"Songs of Leonard Cohen" - on vinyl

[bo fisher]

I have the album on vinyl as well as most of LC's other albums. I have a good turntable and the sound is very good.

Bo

[lizzytysh]

With turntables ~ has anyone shared the feeling of accomplishment [at somewhere other than the beginning of the record], that comes with getting the needle exactly into the shiny space that leads into another song, and just prior to the first groove, so there's virtually no delay ? With or without the lifter. Hand-eye coordination from the past. I was doing it, again, this weekend, and still love that feeling . [Guess I'm not that complicated when it comes to happiness .]

~ Lizzy

[lightning]

Ah, the old technology. So simple, so sweet. Nothing to click on. Just lower the tone arm on the blank space between the tracks and you have hit a bulls-eye. Congratulations on , your precision Lizzzytysh.
Does anyone know what to do for an old turntable which moves slowly until you give it a push and spin it rapidly by hand? What part is wearing out?
Or is time to get a Thorens? (they sell them on Ebay).

[lizzytysh]

I've hobbled along with that condition, in the past, too, Lightning. Never got it fixed, just did it until I eventually got it replaced. Perhaps, Humphrey Bear will come to the rescue with the name of the part. Or, a repair store [if you can find one ] will certainly identify it. Were you planning to fix it yourself?

At what price on Ebay, those Thorens ?

Yes ~ Thanks for your congrats .

Ah, the old technology. So simple, so sweet.

So true .

~ Lizzzy

[Humphrey Bear]

Does anyone know what to do for an old turntable which moves slowly until you give it a push and spin it rapidly by hand? What part is wearing out?
Or is time to get a Thorens? (they sell them on Ebay).

From your description it seems your turntable is just plain worn out. What you describe also happened to the first turntable I ever had. It was an old Schneider. The ball bearings or the steel axis the platter is spinning on is more than likely worn out. The problem could also be with the motor. My recommendation is to get a new turntable. An expensive LP player with a cheap pick-up cartridge is better than a cheap one with an expensive pick-up cartridge. When you have a good player you also have a good foundation to install a good cartridge on in the future. Thorens makes good LP players. They have models for all budgets.

http://www.thorens.ch/

[lightning]

This turntable is an old friend I'd hate to say goodbye to. At 27 years of age it's lived the life of 6 or 7 computers. Thanks for the diagnosis.

[lizzytysh]

This turntable is an old friend I'd hate to say goodbye to.

Do I ever know what you mean .

At 27 years of age it's lived the life of 6 or 7 computers.

Can I ever imagine.


Try turning the turntable's 'box' into a planter or magazine holder

[lightning]

More likely it will turn into an amp for my TV, if I can play it through the aux input.

[lizzytysh]

It will be pleased with its new role, I'm sure .

[Cohen Kid]

Hello, I'm sort of collecting his vinyl as well...
The nicest one I got I think is 10 new songs...
but I also love the cover of Songs from a room... The photo on the back is soooo beautiful... real poetic feeling about it

[tomsakic]

So, Ten New Songs on vinyl is (still) available and OK done? I heard only (from Joe Way) that LP has deeper, better surround and sound than CD release . Unfortunately - for all vinyl fans - Dear Heather isn't released on vinyl.

[Cohen Kid]

I think they sound both great, but which sounds better has got to do with your stereo and speakers I guess.
I looked for Dear Heather on vinyl, but didn't find it. now i know why

[Myrtone]

Keep in mind that digital sound is just a mathematical representation of an analog waveform. That is all it will ever be.

Even analogue media is like this on the microscopic level according to this article, this article may also be of interest.

The amount of vinyl particles that pass the needle of a pick-up cartridge per second and the amount of magnetic particles that pass the playback heads in an analog tape recorder correspond to 24 bit information which is amazing resolution. A well-engineered LP properly mastered from an analog master tape when played back on a good turntable will sound much better than its CD equivalent. The standard 16 bit / 44.1 Khz CD format is very outdated by today's standards. Even the high-resolution 1 bit / 2.82 Mhz Super Audio CD format still uses vinyl as a comparison.

Actually, vinyl does not offer the same dynamic range as 24 bit*, it's analogue master tapes, not vinyl records that are like this. SACD is actually more like analogue master tape quality than LP quality, remember that DSD is used and was originally developed for digital archival of analogue tapes.

*actually, this depends on factors the thickness of the record, the quality of the material used, the linear velocity (which relates to both the rpm and distance from the centre of the rotation), not to mention the shape of the stylus, what speed the record was mastered at (half-speed masters are supposed to be best), and whether or not the recording is dbX or CX encoded (how about a half-speed mastered dBX disc?).

Unfortunately - for all vinyl fans - Dear Heather isn't released on vinyl.

Is it still unfortunate if you know why? I think I do, this album is probably too long for one LP but too short for two LP. Also, this album is a digital recording, and the chances are that it was recorded at 24bit resolution, most likely at 96khz, which means that a DVD-A release would make much more sense, because it could easily be direct digital (therefore bit for bit*) transfer of the original master (warmer and more "organic sound" doesn't necessarily mean higher fidelity, at least not in the sense of more aural information preserved, it can mean the opposite).

*Just because it is bit for bit identical doesn't mean that the sound is identical, though the differences on this level aren't very significant, see Bits is bits? from Stereophile and this discussion from their forum.

[Humphrey Bear]

Actually, vinyl does not offer the same dynamic range as 24 bit

Oh dear God. I better throw out my LP player and all my LPs. "Vinyl does not offer the same dynamic range as 24 bit". What a shame. Is that why vinyl sounds so good? And what do you need the 300 db dynamic range of 24 bit digital for? Hmm? Vinyl has an adequate dynamic range to cover even the most dynamic uncompressed classical music. And with rock and metal which is what I mostly listen to, the so-called limited dynamic range of vinyl is a non-issue.

[Stranger]

I think that CDs sound much better than LPs. I also think that people of my generation have wamer feelings for LPs because they remind them of their youth, which is supposed to be a better place (although I myself am much happier now than when I was 16...). The only nostalgic associations I have with LPs are (i) after a party you never knew if you could ever use them again, and (ii) they often had a pre-echo, like Leonard's Last Year's Man; I still hear it in my mind when I play the CD....