. I am not ready for streaming only or the ridiculous idea of storing your collection as files , just stream.
The future is streaming from servers, it is what is selling and the hi fi manufacturing firms are all moving towards it and the yoof are all for it.
I have collected records for forty years plus and still do but I know a good c.d isn't inferior to a record. The truth is I guess, if records are so good then why are we buying new coloured , re-mastered, re packaged versions.

Quite simple to answer that last question really. It’s because records, (LPs I’m guessing that’s what I think you mean), are so good we can’t get enough of them and we want to buy certain ones over and over again, in what might well be a forlorn, but nevertheless anticipated, hope that they will sound better, if only very slightly, than the original.


P.S. I don’t buy coloured ones.



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Racist ! Lol.
The sound of a lot of new records is often, um questionable though. The Buzzcocks first for instance .The original record and my c.d copy both fine. The anniversary version is terrible. It is flat and lifeless.
Again, if the record is the best format for many then there is no need to own it again. A lot of the appeal of the c.d was the convenience of them.
I hope the appeal of new buyers continues . I cannot help loving black discs. I do remember why we all jumped ship when cd came out and I guess that is why I find the romanticism around lp's as a little rose tinted.
The album art quality is rarely the same , pity.

[Jock]

Quite, those who know, know.

I think it's pretty clear that you get better sound quality and longevity from digital sources. However, if had the money I'd definitely like to go vinyl. I find the odd crackle rather comforting: part of the whole listening experience. And LPs are a lot more tactile and visual. A lot of it has to do with nostalgia, but if it makes me happy I really don't care.

Depends what you want, dunnit.

Not sure I entirely agree with your statement (in red) above. I'm happy with CD but I spent years trying to find a CD player that gave me a sound as near to the sound of a decent turntable. I cannot abide the clinical and fatiguing sound of most CD players but eventually, after working my way through a number of CD players, I came across one that I can listen to for the whole day if I needed to. I prefer the warmer easier to listen to sound of a good turntable, so I could argue with you about sound quality but it's rather a redundant argument as you like what you like and I like what I like. If you want clinical and fatiguing then clear digital wins easily but that's not what I want and perhaps from what you say not what you want either.

With regard to longevity, again I would argue that digital, and by that I refer to CD as I don't download or anything like that, doesn't necessarily last longer. I have LPs which I bought over 50 years ago which are still as clear sounding and untarnished as the day I bought them both covers and records - quite simply I take care of them and always have done. To be honest all the LPs that I bought from new are virtually as good as the day I bought them, the only ones that aren't are ones I bought second hand but most of those are in very good/excellent condition. As our friend Good Night Dallas Texas rightly stated above: 'If you simply take care of your records & have a half decent turntable then you will enjoy". I do not have any CDs which are anywhere near as old as some of the first records I bought so to compare is pointless, however all the CDs I bought from new are virtually in the same condition as when they were bought - again I take care of them.

This is not meant to be confrontational, just clarification and your concluding sentence hits the nail firmly on the head 'it depends what you want, dunnit' - I completely and utterly agree.


.

I buy both. I also have two hearing aids, so sound probably doesn't matter

[Sneelock]

I don't believe in vinyl.
I just believe in me. Yoko and me.
...and streaming.

[robertff]

I don't believe in vinyl.
I just believe in me. Yoko and me.
...and streaming.

Because you can't afford the vinyl, n'est-ce pas?



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[robertff]

It doesn't really. If anything the opposite is true. A fifty year old record will sound as good as new unless you play it all the time , surface noise is often there from new and static , well, you do your best.
Records have their limitations and that often praised warm sound rubbish , I mean, you want a warm punk album or a warm motorhead. Like the metallic digital complaint it's just one of them things that people believe along with thousand pound speaker cables and clean electricity.
I read a lot of hi fi forums and have listened to lots of products and owned a few , one man's nirvana is another's - you get the picture.
Good sound starts with the recording and that is almost never a consideration or as important to hi-fi buffs, better to spend the money on a new kettle lead. Heavyweight vinyl ( does what exactly) gold c.d's , half speed and re-mastered, endless. If you find the best version then cd or vinyl will both sound fantastic. I am not ready for streaming only or the ridiculous idea of storing your collection as files , just stream.
The future is streaming from servers, it is what is selling and the hi fi manufacturing firms are all moving towards it and the yoof are all for it.
I have collected records for forty years plus and still do but I know a good c.d isn't inferior to a record. The truth is I guess, if records are so good then why are we buying new coloured , re-mastered, re packaged versions.

Quite simple to answer that last question really. It’s because records, (LPs I’m guessing that’s what I think you mean), are so good we can’t get enough of them and we want to buy certain ones over and over again, in what might well be a forlorn, but nevertheless anticipated, hope that they will sound better, if only very slightly, than the original.


P.S. I don’t buy coloured ones.



.

Racist ! Lol.
The sound of a lot of new records is often, um questionable though. The Buzzcocks first for instance .The original record and my c.d copy both fine. The anniversary version is terrible. It is flat and lifeless.
Again, if the record is the best format for many then there is no need to own it again. A lot of the appeal of the c.d was the convenience of them.
I hope the appeal of new buyers continues . I cannot help loving black discs. I do remember why we all jumped ship when cd came out and I guess that is why I find the romanticism around lp's as a little rose tinted.
The album art quality is rarely the same , pity.

Your experience with new LP records, (I hate the term vinyl), is very different to mine. I can't honestly think of something I have bought recently that falls into the 'flat and lifeless category' you mention but if the cap fits.

Interesting your summation about the appeal of CDs being the convenience of them, for me it was 'the truest, clearest sound and something that would last forever' slogans that came with them - convenience never came into it. Like most I bought CDs but never gave up on vinyl but, as I mentioned earlier, I became very disillusioned with CDs because of the harshness and fatiguing nature of the sound, I just couldn't listen to them for any length of time and found the 'warmth', or whatever you want to call it, of LPs preferable to the sound of CD. Again, as I mentioned above, it wasn't until I came across a CD player that gave me a similar sound to that of my turntable that I became happier with the digital sound of CD.

Like you, I hope the appeal of new buyers continues as so many rare records, long forgotten about, are now becoming available once again at a price I don't need a mortgage for. And for those who keep on carping on about people who buy LPs (vinyl) the answer is as clear as a bell - don't buy them.


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