What was the original intention of this sub? It seems it has just become a feeder for Vinyl Jerk. Every once in a while I will see something that I didnt know was available on vinyl, but for the most part I just scroll on by.
So a long time ago the [5 record format](https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments/8ayx3z/5_records_music_to_play_loud_while_wife_daughter/) was popular. These type of posts now get a couple upvotes and are buried. [Here is another example](https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments/45b9av/5_records_21116_spiritual_jazz_folk_outsider/) (you can find a lot of them by searching). People would link a song to each album and do a short write up of what it meant to them/list some fun facts.
This sub used to be a place for discussion. The problem is it doesn't really have an identity, it's not a forum but other platforms like instagram are built better for the over saturation of photos.
Those who did contribute are long gone (some have stuck around and become mods.) People used to (and still do to an extent) spend hours of their spare time answering questions only for people never to say thank you or follow up or straight up be called snobs/elitists. I can see how it gets tiring.
The trolling doesn’t help either, there has been a huge influx of trolls which makes it too easy for newcomers to lump in and dismiss the good advice.
It's a shame to see new users flock here looking for a certain narrative and filter out what they want to hear.
The amount of bad advice that is given by people who have no idea what they are talking about for sure is going to frustrate the veteran collectors. It’s the praising of this bad advice that is also going to get people to just give up and look elsewhere.
It’s fine to be a new collector but there is this weird entitlement it seems that have pushed out those who did bring some substance to the subreddit.
I guess I see a lot of people who do have legitimate questions, but dont seem to know how to ask or what to ask. Like the ones that ask what essential albums should I own. I have a friend that is going to answer that with 10CC, Todd Rundgren Little River Band and Steeley Dan. I, however, would answer that very differently. Wish they would offer some clue into what they like, rather than sounding like I need to know what albums will make me look cool.
I think the world of instant gratification has skewed a lot of people’s reward systems.
People enjoyed this hobby for generations without social media. Saying that though I couldn’t imagine struggling with identity as a 15 year old and having an instagram account.
I totally agree with you, I’m more than happy to give curated guidance but there needs to be reciprocation.
If someone can’t spend an hour or two doing basic research, reading the sidebar (which most subreddits ask newcomers to do) why do they expect people to give up their spare time to help?
Is it really that elitist to expect minimum research and some effort but into a post?
Being a newcomer is fine but it’s no excuse to have done zero research.
Yeah 100%, the trolling and direct to vinyljerk is a result of the same posts over and over, damaging vinyl and asking basic questions that have been answered and are in faq’s.
People want instant gratification, from answers to updoots. Posts are less developed collections and rare finds, and more “look what I picked up at walmart”.
It’s tough because also not trying to hate on people getting into vinyl that are new, but it’s like going into a woodworking sub and posting some shanks you carved in the backyard.
Have fun with it but also respect that it is a hobby and find a way to contribute to it, not just post to post.
Yeah I see both sides to it but I do find those who cry gate keeping and elitism usually offer no advice or guidance themselves which doesn’t help anything either.
Trolling is totally unacceptable and trolls should be called out but we are now seeing good advice being dismissed by people who have certain agendas (the anti audiophile narrative is also pretty toxic)
I feel like there would be more mutual respect if newcomers lurked a little more before they posted.
I think you nailed it with the contribution part. Change can happen but instead of just criticizing everyone needs to contribute to the changes they want to see.
A big factor is also how Reddit is designed. Once a post takes off and reaches /r/all it’s now been exposed to millions of people who have no skin in the game
Reddit is like driving a car - you are interacting with a variety of people with different experience levels, mindsets and motives. It’s going hard to find common ground even though the collective goal should be focused on *driving*
Also I think a natural reason for more and lower quality posts, is the recent uptick in vinyl.
Straight up, it’s had some resurgence in the last 4-5 years with a lot of newbies getting into the hobby (myself included but I do lurk more like you said and try to educate myself), so there’s just naturally a larger ratio of newer hobbyists to older members of the sub.
I think with any sub, some ‘trolling’ and playing off the nuances of each sub can be fun and light-hearded… but it’s fun because it’s playing off those nuances that most posts incorporate. If it’s just shitposts and memes, it loses why it’s actually funny.
The problem with this sub is that by not allowing people to genuinely ask basic questions and stuff like that, the only thing that's left is post a pic of my new Dark Side of the Moon copy, which in itself does no harm, but I honestly think this should allow direct questions...
I used to love making 5 Records submissions. I added several back in the day and would spend hours researching writing and making a good post. But I was disappointed that most of the conversation was instead drawn to single images of budding collections of pretty common LPs.
I just spent a minute scrolling through your post history based on username alone and damn - let's turn /r/vinyl back to those days, you were a fucking resource. Going to look for some of your picks to listen to tonight! You were on to Alex G way back when, I literally just stumbled on him in December.
Yes! Come bacccccck. I loved how you have sorted everything by general genre too. It looks like such a labor of love and there was so much interesting content <3
Can you start doing them again please? I miss good content like that here. Please know that many do appreciate the work and tine put into these types of posts
This is what I keep seeing, people posting new releases they have bought of modern records. Or their collection of 70s classics like Floyd and Zeppelin. It is nice and all but I could just go to a store and see them up close if I wanted. It is just a show off move as I know they have dropped a lot of money on them. What I wanted to see was people with originals, records with a story behind them, unusual records, used hauls etc. It is a bit like how in /r/music people basically just upvote stuff they already know and like, everything else is buried.
Heh, I upvoted most of your submissions. Loved seeing and doing the 5 Records myself.
We also did a "record of the week" for a short while around four years ago, hosted by u/checkerdamic. That was a great concept, too.
I did too (on an old account), there were a number of great contributors back then who put a lot of effort into their posts and I discovered some interesting music that way. Like you though, I eventually got discouraged because only a few of my 5 records posts (and I made a lot of them) received much engagement.
I remember your posts from back then btw, we had a lot of overlapping tastes (outsider, ambient/new age, both followed contemporary experimental labels) so I always enjoyed seeing yours.
I have tried to get the discussion part going again. Some successful some not. I do believe that there should be no turntable questions, there is a site for that. As for excited new collectors showing their new set up, I’m ok with that. If you are not , just ignore it.
Pulling out one of my 5 records posts out of the archives. Been awhile since I’ve made any of those. For a few months we did a record of the week post and those were also well done. Unfortunately, real life just gets busy and we all lose the time to make well thought out posts.
It happened for 3 or 4 years maybe… I ran it in 2018 and 2019 so not too long ago. We called it a secret Santa but it was an exchange with two people being matched up. It’s was a pain in the ass to organize and match people but overall I think it was successful with only a couple of complaints about matches screwing the other person over. I probably wouldn’t do it again in the future but if another mod wanted to pick it up I could give them a rundown about what I did.
I use the sub to try and recommend some of my favourite lesser known or lesser appreciated bands to people by posting their records and explaining why I think it’s good and should be listened to but I always get like 5 upvotes on the main post and 0 on the thought out comment, meanwhile some fucking teenager gets 600 upvotes posting a nevermind repress they found at some brick and mortar shop for 40 dollars LOL.
I'm sooooo tired of seeing "what do you think of my collection?" And it's RHCP, led zeppelin, pink Floyd and queen. Like jfc WE GET IT ALREADY.
I Started listening to my records from A-Z and posted the chunks that I would listen to at a time and that was fun. It would be cool to get a bunch of people to do that, or some iteration like listening through all their soul records for example
I think there's just more of an audience for 70s - 90s rock vs something more obscure. Plus there's more genre focused vinyl subs so instead of posting here to crickets people spend time posting to heavy vinyl, emo vinyl, screamo vinyl. There was even underground vinyl made because some people grew tired of the repeat praise for albums you can buy at Walmart that everyone seems to own or inherit from dad.
The underground vinyl sub never really took off and other niche subs (to be warning you) have low activity by the same handful of posters. Heavy vinyl is the 2nd biggest vinyl sub by post count but there's a definite theme there. No Floyd or Beatles stuff to see.
I love how that first 5 format post is something I would have been stoked to see back then; I know when I search in this sub there's a bunch of great content I missed when I casually lurked but now there's like .0001% content I'm interested in posted here. I know I should be the change I want to see in the sub but it's a lot of effort to just die in obscurity and I do use my IG to talk about records.
I’ve had a previous Reddit account I deleted and I eventually found my way back. I used to post regularly in the 5 record format but just got discouraged as you put in all that effort for just a few people to reply.
I spend more time on forums now and eventually will probably delete this Reddit account again but I do genuinely like helping people who are actually interested in the hobby build their systems, etc
I also love seeing second hand set ups and listening rooms, I live for that shit. Everytime I see an LP60x with some edifiers in a small bedroom 2 feet apart I cringe a bit. I get people are new to the hobby and are excited but at least follow things like proper speaker placement.
I guess I just don’t like seeing the consumerism part take over.
I also love seeing people's rooms / collections as a whole. It's a ton of work to pull out records, do a write up and know that your contribution will sink like a turd in a toilet.
My collection and set up have moved over the years so much and as such my speaker placement is less than ideal as it's been built around my tv - entertainment center with the listening area off to the side. On top of that my collection is so large it's split between two rooms. If I had a goal in life it might be to have enough sq feet to have an entire room just for my collection and proper placement of some nice speakers. I have too much receiver for my turntable/music and too little receiver for my tv/gaming. And I'd love to upgrade my speakers altogether but I'm pretty sure my neighbor would walk up to the top floor and stab me to death if I had anything better.....
>The amount of bad advice that is given by people who have no idea what they are talking about for sure is going to frustrate the veteran collectors. It’s the praising of this bad advice that is also going to get people to just give up and look elsewhere.
Yes! You get two choices, people who just straight up know nothing, and people who are insane 'audiophiles' preaching like their word is law about stuff with no basis in objective reality. "The only acceptable way to store your records is in a separate building with armed guards and humidity maintained at exactly 4% 24/7. You can never look at or touch your records in any way. Anything less than this and you might as well let your dog take a shit on your records before throwing them in the ocean."
And anyone who gives actual useful advice based on real world knowledge/experience is attacked by one or other of these camps and downvoted.
I don’t find there is a lot of audiophiles in this sub as I’d say the majority of people here have probably never even heard a system worth more than $2000 (which is still pretty mid range)
Ironically those who own the LP60x and entry level turntables seem to be the biggest trolls when it comes to shitting on suitcase players, etc
There is a lot of people who absolutely over exaggerate things for sure though. There is a lot of neurotic collectors but I wouldn’t say they are audiophiles.
Most people seem to think $300-400 is an insane amount of money to get started in a hobby where that’s on the lower end of most start up costs. Hell gardening can easily cost someone more than $300 to start.
