Media bleating

[woolley]

12 hours ago, P.K. said:

Vinyl is all about nostalgia rather than the music.  ..

I don't think that's true, PK. It's about the pure analogue sound quality too.

[John Wright]

Last year I bought a boxed, unused, Sharp Optonica linear vertical double side playing deck. I had a full Optonica set, amp, tuner, double tape deck and speakers from 40 years ago. I’ve had them serviced and the belts on the deck replaced and I’m enjoying my vinyl again.

Haven’t played a CD in years. I Recorded the ones I wanted to listen to and I’ve downloaded a lot over the years. I carry it all on my ipad or iPhone for ease of listening. Especially when driving. Had the Clarion radio unit in the Figaro upgraded ( it was cassette and Japanese frequencies. Now got European frequencies, a CD player, blue tooth and hands free. 

Prefer the vinyl sound.

Now I need to get someone to go up into the attic and find my box of cassette tapes. Not had a working cassette deck for 20 years.

[Declan]

Sound quality is a bit of red herring actually. 

Vinyl sounds best in my house because I play it on the big speakers, whilst everything else goes through earphone, computer, phone speakers. If I set up a cd player through my amp any difference would narrow. 

Even then it's much more complex than analogue / digital. It's unlikely many modern (post late 80's) recordings don't have an digital stage in the recording or mastering. Even older recordings may have been digitally remastered on later pressings. 

On top of that, recordings made during the cd era particularly those impacted by the loudness wars, or very long records squeezed onto one disk, will need remastering expertly to transfer to vinyl and sound as good as the cd. 

Also some vinyl records and some cds of the same recording may be better than others. The Beatles cds, for example, were shit until the 2000's and an old vinyl was infinitely better. Then they remastered them and did a good job and those cds and digitial recordings are pretty good. Current vinyl uses the remastered versions although there have also been subsequent re-remastering of some lps. Which is best? Probably the version you grew up listening to. 

The mastering of a recording is such a dark art, that "best sounding", can only be judged on a recording by recording basis. 

 

[woolley]

11 minutes ago, John Wright said:

Last year I bought a boxed, unused, Sharp Optonica linear vertical double side playing deck. I had a full Optonica set, amp, tuner, double tape deck and speakers from 40 years ago. I’ve had them serviced and the belts on the deck replaced and I’m enjoying my vinyl again.

Haven’t played a CD in years. I Recorded the ones I wanted to listen to and I’ve downloaded a lot over the years. I carry it all on my ipad or iPhone for ease of listening. Especially when driving. Had the Clarion radio unit in the Figaro upgraded ( it was cassette and Japanese frequencies. Now got European frequencies, a CD player, blue tooth and hands free. 

Prefer the vinyl sound.

Now I need to get someone to go up into the attic and find my box of cassette tapes. Not had a working cassette deck for 20 years.

Vinyl analogue sound is far superior despite what they tried to tell us in the CD revolution about "digital perfection". I wonder if the industry would have been so keen to dash for CD and digital the way they did if they'd had a crystal ball.

I'd be a bit worried about cassettes after 20 years in the attic.

[woolley]

3 minutes ago, Declan said:

Sound quality is a bit of red herring actually. 

Vinyl sounds best in my house because I play it on the big speakers, whilst everything else goes through earphone, computer, phone speakers. If I set up a cd player through my amp any difference would narrow. 

Even then it's much more complex than analogue / digital. It's unlikely many modern (post late 80's) recordings don't have an digital stage in the recording or mastering. Even older recordings may have been digitally remastered on later pressings. 

On top of that, recordings made during the cd era particularly those impacted by the loudness wars, or very long records squeezed onto one disk, will need remastering expertly to transfer to vinyl and sound as good as the cd. 

Also some vinyl records and some cds of the same recording may be better than others. The Beatles cds, for example, were shit until the 2000's and an old vinyl was infinitely better. Then they remastered them and did a good job and those cds and digitial recordings are pretty good. Current vinyl uses the remastered versions although there have also been subsequent re-remastering of some lps. Which is best? Probably the version you grew up listening to. 

The mastering of a recording is such a dark art, that "best sounding", can only be judged on a recording by recording basis. 

 

interesting stuff, Declan. I only speak from experience and from thinking the CD hype was a load of wotsits at the time just by the evidence of my own ears.

[John Wright]

16 minutes ago, woolley said:

I'd be a bit worried about cassettes after 20 years in the attic.

I am. But they’re properly boxed and the boxes are sealed.

[P.K.]

21 minutes ago, Declan said:

Sound quality is a bit of red herring actually. 

Vinyl sounds best in my house because I play it on the big speakers, whilst everything else goes through earphone, computer, phone speakers. If I set up a cd player through my amp any difference would narrow. 

Even then it's much more complex than analogue / digital. It's unlikely many modern (post late 80's) recordings don't have an digital stage in the recording or mastering. Even older recordings may have been digitally remastered on later pressings. 

