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Goodbye Vinyl

06 Dec 98 - 02:20 PM (#48293)
Subject: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Jack "mostly folk"

Having a tough time comitting to the idea, but I have finally decided to get rid of almost all my vinyl records better known to some as LP's.Does any mudcatters have any sugestions where to sell, donate or toss them as clay pigeons? They are primarily a "Folk Collection".

Jack "mostly folk"


06 Dec 98 - 02:36 PM (#48294)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Chet W.

Jack, I'm sure most of us would like to come to your house to help with this problem, but seriously, if there's a reputable used record dealer in your area, and the records are in good shape, you should be able to trade them in towards CD's, if that's what you want. What my dealer does is give half of the retail value in trade or one-fourth in cash. You might be surprised what some of your records could be worth. Other than that, you could probably find a library that would be pleased to get them, and then you could write off the value on your taxes. My best advice would be to keep them. I've made a concious effort to listen more to my LP's lately (CD's are so easy to play) and have been rewarded with a lot of forgotten material to learn as well as good listening. ONE DAY there'll be a song you wish you still had.

Good luck, Chet W.


06 Dec 98 - 02:46 PM (#48295)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: harpgirl

Jack,
What female folksinging or string band albums do you have? I am interested in anything except Joan Baez and Judy Collins such as Kathy and Carol, Carolyn Hester, County Down, or anything from the 60s to early eighty's? E-Mail me at zxfb76a@prodigy.com
harpgirl


06 Dec 98 - 02:48 PM (#48296)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: gargoyle

You may find the attached helpful:

How To Sell Your Records


06 Dec 98 - 02:53 PM (#48297)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: gargoyle

Try again

How To Sell Your Records

The location has been helpful http://houseof music.com


06 Dec 98 - 03:05 PM (#48300)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: karen k

If you really want to get rid of them, why not donate them to Singout! Magazine's Resource Center. That way the collection will stay together and be available to those who'd use it.

k


06 Dec 98 - 03:07 PM (#48301)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Dale Rose

I recently purchased a CD writer, and between that and my cassette recorder, I am committed to copying what music from my LPs that I feel I am ever going to want again. The LPs themselves (at least those which are Old Time related) I am giving away to musician friends (who will make far better use of them than I will) and to the Ozark Folk Center. I have not been keeping count, but I would imagine that so far I am minus 200-300 out of an original 2,000 or so, that's not counting 45s and 78s. Oh, and a scanner lets me keep what elements of the notes I wish to file, or to make CD inserts.

I say this because that is my recommendation: see that they get into the hands of dedicated young people who can learn from them or a library where they will be at the disposal of many.

Selling them will only bring you money, but giving them to those who will appreciate them by making use of them will bring you satisfaction.


06 Dec 98 - 03:40 PM (#48304)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: gargoyle

Have never "sold" records or sheet music - however, the net, and lists, and the "find-feature" are a quick way to check valuations, if for only curiosity's sake....Its nice to see a "favorite piece" valued by someone at $50.00. However, when it comes time to sell - expect 10 cents on the dollar, selling to a wholeseller. (For U.S.tax purposes, value of a donation to a "charitable organization" may be set at the value the organization could sell it for - this is better than 10 cents on the dollar, if you have a taxable level of income.)

For valuation of folk vinyl - here is list where you could start your research.

Folk Vinyl For Sale


06 Dec 98 - 03:53 PM (#48306)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: rich r

You could also try one of the online auction centers such as e-Bay etc. That would require some effort on your part to describe the albums and condition. I have personally bought more LP's in the last 2 years than I have in 15-20 years. I keep finding these 'gems' in used record stores that are either not on CD or I can get them for under $5 instead of over $15. That translates to 3-4 times the number of songs per buck.

rich r


06 Dec 98 - 04:00 PM (#48307)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: rich r

I forgot to include that libraries can be very problematic. Locally the Public library got rid of all their LPs three or four years ago for 50 cents each (I didn't get there in time to get anything worthwhile). A local liberal arts college has a sizeable collection (primarily classical and Jazz) that have been relegated to a basement. they can still be checked out but the items have not been coded for tracking with the libraries computer system. A specialist library or center may take them if they are in good shape and not already found in their collection.

rich r


06 Dec 98 - 04:35 PM (#48310)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Susan of DT

Consider radio stations with folk programs, if they still take vinyl.

If you can make a list, you may find lots of customers to buy them here.