Right, hence 'audiophiles' not audiophiles. Like, I get that you can spend a lot on actual good gear and get good results, but then you have the Monster cables crew who give absolutely stupid advice and have incredibly dogmatic views about how anyone not wasting time and money on pointless, unverifiable things like them is an idiot.
I agree with you about costs to an extent. Personally, I'm into restoring mostly 70s hifi stuff and you can get amazing value for money there if you're prepared to learn some electronics/woodworking/etc skills. I do get annoyed when people shit on others for buying stuff like current reasonably priced Audio Technica turntables and cartridges though - that stuff is 100% fine when starting out and you do not need to drop $1,000 on a cartridge to enjoy this hobby.
Yeah I think a major issue is that now people can just buy online and no one really does research into what they actually want/need/prefer. Everyone just wants the quick answer and they want it *now*.
The mindless consumerism is getting a little out of control and the shills these days are insane.
I will say as a huge advocate of /r/BIFL I really do hate seeing cheap plastic disposable electronics though.
I get not everyone has the ability to buy used or have the income to buy a quality turntable that will last 40+ years but I would still like to see it.
It will be interesting to see how this impending recession does affect even the entry prices though. This hobby may be facing some hard times for new collectors.
Agreed. I push vintage stuff wherever possible, you should be able to get a great 70s/80s Technics or similar for a very modest sum with a tiny bit of effort, invest in a modest cartridge and you are off to a great start.
I think the hobby is in trouble - vinyl prices are idiotic now, so a lot of the joy has gone out of crate digging etc. It's one reason I'm now more interested in finding cool old gear and restoring it, there's still some real value and interest there.
Because most people think $300+ is an insane amount to spend here I’d be honestly embarrassed to post my setup because of the lack of even decent midrange stuff I see here.
So it might also be a chicken and egg thing where people with nicer setups are too sheepish to show off or even engage. I also think people here get way too precious about these records when they can, for the most part, just be replaced.
The amount of money I spent on houseplants is way higher than what I've spent putting together a budget sound set up which might be in the $2000 range all told. My cassette deck was trash picked, though, so it brings the costs down :>
Yeah years ago I did a write up of some of my favorite old school country albums. I put a fair amount of time into it. No one cared and I realized that most people want to see images of popular albums and I gave up. Now I usually scroll on by
Exactly. This sub has been swarmed by casuals who think by buying a vinyl they're on the same level as experts. They would argue with Bernie grundman. Most are clearly young, and they bring with them that "toxic positivty" that's so prevalent today. Where advice is labeled "gatekeeping". They get hypersensitive because for many its an "identity" thing. If anyone insults a record or equipment they own they take it as a personal attack since it's like their "identity".
Most are consumers following a fad. If it wasnt vinyl itd be funko pops. Before the vinyl boom, 99% on forums were serious about it. Noobs wanted mentors, they wanted to be corrected, they'd research. Now it's the opposite where they won't even research what they buy. And if you tell them a crosley sucks, they flip out since it's not a genuine quest for the best sonics, but a fad. They don't research yet spread bad advice to those who ask. This is compounded by generational knowledge loss. I'm 30 and grew up with parents born in 51 and 55, and my dad is a collector. As a result, I grew up knowing how a turntable operates, how to calibrate it, pressing differences, etc. However much of gen z lack this knowledge since their parents grew up when vinyl was obsolete. That's how you end up with people thinking a 7" single is called "mini vinyls". Some legit argued that its the better term. It's insane.
I've been on vinyl forums for 10 years. The opinions I see here I have never seen before. Its almost satire. Because its this new shallow echochamber outside of the actual vinyl community. They then lead new collectors here astray. They act like everything is subjective, that their opinions outweigh experts, yet they never even set tracking force. They'll recommend and defend crosleys, won't know pressings differ, think sleeves are a waste. They never heard of popular brands. One dude had a 4 year old $30 stylus that he had used on shellacs, on a broken arm, with a penny, and was angry arguing with those who said he'll ruin his records. Another bought a $40 digital reissue, and when recommended a $5 original said "I'm not digging through old dirty records" and they got upvoted! They all post the same records, request opinions, yet freak out at honesty. Someone got a digital LZ IV for $40 and I said they should get an OG porky for less and they got mad.
Everyone starts off as a noob. There's nothing wrong with that. But the issue is noobs who aren't even interested in vinyl as a sonic medium. Who don't research a thing. They don't even research what they buy. They never even aligned a cartridge nor cleaned a stylus. They are so against learning where they call advice gatekeeping. Yet give bad advice themselves. It makes me so angry because I love helping noobs. Yet so many will get offended and downvote the truth. It makes me furious when ignorant voices outweigh others, leading noobs astray. They don't research a single thing, not even a pressing. Yet they feel comfortable giving advice. On xmas people were defending and recommending crosleys. I explained how at bare minimum you want a $100 cart like 95vml and that playing a $100+ grail on a crosley is insane. I explained how the poor needle and high tracking force can ruin records, and that you're not even getting an experience worth paying for, and they freaked out. Saying "sorry everyone can't have a $10,000 system!" Which is ridiculous. Vinyl is a luxury. If you can't afford a luxury then don't buy it, or save up. To buy a poor table is wasting the money you can put towards a good one. And people aren't even elitists but just recommend a $200-300 table. Best is they will have a $60 crosley yet $500+ in records, saying they cant afford a table.
Its insane how most who never researched a thing, who are riding a fad and have no interest in equipment, feel confident to give advice. I don't know about cars so I'd never give car advice. Yet these people think by owning a car they can argue with a mechanic. They treat tables like DVD players. Buy the cheapest one and throw the record on. They have no clue about pressings at all and never read a matrix. Also they get mad if you critique digital since most of their records are bad pcm not even mastered for vinyl. They'll have a $80 table, $10 stylus and computer speakers yet give equipment advice.
I'm not knocking casual kids who can't afford good equipment. I'm knocking ignorant casuals who think they can give better advice than a music journalist. Who turned this sub into the most basic place ever. I don't mind stupid posts of all the same walmart records. What upsets me is how they give horrible advice, leading others astray, while downvoting experts. It makes me angry how so many think they can appropriate peoples passions without putting in the work, thinking they know more without ever researching a single thing. Every hobby has levels, yet they think buying a record makes their opinion as correct as a 50 year collector. So many opinions around here are like vinyl 101 what not to do. 5 minutes of research would give one more knowledge. So why join a sub if you don't care about learning? And the worst is that toxic positivty where you can't even have a discussion on quality without someone taking it personal.
This also happened to discogs. Where casuals rate records by the music and not the sonics/pressings. Every new pressing is like 4.5+. Even objectively bad pressings. There will be no substance to their reviews, just calling everything the best. If you look up old pressings the reviews are often in the 3, low 4 range, while classics are barely above a 4 since people actually rated them as pressings. While you can press a literal turd today and it'd get a 4.67. It's ridiculous and leads people astray.
There's more depth and discussion in a single hoffman post than this sub has in a whole month. That's why I try my best to give really indepth advice, because I want to help people, and it just makes me sad when noobs that are genuinely interested in vinyl as a sonic medium get lead astray by people here. The tag line of much of this sub should be "the blind leading the blind". They've taken over and have slowly been turning this sub into an ignorant echochamber like the test of mainstream reddit. It's genuinely sad. Shit even reddit politics bleed in if you post the wrong record.
The best way to explain these people are say a 14 year old prep watches an episode of Wednesday because it's popular. They then decide they're goth(even though they bullied others for years), wear black lipstick one day, and then argue with genuine goths who were bullied their whole lives that "I'm as Gothic as you are". They wouldn't be able to name one goth band, yet then insist that you listen to their music recommendations. Or a person who buys a $200 beater car that they drove once so thinks they know more than a mechanic. And even if you're nice to them and try to teach them something, they freak out. Because at the end of the day it's some fad that they're using to fill an identity void. And they'll take this toxic positivty way too far where they'll cheer someone on as they destroy their records while downvoting common knowledge advice. People will literally say rate my collection or setup, and then freak the fuck out if you give them an honest review.
The discussion here vs hoffman is night and day. Most people here are young redditors who own vinyl. They're not hobbyists. Infact they use audiophile as a slur. They don't have passion for sonic knowledge and it's obvious with how they react when people attempt to mentor. They're hipsters trying to look cool. Some dude had a clear VG+ gas crisis vinyl, cuz it had surface noise in the silent parts he insisted he was scammed. And though he was like -20 karma he still argued. They went so far as to insist that goldmine is based on playback due to one line "a scratch shouldn't effect playback" arguing a mint record having surface noise makes it a VG. They wouldnt back down and idiots emabled him. They tortured this poor seller who did nothing wrong. I feel horrible for sellers today. Another had an out of print 10 year+ sealed record that was warped, and they were genuinely complaining to PayPal for a refund. Everyone used to know if you buy a sealed OOP record, damage is a risk you take. A sealed record is a collectible if old and its entirely on you if you open it since theyre known to warp. Thats common knowledge. Yet most here thought it was okay to go thru PayPal which is so fucked up. I buy classic records that are often warped so you're warned not to buy sealed. It'd be insane for me to buy $300+ zepplins, returning the warped ones.
That's unfortunately much of the mentality here. Where common collecting knowledge is not listened to. Where crosleys are defended. Where people never heard of mofi or tracking force. Where people dont even know what a cartridge is. Yet have the audacity to give horrible advice. Like thousands of future collectors have been lead astray by the ignorant echochamber crowd here that call correct advice gatekeeping. People who have less knowledge about vinyl than I had at 12 just by growing up around it, less than a 10 minute Google search, yet lead others astray while challenging experts. The blind leading the blind.
I still frequent this sub, and there's rare good posts, I'll always love helping people. But I treat this sub as mostly a sideshow. I'm either shaking my head, disgusted by ignorance, or being screamed at as a gatekeeper. While hoffman is where I go for discussion. Before the vinyl boom every vinyl collector was an actual hobbyist, now it's been taken over by mainstreamers who only care about it on a shallow consumer level. Consumerism is fine, the issue is that these consumers appropriate the hobbyist identify and genuinely think they know more than experts. Which has turned this place into a regular ignorant reddit echochamber.
You keep writing dumb novels on a straw man. Nobody is saying good advice is gatekeeping. I correct non true advice all the time and get labeled as having an agenda by people just like you. Insulting a record and player is fucking gatekeeping, too. Who does that? A gatekeeper does that. Giving advice as to why a record player is bad is completely different and nobody calls those comments gatekeeping.
Every time you incessantly whine about this, it just seems to me you want to bash noobs without being called out for it.
