The time has come...

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1378894055' post='2206081']
Only they aren't as 'indispensible' as I thought.
[/quote]

Whilst its not quite the same, I had a similar 'indispensable' realization when moving house last weekend. When we were packing up boxes and boxes of books we came to the realization that the last time we had touched them is when we moved them into our previous house... they had just sat on the shelf for years. As nice as they are to have, We are obviously not getting any use out of them and as most are reference books all that information is now on the internet... in a convenient searchable form.

I need to let this stuff go, less clutter in my life can't be a bad thing.

As you say... The time has come...

Rob

[jezzaboy]

Looking through this thread has made me realise how my listening habits have changed.

In the late 80`s to early 90`s, I was a tape junkie with a vast collection and my Sanyo Midi system with it`s double tape decks, one of which never seem to run at the correct speed.

All through the 90`s, although I had a Marantz cd player, my main bag was a Rega Planer 3 turntable with a glass platter (lovely piece of kit) and various amp`s and speakers. During this time, the quality of the pressings seemed vitally important, virgin vinyl, 180 gramm etc.

In the late 90`s and early 2000`s, it was all about high end Marantz cd players, NAD amps and KEF speakers.

Now it is all on a small hard drive, the size of two fag packets. I still have a Yamaha AV amp and a small set of speakers that I run the computer output through but the obsession with quality that at one point seemed so important, has been left aside. The quality of mp3 and downloads is good enough for me.

Edited September 11, 2013 by jezzaboy

[Bilbo]

Ps I played an lp on my deck last night and it had seized up though non-use. I guess it is telling me something!

[BigRedX]

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1378895794' post='2206114']
During this time, the quality of the pressings seemed vitally important, virgin vinyl, 180 gramm etc.
[/quote]

The quality of the pressings is vitally important. Nothing puts you off vinyl faster than consistently crap pressings as anyone who bought vinyl in the late 70s/early 80s will confirm.

[Bilbo]

Anyone want a couple of hundred vinyl lps? . Mostly Jazz, Fusion or variants thereof?

Free to a good home.

[Coilte]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1378849451' post='2205671']
I can't really understand all the fuss over a format - it's the music that counts.
[/quote]


Yes, the music is paramount, but have you considered the handiness, ease of use, mobility, space saving, issues etc of the
modern formats ? If you have the space to store hundreds of LP's and only do your listening at home....fair enough.

[toneknob]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1378904511' post='2206283']
Anyone want a couple of hundred vinyl lps? . Mostly Jazz, Fusion or variants thereof?

Free to a good home.
[/quote]

Would love to see a list and maybe take some off your hands, but suspect you're after a quick and easy all-or-nothing job?

[toneknob]

As well as vinyl, which I love, I'm also a big consumer of digital downloads for use with my phone when out and about. But having said that, I'm getting increasingly aware of increasingly not taking the time to just sit and listen. Vinyl is by far my preferred format for music when just sitting.

[Bilbo]

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1378907403' post='2206328']


Would love to see a list and maybe take some off your hands, but suspect you're after a quick and easy all-or-nothing job?
[/quote]

Absolutely - even doing a list fills me with dread!

There is Marsalis, Mahavishnu, Mingus, Ellington, Scofield, Corea, Wheeler - the list is chock full of monster goodies but I can't afford the time to prepare a comprehensive list.

[Bilbo]

I have an expression of interest so bear with, bear with!!

[ras52]

I did a massive thinning out but still have a few crates of vinyl. However, over I've now bitten the bullet and am gradually ripping/importing my CDs. Some of these are CD-Rs of the vinyl that I don't play, having not put up the turntable since moving house... and it's been a joy to be reminded of some of them!

Re books, I had a similar experience as CamdenRob, but conversely I kept the non-fiction and offloaded almost all of the fiction. My rationale is that I'll still be dipping into the non-fiction, but any fiction I want to re-read can be borrowed or re-purchased.

I still buy CDs rather than downloads, even thought the first thing I do with a CD is rip it to the computer/phone! I'll keep doing that as long as my ears can tell the difference...