06 Dec 98 - 07:36 PM (#48328)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: harpgirl

Dale,
That is a wonderful Idea. I would like to get rid of my albums but keep collecting old music. What kind of CD writer is an easy one to use that isn't too expensive.


06 Dec 98 - 08:19 PM (#48334)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Dale Rose

Harpgirl, I don't think any of them are inexpensive yet. The Hewlett Packard is $399 at Best Buy now, cheaper and no doubt better than my version. It is not an absolute necessity, but to get the best out of your old records, you need a good program to clean them up, like Adaptec's Easy CD Creator. That is another $90 or so. If you have good quality records, with little or no noise, you might be happy without that, but I figured as long as I was going to do it, I would do it first class. I have had the CD writer for several months, but just got the Easy CD Creator, and have only done one CD so far, and that was a direct CD to CD, which worked fine. They recommended that as a first attempt. I will give you a progress report when I do something more adventurous, probably not until after Christmas. Oh, and you need a fairly good amount of temporary space on your hard drive to load the songs you are working with, about 10mb per minute, or about 750mb per CD. If you are just recording straight from cassette to CD with no cleaning, then you do not need the space, but that is also a riskier proposition, from what I understand. Perhaps there will be someone reading this who knows a lot more about it than I do.

Oh yeah, harpgirl, by the way, I do have the Kathy and Carol lp! 8-) So many good songs there, Carter's Blues, Fair Beauty Bright, Green Rocky Road, Wondrous Love . . .


06 Dec 98 - 08:58 PM (#48338)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Alan of Australia

G'day,
I have transferred all my folk LPs to CD, took about a year to do at about 2 LPs per week. I used Cool Edit Pro to record onto hard disc, then denoise, declick, and separate into individual tracks. Cool edit is excellent at all this. Also extremely good at removing hiss from tapes. It's all a bit time consuming (for the computer at least) but the result is worth it. Hearing your old recordings without the crackle & surface noise is great, & the convenience of CDs means I'm hearing stuff I hadn't played for years.

I use Easy CD Pro for burning the CD. Use "disc at once" mode to avoid clicks between tracks, making sure before you start that you have enough to fill the CD (up to 74 min).

Cheers,
Alan


07 Dec 98 - 11:37 PM (#48504)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Alan of Australia

G'day,
If you have a good sound system connected to your PC you could encode all the LPs in MP3 format and record onto CD ROM. Imagine at least 11 hours of CD quality music on one disc. That's 20+ LPs, especially when you leave out the tracks you don't like.

Cheers,
Alan


07 Dec 98 - 11:48 PM (#48505)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: gargoyle

A radio station...is poor bet....if you are looking continued use of the material.

A friend has a fabulous collection of "Dutch" vinyl from the 40,50,60's,,,,,,,,it is probably over 2000 LPs. He got it for $50.00 when a local PBS, Saturday&Sunday program went off the air....(and this was in one of the nation's largest metro areas....which had many Dutch immigrants.)

Consolidate to your own collection, for your own enjoyment. As any audiophile will tell you....analog beats digital anyday.....Enjoy...no one else will appreciate what you have collected...

Soon it will wither and become the dust, must, mildew and rust of our own withered, dried bones.


08 Dec 98 - 07:07 AM (#48536)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Alan of Australia

G'day,
Well I suppose analogue beats digital if you choose to ignore Nyquist's theorem which easily proves otherwise. Probably the main limitation in playing digital sound is the analogue filter which comes after the digital to analogue converter.

I promise my next post will be in plain old Aussie English!

Sure do miss that record surface noise & subtle crackle that gives us that characteristic vinyl "warmth".

Cheers,
Alan (dusting the chalk off my fingers.)


08 Dec 98 - 10:02 AM (#48555)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Bert

Er, I thought that Mudcat collected folk music!
Why not try Dick or Max for anything you might want to donate.


08 Dec 98 - 09:39 PM (#48627)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Pete M

Well Alan, I'm not familiar with Nyquist's theorem but I would suggest that it is unlikely that it can be used to "prove" superiority, since in the area of hearing as opposed to scientifically measured frequency response etc., this is an entirely subjective judgement. I do seem to recall however that double blind testing showed no identifiable characteristic for either reproduction system which led to a consistent preference by the listeners.

Anyway enough of this.