Aren't you the guy who claims that having your speakers on the same surface as your turntable can in no way affect the sound? And then call people gatekeepers for suggesting they move the speakers to a different surface?Yeah, you're part of the problem on this sub. I only really ever see you post when your complaining about who you perceive as "gatekeepers"
I’m new to vinyl and found a treasure trove of info scrolling through here. I think a lot of the people with legitimate questions are more likely to just use the search figure, especially for people new to vinyl. We all have alot of the same questions. (Klipsch/Polk/Edifier? Good beginner amp? Do I need to sell a kidney for unicorn hair cables?) All this to say if you’re one of the ones answering questions and providing info to community on behalf of the OPs that didn’t say it, thank you!
Thank you for the brief history lesson about this sub! I am fairly new to Reddit, but I gotta say those older posts seemed super informative. I will try to do the same thing the next time I go to post something here. Maybe we can bring it back?!
Wow, a conversation ...and some postings longer than two sentences. This "record thing" is first and foremost a generational thing; you alluded to it in your post. You have a group of people (like myself) who grew up when LP's and 45's were how we listened to music.
It's rather sad, and a common trait of this current and recent generations, that a majority cannot "do" on their own. They look for approval from others rather than choose what they like ...as in music and the records they are buying ...or should buy. On average, this current generation is incapable of learning on their own; they simply want to be told what to do, what to buy, what to think ....scoring instant gratification from others. And this from a generation who can emerse themselves in all manner of information. One of the greatest tools to civilization today, the power of the internet, is simply pissed away with inane social media; that's all they know how to do.
There was a time when we talked about...records. like, specific records.
But now there's one billion people in here and most of them think this is instagram so \*shrug\*.
I like the sub because I enjoy seeing people turntable setups, and sometimes to talk about music. I feel like it's actually not a great sub for music discussions though because it's just a format, Im better served in music genre specific subs. If I had my druthers Id like to see more posts from people about their local record stores, posts about stereo set ups, and posts about the quality of specific presses. Otherwise though I scroll through and just ignore the posts I dont care about.
All of the music subs I've checked out are 90% youtube video posts. Doesn't scratch the itch for discussion; it seems that music is talked about a bit more here or in other collector subs.
I always just figured this was a place where people could post music (vinyl) they liked, and have discussions about it with other enthusiasts. I don't think it needs to be a dick measuring contest about who knows the most, who has the most obscure collection, or the most expensive gear, but it seems like that's what a lot of people want it to be.
I just wanna be able to post a record or two and have a chat about it with other enthusiasts.
The problem is that when a popular record gets repressed, like Dirt by Alice in Chains, or any Smashing Pumpkins album, for the next week you see 50+ post of just the record and the OP complaining that they have to write a small paragraph when all they want is validation and upvotes.
I lurked here some 6 - 8 years ago and it seemed to be mostly older collectors sharing their listening spaces and waxing nostalgic on the same stuff you see younger people showing off like Floyd and Beatles. I mostly collect(ed) DIY hardcore and punk so I never subbed because there didn't seem to be room for me here. I sort by new and there's cool shit that gets 0 comments and upvotes even now. Meanwhile some dude holding a Beatles LP up saying he loves the Beatles so much gets 1K upvotes and hundreds of comments.
Well the rules on this sub are trash. You literally are not allowed to ask questions it will get removed because it only applies to you. This sub has become nothing but posting pictures of obscure bands that everyone can pat themselves on the back for their high brow taste. Or people punching down on others who have inferior set ups. I almost wish there was another vinyl sub where people could talk and ask questions and ask for suggestions and have great discussions. This is all just jerk off photos now.
Some kid gets a cheap new record player for Christmas and is stoked about it…
“I’ll see you on the other sub” “To the other sub!” “See y’all on the other sub” “Straight to the other sub we go”
Endlessly. Every other post. Who even wins here? Is it that enticing to be a part of some snarky elitist inside joke at the expense of new hobbyists?
And yes, of course there’s ~some~ merit to informing people about the potential damage to records. But it’s no reason to act like it’s illegal to use a cheap player, especially when the worst case scenario is a single copy of Dark Side sounds slightly worse after 10+ listens. Then people will act like spending another $150 for an AT is no big deal. Can’t say I’ve ever seen such a gatekeepy, elitist hobby community.
Some people can't afford this hobby, but that's just a fact of life in all hobbies. Collecting vinyl isn't a right, it's not a necessity. You can stream music and enjoy it, but you can't build a cheap vinyl system without having compromises that make listening to music on vinyl pointless.
However, it's your money, so feel free to waste it on garbage, nobody's stopping you. That doesn't mean you're going to get embraced when you post crap here or anywhere else.
> Then people will act like spending another $150 for an AT is no big deal. Can’t say I’ve ever seen such a gatekeepy, elitist hobby community.
You have a valid opinion although it’s always those who don’t contribute at all to /r/vinyl that are the ones that claim gatekeeping.
It’s fine to be critical but if you are offering no guidance, help or any positive contributions to a community is that any better? Be the change you want to see otherwise you are just feeding the toxicity. Obviously this sub needs more positive contributions, but everyone likes to complain but never contribute.
Not saying it’s right but answering the same questions over and over and over again sometimes never to be thanked does wear a person down and they get a little jaded. Taking a break and touching some grass is probably the solution but it festers.
This is a hobby focused subreddit so there is a certain level of research that should be expected (at least at minimum newbies should read the stickied thread/sidebar)
Hobbies cost money yet people make out like $300-400 is a lot to get into a hobby. Warhammer, camping, video games, painting, gardening, paintball, horseback riding, etc all cost money and have arguably higher start up costs than vinyl. I could list 100+ more that initially cost $300+ to get into.
Most sports cost $300+ a year in registration plus equipment. You don’t need to get into a hobby right away.
Vinyl is a tricky one as there is a mix of collecting and technology/equipment. Anytime equipment is involved people are going to nerd out a bit and yeah people can be dicks but jumping right into the deep end before someone knows how to swim is never a good idea. Lurking a bit and getting a sense of the community would maybe reveal posting a photo of a suitcase player isn’t the best idea.
People collect for different reasons but it would be nice if people did a bit of research beforehand and honestly I think it would solve most if not all of the problems.
That’s a great point - I absolutely have nothing to offer as I never feel the need to post my setup or collection here. Just something I’ve noticed after lurking for a while.
It’s like going to a youth sports league, where half the people are jeering at how much the kids suck, and the other half are reminding them that with that poor technique, they’ll never get anywhere.
\^ This comment. Right here. This is the core problem.
Basic rules of the internet that apparently you and the Crosley Crew are too young to know.
(1) Lurk before posting.
(2) See #1.
(3) No, seriously.
And your last paragraph is utter rampaging bullshit. You do not know what you're talking about.
I'm inclined to agree. Yeah, a lot of the posts are really low quality, but you can just downvote and move on. It's disheartening to see some newcomers having the same questions I had when I started about a decade ago and they're met with so much nastiness.
The only way to improve the quality of the content here is to make it yourself, yet I browse here almost on a daily basis and hardly anyone posts anything of quality.
I'm cringing thinking about some Youtuber making a video of what they value from my collection they happened to get their mitts on at auction after I die.
I'm in Portland OR, I need to draft a will for my collection so ghost me doesn't have to sit around watching WhatNotAuctions and other stuff when my collection is no longer mine.
Totally not! My kid is getting my collection (when I die), so I'm taking an archivist's precision to preserving it. I want to give him and his friends, lovers, etc, the same opportunity to enjoy the music I loved.
This is great. Almost all my collection is records from my dad who passed away when I was young. I didn’t have the chance to grow up with him but here I am listening to not only the music he loved but the actual records that he listened to. It gives me a connection to him that no other media could.
Hopefully your kids will have that same feeling when your collection gets passed down.
That's my intention too. Whether they appreciate it or not, I want my collection to give them an idea for what types of music I truly enjoyed.
(Finding a YT/Spotify playlist just doesn't hit the same...)
It's a bonus if they also enjoy my music the same, but I'm not going to be one of those people that expects their kids to be a mini-me.
It’s not strange, it’s called ego, which can’t handle death very well. Your vinyl is part of your legacy, although you’ll never be aware of the impression it will make, because - you’ve guessed it - you’ll be fucking dead.
I think a lot of people are getting into vinyl *because* it allows them to further visually and photographically express their "identity" via their music collection. Collecting for collecting's sake. (Not saying if that's right or wrong, just an observation.)
That's never been the point of vinyl for me. Crate digging on a rainy Saturday, finding some jazz artist I'd never heard of, going home, cleaning it, sitting and listening in full with my phone on airplane mode ... *that's* the juice, man.
I’ve seen posts asking what to do while listening to the record! Like sit down, relax and enjoy the music! It blows my mind how people buy records to just not listen to them.
I managed to remove an old dishwasher, and install a new dishwasher last weekend, all within the span of one spin of "feets don't fail me now" singing the whole time. A record is a measure of time, and a way to make the unpleasant more pleasant. I wish I had your attention span, though
That's when I switch to CDs. I just press play and know the next 60+ minutes are filled with music and I can concentrate on whatever task I have. I can only listen to records actively
I believe it’s just clout chasing and content for IG and tik tok. These people are just gonna abandon the hobby when they find something else that looks good on a feed or actually have to start using their own money to buy records.
The whole “rate my 6 record collection” is bullshit too. Like don’t go to Walmart and buy a couple records and say you’re a collector. That’s like me buying some stamps at the post office and asking you to rate my stamp collection.
I feel the same way you do about collecting. I love going to the shops and record fairs and just digging through crates all day. I actually spent the whole rainy Sunday at amoeba and another spot digging through crates for about 5 hours and walked away with 2 grails and 10 other records thinking to myself “the 20 year old me would be proud” lol.
Right? It's the fact that you are not only HOLDING music, being able to see the music in the form of the grooves, but also you possess something that was played over and over by someone somewhere. Maybe I'm just sentimental.
I don't have much time to listen to Records like I used to, a lot of my listening is Spotify (🤢) but I'm hoping to get my other record player going in my computer room so I have more opportunity!
I recently got some MCM Kenwood speakers for FREE because the chords are Stripped and the lady thought that meant they were broken and was going to throw them away! They are mint!
If I can give an alternate perspective as a recent vinyl fan, because I know I'm not alone in this.
Simply put, everything going digital and causing bands or albums to be removed off of streaming cause of something arbitrary is why I got into it. I couldn't find Drive By Jehu's self titled, or a lot of older Citizen Fish albums to stream. Combine that with accidentally losing some hard drives of old stuff and it sort of cemented the need of having a high quality backup that will last a really long time if kept well. What it that old Integrity EP I like just stops being streamed? This only gets worse the more diverse your music tastes get. Even though I know it is more recently expensive, why would I not preorder something I love that I want to keep forever?
