Simply Vinyl

Hey all. Been a while since I've posted here, but I've recently got myself into vinyl after purchasing a decent, but not top-of-the-line, record player.

Anyway, what I was wondering was... in my noodling about on eBay and such, I see a fair number of vinyl pressings of albums by companies like Simply Vinyl on "160 gram" or "180 gram" vinyl. Anybody know anything about these? Are they legitimate/authorized repressings? Do they do the originals justice? Any info would be appreciated since all I can find is the official Simply Vinyl site and I don't always trust a company's opinion of itself.

180gm vinyl sounds great.

The EMI-100 pressing of DSotM is a peach.

If you see it, buy it.

Can you play them on regular turntables?

Yeah but what about this company Simply Vinyl... heard anything about them? I'm not talking about 180 gram vinyl released by major labels. This company apparently represses older popular rock albums and such like Alice In Chains "Dirt" for one. Is it legit?

Personally, I'd try this one or this one and just find out. While they probably won't measure up to the originals, they aren't very expensive, either - and one has to have something to play on that new turntable.

180 grammes is only about 7 ounces- not a lot of weight and probably akin to Lars' monthly intake of any controlled substance that you'd care to mention. It'll play on any decent turntable and is (to the untrained eye, maybe even the untrained ear) not noticeably different from regular LPs.

I've no idea about Simply Vinyl. I had a look at their sight but there's something of a paucity of actual music that I like on it.

Just now getting into vinyl (I'm totally uneducated about it right now), and I've got a couple of questions for any of the vinyl purists/enthusiasts out there...

First, is there a difference in sound quality between original issues of records and official re-issues. For instance, is it worth it to have the original 1957 release of a record because it actually SOUNDS better than the 1984 edition, or would I want it just to have it? Just to say I have it?

Is there a difference between mono and stereo when it comes to sound quality? If so, what?

Lastly, will any old turntable do? Should I go out and buy a brand new one, or will I be sacrificing quality/integrity by purchasing a new turntable? Or vice versa?

Yeah, I know, newbie questions

Any info is appreciated. Thanks guys!

It depends. Without going into the mechanics of producing vinyl records, and you really don't want to get me started, it's best to look for the least worn copy you can get of any particular recording you're interested in.

This is what I have used since the 80's to clean my LP's.

Also, never forget that this is a mechanical reproduction of sound. Wear occurs every single time you play a record - this can be minimized by properly cleaning the record and the needle every time you use them. Avoid playing records in dry or dusty environments - static electricity ("kaks" and "pops") permanently damages records. Put records away immediately after use.

Yes. Again without going into technical details, stereo provides the illusion of depth by providing two sources of sound, with different portions of the music emphasized by each source. Mono provides only one source, with all the music mixed together.

That description is grossly over-simplified.

Panasonic/Technics, Audio-Technica, Pioneer, Pyle, Thorens, Denon, and many others all make good quality turntables. What you like is more a matter of religion than science, but you can expect to pay between $200 and $400 for a good quality turntable. Avoid cheap-ass USB crap, and look very carefully at anything under a hundred bucks - your records are pretty much irreplaceable.

Turntables come in two basic varieties, belt-drive and direct-drive. Each has their advantages and drawbacks; good quality belt-drives cost more, and seem to be preferred by high-end audio enthusiasts. I currently use a direct-drive.

Cartridges come in two basic varieties, moving-magnet and moving-coil. Moving-coil has superior frequency-response and dynamic range, but is far more expensive and usually requires an additional preamp. I currently use an Audio-Technica dual moving-magnet unit.

I spit on Sony in all of its incarnations.

Cheers, and enjoy.

Hear, hear.

Yeah, I'm sure it's just like anything else, meaning that knowledge and understanding will come with experience. I guess I wasn't aware that the records are actually damaged in a sense whenever they're played. Good to know. Like I said, I really have no knowledge of the subject as it stands now. Looking forward to getting there though

Okay, I understand the difference between mono and stereo, so I think maybe I was asking the wrong question. I was reading something about vinyl vs. cds and they were saying with a vinyl jazz record, it actually feels like you're in the session with the musicians, vs. the crisp sound of a cd.

