izationalizer posted:

Also, serious question about mono/stereo: My stereo preamp can switch to mono mode. I never use it when spinning mono records; I've always figured that the sound will come out mono anyway. The question is, why have a mono mode at all? Did some people just not like the stereo sound, and wanted to fold it down? I used to have a receiver that had a mono option, too.

MisterOblivious posted:

The main use for that mono switch on a receiver is making weak-signal FM listenable. Stereo FM is transmitted as Sum and Difference signals which are then decoded: when you hit the mono switch only the Sum signal is played. This signal to noise ratio of the stereo signal is a lot worse. Car radios automatically switch to mono when the signal is weak these days. It's pretty obvious if you listen to a weak station as you'll hear it switch between lots of white noise, to clear, to noise, to clear, etc. Smarter radios decrease the stereo separation so the transition isn't as jarring.

Your preamp probably has the switch to eliminate distracting stereo noises. If you can set up your environment "correctly" when you play a mono source over a pair of speakers you'll hear a "phantom center speaker." It's a neat audio illusion and the normal noises associated with record listening diminish the "with my eyes closed it totally sounds like I've got a center speaker!" effect.

Mono switches are great when you're working on speaker placement and in particular, toe-in. I've got a strong preference for near field listening and getting the speakers spaced and pointed right makes all the difference in the world.

Ballz posted:

Holy poo poo.

brb gonna go sell off my firstborn.

rudolfsadder posted:

I hope when I die my family can live eat off my unfinished works forever.

CPL593H posted:

They call this technique "Hendrix Familying".

LooksLikeABabyRat posted:

Had a pretty good haul of dad rock 45s today at the local Goodwill. I picked up all of these for $21:

Styx- Come Sail Away
Pat Benatar- Love is a Battlefield
Tracy Chapman- Fast Car
Eddie Murphy- Party All the Time
Van Morrison- Moondance
Kansas- Dust in the Wind
Eric Clapton- Wonderful Tonight
John Cougar Mellencamp- Jack and Diane
John Cougar Mellencamp- Hurts so Good
Elton John- Take Me to the Pilot/ Your Song
Billy Joel- Only the Good Die Young
The Animals- House of the Rising Sun
Nena- 99 Red Balloons
Carly Simon- You're so Vain
Johnny Nash- I can See Clearly Now
Ray Stevens- Yakety Yak
ELO- Evil Woman
Men at Work- Down Under
Loverboy- Working for the Weekend
Berlin- Take my Breath Away
UB40- Red Red Wine
Dead or Alive- You spin me Round (like a Record)

CPL593H posted:

They call this technique "Hendrix Familying".

Allen Wren posted:

Mail call!





Nice!





Oh, come the gently caress on. Welp, I guess that's what I get for buying a thing off ebay, spine split from edge to edge and obvious gouges.

Cemetry Gator posted:

You can get a double-y chord, which will take the stereo signal and sum it to mono for you.

I'm kind of confused by what you're looking to do. So for the record, mono records are compatible with stereo records. The only thing is that you may have noise in the stereo spectrum, but the music should be mono.

BigFactory posted:

Maybe someone smarter than me can answer this. In discogs, you go in and hit the what's my collection worth button, and you notice it's jumped $100 bucks or something. Is there an easy way to sort by transaction so you can see what caused the jump? I know it hardly means anything, but I'm always curious.

trdn89 posted:

(After researching further I have come to realize that my question was dumb and everyone was right to mock me for it; I read something over on the Steve Hoffman forum about how you ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY MUST gently caress around with your rig if you want mono records to sound right and figured I should ask the thread how to proceed since y'all have never steered me wrong in the past, but in retrospect I should have probably just kept reading. Oh well.)

izationalizer posted:

If you're in the US and need a copy of David Bowie's "Low," here's a copy for a reasonably OK price ($19.50 + $3.75 shipping). Black label US pressing. Not a total steal, but it looks like BINs--and, pretty routinely, auctions--can hit $30 or more, so this isn't such a bad price. SOLD!

CPL593H posted:

Does this album usually go that high? I got mine a few years back for ten bucks in a record store.I didn't think US pressing of any 70s Bowie album were in short supply.

Cemetry Gator posted:

There's your first mistake - going to the Steve Hoffman forums for advice on how to listen to music. If SA seems spergy, then I don't know how to describe the Hoffman forums at times. Like, it's alright to find out about new records or interesting reissues or poo poo like that. And there's sometimes interesting conversations on the music and stuff that gets into the facts about stuff. But it quickly devolves from there.

