Vinyl dying (for DJ's)

Sectionfive

bandwagon house
Top vinyl sales in US in 2011:

1 Beatles Abbey Road (41,000 copies)
2 Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues (29,700)
3 Bon Iver Bon Iver (27,200)
04 Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More (26,800)
05 Radiohead – The King of Limbs (20,800)


:confused:
 

Dr Awesome

Techsteppin'
Doing battle with this currently.
Fairly sure I'm the last vinyl only dub step DJ who regularly plays out in Auckland.
I make the choice to take my own turntables + needles to my(our) monthly club night, as for peace of minds sake it's better have a pair that are in good nick that you know work perfectly - which is a hassle, and indeed a risk as it's probably only a matter of time until someone spills something on them.

I'm in the annoying situation of having a bunch of MP3s & WAVs now from local + international producers / digital labels / giveaways etc that I can't play.
I've never even touched a CDJ before, and I tried serato once and didn't like it.
I'm feeling as though I'll have to either bite the bullet and buy a CDJ for home so I can get used to them, or start paying big cizash to get dubs cut and shipped to the other side of the world.

:(
 

Sectionfive

bandwagon house
There is enough vinyl in the world for me to stick with it. Decades worth.
Got some 25 year old house and disco in the post today and it's all mint, beautiful.
 

outraygeous

Well-known member
I do a vinyl only night every week in Angel on a Wednesday.

The hipsters and internet dont really know about it

If you are in London, you are welcome to play.
 
Top vinyl sales in US in 2011:

1 Beatles Abbey Road (41,000 copies)
2 Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues (29,700)
3 Bon Iver Bon Iver (27,200)
04 Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More (26,800)
05 Radiohead – The King of Limbs (20,800)


:confused:

A lot of these mainstream albums that are put out on plastic nowadays make a big deal about how they weigh a minimum XX grams. While the thicker the vinyl presumably the better:

a) who's to say that their minimum threshold is actually generous
b) surely it's going to play very quietly if they cram tons of tracks on a single side.

My understanding of vinyl versus Cd's is that the best example of the former has slightly better sound quality than the best example of the latter format. Now, for the last 10-15 years it's been underground music that has pretty much kept the pressing plants still in business. Now dance music is increasingly going digital the major labels are picking up the slack, but as most dance 12's were sold to DJ's or wannabe DJ's there was the likelihood that they were crafted for unforgiving club sound systems that would expose poorly mastered records. Presumably this is of no interest to the market for the type of records listed above, but it seems a shame that quality control has gone down.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I'm pretty sure that the thickness of the vinyl is basically a gimmick - or at least it's not near the top of the most important things that affect sound quality. Don't ask me what the important things are though cos I've no idea.
 

Sectionfive

bandwagon house
Around 7mins in the George Peckham clip I posted yesterday. He was saying the deeper the groove the more volume. So it could be the difference between getting a record that is naturally loud and one which needs fiddling with the gain and potential loss of quality?
 

Gombreak

Well-known member
I'm pretty sure that the thickness of the vinyl is basically a gimmick - or at least it's not near the top of the most important things that affect sound quality. Don't ask me what the important things are though cos I've no idea.
33 vs 45 is an important one isn't it? I'm not that savvy about these things. I see the appeal of 180g for consumers, that weight and slight extra heft does feel nice, but for DJs it ultimately just means an even heavier bag than usual surely?
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Yeah, I thought that. I mean, the groove has to be a certain depth but after that it's not simply a matter of deeper groove making better sound or so I'm told.
I guess a heavier record is less likely to jump and maybe you've got slightly more control if you're trying to mix it - though some might prefer a lighter one for that, I guess that's a matter of taste.
 

Phaedo

Well-known member
thicker vinyl = better sound is a myth. not sure on the exact details why but theres no reason why a thin record cant be as weighty/loud as a 180g press. i'm sure we could all find records in our collection that proves this.

i think the 180g appeal from a consumer point of view is the guarantee of a top quality pressing, although the weight itself doesnt actually have much to do with it.
 
Well my main beef with it is the retrograde step of 12's predominately being used for albums again rather than singles. The volume will be just as low as it was in the 1970's, which is why the twelve inch single was invented in the first place. Not that I have invested anything into this as I don't need any Radiohead e.p's
 

connect_icut

Well-known member
Well my main beef with it is the retrograde step of 12's predominately being used for albums again rather than singles. The volume will be just as low as it was in the 1970's, which is why the twelve inch single was invented in the first place. Not that I have invested anything into this as I don't need any Radiohead e.p's

But to be fair, there's also a trend towards albums that could fit one record getting spread across two, for better sound quality, presumably for DJs - the Mount Kimbie being a prime example.
 

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
the trend for one sided 12"s are the biggest rip off though aren't they? For some reason they're often even more expensive than usual, 8 or 9 quid for 1 track? Fuck that...
 
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