Saw a bunch of classic LP's in Tesco Cardiff today.
What do you think of the price?
Can't wait for them to start stocking MiniDisks.

Link to pic - http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...inphoto/LP.jpg

(Remove if links are not allowed)

Vinyl is mostly a novelty to many of those born after the introduction of CDs, what, forty years ago?
I bought the ELO, Eagles and Fleetwood Mac albums pictured, the first time round.

Hotel California, you could buy now on CD for no more than £4.99, a third of the price.
So for many, what's the point? Are they going to be able to decern the infinitesimally small, differences in quality between a vinyl and a CD recording?

The vinyl enthusiasts on dedicated message boards have a mixed view on these re-issues, some doubting the quality of the pressings, others praising some of them.

The problem for people new to vinyl, is the cost of decent equipment on which to play them, as opposed to "crapaphones," as the cheap record players are called.

There's always been a small but steady demand for vinyl, but I think the novelty for many of those new to it may not last. Compared with alternate ways of enjoying music, it may be too much like hard work.

I find it amusing, the disparity between the cost of a CD and a vinyl record. Part of that is because vinyl is more expensive to produce than CDs. Though not three times the cost.
Of course, the music industry, when CDs first came out, made them more expensive than vinyl.

The prices are way too high. CDs used to be the expensive option.

Ridiculously overpriced. Doesn't matter, though, because there's no way I'm going to go back to buying (or using) vinyl or cassettes.

Indeed. Usually a good deal more than that.

I've seen it claimed that vinyl now is relatively cheaper for the consumer that when it was the dominant format.

... Which seems a bit odd as I was buying a lot of 7" singles around 2006/7 and I remember the prices asked then compared to say 2011 onwards.

i'm against the vinyl hype for a number of reasons. if prices are too high it may work in favour of people who share similar views by being off putting. it is crazy that people are fooled into buying new pressings of records that are made from digital masters and then playing them on some POS record "player" with built in speakers and heavy tonearm that literally flucks up the record upon first play, and they think or at least say the sound is better and waffle on about analogue sound. going back the last 35 years or so, even records recorded on analogue tape and pressed direct to vinly from that tape are often going to have digital effects from guitar pedals, digital reverb and delays, and the same when bands play live, yet no-one can hear this "digital" whatever. i think many people today have been brought up without having proper hifi at home and have been listening for years on ipod docks and crappy headphones and stuff, and plastic tv's with crap speakers or pc or laptop speakers made of plastic, so they are used to a crap sound but don't realise they can improve the sound with better amps and speakers

i've always preferred cd, but for many years now i don't play cds, i rip them and play the music from a pc or other device and the bit of plastic gathers dust on a shelf just like my records gather dust. i still buy records and have thousands, but unless i don't have that peice of music and can't get it elsewhere, i'll play it once to rip the sound to digital, and clean up the pops and clicks manually. i'll buy records just to collect, but this craze is pushing the prices up so the consumers and fans are losing out

but it causes a number of other problems. have a read of the link below

http://www.factmag.com/2015/05/07/pr...he-edge-vinyl/

anyways the "new" craze is for tapes. hissing, MORE wow and flutter, smaller artwork than CD. at least the typically beardy wonders that fall for such crazes can't waffle on nonsense about superior sound and bigger artwork. there's no real redeaming features in the current age as to why tape is better than most other things. i can get bigger artwork on my ipad than a tape cover

I don't have much interest in playing my old vinyl today nor buying any of these new reissues. I only have one of those all in one 'crapaphone' things mentioned which was a well intentioned present. I used the cassette bit for a while and I have an old car with a cassette player so I might get a few cassettes if they return. These days I find musical artifacts like vinyl and CD as supplementary to Spotify and iTunes. But the point about good speakers is true.

Actually, until very recently, quality mid-range second-hand vintage audio could be found on e-bay at very low prices. You could find a decent turntable, speakers or tuner/amp quite cheaply.
I bought a Philips tuner/amp in the early seventies, which cost in today's money the best part of £1,000 This blew an output transistor about six years ago. So wasn't really worth repairing. I managed to pick up a 1980s Leak 2000 tuner/amp for around £30, (less than the cost of the parts for the Philips) which is in perfect working and cosmetic order. It just needed the pots cleaning with some switch cleaner.

Of course with the new interest in vinyl, these prices have increased, but they could still be of interest to some with a bit of technical knowledge, rather than buying a "crapaphone."
I still play some vinyl, but more often than not mp3s through the system via iPods or a stick in the TV, the sound through my system is better than that from the TV sound bar.

I think the real market for vinyl is the second-hand one. People are willing to pay silly prices for early pressings of important albums but also for rare albums on iconic labels. I recently saw a very unremarkable '70s album that I bought for a couple of quid back in the day on sale for £19 because it's an early release on Virgin Records and no one (apart from me) bought it when it was new.

The upside of this is that there are thousands of really great albums available at a fair price and in decent condition, because they aren't considered collectable by todays vinyl fans. If you have a good turntable and cartridge you won't suffer unduly from surface noise and you can buy some classic blues, jazz, or prog for a few quid in its original, analogue form.

Most folk I know that are 'into vinyl' would fall into that group...they like the 'old stuff' on the 'old format'

It's not for me but I can see the attraction.