So my question is will I get the "in the session" when playing a record, regardless of whether it's being played in mono or stereo, simply because it's an analog format?


Again, good to know

Thanks for all the info. I just really needed something to get me started. I'm excited to get started and get a feel for vinyl

It's entirely subjective, unfortunately. The difference between LP's and CD's is that CD's are digital, while LP's - and music itself - are analog. I spent ten years working around jet engines, and I can hear the difference, but I know people with far better hearing than mine who cannot.

This is difficult to discuss without getting overly technical, but the process of digitizing music for storage on CD's consists of sampling the analog sound at a rate of 44,100 times per second. This gives an effective highest frequency when reproduced on a speaker of about 22KHz (see Nyquist Frequency), or roughly the highest frequency you are capable of hearing - but that's not even remotely the whole story. There are several undesirable byproducts of digitization, the most important of which (to me) is a potential loss of dynamic range, or the difference between the loudest and softest sounds you are capable of hearing - and this is why, to many people, digital music sounds 'flat'.

Also, the process of sampling needs to be understood. Each sample consists of the music signal at the instant the sample was taken - the music in the intervals between samples is lost forever. Your brain fills in those gaps, and this is the reason for the apparent loss of dynamic range. While 44,100 samples per second sounds like more than enough, it's still a compromise - to eliminate detectable losses requires a sample rate of about double that, and some nit-picky bozo would still be able to find a way of measuring losses.

There is also the quality of the analog components used in the conversion process to consider. If the quality of the analog signal is excellent, the digital output will be good; if the quality is poor, than so will the resulting digital signal be poor. This applies equally to reproduction; a crap stereo system will always sound bad.

All that said, it comes down to this: there are fewer steps in the conversion of live music to storage as analog media than as digital media. There are fewer chances for distortion or loss, and therefore the music should sound more like it did when originally performed. But it is also more expensive and difficult to store and reproduce music in its original analog medium.

There are four basic components to an analog stereo system: the turntable, the cartridge, the amplifier, and the speakers.

In the turntable, look for one that has low rumble (for direct-drive) or wow-and-flutter (for belt-drive). Also look at speed stability; turntables that use PLL (phase-locked loop) stabilization will have good specs. The heavier it is, the better; this makes it less likely that vibration from the room will be transmitted to the cartridge. You also want the lowest possible mass tone arm, to make it more sensitive to the softer sounds, and the most adjustable tracking weight and anti-skate you can get. I have placed my turntable on a marble table that weighs about 150 lbs, which means that my kids can jump up and down in the room without making the needle skip.

In the cartridge, look for the lowest weight, the widest possible frequency response, and the highest sensitivity you can afford.

Amplifiers are not as critical as people think; look for frequency response, low THD (total harmonic distortion), and crosstalk between channels can be almost completely eliminated by buying one with separate power supplies for the left and right channels - which will double the cost, unfortunately. The higher the output power, the less distortion will be produced at normal listening levels.

Speakers are the most critical component after the turntable and cartridge, and the most difficult to buy. The key specs are efficiency and frequency response, but these specifications are affected by all of the other components in your system - which means that really, really good speakers can be made to sound bad. I do not want to try to explain speakers, but just recommend you go down and listen to as many different ones as you can before buying any. My current favorite pair are some 60's era Sansui four-way units in walnut cabinets, followed by a pair of late 70's Fisher three-way units with monster sized woofers in high-density particle board cabinets. The Sansui's are subtle, reproducing every instrument clearly - while the Fishers can be used for building demolition.

Wow, thanks a whole bunch DT! This is way more info than I expected to get. A great help. Thanks

Just as an idea, how much (roughly) did your setup cost you?

It's really hard to say, as I bought some of it many years ago, got my best speakers at a garage sale, etc. If I was to start over, I'd budget about $2-3 thousand, but your mileage may vary. Something you can listen to without extreme disappointment can, I'm sure, be bought for well under a thousand.

I am, if you're out hitting garage sales, still looking for an 8-track player.


EDIT: I should mention that spending a couple thousand dollars on stereo stuff may result in divorce or spousal abuse.

I'll let you know if I find one


Yeah, I could see that, but I think it would be well worth it

I have a combo 8-track player that also does LPs -- in Quad