[edom31]

Hello good people.

This thread comes to you in part out of an idea brought by PF user @Riggomatic under a flickr photo comment...


I figured, why not? Many here like music, as I can see from following the What music are you currently listening to? - Page 610 - PentaxForums.com thread.

The idea came about whilst discussing vinyl styli and rig set-ups. So, what's your set-up?

Share from pre-amps, to monitors, tube-amps, record players, receivers, tape decks, mp3 players, bluetooth, headphones... you know, gear.

Audio set up questions and reviews also welcome, anything to fill our ears (and empty our pockets)

Also car audio Qs and set-ups can be shared here, why not?


I'll start it up...


While I stream, youtube, and mp3 it, I am mostly proud of my small but varied vinyl collection.


My humble rig for vinyl consists of:

-Numark TT200 turntable (with the "S" tonearm)
-Ortofon 2M Red cartridge and stylus (on my second stylus - lost my first stylus to my then 2 year-old's curiosity) at a tracking force of 1.8 to 1.9 grams (by the book it should be 1.8; but some of my vinyl is old and worn hence the little extra)

-Art DJ II phono preamp with a 12v AC to DC power supply
-Ocean Matrix OMX-9051 8x1 audio/video routing switcher (to easily change inputs going into my speakers)
-Samson Servo 550 power amp
-Tannoy Reveal Red passive near field monitors

I also have a spliter between the Ocean Matrix and the Servo 550 that would send the signal to a bluetooth transmitter rather than to the power amp and monitors in case I want to use a bluetooth speaker (to listen to the vinyl in a different room or backyard).

Few shots (after all, this is a photo forum!)

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Last edited by edom31; 01-05-2022 at 08:03 PM.

[wadge22]

Well... since you asked...


I am a cassette enthusiast, collector, and listener.

I listen to cassette tapes from my fairly large and eclectic collection on my Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1, or occasionally my Marantz PMD430. The Nakamichi is a very desirable model for it's front panel azimuth control, which is great for commercially prerecorded tapes which are often, well, not excellently recorded. The Marantz is the backup, plus it's got DBX noise reduction. I also have a Recordex CR100 Cassette Repair unit that functions as my speed rewinder (not too fast, which is bad for tapes), I love that frivolous thing.

The deck is wired through a Mackie 1402 VLZ Pro mixer (also wired up to my synthesizer/sequencer/sampler rig, which if you really want me to get self conscious about my GAS problem, ask about all that), with the main outs passing through a Klark Teknik DN360 EQ and a SPL Dynamaxx compressor limiter (settings extremely low as a limiter only), and into my Kali Audio LP8 studio monitor sub and LP6 monitors.

My cassette collection includes lots of vintage hip hop, lots of classical, and some classic rock, r&b (both the motown/memphis variety, as well as the 80s'/90's 'urban' type), and jazz stuff, as well as live Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd shows.


I do also listen to streaming online music transmitted over bluetooth when that is all I can manage, such as at work or in the car.

[Dartmoor Dave]

Funny thing is, I handle classical vinyl sales online for a charity but I don't actually listen to full analogue vinyl very often for pleasure anymore. I've made high resolution digital copies of all my LPs, with a custom filter applied to smooth out the lumps and bumps in my turntable's frequency response, and I tend to prefer the copies over the originals. It probably doesn't help that my only turntable nowadays is a mid-fi Pro-ject setup. If I could afford a Linn LP12 then I'm sure I'd be listening to vinyl a lot more often.

As for my system:

I'm a classical music fan, mostly preferring early 20th Century composers like Nielsen and Martinu, and I've ripped all my CDs as lossless copies onto a completely silent fanless pc. I use an Audioquest Dragonfly DAC into a Tisbury Audio passive preamp, which feeds a Linn LK85 poweramp and my beloved Linn Kan speakers. For some extra oomph at the bottom end when I'm watching movies, I've got a Yamaha NS-SW300 active subwoofer that goes all the way down to 20HZ and actually integrates so well with the Kans that I often use it for listening to larger scale music too (I do enjoy my Wagner).