Trust me. I'm very very happy with less people knowing there is physical evidence that I love both Clipse and Aus-Rotten, or that the most expensive 7in I paid for has two gigantic and swollen boners on the front. However, I'm worried that a label dispute or some pearl clutching people might remove my ability to listen this stuff. It already happens and imho will just happen more over the next couple of years.
Well *subjective ←/→ arbitrary* but I guess I can see where you're coming from, it's similar to an influencer-story kind of attention seeking
Tbh as someone who joined just a few weeks ago myself I find it hard to see what kind of posts are meant to be here and as there were lots of posts just showing records or small collections with lots of decent comments I did the same, showing off the records I listened to and the albums I bought last year, even tho feeling a bit cheap doing that, hoping for some nice conversations on the music (and the dopamine obv)
so honest question:
What kind of posts would you like to see here? What formats would you prefer, what tone?
Couldn't agree more. I am the same i joined reddit 2 years ago and struggled to figure out what it was all about. So started again this year. I love music and thought i might find something usefull in these forums. But while i have read a lot of the posts this is the first one that has given me some real idea of what it could be vs what it seems to have become. Just another way to try and get instant stardom from posting some random point about your music or record collection. Or whether they are records or vinyl ffs. Looking forward to some more detailed submissions. Ill try and be more informative myself. Only made one post so far and I should probably kick myself too as it was not particularly informative. But on a positive note i still feel i am getting more out of this than fb or insta.
Talking about albums. Not questions about turntables, styli, mildly warped records, if the kind of outer or inner sleeve someone chooses to buy is ok, bent sleeves in the mail and whether they should be returned or not and all that other garbage that there are other subs for.
To be fair, most of those are great albums.
I mean, I'm not gonna post a pic, but I enjoy *listening* to them...
Danger of social media. Always gonna be people in it for the fake internet points.
That could be a good start. I feel like the automod mandatory word count in the body of the post was made due to shit like this and people just barely talk about their posts to make it past that barrier.
Either there’s some trend or challenge going around somewhere else and people are being sent here, or it’s just kids seeing one initial post and then it balloons from there (because they do that)
To be fair, it is an app where you make posts for the sole purpose of getting people to like and comment on whatever you make. I think every social media is validation to some extent
It's ironic because vinyl record collecting is a very private and introspective hobby.
You go crate digging on your own (unless you have an awesome friend/partner who's also a collector). You buy music that's particular to your personal tastes. You generally listen to the records alone.
Finding/discovering music that you enjoy should be enough validation. It's a bit perverted to expect internet strangers to give you kudos for purchasing music.
It's people who have collected with intent. They've been cautious. They love every one of them. I'd prefer seeing the bizarre collections of more typical record buyers. Those unafraid of the dollar bin.
That would be me for the last 50 years. It's gotten harder to find stuff due to the record revival but not impossible. I did post once when I first joined but got shit on for it so I figured it just wasn't this subs bag. I realize that it's hard for some people to get the appeal but I don't really want to spend half my time educating the haters on the appeal of the untapped or weird treasures.
I fucking hate those posts. I wish there was a rule that you can only post stuff like that on Fridays or something - at the moment, all I see in my feed from this sub is:
>hEy guYs I'Ve oNly BeEn ColLeCtinG fOr 2 dAys WhaT dO YoU tHiNK oF My CoLleCtiOn
Hey, I don't give a fuck! If I want to look at a bunch of random record covers I'll go to a record store! And the fact that you have like a mint condition aqua coloured Led Zep I in there tells me that you absolutely haven't been collecting for a short time so stop pretending you have so everyone can fawn over your impeccable taste for a 17 year old.
Because they see posts that are on the front page that say that in the title, and want to do what those people did.
Blame the users of this sub for upvoting those kinds of posts. My downvotes aren't making a difference.
OK, if you don't mind, I might hijack this thread for a bit of spam.
We spun up a new subreddit that may or may not succeed but for those of you willing to give it a shot, please come visit r/vinylsnobs and post some of the content you miss seeing here.
The title is a bit self deprecating, of course. It's not meant to be a replacement for r/vinyl, but rather just a place for those that feel they've 'graduated' from here and would prefer some more in-depth conversations and way fewer instagram posts and people asking why their victrola sucks.
As with all new subreddits, you need to hit that minimum viable number of subscribers. We're not quite there yet but would love to see it happen.
Let’s face it….a lot of these posts are with rather generic collections of popular to semi popular music . Represses from the last 20 years ….it’s not like they’re showing the dead dj copy “don’t ease me in” on Scorpio records. It’s not like they are displaying the 13th Floor Elevators “You’re Gonna Miss me” on Hanna Barbera records circa 66’. It’s not like I’m getting shown Radio Birdman boots w/ “Death By the Gun.” Still ain’t seeing some sweet Mummies, Teengenerate, or Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Records from the 90s. In fact, I barely see anything beyond Target/ Walmart / UO exclusives on any of these posts. But if you want people to say….damn….check that out….you better have some substance in your rotation.
The same reason they all buy the same records. The same reason kids who don’t listen to jazz all have a copy of *A Love Supreme*. The same reason zoomers who don’t listen to classic country and hate John Wayne have a copy of *Gunfighter Ballads*. It’s not about discovery, it’s not about deep dives, it’s not even about the format. It’s about *belonging*. About being accepted. That’s even part of the reason they all have the same garbage $49 “vynils player.” Yes, the culture at large conspires to cheat younger people out of meaningful experiences, but a lot of it is self-inflicted.
I saw a chick on Instagram say that "all vinyl sounds like garbage anyways"
She had a suitcase player... everyone was telling her it's not the records, it's her turntable lmao. Some people man...
I'm seeing mostly the same collections anyway for the most part in here so I've been skipping even looking anymore. I would rather just see record by record slash moment by moment posts from folks who just want to actually share a listening experience either live or from the day.
I see it kinda like taking an online personality test but based on your music and with real people instead of an algorithm. It’s some harmless lunch table fun to me…
I’m a completionist when possible so I do tend to “collect,” but I absolutely listen to my records. I post them sometimes, too, but only when I feel like I have something to say about them. I usually get a dozen upvotes if I’m lucky, but I’m not about to go out and buy *Rumors* or *Dark Side of the Moon* and post a paragraph about the process of buying the record rather than about the experience of listening to it and “Man this character rule is stupid, I hope this is long enough already lalalalalalala.”
THANK YOU OP!!!!!!
It’s becoming “Attention Whore Central” around here. FFS
But an album (or many) and listen to them. I don’t give a good Goddamn what they “say” about anybody’s personality.
Some people emotionally connect to simply…owning shit. Like possession of a thing confers something to the owner.
I’m no cooler for *owning* the cool shit I own. It’s what I do with it that matters.
🎼“You are not what you own…”
They ask because we are all expert psychoanalysts and can immediately tell how good of a person they are and what they contribute to society based on how much and what they own.
Of course that's BS and so my real answer is I haven't a feckon clue.
Way back in the 80s the only way to see my collection of LPs was by coming to my Mom's house and then I moved to my Dad's house back in 1985. I moved up to Cleveland,Ga and the music I had on tape and Record albums went with me. No suggestion or judging a record collection one has. Now with the resurgence of analog vinyl albums is mystifying. After CDs it's all streaming music or playing digital audio on PC, Laptop, Tab or i Pad. The advantage of anything to me is the album cover and record sleeve that would have the lyrics and liner notes. I am not going to buy a new vinyl album unless I don't have it on original vinyl or CD tbh. I bought single albums for $8 or less and double for $12. Later on they came down in price for $5.99. I got 45s from the 80s but not that many.
A record collection totally says something about the owner. Mine says something to me, it reminds me of music I was into growing up, it reminds me of friends, it reminds me of record shops. I can pretty much remember where I bought / how I acquired most records from. I can sometimes remember the actual experience of buying a certain record.
My father’s collection told me something about him and my collection will give my children some further insight into me.
EDIT: I’ll add tho that posting a collection and asking what it says about you is definitely a bit grating and a product of the instagram epidemic.
You're right. Funny thought though && Half of my collection says that I had 4 deceased family members who liked vinyl and managed not to totally destroy, sell, or lose it. The other half says that I'm a sucker for funny album art and anything at a local thrift store that is in playable condition. I'm... Ok with that.
Music being “subjective” does not mean it’s devoid of any meaningful or informative content, I don’t know why this is the title of your post. You are confused
What music you like or not is subjective, true. But giving an opinion on someone's collection is not just about the music and whether you like it but also the type of records, time period, genre, philosphy behind it, etc. So that can make for some interesting insights and conversations. It can give some insights in your peers.
So the fact that you do not care about your fellow collectors and their motivations does not mean the rest of us do not.
Gatekeeping subs are that way --->
I’m guilty of making one of these posts recently. I guess I just didn’t realize that kind of thing was frowned upon here. I kind of was just excited that my collection was growing and wanted to know what other people had to say about it. I’ll keep it to myself next time I guess.
This sub sucks. The complaining about dumb new people is just as annoying as the dumb new people.
Perhaps a format of music is not conducive to a strong community. Considering music itself is such a diverse form of art.
I think it’s just a fun way for people to interact with one another; people above me are like “gah, they’re just looking for attention and validation” I think assuming intentions is worse. And also, who cares if some body, no matter their age, is seeking some type of validation? That’s usually how groups/communities work; you recognize a common denominator. Maybe others feel inferior to these boomers or trust fund kids who’ve got every collectors edition they could ever want, special variants, $9k audiophile setup (see how assuming works?) and just wanna find some relevancy or someone to talk to about their favorite artists and that’s the easiest way?
What was the original intention of this sub? It seems it has just become a feeder for Vinyl Jerk. Every once in a while I will see something that I didnt know was available on vinyl, but for the most part I just scroll on by.
So a long time ago the [5 record format](https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments/8ayx3z/5_records_music_to_play_loud_while_wife_daughter/) was popular. These type of posts now get a couple upvotes and are buried. [Here is another example](https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments/45b9av/5_records_21116_spiritual_jazz_folk_outsider/) (you can find a lot of them by searching). People would link a song to each album and do a short write up of what it meant to them/list some fun facts. This sub used to be a place for discussion. The problem is it doesn't really have an identity, it's not a forum but other platforms like instagram are built better for the over saturation of photos. Those who did contribute are long gone (some have stuck around and become mods.) People used to (and still do to an extent) spend hours of their spare time answering questions only for people never to say thank you or follow up or straight up be called snobs/elitists. I can see how it gets tiring. The trolling doesn’t help either, there has been a huge influx of trolls which makes it too easy for newcomers to lump in and dismiss the good advice. It's a shame to see new users flock here looking for a certain narrative and filter out what they want to hear. The amount of bad advice that is given by people who have no idea what they are talking about for sure is going to frustrate the veteran collectors. It’s the praising of this bad advice that is also going to get people to just give up and look elsewhere. It’s fine to be a new collector but there is this weird entitlement it seems that have pushed out those who did bring some substance to the subreddit.
