How many albums do you own?

[BeBop]

Too d*mn many. More than I can listen to before I die.

[Doghouse Riley]

I've reached an age where I don't bother much with albums, on so many there's only a few tracks I'd ever play, so it's a bit of a pain finding which track is on which album and then pulling them out then swapping them about just to play a few tracks.

I've been in to vinyl jukeboxes for a while, I've two, but they live in our summerhouse at the bottom of the garden. I've now embraced modern technology, I've uploaded 160 of my favourite tracks to an iPod.

And this is how I play them.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMplaLWADBo

All my audio equipment is well over thirty years old and works just fine. I love this vintage Leak tuner/amp, great reproduction and tremendous power. My ancient little Lumix digital camera doesn't do it justice.

I can select as many tracks as I like at one time, a 50p coin gives me seven plays. A press of a button stops the track playing and the next selected gets played.
I've a second iPod with another 160 tracks which I can swop over, immediately, I just have to keep a paper track list for the second one.
But I can ring the changes any time I want, by uploading a new playlist.
It also saves wear and tear on my collection.


But maybe I'm just lazy.

[Tenorman]

And what age do you have to reach before you stop bothering with albums?

[Doghouse Riley]

Originally Posted by Tenorman

And what age do you have to reach before you stop bothering with albums?

Any age you like old son, it's a personal choice.

You can usually find a decent quality track you like on YouTube which you can download as an mp3.

[Tenorman]

I still like the ritual of taking an LP out of the Vinyl cover, then removing it from the cardboard cover then from the inner: Placing it on the turntable; clearing the dust with a carbon-fibre brush to reduce static, and then sitting back and listening as the analogue sound washes over me

But then I also love putting colour slide film through a 1936 35mm camera, while owning a Canon EOS5D mark2. Go figure

[Doghouse Riley]

Originally Posted by Tenorman

I still like the ritual of taking an LP out of the Vinyl cover, then removing it from the cardboard cover then from the inner: Placing it on the turntable; clearing the dust with a carbon-fibre brush to reduce static, and then sitting back and listening as the analogue sound washes over me

But then I also love putting colour slide film through a 1936 35mm camera, while owning a Canon EOS5D mark2. Go figure

That's just nostalgia, we all have our favourite music related experiences. I still play some of my old LPs from time to time, although I do have CDs of a few of the ones that have been played to death over the last forty-odd years..

Mine is putting coins in my vinyl jukeboxes in our summerhouse, making a selection and then listening to the carousel turn, then stop, the slight whirr as the gripper arm collects the record and places onto the turntable, then the feint noise once the AVC has switched on, as the stylus starts to track in before the music starts. Sheer bliss, with a beer on a warm summer's day.

[Tenorman]

Being the UK, don't you mean warm beer on a cold summer's day

Yeah. Nostalgia -- but JUST nostalgia?

My system is primarily set up for LPs. I have to kick out the Pre-amp before I play CDs.

I still think there is nothing to beat Vinyl. Take one master -- make a vinyl, CD, then high quality digital (e.g. FLAC), and I think it would be Vinyl, then FLAC then CD.

It's a bit like the classic car scene. I have a 1978 TVR Taimar. I would be the last one to say that it is better than today's soulless tin cans, BUT...... As a driving experience, there is not much to beat it

[Open Lane]

Hi,


When I originally said "Albums" I meant it in the broadest sense possible. By no means, do I see a problem with clarrifying how many of each format.

[Doghouse Riley]

Originally Posted by Tenorman

Being the UK, don't you mean warm beer on a cold summer's day

Yeah. Nostalgia -- but JUST nostalgia?

My system is primarily set up for LPs. I have to kick out the Pre-amp before I play CDs.

I still think there is nothing to beat Vinyl. Take one master -- make a vinyl, CD, then high quality digital (e.g. FLAC), and I think it would be Vinyl, then FLAC then CD.

It's a bit like the classic car scene. I have a 1978 TVR Taimar. I would be the last one to say that it is better than today's soulless tin cans, BUT...... As a driving experience, there is not much to beat it

You might have cause to say that, if you'd failed to spot my little Budweiser fridge on which my glass and bottle are sitting.
The fridge is on a purpose built unit on castors, which I can roll out on my summer house's verandah.

I avoid the vinyl/CD argument, it's all down to personal perception, the music is far more important.

The only classic car I had was a 1936 Austin seven Ruby convertible when I was seventeen. I've not the interest as I've other hobbies.

I've driven a succession of "soft roaders" for the last fifteen years, but our youngest son does have this LHD "splitty," restored to almost original condition, apart from the leather upholstery with memory foam interior, the stereo and the TV, which is a bit of a traffic stopper.

[Vaughan]

To be fair, I have a reasonable rock collection, and a good number of those will never be played again. I can be somewhat indiscriminate with Jazz and Classical - I'll give anything a go. But rock? I'm down to my favorites really. And then rarely.

A mate of mine recently threw out in casual conversation that he "threw all that Dave Gilmour stuff in the garbage". I asked him why, and he said "because I'm never going to play it again, it serves no purpose."