I very rarely listen to any rock, and when I do it'll be something like The Velvet Underground or Einstürzende Neubauten, which I tend to think of more as late 20th Century avant garde rather than rock. I fully understand why many rock fans prefer vinyl, and I completely agree that rock albums that were made in the analogue era sound better on the original vinyl. Digitial remastering really doesn't seem to suit that sort of music.

[timb64]

I grew up in the heyday of vinyl and cassettes,went through a couple of decades of CD predominating and returned to vinyl about 12 years ago.
I have a largeish collection of classic rock on vinyl (some my original 1970s copies and others acquired from charity shops and the growing number of shops specialising in new and old vinyl) and a larger collection of CDs although I am gradually spending more time on vinyl.

When I was earning more money in the past I built up a reasonable quality hifi system based on mostly British components.Arcam amplifiers (FMJ A22 pre and P 25 power amp)and CD player(FMJ CD 23),Celestion A speakers and a mid range Pro-ject RPM 6 turntable with Trichord Dino phono-stage.

PS Good subject for a thread,interesting to see what other Forum members have.

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Last edited by timb64; 01-06-2022 at 01:08 PM.

[nosliwmit]

I got rid of all of my vinyl a few years ago. I've been a bit of an itinerant since 2006 and couldn't really justify hauling the collection around the world with me any more. I also had several hundred cassette tapes (including probably 30 miscellaneous tapes that took a lot of time and effort to make). I digitized my vinyl and some of the tapes and moved everything into iTunes before I got rid of it so lots of tracks on my iPod are still complete with pops and snaps and channel drop-outs. I always wanted a Nakamichi deck but my most-recent player was a TEAC V909RX. "Real time" auto-reverse, Dolby B, C and dbx! And a wired remote with about a 20 foot cable on it!


I currently have some Energy towers, satellites and a center speaker, some old (ca. 1985) Bose 201s, a pretty new KEF subwoofer and a two or three year old Denon receiver. I mostly play music via my iPod (Apple Play). It's adequate for my needs. I still have a large CD collection (maybe 600 discs) and have no intention of getting rid of them even though they rarely get used. My car has a CD player and one of these days I'll give it a go, but I also have an old iPod connected via USB that I just leave in the car. It's just set to shuffle through my 11,000 tracks...

[edom31]

Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1, or occasionally my Marantz PMD430

That Marantz goes for a pretty penny.

I will eventually need to acquire a tape deck. I have lots of tapes to be handed down from my grandfather (he used to record his own vinyl into tapes for easier access).

I used to have a Yamaha K-340 but it fried. I need to get something at some point. Will look for something old like a Technics 205

[Benz3ne]

Mostly stream. It just makes sense for the situations where I'm listening to music (commuting to work on bike and walking the dogs).
As such, it's made sense for me to get a little bluetooth speaker for the house (Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2) and a decent enough pair of headphones (Apple Airpods Pro).
I also appreciate being able to listen to a huge variety of music (on Spotify premium) without having to buy individual albums for each artist.
I also have a Logitech 2:1 speaker set for my desktop, which I've adjusted EQ-wise to my taste (lifting the bass a little as it was overly deep from the factory).

[edom31]

(Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2)

How you like this unit?


I have an Oontz angle 3 Ultra - I bought it in case I liked it, I can get a second speaker and pair them to have "stereo" sound. I love it, but I've yet to ordered the second one.

---------- Post added 01-06-22 at 10:23 AM ----------

Digitial remastering really doesn't seem to suit that sort of music.

I worked on a Mastering studio in NYC in the 2000's... some of my gear I acquired in the "not used anymore" bin from the studio (tape deck that crapped, and some of the gear listed above). Nothing fancy, but saved me a good chunk of $.

Back to digital remastering.... where do I commence? There's two ways of doing this - original master 2" reels (master stereo mix) and technically re-master it geared for digital (expensive); or get a mint copy of the original pressing and, well, you know... run it through the rigs - some more compression, max the output with a limiter not to peak... you get the idea.