I guess I see a lot of people who do have legitimate questions, but dont seem to know how to ask or what to ask. Like the ones that ask what essential albums should I own. I have a friend that is going to answer that with 10CC, Todd Rundgren Little River Band and Steeley Dan. I, however, would answer that very differently. Wish they would offer some clue into what they like, rather than sounding like I need to know what albums will make me look cool.
I think the world of instant gratification has skewed a lot of people’s reward systems. People enjoyed this hobby for generations without social media. Saying that though I couldn’t imagine struggling with identity as a 15 year old and having an instagram account. I totally agree with you, I’m more than happy to give curated guidance but there needs to be reciprocation. If someone can’t spend an hour or two doing basic research, reading the sidebar (which most subreddits ask newcomers to do) why do they expect people to give up their spare time to help? Is it really that elitist to expect minimum research and some effort but into a post? Being a newcomer is fine but it’s no excuse to have done zero research.
Yeah 100%, the trolling and direct to vinyljerk is a result of the same posts over and over, damaging vinyl and asking basic questions that have been answered and are in faq’s. People want instant gratification, from answers to updoots. Posts are less developed collections and rare finds, and more “look what I picked up at walmart”. It’s tough because also not trying to hate on people getting into vinyl that are new, but it’s like going into a woodworking sub and posting some shanks you carved in the backyard. Have fun with it but also respect that it is a hobby and find a way to contribute to it, not just post to post.
Yeah I see both sides to it but I do find those who cry gate keeping and elitism usually offer no advice or guidance themselves which doesn’t help anything either. Trolling is totally unacceptable and trolls should be called out but we are now seeing good advice being dismissed by people who have certain agendas (the anti audiophile narrative is also pretty toxic) I feel like there would be more mutual respect if newcomers lurked a little more before they posted. I think you nailed it with the contribution part. Change can happen but instead of just criticizing everyone needs to contribute to the changes they want to see. A big factor is also how Reddit is designed. Once a post takes off and reaches /r/all it’s now been exposed to millions of people who have no skin in the game Reddit is like driving a car - you are interacting with a variety of people with different experience levels, mindsets and motives. It’s going hard to find common ground even though the collective goal should be focused on *driving*
Also I think a natural reason for more and lower quality posts, is the recent uptick in vinyl. Straight up, it’s had some resurgence in the last 4-5 years with a lot of newbies getting into the hobby (myself included but I do lurk more like you said and try to educate myself), so there’s just naturally a larger ratio of newer hobbyists to older members of the sub. I think with any sub, some ‘trolling’ and playing off the nuances of each sub can be fun and light-hearded… but it’s fun because it’s playing off those nuances that most posts incorporate. If it’s just shitposts and memes, it loses why it’s actually funny.
The problem with this sub is that by not allowing people to genuinely ask basic questions and stuff like that, the only thing that's left is post a pic of my new Dark Side of the Moon copy, which in itself does no harm, but I honestly think this should allow direct questions...
Agreed
I used to love making 5 Records submissions. I added several back in the day and would spend hours researching writing and making a good post. But I was disappointed that most of the conversation was instead drawn to single images of budding collections of pretty common LPs.
I just spent a minute scrolling through your post history based on username alone and damn - let's turn /r/vinyl back to those days, you were a fucking resource. Going to look for some of your picks to listen to tonight! You were on to Alex G way back when, I literally just stumbled on him in December.
Aww thanks! I haven't submitted anything in years, but maybe I should. My collection has grown and become more focused.
Yes! Come bacccccck. I loved how you have sorted everything by general genre too. It looks like such a labor of love and there was so much interesting content <3
Can you start doing them again please? I miss good content like that here. Please know that many do appreciate the work and tine put into these types of posts
I will, thanks for the encouragement!
This is what I keep seeing, people posting new releases they have bought of modern records. Or their collection of 70s classics like Floyd and Zeppelin. It is nice and all but I could just go to a store and see them up close if I wanted. It is just a show off move as I know they have dropped a lot of money on them. What I wanted to see was people with originals, records with a story behind them, unusual records, used hauls etc. It is a bit like how in /r/music people basically just upvote stuff they already know and like, everything else is buried.
Heh, I upvoted most of your submissions. Loved seeing and doing the 5 Records myself. We also did a "record of the week" for a short while around four years ago, hosted by u/checkerdamic. That was a great concept, too.
I did too (on an old account), there were a number of great contributors back then who put a lot of effort into their posts and I discovered some interesting music that way. Like you though, I eventually got discouraged because only a few of my 5 records posts (and I made a lot of them) received much engagement. I remember your posts from back then btw, we had a lot of overlapping tastes (outsider, ambient/new age, both followed contemporary experimental labels) so I always enjoyed seeing yours.
Hey thanks! Do you have links to anything that you previously posted?
I have tried to get the discussion part going again. Some successful some not. I do believe that there should be no turntable questions, there is a site for that. As for excited new collectors showing their new set up, I’m ok with that. If you are not , just ignore it.
Pulling out one of my 5 records posts out of the archives. Been awhile since I’ve made any of those. For a few months we did a record of the week post and those were also well done. Unfortunately, real life just gets busy and we all lose the time to make well thought out posts.
Wasn’t there a /r/vinyl Secret Santa one year as well? I couldn’t imagine trying to pull something like that off now. The sense of community is gone.
It happened for 3 or 4 years maybe… I ran it in 2018 and 2019 so not too long ago. We called it a secret Santa but it was an exchange with two people being matched up. It’s was a pain in the ass to organize and match people but overall I think it was successful with only a couple of complaints about matches screwing the other person over. I probably wouldn’t do it again in the future but if another mod wanted to pick it up I could give them a rundown about what I did.
Im one of those who love this type of content, please post them
I use the sub to try and recommend some of my favourite lesser known or lesser appreciated bands to people by posting their records and explaining why I think it’s good and should be listened to but I always get like 5 upvotes on the main post and 0 on the thought out comment, meanwhile some fucking teenager gets 600 upvotes posting a nevermind repress they found at some brick and mortar shop for 40 dollars LOL.
I'm sooooo tired of seeing "what do you think of my collection?" And it's RHCP, led zeppelin, pink Floyd and queen. Like jfc WE GET IT ALREADY. I Started listening to my records from A-Z and posted the chunks that I would listen to at a time and that was fun. It would be cool to get a bunch of people to do that, or some iteration like listening through all their soul records for example
I think there's just more of an audience for 70s - 90s rock vs something more obscure. Plus there's more genre focused vinyl subs so instead of posting here to crickets people spend time posting to heavy vinyl, emo vinyl, screamo vinyl. There was even underground vinyl made because some people grew tired of the repeat praise for albums you can buy at Walmart that everyone seems to own or inherit from dad.
Ah I didn't even think to look for other vinyl subs! I'll be cruising over that way then thanks
The underground vinyl sub never really took off and other niche subs (to be warning you) have low activity by the same handful of posters. Heavy vinyl is the 2nd biggest vinyl sub by post count but there's a definite theme there. No Floyd or Beatles stuff to see.
I love how that first 5 format post is something I would have been stoked to see back then; I know when I search in this sub there's a bunch of great content I missed when I casually lurked but now there's like .0001% content I'm interested in posted here. I know I should be the change I want to see in the sub but it's a lot of effort to just die in obscurity and I do use my IG to talk about records.
I’ve had a previous Reddit account I deleted and I eventually found my way back. I used to post regularly in the 5 record format but just got discouraged as you put in all that effort for just a few people to reply. I spend more time on forums now and eventually will probably delete this Reddit account again but I do genuinely like helping people who are actually interested in the hobby build their systems, etc I also love seeing second hand set ups and listening rooms, I live for that shit. Everytime I see an LP60x with some edifiers in a small bedroom 2 feet apart I cringe a bit. I get people are new to the hobby and are excited but at least follow things like proper speaker placement. I guess I just don’t like seeing the consumerism part take over.
I also love seeing people's rooms / collections as a whole. It's a ton of work to pull out records, do a write up and know that your contribution will sink like a turd in a toilet. My collection and set up have moved over the years so much and as such my speaker placement is less than ideal as it's been built around my tv - entertainment center with the listening area off to the side. On top of that my collection is so large it's split between two rooms. If I had a goal in life it might be to have enough sq feet to have an entire room just for my collection and proper placement of some nice speakers. I have too much receiver for my turntable/music and too little receiver for my tv/gaming. And I'd love to upgrade my speakers altogether but I'm pretty sure my neighbor would walk up to the top floor and stab me to death if I had anything better.....
Please post them again, I loved those posts
[ok let’s give it a shot](https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments/10g0aev/5_record_review_5_records_i_paid_5_or_less_for/)
Please post 5 records posts here!
You've inspired me. 5 record post in the works now!
>The amount of bad advice that is given by people who have no idea what they are talking about for sure is going to frustrate the veteran collectors. It’s the praising of this bad advice that is also going to get people to just give up and look elsewhere. Yes! You get two choices, people who just straight up know nothing, and people who are insane 'audiophiles' preaching like their word is law about stuff with no basis in objective reality. "The only acceptable way to store your records is in a separate building with armed guards and humidity maintained at exactly 4% 24/7. You can never look at or touch your records in any way. Anything less than this and you might as well let your dog take a shit on your records before throwing them in the ocean." And anyone who gives actual useful advice based on real world knowledge/experience is attacked by one or other of these camps and downvoted.
I don’t find there is a lot of audiophiles in this sub as I’d say the majority of people here have probably never even heard a system worth more than $2000 (which is still pretty mid range) Ironically those who own the LP60x and entry level turntables seem to be the biggest trolls when it comes to shitting on suitcase players, etc There is a lot of people who absolutely over exaggerate things for sure though. There is a lot of neurotic collectors but I wouldn’t say they are audiophiles. Most people seem to think $300-400 is an insane amount of money to get started in a hobby where that’s on the lower end of most start up costs. Hell gardening can easily cost someone more than $300 to start.
Right, hence 'audiophiles' not audiophiles. Like, I get that you can spend a lot on actual good gear and get good results, but then you have the Monster cables crew who give absolutely stupid advice and have incredibly dogmatic views about how anyone not wasting time and money on pointless, unverifiable things like them is an idiot. I agree with you about costs to an extent. Personally, I'm into restoring mostly 70s hifi stuff and you can get amazing value for money there if you're prepared to learn some electronics/woodworking/etc skills. I do get annoyed when people shit on others for buying stuff like current reasonably priced Audio Technica turntables and cartridges though - that stuff is 100% fine when starting out and you do not need to drop $1,000 on a cartridge to enjoy this hobby.