[Bilbo]

The interest shown has wavered so, if anyone wants it, let me know. Will give it a few days then offload to Oxfam.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1378894658' post='2206097']
Whilst its not quite the same, I had a similar 'indispensable' realization when moving house last weekend. When we were packing up boxes and boxes of books we came to the realization that the last time we had touched them is when we moved them into our previous house... they had just sat on the shelf for years. As nice as they are to have, We are obviously not getting any use out of them and as most are reference books all that information is now on the internet... in a convenient searchable form.

I need to let this stuff go, less clutter in my life can't be a bad thing.

As you say... The time has come...
[/quote]

But the thing about the 'digital age' is that we can now let go of these physical things yet still retain access to the information itself.

Thus, we can throw away all our physical LPs, tapes, videotapes, DVDs and CDs yet still retain the ability to access all that media whenever we wish. Same as most reference books. Throw away the physical books while still having fingertip access to the information within them via the internet.

It's only a physical decluttering of our living space, it makes almost no difference to our information-rich lifestyles.

In practice, we are giving up nothing.

[toneknob]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1378923910' post='2206626']
In practice, we are giving up nothing.
[/quote]

Unless you have a preference for the media that delivers the information, which some do. What are you going to put in all that space?

[flyfisher]

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1378977549' post='2207195']
Unless you have a preference for the media that delivers the information, which some do.
[/quote]

Indeed, which is why it's a personal choice. We all know people with shelves full of books that haven't been read for decades, perhaps even never at all, but are kept more for decoration than their content. That's perfectly fine, but just be honest about the reasons.


[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1378977549' post='2207195']
What are you going to put in all that space?
[/quote]

Isn't space the ultimate luxury?

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1378894055' post='2206081']...Only they aren't as 'indispensible' as I thought...[/quote]

This notion is volatile; it comes and goes, I have found. One example of many: years ago I was moved to tears by Tchaikovsky's 'Pathétique'. Listening to the same disk several years later, I was almost horrified to find it bland, almost lifeless. Some time later still, listening in different circumstances, I could feel some (but not all...) of the original emotions. Similar changes in temperament have affected my listening to many musics over the years. The nostalgia lends us certain anticipations which are often disappointed, sometimes confirmed, and even (though rarely, for me...) surpassed. Memory is a wonderful thing; I often prefer the veiled view, lacking in detail, as if through frosted cathedral glass, than the brashly-lit truth of 'Play it again, Sam'. Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it don't...

[4 Strings]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1378985924' post='2207333']
years ago I was moved to tears by Tchaikovsky's 'Pathétique'
[/quote]

Completely ignoring the point you made; yes, me too! It's a wonderful piece, especially in the context of what he was going through at the time. Had a similar experience with Britten's War Requiem. Mine were on vinyl too but that's not the reason I was so moved by such wonderful musical expression. Or did it help? Probably never know as, like you, I'm sure a revisit will not bring the same emotion.

Anyway, this was more to say that I've found a new level of cool when my lads (20 and 22) re-noticed the record deck. One has brought out a vinyl version of his band's ep, the other so hates modern clinicalness he's even taken my old Contax 35mm slr camera to make some art. No idea how he's going to afford to use it though.

I have hundreds of lps and probably wouldn't miss them. Got plenty of space at the moment so it's not an issue. Definitely nostalgic reasons keeping them warm.

[4 Strings]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1378982281' post='2207261']

Isn't space the ultimate luxury?
[/quote]

Space travel is, otherwise it's just the final frontier.

[rubis]

I ditched all my collection but kept Led Zep 4 in pink vinyl with the intention of making a clock out of it! Maybe one day I'll get around to it..........or maybe not! I don't miss vinyl or the "thrill" of studying the artwork on the sleeve!

[KevB]

Ditched virtually all my vinyl a few years back as I was moving house it seemed a natural break. I kept a lower shelf of my biggest CD rack stocked with vinyl that no one wanted to buy due entirely to its weight. The rack was a bit unstable and somehow top heavy even though all the shelves were evenly filled (I think it's the floor).The weight of a shelf of vinyl at the bottom keeps it stable. Most of the stuff I really liked had naturally been replaced with CD anyway and now I've moved on to downloads I don't even buy that many Cd's any more, I think this is a fairly common pattern with folks around my age.