I was born in the 1970's and discovered music properly in the 1980's. The music format of choice for the general populous was vinyl, but in time that became displaced by tapes (thanks largely to the walkman), and then CD's. Then for a long period of time CD's dominated and people dumped their vinyl collections in favour of the "purer sounding" CD.
The internet launched, Apple created iTunes and the MP3 was created, and Napster and piracy went into overdrive with no barrier to distribution. And while people were not prepared to pay for music, they would pay (or at least accept hearing the odd advert) for convenience and so in the late noughties the streaming services came into existence and within a short decade ha dcompletely turned the music industry on it's head once again.
However, music and the music experience had along the way become commoditised and somehow less valuable. Along with immediacy and the algorithims, the investment in time, and the emotional attachment to music had become diluted.
But then something strange started to happen. Vinyl sales started to grow. People had begun to realise that the detahcment from the music came from the format of delivery and wanted to reconnect with music like they used to. And whole sales are still dwarfed by the hayday of the 70's and 80's, Vinyl sales have overtaken where they were at the tail end of the 1980's when the CD revolution had really begun.
Why this brief (and perhaps slightly inaccurate) history lesson? Well despite working for the big green streaming machine for 7.5 years and having a wonderful experience working there, I recently too found myself identifying my detachment from music. I've come to learn that my relationship with music has become far less deep and invested than it used to be. I think it's because I finally have a place where, away from the maddening crowd of the bustling home life, I have this sanctuary and the opportunity to once again bask in music.
I have my original Arcam 7R amp from the 1990's and have reclaimed my Denon-835 CD Player from my parents who no longer use their stereo, but as much as I enjoyed listening to CD's again, there was something missing that I couldn't quite put my finger on (at least until I heard what it was I wasn't hearting) and started to research turntables.
Purchasing turntables is a risky affair because if you're not careful you can either blow the budget entirely on the initial purchase, or you can end up in a never-ending cycle of upgrades which just blows your budget over time instead.
So I set myself a ballpark budget of "up to" £500 and started my research which honestly whittled the chpice down to 2 turntables. The Rega Planer 2 and the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo.
Reading the reviews it felt like the Rega got better reviews when it came to sound quality, but there were significantly more stories of the turntable breaking and requiring fixing that really stood out, so product quality was a concern for me.
Additionally, the need to change the drive belt to switch from 33 to 45 seemed like a hassle I wanted to avoid, especially as I did plan to be buying a few singles as part of my collection.
The Rega also came with a lower spec cartridge which would mean an upgrade was on the card sooner rather than later, whereas the Pro-Ject came with the Omron Red cartridge which seemd, from the reviews, to be a perfect starter cartridge that might have more life then the unit that came on the Rega deck.
The final straw was the fact that the Pro-Ject deck comes in many different colours and finished (matt and gloss) and since I was keen for the deck to stand out a little, I felt myself leaning to the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo in Satin Blue.
The deck was a breeze to put together (even for a luddite like me) as I was able to follow the clearly laid out illustrations, and it really looks the part.
The first vinyl I bought was "Is this the life we really want" by Roger Waters, of Pink Floyd fame. What was immediately apparent was the breadth and depth of the musical soundscape that the vinyl offered over the streaming service, and even over the CD.
Putting the album on all 3 sources and then switching between the sources on the amp was really eye ear opening. The vinyl sounds lush and it breathes and immerses you in a way that streaming or the CD simply don't.
In this video I start with Vinyl, more to CD and then finally onto the streaming service. It's certainly clear to me in reality. Not sure how this transposes through my mobile phone recording but here we go anyway.
This isn't a review of that album as I'll be reviwing the albums and singles I buy on vinyl and reviewing them seperately.
Anyhow, I’m now firmly committed to the vinyl world and really enjoying rediscovering how music can make me feel.
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