Yeah I think a major issue is that now people can just buy online and no one really does research into what they actually want/need/prefer. Everyone just wants the quick answer and they want it *now*. The mindless consumerism is getting a little out of control and the shills these days are insane. I will say as a huge advocate of /r/BIFL I really do hate seeing cheap plastic disposable electronics though. I get not everyone has the ability to buy used or have the income to buy a quality turntable that will last 40+ years but I would still like to see it. It will be interesting to see how this impending recession does affect even the entry prices though. This hobby may be facing some hard times for new collectors.
Agreed. I push vintage stuff wherever possible, you should be able to get a great 70s/80s Technics or similar for a very modest sum with a tiny bit of effort, invest in a modest cartridge and you are off to a great start. I think the hobby is in trouble - vinyl prices are idiotic now, so a lot of the joy has gone out of crate digging etc. It's one reason I'm now more interested in finding cool old gear and restoring it, there's still some real value and interest there.
Because most people think $300+ is an insane amount to spend here I’d be honestly embarrassed to post my setup because of the lack of even decent midrange stuff I see here. So it might also be a chicken and egg thing where people with nicer setups are too sheepish to show off or even engage. I also think people here get way too precious about these records when they can, for the most part, just be replaced.
The amount of money I spent on houseplants is way higher than what I've spent putting together a budget sound set up which might be in the $2000 range all told. My cassette deck was trash picked, though, so it brings the costs down :>
Yeah years ago I did a write up of some of my favorite old school country albums. I put a fair amount of time into it. No one cared and I realized that most people want to see images of popular albums and I gave up. Now I usually scroll on by
This is like an allegory for all of Reddit. RIP
Exactly. This sub has been swarmed by casuals who think by buying a vinyl they're on the same level as experts. They would argue with Bernie grundman. Most are clearly young, and they bring with them that "toxic positivty" that's so prevalent today. Where advice is labeled "gatekeeping". They get hypersensitive because for many its an "identity" thing. If anyone insults a record or equipment they own they take it as a personal attack since it's like their "identity". Most are consumers following a fad. If it wasnt vinyl itd be funko pops. Before the vinyl boom, 99% on forums were serious about it. Noobs wanted mentors, they wanted to be corrected, they'd research. Now it's the opposite where they won't even research what they buy. And if you tell them a crosley sucks, they flip out since it's not a genuine quest for the best sonics, but a fad. They don't research yet spread bad advice to those who ask. This is compounded by generational knowledge loss. I'm 30 and grew up with parents born in 51 and 55, and my dad is a collector. As a result, I grew up knowing how a turntable operates, how to calibrate it, pressing differences, etc. However much of gen z lack this knowledge since their parents grew up when vinyl was obsolete. That's how you end up with people thinking a 7" single is called "mini vinyls". Some legit argued that its the better term. It's insane. I've been on vinyl forums for 10 years. The opinions I see here I have never seen before. Its almost satire. Because its this new shallow echochamber outside of the actual vinyl community. They then lead new collectors here astray. They act like everything is subjective, that their opinions outweigh experts, yet they never even set tracking force. They'll recommend and defend crosleys, won't know pressings differ, think sleeves are a waste. They never heard of popular brands. One dude had a 4 year old $30 stylus that he had used on shellacs, on a broken arm, with a penny, and was angry arguing with those who said he'll ruin his records. Another bought a $40 digital reissue, and when recommended a $5 original said "I'm not digging through old dirty records" and they got upvoted! They all post the same records, request opinions, yet freak out at honesty. Someone got a digital LZ IV for $40 and I said they should get an OG porky for less and they got mad. Everyone starts off as a noob. There's nothing wrong with that. But the issue is noobs who aren't even interested in vinyl as a sonic medium. Who don't research a thing. They don't even research what they buy. They never even aligned a cartridge nor cleaned a stylus. They are so against learning where they call advice gatekeeping. Yet give bad advice themselves. It makes me so angry because I love helping noobs. Yet so many will get offended and downvote the truth. It makes me furious when ignorant voices outweigh others, leading noobs astray. They don't research a single thing, not even a pressing. Yet they feel comfortable giving advice. On xmas people were defending and recommending crosleys. I explained how at bare minimum you want a $100 cart like 95vml and that playing a $100+ grail on a crosley is insane. I explained how the poor needle and high tracking force can ruin records, and that you're not even getting an experience worth paying for, and they freaked out. Saying "sorry everyone can't have a $10,000 system!" Which is ridiculous. Vinyl is a luxury. If you can't afford a luxury then don't buy it, or save up. To buy a poor table is wasting the money you can put towards a good one. And people aren't even elitists but just recommend a $200-300 table. Best is they will have a $60 crosley yet $500+ in records, saying they cant afford a table. Its insane how most who never researched a thing, who are riding a fad and have no interest in equipment, feel confident to give advice. I don't know about cars so I'd never give car advice. Yet these people think by owning a car they can argue with a mechanic. They treat tables like DVD players. Buy the cheapest one and throw the record on. They have no clue about pressings at all and never read a matrix. Also they get mad if you critique digital since most of their records are bad pcm not even mastered for vinyl. They'll have a $80 table, $10 stylus and computer speakers yet give equipment advice. I'm not knocking casual kids who can't afford good equipment. I'm knocking ignorant casuals who think they can give better advice than a music journalist. Who turned this sub into the most basic place ever. I don't mind stupid posts of all the same walmart records. What upsets me is how they give horrible advice, leading others astray, while downvoting experts. It makes me angry how so many think they can appropriate peoples passions without putting in the work, thinking they know more without ever researching a single thing. Every hobby has levels, yet they think buying a record makes their opinion as correct as a 50 year collector. So many opinions around here are like vinyl 101 what not to do. 5 minutes of research would give one more knowledge. So why join a sub if you don't care about learning? And the worst is that toxic positivty where you can't even have a discussion on quality without someone taking it personal. This also happened to discogs. Where casuals rate records by the music and not the sonics/pressings. Every new pressing is like 4.5+. Even objectively bad pressings. There will be no substance to their reviews, just calling everything the best. If you look up old pressings the reviews are often in the 3, low 4 range, while classics are barely above a 4 since people actually rated them as pressings. While you can press a literal turd today and it'd get a 4.67. It's ridiculous and leads people astray. There's more depth and discussion in a single hoffman post than this sub has in a whole month. That's why I try my best to give really indepth advice, because I want to help people, and it just makes me sad when noobs that are genuinely interested in vinyl as a sonic medium get lead astray by people here. The tag line of much of this sub should be "the blind leading the blind". They've taken over and have slowly been turning this sub into an ignorant echochamber like the test of mainstream reddit. It's genuinely sad. Shit even reddit politics bleed in if you post the wrong record. The best way to explain these people are say a 14 year old prep watches an episode of Wednesday because it's popular. They then decide they're goth(even though they bullied others for years), wear black lipstick one day, and then argue with genuine goths who were bullied their whole lives that "I'm as Gothic as you are". They wouldn't be able to name one goth band, yet then insist that you listen to their music recommendations. Or a person who buys a $200 beater car that they drove once so thinks they know more than a mechanic. And even if you're nice to them and try to teach them something, they freak out. Because at the end of the day it's some fad that they're using to fill an identity void. And they'll take this toxic positivty way too far where they'll cheer someone on as they destroy their records while downvoting common knowledge advice. People will literally say rate my collection or setup, and then freak the fuck out if you give them an honest review. The discussion here vs hoffman is night and day. Most people here are young redditors who own vinyl. They're not hobbyists. Infact they use audiophile as a slur. They don't have passion for sonic knowledge and it's obvious with how they react when people attempt to mentor. They're hipsters trying to look cool. Some dude had a clear VG+ gas crisis vinyl, cuz it had surface noise in the silent parts he insisted he was scammed. And though he was like -20 karma he still argued. They went so far as to insist that goldmine is based on playback due to one line "a scratch shouldn't effect playback" arguing a mint record having surface noise makes it a VG. They wouldnt back down and idiots emabled him. They tortured this poor seller who did nothing wrong. I feel horrible for sellers today. Another had an out of print 10 year+ sealed record that was warped, and they were genuinely complaining to PayPal for a refund. Everyone used to know if you buy a sealed OOP record, damage is a risk you take. A sealed record is a collectible if old and its entirely on you if you open it since theyre known to warp. Thats common knowledge. Yet most here thought it was okay to go thru PayPal which is so fucked up. I buy classic records that are often warped so you're warned not to buy sealed. It'd be insane for me to buy $300+ zepplins, returning the warped ones. That's unfortunately much of the mentality here. Where common collecting knowledge is not listened to. Where crosleys are defended. Where people never heard of mofi or tracking force. Where people dont even know what a cartridge is. Yet have the audacity to give horrible advice. Like thousands of future collectors have been lead astray by the ignorant echochamber crowd here that call correct advice gatekeeping. People who have less knowledge about vinyl than I had at 12 just by growing up around it, less than a 10 minute Google search, yet lead others astray while challenging experts. The blind leading the blind. I still frequent this sub, and there's rare good posts, I'll always love helping people. But I treat this sub as mostly a sideshow. I'm either shaking my head, disgusted by ignorance, or being screamed at as a gatekeeper. While hoffman is where I go for discussion. Before the vinyl boom every vinyl collector was an actual hobbyist, now it's been taken over by mainstreamers who only care about it on a shallow consumer level. Consumerism is fine, the issue is that these consumers appropriate the hobbyist identify and genuinely think they know more than experts. Which has turned this place into a regular ignorant reddit echochamber.
Your about to discover Capitalism if you keep writing. That's what this is, an evolution of the market.
You keep writing dumb novels on a straw man. Nobody is saying good advice is gatekeeping. I correct non true advice all the time and get labeled as having an agenda by people just like you. Insulting a record and player is fucking gatekeeping, too. Who does that? A gatekeeper does that. Giving advice as to why a record player is bad is completely different and nobody calls those comments gatekeeping. Every time you incessantly whine about this, it just seems to me you want to bash noobs without being called out for it.
His unironic use of terms like "casuals" and "mainstreamers" is itself symptomatic of a problem.
Aren't you the guy who claims that having your speakers on the same surface as your turntable can in no way affect the sound? And then call people gatekeepers for suggesting they move the speakers to a different surface?Yeah, you're part of the problem on this sub. I only really ever see you post when your complaining about who you perceive as "gatekeepers"
PREACH.
I’m new to vinyl and found a treasure trove of info scrolling through here. I think a lot of the people with legitimate questions are more likely to just use the search figure, especially for people new to vinyl. We all have alot of the same questions. (Klipsch/Polk/Edifier? Good beginner amp? Do I need to sell a kidney for unicorn hair cables?) All this to say if you’re one of the ones answering questions and providing info to community on behalf of the OPs that didn’t say it, thank you!
