Why Vinyl Can't Survive

I'll be looking for new shelving when I get there; that Kallax shelf looks nice and not too pricey. How many albums would one hold?

Each cube of the Ikea shelves holds around 45 records.

If you get the really big one (5x5), you might consider reinforcing the back with something for structural support. I stack 2x4 units and reinforce them so they have a proper back which cuts down on dust.

So that's 350 per shelf (the one I'm looking at for $99 has 8 cubicles), meaning I'd need 12--$1,200 for 4000 albums. I have no idea how that would compare to, say, hiring someone to build shelving.

gonna have to disagree with that calculation, though i did question myself for a second. i did a recount and mine (the Expedit, but it has the same shelf size) holds 75-80 per cube, depending on the thickness of the LPs. Got a couple of the 2x4 ones. I have a bunch of overflow but that's all for discogs and eBay anyway.

I do also recommend reinforcing the back. I had considered particle board, measured out to the exact side of the back (approx 31x59) but i went for a few pieces of strong wood 4 inches wide, cut to proper length, and nailed them across the back side, which allowed for access to the outlets.

If you're right, and they each hold 600 records, then I'd only need 7--I'd definitely go that route.

you will need enough room to flip them surely

Yes--and extra room for whatever I buy in the next decade or two (which won't be much...I buy maybe 50 albums a year now). So eight, maybe nine.

Totally depends on thickness of records. 80 seems tight though!

I love the feeling when I get a new shelving unit and all the records that had gotten a little too snug suddenly expand and have space to breathe. The only direction I have left to expand is up at this point. Eventually I'll have two columns side by side, each stacked with three 2x4 cube units yielding a 6x8 behemoth. Slightly worried about the foundation of the house.

I've seen the 5x5 buckle and collapse under the weight of records, total disaster

I moved over 3000 records today, I hurt all over. But the end result is good, I've sold a bunch and now have room for the ones that were all in boxes. The collection almost fits on the three large shelves with only three boxes of overflow. Now I need to find a bookshelf for all the books I took off of the unit that now has albums (again).

I've seen the 5x5 buckle and collapse under the weight of records,

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe

Another question--there's probably a better thread, but I'll use this one.

I'm going to have to put all these boxes (photo above) into storage for a couple of months. The guy handling my house sale doesn't want them in there while showing the house. I'm trying to find something close to where I'm moving and temperature-controlled--no luck yet on the latter. What is the acceptable temperature range for storing records? I don't expect any really hot days for the next couple of months; wondering more about the lower end.

I knew a guy who had a second floor apartment with a massive collection and when the property management incidentally saw it one day they made him move to a ground floor unit... he had around 8,000 albums on a big floor-to-ceiling custom-built shelf IIRC. So I guess there are worse things than just the shelf collapsing!

xp I've heard that vinyl can get brittle at subzero temps, but I think cold shouldn't really be an issue as long as they stay above freezing.

I've got about 800 in a hanging case bolted to the wall. before putting it in we took the sheet rock down and added a thick sheet of plywood to the studs, then put the sheetrock on that. it's very solid and helpfully cantilevered due to the placement of the (very thick) bolts.

Good article on the Apollo Masters fire: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-02-14/apollo-masters-fire-vinyl-lacquer

Damn, that sounds ominous.

So I thought the vinyl industry was doomed. Seems to be chugging along like nothing happened from the consumer standpoint. Maybe I’m asking this too early still? On mobile and didn’t bother to look back to see when we are supposed to start seeing effects.

The article (from a year ago) says:

In the short term, consumers and labels will be OK, he says. (...) Many of the established companies and mastering engineers buy their lacquer stock annually and have backups warehoused.

The concern is that a shortage will threaten new releases and boutique reissues in 2021 and beyond, after the stock has been depleted. At that point, Hashimoto says, “It’s going to affect the whole industry until somebody comes up with an alternative.”

Would be interesting to have an update I guess.

I've been wondering about this as well!

lord are we probably celebrating 10 years of "the vinyl bubble won't last"?

I'm not sure if it's much of a bubble. It's still pretty much a niche market and there are no expectations for it to grow that much more in the grand scheme of things. I can see the demand eventually fading, but it would be pretty gradual.

fremer says a japanese lacquer firm has stepped up and is filling the demand, early on in the video.