PS - the final master is usually a bit different for vinyl and CD (in the 2000's we did a lot of both, as we worked with major labels - Universal, Sony, DefJam...) For vinyl, especially if the length of the album goes over 50 minutes, then you have to cut at a "lower volume" so that it fits on 2 sides... Optimal length per vinyl side should not exceed 24 mins.

[Benz3ne]

How you like this unit?


I have an Oontz angle 3 Ultra - I bought it in case I liked it, I can get a second speaker and pair them to have "stereo" sound. I love it, but I've yet to ordered the second one.

I find it good fun. It's obviously a little speaker but it retains clarity up through the volume ranges. It can be paired with others to act as a stereo speaker but I'm yet to try that. It made enough of an impression on my mam that she asked for one for Christmas. Of course, I obliged.

[Dartmoor Dave]

I worked on a Mastering studio in NYC in the 2000's... some of my gear I acquired in the "not used anymore" bin from the studio (tape deck that crapped, and some of the gear listed above). Nothing fancy, but saved me a good chunk of $.

Back to digital remastering.... where do I commence? There's two ways of doing this - original master 2" reels (master stereo mix) and technically re-master it geared for digital (expensive); or get a mint copy of the original pressing and, well, you know... run it through the rigs - some more compression, max the output with a limiter not to peak... you get the idea.

PS - the final master is usually a bit different for vinyl and CD (in the 2000's we did a lot of both, as we worked with major labels - Universal, Sony, DefJam...) For vinyl, especially if the length of the album goes over 50 minutes, then you have to cut at a "lower volume" so that it fits on 2 sides... Optimal length per vinyl side should not exceed 24 mins.

I'm happy to read as much in-the-know detail about digital remastering as you want to give us.

I'm only a listener, but I've got various classical recordings in both fully analogue vinyl and digitally remastered versions, and I wish to heck I understood more about why some of the remasters sound so much better than the vinyl and some sound so much worse. And it even varies from one digitally remastered version to another (the different CD releases of Georg Solti's Decca Ring Cycle, for example). I've got some CDs that sound so awful that I'm convinced they were made from tapes with RIAA equalisation on them.

Actually, the best CD from an analogue original that I ever heard was a demo made directly from the original studio tape with no remastering at all. All the tape hiss was still there, but who cares? All the music was there too.

Any post you want to make on the subject will be greeted with a lot of gratitude by me personally, and I don't mind how much detail you want to go into. The longer the post the better as far as I'm concerned.

[StiffLegged]

... Few shots (after all, this is a photo forum!)

Please show some consideration, there are people with a fear of needles these days!

... It probably doesn't help that my only turntable nowadays is a mid-fi Pro-ject setup. If I could afford a Linn LP12 then I'm sure I'd be listening to vinyl a lot more often.

If I could afford the Linn (and a proper arm, and a suitable cartridge...) I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference now. It saves difficult negotiations with the nearest and dearest...

[Riggomatic]

Hello good people.

This thread comes to you in part out of an idea brought by PF user @Riggomatic under a flickr photo comment...


I figured, why not? Many here like music, as I can see from following the What music are you currently listening to? - Page 610 - PentaxForums.com thread.

The idea came about whilst discussing vinyl styli and rig set-ups. So, what's your set-up?

Share from pre-amps, to monitors, tube-amps, record players, receivers, tape decks, mp3 players, bluetooth, headphones... you know, gear.

Audio set up questions and reviews also welcome, anything to fill our ears (and empty our pockets)

Also car audio Qs and set-ups can be shared here, why not?


I'll start it up...


While I stream, youtube, and mp3 it, I am mostly proud of my small but varied vinyl collection.