I'm not ready to do that yet - but I could easily get there.

[Doghouse Riley]

Originally Posted by Vaughan

To be fair, I have a reasonable rock collection, and a good number of those will never be played again. I can be somewhat indiscriminate with Jazz and Classical - I'll give anything a go. But rock? I'm down to my favorites really. And then rarely.

A mate of mine recently threw out in casual conversation that he "threw all that Dave Gilmour stuff in the garbage". I asked him why, and he said "because I'm never going to play it again, it serves no purpose."

I'm not ready to do that yet - but I could easily get there.

It's not just records, we tend to hang on to a lot of "stuff" just in case.
How many times have you cleared out a lot of gear and then a few days later found that you needed some of it?

Be honest, practically never.

I've a forty year-old cassette deck, I've not used in years. The drive belt had stretched and it would play, but not fast forward /rewind. A week ago after an internet search I found a new belt for it and it's now working perfectly. I still don't use it but it's "there" if ever I need it. Same with old golf clubs, long been superseded by newer ones, I hang on to them, a friend has eight old sets in his loft.



I tend to hang on to particular albums which I associate with different times of my life. My two jukeboxes have favourites of pop from 50/60/70/80s, a lot of Motown and some jazz and standard classics.I think music can be "fashionable" something you really liked ten years ago, now sometimes you wonder what you saw in it.

There are some albums you'd never part with. In 1960 as a teenager I bought my copy of "Somethin' Else" in Harrods record department when I was working in Knightsbridge. I play it from time to time, sometimes the CD I bought of it ten years ago and now mostly a few tracks I put on my Wall box/iPod conversion.

[Vaughan]

Sorry to cludge up this thread.....

I've been thinking a little more about this, and it's finally dawned on me that the idea of a personal music collection in this digital age is simply an irrelevance. Back in the day where you owned a physical copy, things were different - each copy was distinct. But not now. It's just bits. You no longer have to browse shelves for hours, or even leave your armchair. Automated "recommendations" steer you around so you don't even have to be especially knowledgeable. Commerce doesn't have to take place, so there's no personal investment other than time. Since there's nothing tangible changing hands, the whole relationship with the music is changed. The place it is in our space is different.

Basically, it's meaningless to talk about collection sizes if one includes digital downloads. A collection is as big as you want it to be.

By the way Doghouse - my wife and I tend to live relatively bare. We have moved a lot due to work, and you tend not to make any emotional investment in things. There are exceptions - for me it's mostly music, and for my wife books. But beds, sofas, shelves, carpets, lights..... we're just not interested. We've rented a skip before and filled it up before a move, just clearing out......

The problem with my rock music is that the music itself has no value to me now. Let alone the medium.... it'd be work to dig them all out and bin them - so it's inertia more then anything that keeps them here.

[HutchFan]

Originally Posted by Vaughan

I've been thinking a little more about this, and it's finally dawned on me that the idea of a personal music collection in this digital age is simply an irrelevance.

I'm not sure that I agree with you, Vaughan.

It's NOT "irrelevant" if we enjoy it. It's just like any other hobby; there's no real "right or wrong" here. It all comes down to what we enjoy, what puts a smile on our face.

If we enjoy having something tangible, something physical, then it's "good" -- even if other folks no longer find any value in it. There doesn't need to be external agreement for it to be fun -- and therefore worthwhile, right?!?!?

[slowshoes]

Originally Posted by HutchFan

Speaking for myself, I know I can get caught up in the collecting, and it can become an end to itself -- rather than stopping and listening. Every so often I take time off from buying and delve into the stuff I already own. I've decided that I'm going to "take it easy" next year, for this very reason.

Such a great point - I sometimes feel I'm buying too much, and listening to stuff I already have too little. Especially when I have many albums that were growers for me - albums that revealed how special they were to me only after many repeated listenings. Maybe I'm being too dismissive of something that I simply haven't spent enough time with to fully appreciate.

Last year I bought more than I typically do in any given year. This year, much of my available money has gone elsewhere, so I've spent alot of hours listening to stuff I already own, including the albums I bought last year. It's been great doing exactly what Hutch suggests - not buying much, but really listening to what I already own.

[jav]

I have a great love for my large album/cd collection and even larger book collection. I certainly dont think it is irrelevant. I have been very disturbed by the movement away from cds/albums that seems very calculated and the public has apparently bought into. I recall just a couple of years ago that the majority of people still were exposed to new music via cds, then the big blitz that cds, dvds, print books (all the material things I love) were out hit critical mass, and apparently people still believe anything they are told. Frankly I dont understand the new terrain, but then jazz has always been esoteric, so it is really not all that big of a change except I sure miss those days I would browse throught brick and mortar music shops for hours, and always come away with some new find to experience. I love Vaughan's initial post, and completely agree that there is great comfort and joy in being surrounded by your music collection and nothing quite feels like unwrapping a new recording from it's packaging as Tenorman described!