You got one guy who constantly posts about Amy Grant. Want to know if an Amy Grant CD is up to audiophile quality? That guy knows. If he can mention Amy Grant, he will. I never knew that Amy Grant could inspire such fandom in people. I mean, sure, she had some catchy pop-songs, and if you listen to her Christian music, I'm guessing she's better than most, but still. Any threads about the Beatles and mono will end up with people getting into arguments about how much they prefer stereo. Also, now, there are people obsessing about AAA mastering and making sure that their records aren't digitally sourced, because they can tell the difference! They're so obsessed with AAA that they'll hunt down analog mastered cassettes just because they might sound better.

Every conversation about a release must include a "Dynamic Range Number," and god help you if they dub it to be too low. Of course, don't worry. These guys will help direct you to a West German or Japanese pressing from the 1980s of this album on CD that totally has such amazing mastering that it sounds like the person is in the room with you. They even found the 2009 stereo remasters of the Beatles to be too loud and too compressed, because they used a little bit of peak limiting. And don't worry, if you love Time Life collections, but wish you could have them in an audiophile mastering, they actually have you covered.

Audiophiles can be such fun sometimes.

trdn89 posted:

I can't argue with any of this, but SHTV does have its moments of utility. Some folks over there actually do know good music; threads over there directly led to Arnold's Hillside, Velvet Crush's Teenage Symphonies To God, Mary Margaret O'Hara's Miss America, and a bunch of other great albums living on my shelves now and forever. It's also a very useful resource if you want to sperg out and find the best possible pressing of a record; I would never have known to seek out the Horzu pressing of Magical Mystery Tour or Bob Ludwig's cut of The Stranger (haters can eat a dick, I love this album).

Besides, all the Amy Grant frothing in the world could never make SHTV more risible than that Hot Stampers site.

izationalizer posted:

I didn't think so, either, but I checked eBay's completed listings, and yeah, $20 is somewhat on the lower end. I saw a couple (out of many) that ended for a little under $20 (I think one when for ~$15), but if course, if you wanted it, you'd have to bid it up higher than that. *checking again now*: Yeah, no less than three BINs sold for $30, so I guess $19.50 is a fair price these days.

I got my OG US copy for $4 in a record store ~10 years ago, and my OG UK copy on eBay for like $12 ~8 years ago. The demand continues to make ground on the supply, I suppose.

trdn89 posted:

I can't argue with any of this, but SHTV does have its moments of utility. Some folks over there actually do know good music; threads over there directly led to Arnold's Hillside, Velvet Crush's Teenage Symphonies To God, Mary Margaret O'Hara's Miss America, and a bunch of other great albums living on my shelves now and forever. It's also a very useful resource if you want to sperg out and find the best possible pressing of a record; I would never have known to seek out the Horzu pressing of Magical Mystery Tour or Bob Ludwig's cut of The Stranger (haters can eat a dick, I love this album).

Besides, all the Amy Grant frothing in the world could never make SHTV more risible than that Hot Stampers site.

CPL593H posted:

I'm pretty sure I have the orange label one if that makes any difference.

izationalizer posted:

And I'm pretty sure that that's the first pressing, so I'd say you scored for .

And speaking of sperging out re: which pressing(s) sound the best, I actually prefer my US copy of "Low" to my UK copy. The US is probably a bit too bright, but the UK copy just sounds dull to me, and I've heard other people say the same thing... on the SHTV forums.

I agree with trdn89 about SHTV's moments of utility, too. I've certainly bought records based on the consensuses over there, and I've been pleased with the results. I don't peruse the forums, though; I just run searches based on what I'm curious about.

kirkjames posted:

The Disintegration Loops boxset arrived absolutely pristine. I can't even tell what damage there was supposed to be. Totally worth it. BRB, spending the next 6 hours listening to slowly decaying tape loops.

kirkjames posted:

The Disintegration Loops boxset arrived absolutely pristine. I can't even tell what damage there was supposed to be. Totally worth it. BRB, spending the next 6 hours listening to slowly decaying tape loops.

izationalizer posted:

chime_on posted:

Is that any good? I absolutely love the old Simply Saucer stuff, but Half Human/Half Live (or whatever it's called) just didn't have the magic.

izationalizer posted:

Oh, and also: Here's a first pressing of The Flaming Lips' "In a Priest Driven Ambulance" on pink vinyl for $25 or best offer. Free shipping within the US. That seems to be a pretty good deal.SOLD!

izationalizer posted:

Mine is pretty much pristine, too. That was truly an amazing deal.

Also: I'm torn, you guys.

Every record I own has been played multiple times, even my rarest/most expensive ones. Like most of you, I'm a firm believer that these things are meant to be spun. But this copy of Simply Saucer's "Reckless Agitation" 7" (Logan Hardware, 2013) is so drat cool that I'm hesitant to open it. It's packaged like a classic toy, and it comes with a frisbee!

My wife thinks I should leave it sealed, and perhaps hang it on a wall somewhere. What do you think? EDIT: I think I'm just gonna order another copy. Problem solved!

b0red posted:

Better head on down to urban and pickup the new major lazer vinyl before it sells out