My humble rig for vinyl consists of:

-Numark TT200 turntable (with the "S" tonearm)
-Ortofon 2M Red cartridge and stylus (on my second stylus - lost my first stylus to my then 2 year-old's curiosity) at a tracking force of 1.8 to 1.9 grams (by the book it should be 1.8; but some of my vinyl is old and worn hence the little extra)

-Art DJ II phono preamp with a 12v AC to DC power supply
-Ocean Matrix OMX-9051 8x1 audio/video routing switcher (to easily change inputs going into my speakers)
-Samson Servo 550 power amp
-Tannoy Reveal Red passive near field monitors

I also have a spliter between the Ocean Matrix and the Servo 550 that would send the signal to a bluetooth transmitter rather than to the power amp and monitors in case I want to use a bluetooth speaker (to listen to the vinyl in a different room or backyard).

Few shots (after all, this is a photo forum!)

Thank you for the new thread!

My brother-in-law has convinced me to try vinyl, or diving head first into the rabbit hole, as he puts it. I hope to share pictures of my turntable in a week or so (in transit).
I remember records and 8 tracks, but only had a few. Didn't really get in to music, until cassettes were the rage. Then CD's were pretty big when I was in college (early '90's).
I still have my original Yamaha (RX-450) and Advent Heritage speakers I bought in college, but I'll end up running the turntable through a different Yamaha (RX-V800), and not sure if I'll use my Advents, or new BIC speakers to start.

I recently added a Yamaha SA-CD player to my collection of stuff, and started dipping my toes in the Jazz pool with Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock. The Jazz is probably the main reason I'm jumping in the vinyl fun, but I'm sure I'll pick up

a few other genres along the way.

I hope to share, and learn a bunch from everyone in the thread.

Side note, my mom used to work at Columbia records in the 70's, and made 8-tracks and cassettes. She said she had 20 machines running 8-tracks, and 30 running cassette, and that kept her busy for her 8 hour shift.

[ChrisPlatt]

I have a ton of audio gear including two complete AMC component systems and a half dozen pairs of excellent speakers.
Not long after we moved in here a few years ago I added a restored classic Marantz integrated amplifier.

My music collection includes perhaps 100 vinyl LPs and several hundred CDs which I prefer for convenience.
I lost half of my LPs in the flood from Superstorm Sandy i.e. everything on the lower shelf of my record cabinet.
I gave away the component cassette decks a few years ago but still have a few cassette tapes lying around.

I have downloaded a grand total of one album; that's only because I haven't been able to find it on CD or LP.
About ten years ago I used an MP3 player and headphones at work but now I must monitor a walkie-talkie.

At home sadly due to her condition even the news on the radio irritates my wife.
Consequently most of my listening to news and music is now done in private.

I often listened to music CDs in my car on my commute for work.
Unfortunately the CD player became unusable about a year ago.
The car is too old to be worth replacement of the radio/CD unit.

A couple years ago I purchased an inexpensive Internet radio appliance.
These standalone units allow you to tune into Internet streams without the need for a computer.
I look forward to hearing radio from around the world but I haven't found time to try it out yet.

Chris

[Nakedgun]

I have not listened to music while driving for a quarter-century, now.

I only have a few LPs these days, and no longer listen to music on audio cassette, but the CD collection continues to grow.

I'm not an audiophile*, and my wife and I no longer share musical tastes, so the home stereo doesn't get used much, anymore.

Consisting of an NAD integrated amp and CD player, Kenwood tuner & turntable, Marantz double cassette machine, Infinity speakers, all of which mostly collect dust. I have a mirror system at lower wattage sans turntable in the garage, where I do most of my listening (both music on CD and lectures on cassette) while maintaining the numerous vehicles we have.



*How could I be? Too many years listening to loud rock music, operating heavy equipment, riding motorcycles and shooting guns, even with hearing protection, has not done my sound perception any good.

[que es tu]

While at home I am usually bustling around too much to listen to music, so I mostly listen while I am driving to and from work, or running errands. I rarely listen to the radio, and instead listen to CDs. Occasionally at home I will listen to a CD, and will run the sound through a Bluetooth speaker connected to the Bluetooth transmitter on our old portable CD player. The sound is much better that way. I use either a Wonderboom or a JBL speaker. Using Bluetooth allows me to take the speaker with me as I roam around the house and go outside.