Vinyl albums were at one time very cheap on eBay, although I've not looked lately.
Many were cheaper than popular 45s. A lot of people just "collected" albums, played 'em a few times, then moved onto the next purchase. So they were in a decent condition.

Some are "inheritancies," they either get junked, given to charity shops who often didn't really want them, or end up on eBay.

I subscribe to a North American message board of audio enthusiasts, where vinyl is "king."
Some subscibers have spent thousands on their equipment. High end turntables and valve amplifiers are still being sold.

I do collect some vinyl but only 70's pressings, I don't see the point in buying £25 worth of modern vinyl that can be bought for £6 on download or CD.

I bought some fairly unusual Rush LP's at a car boot sale for £3 each last year and thats a really enjoyable way to spend money on vinyl.

These seem to be the most mainstream of classic rock and pop that will appeal to the newbie or vinyl-curious.

I won't name it in case the price shoots up but there's an album from 1968 I've been looking for in second hand shops. It's available in VG condition on eBay for £1.99 or in excellent condition for £5.99. To download it legally costs £7.99.

I've a lot of experience with eBay. It's the first place I go to for "anything," lots of small firms trade using the facilty, it cuts down on overheads and if they've a 100% feedback record over a few thousand transactions, they can be considered reliable. I've never had a problem with dozens of purchases made that way. Nor with PayPal. The systems work fine if you follow the guidlines and don't try to make shortcuts.

With second-hand stuff it's a different story. Quite often when it's a "one off" on offer, a couple of bidders will get into a p***ing contest over it, driving the price up. But if they'd the brains to scroll down the page or even look on the next page, they'd likely find another example at a much lower price on which no one has bid.

You are absolutely correct on that. I am amazed how often one item gets all the bids and yet the same item is left and ignored

There's an art to it. When possible wait for the same item to be offered by at least three people, then hang back and let some fight it out then nip in for the last one. If it is still too high a price, wait for another, or if it doesn't sell, contact the vendor and make them an offer.

Same with selling. Don't list something if there's a couple or more of the same items on the front page. Wait until they've gone.

It amazes me how few people use the free facilities on eBay to their best advantage.
Crappy photos taken on a mobile phone are the most amusing.

Yep, I can never understand why people bid based on a very blurry or out of focus pic and sometimes pay silly money for it into the bargain.

I like vinyl - just started collecting Jazz @33 1/3

Think the price is a little high for that really, so the price Tesco are selling for is way over the top.

I think double the average CD price is ok, but not 3 or more

I'm from the CD generation, but collected records as a boy after my uncle gave me his collection. The size of them, the feel... I love it. And the fact I didn't actually get a record player for about six months afterwards meant they'd built up quite some allure by the time I finally placed them on a turntable for the first time.

Anyway, had my entire collection nicked in the summer of 2014, which I thought was the worst possible time to have to start again - right when vinyl was "in" again. But it was alright for a while... the price had gone up a bit but I was able to spend a good afternoon hunting in a record shop for some goodies.

But in the last few months it has become unbearable. I've been to four local record stores in the last few months - all reliable in the past - and found absolutely nothing of any interest in any of them. Everything in a record store is being snapped up in minutes.

If you're into record collecting, I think it's best to just sit back and let the fad pass and then get back into it in a couple of years. It's getting insane.

Conversely, there's never been a better time to buy CD's. Sure, people are predicting the death of the CD too, but like vinyl it was never completely die.

I have absolutely no interest in cassettes though, and don't understand why they're having a mini-comeback, except in attempts to out-hipster vinyl collectors.

Agree about the CDs. I've bought loads of them recently, largely from charity shops and market stalls. Most of them have been 30p or 50p, or 3 or 4 for £1. I suspect that a lot of folk are getting rid of them en masse and abandoning physical music formats altogether. I'm sticking with CDs. Play them in the car, rip them onto my hard drive and listen to them while I'm online etc. I'm never going to pay to download music.

Noticed the Pulp Fiction soundtrack (which I already hown on CD) in the photo for £14. Actually saw the CD version on sale in Sainsbury's this morning, with extra tracks included, for £3.

One of the reasons for the poor sales of CDs is obviously iTunes and the fact that you can download most tracks on YouTube as an mp3. If you pick a good recording, like an "official" upload, with decent equipment they sound OK.

I wish eBay sellers would show a proper photo of the vinyl disc. It doesn't inspire confidence when they use descriptions like "looks unplayed" and a blurry photo of the label. I bought an album that "looks unplayed" that crackled like a campfire. Cleaned it up with PVA glue and it's more-or-less OK now, but wouldn't buy from that seller again.

Some of the sellers who do it for a living, I don't think actually examine the records that often, let alone play them, particularly 45rpm. They just hope people won't complain and are happy to refund those who do to preserve their 100% record.

This guide some use is a bit of a joke. Even from the description, records in these categories could neither be described as "good" nor "fair."


Good: The record still produces a reasonable sound but has obviously been played a lot. Although showing wear and tear, neither the record, cover or contents display any major defects.

Fair: It is noticeable that the record has been played so much that the sound quality has deteriorated quite a bit. The cover and contents are showing signs of folding, scuffing of edges etc.

How would you describe 'em? You've missed out all the grades between Mint and Very Poor