How soon we forget. Yeah, all those old vinyl records that I've been hanging onto since, well, since before CD's. Er, wait a minute... before cassette tapes! So from what I can decipher, the last "album" or should I say, "vinyl album" I purchased was a bootleg Elton John I picked up at the of Django's downtown in the late 70's. I pretty much switched to cassette tapes in the mid-seventies. Angie's last vinyl album was Steely Dan's Aja, which was her first cassette tape as well.
This weekend, after several attempts over the past year, we picked up a Crosley "Director" CD Recorder that plays vinyl records in 33-1/3, 45 and 78 (yes, it came with an "adapter" for the 45's). It also plays three sizes of platters (7", 10" and 12"). It has a built-in CD recorder that captures the record being played. From there, once it's on a CD, it's an easy step to insert in the computer and transfer the entire album into iTunes for easy audio bliss.
And there's a rub to this saga (continued below image).
Remember the scratches? the pops? when playing those vinyl records? Well, those I can live with. It's the goddamned SKIPPING that I hate. Totally forgot about it. The first album Angie picked to transfer was Stevie Wonder's two-album opus "Songs In The Key of Life" from 1976. First side - great, second side, okay. Third side - skip after skip after fucking skip. After the first few I was getting very irritated - possibly from my advancing age.
Who the hell need this crap? What was so great about the "good old days" of vinyl?? So I did what any geek would do - I said fuck it, I'll just download the songs that have the skips.
And that brings me to the realization that, other than a few bootlegs and several weird, strange, odd albums that I've collected in the early years, why in the hell should I waste my time trying to transfer this songs that I can easily download off the internet or purchase on iTunes?
Keep in mind that digital does not sound as good as analog does when you play the album for the first time. It's a give and take. No more hiss but the sound is also flatter. Listen to Blood Sweat & Tears - Spinning Wheel when he sings "and show you the colors that are real" the "real" sustained note shows one defect of digital.
Posted by: john smith | March 02, 2008 at 05:22 AM
You're absolutely 100% right! You shouldn't have to put up with any inconveniences, especially that of owning that pesky Crosley... Which I will take off your hands so that your life remains uncluttered
Posted by: Jay Amicarella | October 22, 2007 at 06:31 AM