On top of that, recordings made during the cd era particularly those impacted by the loudness wars, or very long records squeezed onto one disk, will need remastering expertly to transfer to vinyl and sound as good as the cd. 

Also some vinyl records and some cds of the same recording may be better than others. The Beatles cds, for example, were shit until the 2000's and an old vinyl was infinitely better. Then they remastered them and did a good job and those cds and digitial recordings are pretty good. Current vinyl uses the remastered versions although there have also been subsequent re-remastering of some lps. Which is best? Probably the version you grew up listening to. 

The mastering of a recording is such a dark art, that "best sounding", can only be judged on a recording by recording basis. 

Mrs PK plays vinyl on her turntable purely for the nostalgia. Each to their own.

We have so much stuff with so much variation/genre that having the cd's means it's easier to keep in order and losing a disk / memory stick / ipod is then not a disaster.

BUT because cd's deteriorate over time when we buy one the first thing I do is digitise it. Same for dvd's.

Incidentally there are ISO standards around storing media as every tape-monkey knows....

[James Hampton]

On 1/14/2020 at 8:30 PM, gettafa said:

I have to say one of the  reasons I buy the newspaper is for the obituaries. Say what you like about Facebook, Twitter etc, apart from Rock stars and actors, it's not good for obituaries.

Off topic...

I had to do my Dad’s obituary on Facebook as Manx Radio will not announce a death unless the information comes from a funeral director. The justification given was that they didn’t want to risk people doing joke obituaries.

I offered to bring an original stamped and signed copy of the death certificate and hospital notes up to Manx Radio in person but still the answer was no. Shame really as several people have contacted me since saying they’ve only just found out by word of mouth, and would have liked to attend his funeral.

[P.K.]

2 hours ago, woolley said:

I don't think that's true, PK. It's about the pure analogue sound quality too.

It is for some folks.

[James Hampton]

10 hours ago, Grounds Keeper Willy said:

I feel a challenge coming on. Easy enough to fake a letterhead. 

That was the afterthought. Ordinarily I would have kept pushing until I found out who was responsible for the policy, as ‘funeral director’ is not a protected or registered profession as far as I’m aware - there is no way to police the position. Technically I was the funeral director for the burial itself. I made the box, I drove him to the cemetery and I put him in the ground. I should have just phoned back and said I was calling from Hampton & Co. Funerals but obviously I had other things to deal with at the time, and he wouldn’t have really wanted anyone there anyway! I was only asking on behalf of his siblings really, and it’s been a shame for those who found out afterwards. Ahh well. 

[Uhtred]

On 1/16/2020 at 12:15 PM, Declan said:

Sound quality is a bit of red herring actually. 

Vinyl sounds best in my house because I play it on the big speakers, whilst everything else goes through earphone, computer, phone speakers. If I set up a cd player through my amp any difference would narrow. 

Even then it's much more complex than analogue / digital. It's unlikely many modern (post late 80's) recordings don't have an digital stage in the recording or mastering. Even older recordings may have been digitally remastered on later pressings. 

On top of that, recordings made during the cd era particularly those impacted by the loudness wars, or very long records squeezed onto one disk, will need remastering expertly to transfer to vinyl and sound as good as the cd. 

Also some vinyl records and some cds of the same recording may be better than others. The Beatles cds, for example, were shit until the 2000's and an old vinyl was infinitely better. Then they remastered them and did a good job and those cds and digitial recordings are pretty good. Current vinyl uses the remastered versions although there have also been subsequent re-remastering of some lps. Which is best? Probably the version you grew up listening to. 

The mastering of a recording is such a dark art, that "best sounding", can only be judged on a recording by recording basis. 

 

Well the wax cylinders on my phonograph still sound grand to me.

[Derek Flint]

On 1/16/2020 at 1:25 PM, James Hampton said:

Off topic...

I had to do my Dad’s obituary on Facebook as Manx Radio will not announce a death unless the information comes from a funeral director. The justification given was that they didn’t want to risk people doing joke obituaries.

I offered to bring an original stamped and signed copy of the death certificate and hospital notes up to Manx Radio in person but still the answer was no. Shame really as several people have contacted me since saying they’ve only just found out by word of mouth, and would have liked to attend his funeral.

Based on what logic?

not really the approach you’d expect from a local radio station 

[WTF]

53 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

Based on what logic?

not really the approach you’d expect from a local radio station 

exactly the approach you'd expect from something run on the island though.

[Derek Flint]

1 hour ago, WTF said:

exactly the approach you'd expect from something run on the island though.

It’s actually exclusionary policy. It means that by default, you HAVE to use a funeral director. 

I take it the local rag are OK with you putting a notice in despite your lack of credentials in the funeral profession.

[hissingsid]

I think you have to go to the office in person and pay up front so if there is any comeback you can be identified.