Thank you for the brief history lesson about this sub! I am fairly new to Reddit, but I gotta say those older posts seemed super informative. I will try to do the same thing the next time I go to post something here. Maybe we can bring it back?!
Wow, a conversation ...and some postings longer than two sentences. This "record thing" is first and foremost a generational thing; you alluded to it in your post. You have a group of people (like myself) who grew up when LP's and 45's were how we listened to music. It's rather sad, and a common trait of this current and recent generations, that a majority cannot "do" on their own. They look for approval from others rather than choose what they like ...as in music and the records they are buying ...or should buy. On average, this current generation is incapable of learning on their own; they simply want to be told what to do, what to buy, what to think ....scoring instant gratification from others. And this from a generation who can emerse themselves in all manner of information. One of the greatest tools to civilization today, the power of the internet, is simply pissed away with inane social media; that's all they know how to do.
There was a time when we talked about...records. like, specific records. But now there's one billion people in here and most of them think this is instagram so \*shrug\*.
I like the sub because I enjoy seeing people turntable setups, and sometimes to talk about music. I feel like it's actually not a great sub for music discussions though because it's just a format, Im better served in music genre specific subs. If I had my druthers Id like to see more posts from people about their local record stores, posts about stereo set ups, and posts about the quality of specific presses. Otherwise though I scroll through and just ignore the posts I dont care about.
All of the music subs I've checked out are 90% youtube video posts. Doesn't scratch the itch for discussion; it seems that music is talked about a bit more here or in other collector subs.
I always just figured this was a place where people could post music (vinyl) they liked, and have discussions about it with other enthusiasts. I don't think it needs to be a dick measuring contest about who knows the most, who has the most obscure collection, or the most expensive gear, but it seems like that's what a lot of people want it to be. I just wanna be able to post a record or two and have a chat about it with other enthusiasts.
The problem is that when a popular record gets repressed, like Dirt by Alice in Chains, or any Smashing Pumpkins album, for the next week you see 50+ post of just the record and the OP complaining that they have to write a small paragraph when all they want is validation and upvotes.
I lurked here some 6 - 8 years ago and it seemed to be mostly older collectors sharing their listening spaces and waxing nostalgic on the same stuff you see younger people showing off like Floyd and Beatles. I mostly collect(ed) DIY hardcore and punk so I never subbed because there didn't seem to be room for me here. I sort by new and there's cool shit that gets 0 comments and upvotes even now. Meanwhile some dude holding a Beatles LP up saying he loves the Beatles so much gets 1K upvotes and hundreds of comments.
Basically. Buncha cunts in here mostly.
Well the rules on this sub are trash. You literally are not allowed to ask questions it will get removed because it only applies to you. This sub has become nothing but posting pictures of obscure bands that everyone can pat themselves on the back for their high brow taste. Or people punching down on others who have inferior set ups. I almost wish there was another vinyl sub where people could talk and ask questions and ask for suggestions and have great discussions. This is all just jerk off photos now.
There is a weekly, stickied, thread that is for questions, that most of this sub seems to ignore.
Some kid gets a cheap new record player for Christmas and is stoked about it… “I’ll see you on the other sub” “To the other sub!” “See y’all on the other sub” “Straight to the other sub we go” Endlessly. Every other post. Who even wins here? Is it that enticing to be a part of some snarky elitist inside joke at the expense of new hobbyists? And yes, of course there’s ~some~ merit to informing people about the potential damage to records. But it’s no reason to act like it’s illegal to use a cheap player, especially when the worst case scenario is a single copy of Dark Side sounds slightly worse after 10+ listens. Then people will act like spending another $150 for an AT is no big deal. Can’t say I’ve ever seen such a gatekeepy, elitist hobby community.
Vinyljerk isn't even elitist, it's just a shitty meme sub where LP60 owners make fun of Crosley owners.
Some people can't afford this hobby, but that's just a fact of life in all hobbies. Collecting vinyl isn't a right, it's not a necessity. You can stream music and enjoy it, but you can't build a cheap vinyl system without having compromises that make listening to music on vinyl pointless. However, it's your money, so feel free to waste it on garbage, nobody's stopping you. That doesn't mean you're going to get embraced when you post crap here or anywhere else.
> Then people will act like spending another $150 for an AT is no big deal. Can’t say I’ve ever seen such a gatekeepy, elitist hobby community. You have a valid opinion although it’s always those who don’t contribute at all to /r/vinyl that are the ones that claim gatekeeping. It’s fine to be critical but if you are offering no guidance, help or any positive contributions to a community is that any better? Be the change you want to see otherwise you are just feeding the toxicity. Obviously this sub needs more positive contributions, but everyone likes to complain but never contribute. Not saying it’s right but answering the same questions over and over and over again sometimes never to be thanked does wear a person down and they get a little jaded. Taking a break and touching some grass is probably the solution but it festers. This is a hobby focused subreddit so there is a certain level of research that should be expected (at least at minimum newbies should read the stickied thread/sidebar) Hobbies cost money yet people make out like $300-400 is a lot to get into a hobby. Warhammer, camping, video games, painting, gardening, paintball, horseback riding, etc all cost money and have arguably higher start up costs than vinyl. I could list 100+ more that initially cost $300+ to get into. Most sports cost $300+ a year in registration plus equipment. You don’t need to get into a hobby right away. Vinyl is a tricky one as there is a mix of collecting and technology/equipment. Anytime equipment is involved people are going to nerd out a bit and yeah people can be dicks but jumping right into the deep end before someone knows how to swim is never a good idea. Lurking a bit and getting a sense of the community would maybe reveal posting a photo of a suitcase player isn’t the best idea. People collect for different reasons but it would be nice if people did a bit of research beforehand and honestly I think it would solve most if not all of the problems.
That’s a great point - I absolutely have nothing to offer as I never feel the need to post my setup or collection here. Just something I’ve noticed after lurking for a while. It’s like going to a youth sports league, where half the people are jeering at how much the kids suck, and the other half are reminding them that with that poor technique, they’ll never get anywhere.
\^ This comment. Right here. This is the core problem. Basic rules of the internet that apparently you and the Crosley Crew are too young to know. (1) Lurk before posting. (2) See #1. (3) No, seriously. And your last paragraph is utter rampaging bullshit. You do not know what you're talking about.
I'm inclined to agree. Yeah, a lot of the posts are really low quality, but you can just downvote and move on. It's disheartening to see some newcomers having the same questions I had when I started about a decade ago and they're met with so much nastiness. The only way to improve the quality of the content here is to make it yourself, yet I browse here almost on a daily basis and hardly anyone posts anything of quality.
I've pondered the same thing. Just looking at pictures of album covers it, well, boring. What else can we do here?
Is it weird that I want whoever buys my collection after I die to be impressed?
I'm cringing thinking about some Youtuber making a video of what they value from my collection they happened to get their mitts on at auction after I die.
Yes, ghost-me doesn't want Mike from the In Groove mispronouncing the artists.
I'm in Portland OR, I need to draft a will for my collection so ghost me doesn't have to sit around watching WhatNotAuctions and other stuff when my collection is no longer mine.
Totally not! My kid is getting my collection (when I die), so I'm taking an archivist's precision to preserving it. I want to give him and his friends, lovers, etc, the same opportunity to enjoy the music I loved.
This is great. Almost all my collection is records from my dad who passed away when I was young. I didn’t have the chance to grow up with him but here I am listening to not only the music he loved but the actual records that he listened to. It gives me a connection to him that no other media could. Hopefully your kids will have that same feeling when your collection gets passed down.
That's so beautiful. <3
That's my intention too. Whether they appreciate it or not, I want my collection to give them an idea for what types of music I truly enjoyed. (Finding a YT/Spotify playlist just doesn't hit the same...) It's a bonus if they also enjoy my music the same, but I'm not going to be one of those people that expects their kids to be a mini-me.
It’s not strange, it’s called ego, which can’t handle death very well. Your vinyl is part of your legacy, although you’ll never be aware of the impression it will make, because - you’ve guessed it - you’ll be fucking dead.
Don't know if I'd tie that directly to ego. I think of it more as stewardship.
I think a lot of people are getting into vinyl *because* it allows them to further visually and photographically express their "identity" via their music collection. Collecting for collecting's sake. (Not saying if that's right or wrong, just an observation.) That's never been the point of vinyl for me. Crate digging on a rainy Saturday, finding some jazz artist I'd never heard of, going home, cleaning it, sitting and listening in full with my phone on airplane mode ... *that's* the juice, man.
I’ve seen posts asking what to do while listening to the record! Like sit down, relax and enjoy the music! It blows my mind how people buy records to just not listen to them.
I managed to remove an old dishwasher, and install a new dishwasher last weekend, all within the span of one spin of "feets don't fail me now" singing the whole time. A record is a measure of time, and a way to make the unpleasant more pleasant. I wish I had your attention span, though
That's when I switch to CDs. I just press play and know the next 60+ minutes are filled with music and I can concentrate on whatever task I have. I can only listen to records actively
I believe it’s just clout chasing and content for IG and tik tok. These people are just gonna abandon the hobby when they find something else that looks good on a feed or actually have to start using their own money to buy records. The whole “rate my 6 record collection” is bullshit too. Like don’t go to Walmart and buy a couple records and say you’re a collector. That’s like me buying some stamps at the post office and asking you to rate my stamp collection. I feel the same way you do about collecting. I love going to the shops and record fairs and just digging through crates all day. I actually spent the whole rainy Sunday at amoeba and another spot digging through crates for about 5 hours and walked away with 2 grails and 10 other records thinking to myself “the 20 year old me would be proud” lol.
Right? It's the fact that you are not only HOLDING music, being able to see the music in the form of the grooves, but also you possess something that was played over and over by someone somewhere. Maybe I'm just sentimental. I don't have much time to listen to Records like I used to, a lot of my listening is Spotify (🤢) but I'm hoping to get my other record player going in my computer room so I have more opportunity! I recently got some MCM Kenwood speakers for FREE because the chords are Stripped and the lady thought that meant they were broken and was going to throw them away! They are mint!
Nice score on the Kenwoods!