I, like most of us I'm sure, have a lot of tapes which are getting past their sell by date and insist on self destructing in the middle of my favourite songs, so I am interested in transferring them to CD. You mentioned that you use "Cool Edit Pro" to clean up tracks, and I've had a look at their site. Did you get your copy locally or direct from the site? ie is it any cheaper at the local retail level in Oz? Secondly, you mention capturing the tracks in MP3 format, what software do you user to do this, is it still "Cool Edit"? I would be grateful for any info on the process and products you use. I imagine it would be of interest to everyone, but please contact me directly if you think that would be preferable.

Thanks

Pete M


09 Dec 98 - 04:01 AM (#48669)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Alan of Australia

Pete,
I agree with the findings of the double blind test. What Nyquist's theorem proves is that digital recording will cause no loss of quality at all and therefore analogue won't sound better, but LPs & tapes will have the noise etc that we became accustomed to :o)

Sorry, already broke my promise above!

I originally got Cool Edit when it was shareware and upgraded to Cool Edit Pro, when it was released, via the internet from Syntrillium. Looking at an Aussie ad I think it's wildly overpriced here. BTW it's also a multi track recorder although I use Musicator Audio for that purpose.

The MP3 site has links for downloading software in a number of categories, including MP3 encoders & decoders/players. I found "Plugger", a freeware encoder to be the fastest. It runs like a DOS program, so you can write a batch file to process several files together. Winamp may be the best decoder/player. It's shareware but cheap.

If you decide to go ahead with any of this contact me & I'll give you details of the methods I use.

Cheers,
Alan


09 Dec 98 - 05:12 AM (#48674)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: dwditty

Jack-Don't do it! You will rue the day. I have come back full circle to my record collection. There is much that will never make it to CD for commercial reasons. Also, lots of good vinyl recordings sound better than CD - particularly acoustic instruments. Please reconsider your decision - or post your collection on the Mudcat and let us have first pick.


09 Dec 98 - 10:53 PM (#48774)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: gargoyle

I have not yet had the fine opportunity to go from vinyl to CD - I will ask my nephew for advice.

However, a fine site with information on Midi to CD (44100khz 16bit) may be found at:

http://www.ptialaska.net/~syntec/pages/midiwave.htm


17 Dec 98 - 02:17 PM (#49940)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Jack mostly folk

Hi All You Good Mudcatters, Just got back into town from a weeks worth of travel. I will have time to sort, ponder and decide if and what to do. Thank you so much for all your great input and ideas. I will try and answer questions direct in the near future. Thanks again to all who offered sugestions. Jack"mostly folk"


17 Dec 98 - 06:21 PM (#49957)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca

Jack, I am just the opposite. I am buying folk LP's that have not been released on CD.


17 Dec 98 - 06:42 PM (#49963)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Frank McGrath

Dear Jack mostly folk,
DON"T PART WITH YOUR VINYL!!!!!!!

I feel like I'm trying to coax someone away from the cliff edge. LP's are wonderful - magic - treasures to be adored. I'll swap you my two beautiful childern for your collection (joking only - but I think you catch my drift).

Any audiophile will tell you that CD's lack the dynamic range of analog recordings and at best are "close approximations" to the original. Even if they are a bit noisy through overuse or misuse they are usually superior and certainly more authentic to any subsequent digitally remastered copy.

So don't part with your old LP's. While less convenient than CD's they are special and deserve to be preserved.

Fra


17 Dec 98 - 07:17 PM (#49968)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Bill D

besides, I have stuff on vinyl, that I'll bet NEVER makes it to CD...and you get these neat BIG pictures on vinyl, and liner notes you can read...and, if you are reasonably careful and tape the records you play a lot, they will be around a long time.

(I have these 4 10" lps of Richard Dyer-Bennet...wonder when THEY will make to CD?)

I think I'll go make a list of wild, weird and wonderful things that I doubt will ever be seen on CD...

However, Frank..although " Any audiophile will tell you that CD's lack the dynamic range".... I have a very limited range in my hearing and 'fine recording' is mostly wasted on me.....if I could have everything I own put onto CD, I would, for the convenience..and keep the vinyl, too!


18 Dec 98 - 08:43 AM (#50046)
Subject: RE: Goodbye Vinyl
From: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca

Yes, in fact I managed to cadge a turntable that I would have died for twenty years ago. I tend to tape the LP's and play them on tape. A friend of mine is trying to sell me on the idea of a burnable CD to record deleted LP's. Allegedly there is software which can remove the pops and hisses too.

I am still unclear on the concept of how my turntable can be plugged into my computer, given the need of a turntable for one of those little pre-amp thingees, but there is a pleasing Dr. Who quality to such a setup and I'd be willing to try.