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/nothing-can-stop-vinyl-resurgence-analogplanets-making-vinyl-video-opener

get your tape deck fixed up and ready to go just in case

a friend of mine theorizes there's going to be a Great Tape Deck Shortage coming up and i'm inclined to agree with him. it's almost never cost effective to repair them when they eventually give out.

I can see that. Not too long ago, someone I know looked for a good, working VCR to borrow, and it became clear that nobody we knew had one. You can always find someone on ebay selling, but there's always the issue of price, condition (i.e. how long it'll last), etc.

xp Certainly no one's producing good mechanisms

I just realized I haven’t had a CD drive on anything in my house for about 6 years

generally best that CDs not get behind the wheel in general, least of all in your home

otm

I was starting to even get worried about CD players disappearing by the time I need a new one.. but optical disc players will survive because of cinephiles eh?

most high-end audio companies still sell CD players, but yeah... if you've got a good DAC any old DVD or Blu-Ray player will serve for playing CDs

i had to replace my dvd player recently and it came without line level out, or a display. was also half the size of the previous one. and they all looked like this, unless you wanted to spend twice as much.

my friend gifted me a 1970's BSR-style dansette for xmas... it's a sub-par turntable (though way better than any crosley junk) but the amp and speaker in it have these projecting forward mids and it just makes you wanna dance. i feel like fonzie punching the jukebox or something. it's been loads of fun to play 45s, 78s and older LPs, but it won't track a modern pressing for shit. i was excited to buy a cardigans LP but after months of tracking adjustments and a new stylus it just skips every song. i guess a lot of new pressings are very loud and weird... maybe something to do with horizontal grooves, too.

it's nice to not be so precious about vinyl and fret over perfect sound forever. i'm having fun just heading to the thrift store and picking up a couple of 45s every weekend. i guess i plan to augmenting my digital collection with records... there's no way i could replace everything in my library and navigating the crapshoot of modern pressings quality control is nothing short of a headache.

if you really really don't care to be precious, put a nickle on the head while you try that cardigans

weirdly i have found that relief of tracking force rather than applying more helped it to skip less... though i read lighter force is way worse for LPs than heavy. weird.

it's nice to not be so precious about vinyl and fret over perfect sound forever. i'm having fun just heading to the thrift store and picking up a couple of 45s every weekend.

I think you have the right idea. I have a pretty nice Rega and every time I pick up a cheap LP I have a crisis about whether I should play it or not and risk messing up the needle (which is an ordeal and a half to replace, by the way, unless you have the eyes and unshaking hands of a jeweler). I usually just say fuck it and play the record, but your current setup sounds less stressful

? I have a Rega for years and I just play whatever never even worried about it and have had no problems

you need to appreciate the zen of cartridge replacement (or get one where the stylus snaps in and out).

I have an Audio Technica VM540-ML, they have easily replaceable cartridges (amazing cart btw)

I'm assuming Paul has a moving coil (vs moving magnet) cartridge? Those are much harder to deal with....I still mourn by old Denon MC cart (now discontinued) that was broken by a certain small child who is near and dear to my heart

this is why I have two turntables, the nice MMF-5 for ripping vinyl and the Technics 1700 for playing whatever I want

Do records hurt a stylus? I've honestly never even thought about it

well styli are supposed to be good for about 1000 hours of play assuming you keep the records & stylus clean. i suppose if it hits something that knocks it out of alignment that would be bad. not sure if that can happen.

every time you play a record everything involved dies a little, the record, the stylus, you, etc.

mmmm entropy

conversely, every time you play a CD, your lifespan increases by .003549 seconds and the sun emits more heavy elements that can be used to manufacture 40th anniversary CD box set editions of all your 80s favorites

lmao. honestly. records are way hardier than people make them out to be. perhaps old ones more than new, though. i wood glued a couple the other week, after the gold rush, parsley sage rosemary... they came up great, and they've been treat like shit and ran through a blunt stylus a bunch and still sound fine. years ago, i remember waiting a few months for an LP to ship from US to UK to me - something i was so excited to hear on wax - and immediately after, i got a tiny nick in it and it skipped forever through track three from then.

going to HMV here is a laugh. ABBA reissues for like £30-40. what? the proper ones are all in your nan's sideboard!

maelin you've given the courage to try the wood glue thing finally

got a copy of dark side of the moon (really nice orig harvest pressing) from my gf's dad but it's so dirty, might as well try it

the wood glue trick looks like it would be an extremely satisfying meditative exercise