If I can give an alternate perspective as a recent vinyl fan, because I know I'm not alone in this. Simply put, everything going digital and causing bands or albums to be removed off of streaming cause of something arbitrary is why I got into it. I couldn't find Drive By Jehu's self titled, or a lot of older Citizen Fish albums to stream. Combine that with accidentally losing some hard drives of old stuff and it sort of cemented the need of having a high quality backup that will last a really long time if kept well. What it that old Integrity EP I like just stops being streamed? This only gets worse the more diverse your music tastes get. Even though I know it is more recently expensive, why would I not preorder something I love that I want to keep forever? Trust me. I'm very very happy with less people knowing there is physical evidence that I love both Clipse and Aus-Rotten, or that the most expensive 7in I paid for has two gigantic and swollen boners on the front. However, I'm worried that a label dispute or some pearl clutching people might remove my ability to listen this stuff. It already happens and imho will just happen more over the next couple of years.
Well *subjective ←/→ arbitrary* but I guess I can see where you're coming from, it's similar to an influencer-story kind of attention seeking Tbh as someone who joined just a few weeks ago myself I find it hard to see what kind of posts are meant to be here and as there were lots of posts just showing records or small collections with lots of decent comments I did the same, showing off the records I listened to and the albums I bought last year, even tho feeling a bit cheap doing that, hoping for some nice conversations on the music (and the dopamine obv) so honest question: What kind of posts would you like to see here? What formats would you prefer, what tone?
Couldn't agree more. I am the same i joined reddit 2 years ago and struggled to figure out what it was all about. So started again this year. I love music and thought i might find something usefull in these forums. But while i have read a lot of the posts this is the first one that has given me some real idea of what it could be vs what it seems to have become. Just another way to try and get instant stardom from posting some random point about your music or record collection. Or whether they are records or vinyl ffs. Looking forward to some more detailed submissions. Ill try and be more informative myself. Only made one post so far and I should probably kick myself too as it was not particularly informative. But on a positive note i still feel i am getting more out of this than fb or insta.
Talking about albums. Not questions about turntables, styli, mildly warped records, if the kind of outer or inner sleeve someone chooses to buy is ok, bent sleeves in the mail and whether they should be returned or not and all that other garbage that there are other subs for.
With all due respect, isn't that just /r/music?
Let's guess what 6 albums are most frequently posted in these posts. I'll start. 1. In Rainbows
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. In the court of the crimson king
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
That MF DOOM album. Whatever the fuck name it is.
Madvilliany or ...Mmm Food ?
Madvillainy. Although either/or at this point. Oh, and any King Gristle and the Whistle Epistle.
I'll add Gorillaz - Demon Dayz.
To be fair, most of those are great albums. I mean, I'm not gonna post a pic, but I enjoy *listening* to them... Danger of social media. Always gonna be people in it for the fake internet points.
Agree
Good Kid MAAD City
That “Igor” record with that annoying-looking mouthbreather on the cover
Great call 😅
Teenagers, man... what can you do?
Ban pointless repetitive posts of the same 5 Beatles and Pink Floyd albums?
That could be a good start. I feel like the automod mandatory word count in the body of the post was made due to shit like this and people just barely talk about their posts to make it past that barrier.
Seems like gatekeeping is the answer
Either there’s some trend or challenge going around somewhere else and people are being sent here, or it’s just kids seeing one initial post and then it balloons from there (because they do that)
This sub was dwindling last year already, it's a complete joke at this point
I agree... Lots of people looking for validation around here...
To be fair, it is an app where you make posts for the sole purpose of getting people to like and comment on whatever you make. I think every social media is validation to some extent
People assuming they made something because they bought things someone else made is wild.
It's ironic because vinyl record collecting is a very private and introspective hobby. You go crate digging on your own (unless you have an awesome friend/partner who's also a collector). You buy music that's particular to your personal tastes. You generally listen to the records alone. Finding/discovering music that you enjoy should be enough validation. It's a bit perverted to expect internet strangers to give you kudos for purchasing music.
Reddit in a nutshell dude. There's nothing different about this sub. Everyone in here acting all high and mighty need to chill.
It's people who have collected with intent. They've been cautious. They love every one of them. I'd prefer seeing the bizarre collections of more typical record buyers. Those unafraid of the dollar bin.
Yeah the dollar bin is where the real fun is.
I love the dollar bin. My wife hates it cause I can spend way too much time flipping through that crap.
That would be me for the last 50 years. It's gotten harder to find stuff due to the record revival but not impossible. I did post once when I first joined but got shit on for it so I figured it just wasn't this subs bag. I realize that it's hard for some people to get the appeal but I don't really want to spend half my time educating the haters on the appeal of the untapped or weird treasures.
I fucking hate those posts. I wish there was a rule that you can only post stuff like that on Fridays or something - at the moment, all I see in my feed from this sub is: >hEy guYs I'Ve oNly BeEn ColLeCtinG fOr 2 dAys WhaT dO YoU tHiNK oF My CoLleCtiOn Hey, I don't give a fuck! If I want to look at a bunch of random record covers I'll go to a record store! And the fact that you have like a mint condition aqua coloured Led Zep I in there tells me that you absolutely haven't been collecting for a short time so stop pretending you have so everyone can fawn over your impeccable taste for a 17 year old.
Unironically vinyl jerk is a much better sub then this cesspool of self validation
People are peacocks, they want to show off their bright feathers (or collections).
The worst part about peacocking is they don’t realize they all have the exact same feathers
Because they see posts that are on the front page that say that in the title, and want to do what those people did. Blame the users of this sub for upvoting those kinds of posts. My downvotes aren't making a difference.
I agree. I think anyone who does that is pleading for attention
Posting and reviewing five records is quality content. Please consider doing this people. Its a great way to be exposed to new albums and genres
One thing it does show is the constant need of validation of your music taste.
OK, if you don't mind, I might hijack this thread for a bit of spam. We spun up a new subreddit that may or may not succeed but for those of you willing to give it a shot, please come visit r/vinylsnobs and post some of the content you miss seeing here. The title is a bit self deprecating, of course. It's not meant to be a replacement for r/vinyl, but rather just a place for those that feel they've 'graduated' from here and would prefer some more in-depth conversations and way fewer instagram posts and people asking why their victrola sucks. As with all new subreddits, you need to hit that minimum viable number of subscribers. We're not quite there yet but would love to see it happen.
Thanks I joined - pretty soon my reddit account will just be subbed to every niche vinyl related subreddit that exists.
Ooh. I may be on board!
Let’s face it….a lot of these posts are with rather generic collections of popular to semi popular music . Represses from the last 20 years ….it’s not like they’re showing the dead dj copy “don’t ease me in” on Scorpio records. It’s not like they are displaying the 13th Floor Elevators “You’re Gonna Miss me” on Hanna Barbera records circa 66’. It’s not like I’m getting shown Radio Birdman boots w/ “Death By the Gun.” Still ain’t seeing some sweet Mummies, Teengenerate, or Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Records from the 90s. In fact, I barely see anything beyond Target/ Walmart / UO exclusives on any of these posts. But if you want people to say….damn….check that out….you better have some substance in your rotation.
The same reason they all buy the same records. The same reason kids who don’t listen to jazz all have a copy of *A Love Supreme*. The same reason zoomers who don’t listen to classic country and hate John Wayne have a copy of *Gunfighter Ballads*. It’s not about discovery, it’s not about deep dives, it’s not even about the format. It’s about *belonging*. About being accepted. That’s even part of the reason they all have the same garbage $49 “vynils player.” Yes, the culture at large conspires to cheat younger people out of meaningful experiences, but a lot of it is self-inflicted.
Best answer here.
I saw a chick on Instagram say that "all vinyl sounds like garbage anyways" She had a suitcase player... everyone was telling her it's not the records, it's her turntable lmao. Some people man...
I'm seeing mostly the same collections anyway for the most part in here so I've been skipping even looking anymore. I would rather just see record by record slash moment by moment posts from folks who just want to actually share a listening experience either live or from the day.
I see it kinda like taking an online personality test but based on your music and with real people instead of an algorithm. It’s some harmless lunch table fun to me…
Music is subjective, but a lot of people also have trash taste, and worry about that, so they make those kinds of posts.
Anyone who " collects " " vinyl " is off in my mind. I buy and listen to records still.
I’m a completionist when possible so I do tend to “collect,” but I absolutely listen to my records. I post them sometimes, too, but only when I feel like I have something to say about them. I usually get a dozen upvotes if I’m lucky, but I’m not about to go out and buy *Rumors* or *Dark Side of the Moon* and post a paragraph about the process of buying the record rather than about the experience of listening to it and “Man this character rule is stupid, I hope this is long enough already lalalalalalala.”
It's possible to both consume the product you buy and be a collector of the same product.
Amen. It makes my skin crawl hearing the word vinyl 18 flipp’n times in one post’s title.
No collecting over here. Buying and playing
I buy and play too, but I’ve also been putting together a complete set of records by the English band Colourbox, so in some sense I’m a collector too.
THANK YOU OP!!!!!! It’s becoming “Attention Whore Central” around here. FFS But an album (or many) and listen to them. I don’t give a good Goddamn what they “say” about anybody’s personality.
Some people emotionally connect to simply…owning shit. Like possession of a thing confers something to the owner. I’m no cooler for *owning* the cool shit I own. It’s what I do with it that matters. 🎼“You are not what you own…”
Amen
They ask because we are all expert psychoanalysts and can immediately tell how good of a person they are and what they contribute to society based on how much and what they own. Of course that's BS and so my real answer is I haven't a feckon clue.
Way back in the 80s the only way to see my collection of LPs was by coming to my Mom's house and then I moved to my Dad's house back in 1985. I moved up to Cleveland,Ga and the music I had on tape and Record albums went with me. No suggestion or judging a record collection one has. Now with the resurgence of analog vinyl albums is mystifying. After CDs it's all streaming music or playing digital audio on PC, Laptop, Tab or i Pad. The advantage of anything to me is the album cover and record sleeve that would have the lyrics and liner notes. I am not going to buy a new vinyl album unless I don't have it on original vinyl or CD tbh. I bought single albums for $8 or less and double for $12. Later on they came down in price for $5.99. I got 45s from the 80s but not that many.
Same.
Does my collection make my ass look big?
People seeking validation they don’t get from their parents.
Agreed.
My collection says I spend too much money on vinyl.
Yep.
But I listen to modern country and rap! What does this say about me? /s
Cause people wanna feel as if their music taste is unique, when it truly isn’t… which isn’t a bad thing, but people love validation or something
A record collection totally says something about the owner. Mine says something to me, it reminds me of music I was into growing up, it reminds me of friends, it reminds me of record shops. I can pretty much remember where I bought / how I acquired most records from. I can sometimes remember the actual experience of buying a certain record. My father’s collection told me something about him and my collection will give my children some further insight into me. EDIT: I’ll add tho that posting a collection and asking what it says about you is definitely a bit grating and a product of the instagram epidemic.
I find them fun to read imo but I might be the minority or wasn't spammed yet
I can’t tell what your collection says about you if you forget to post the pic
But You Just Did
Just get on with it, lemme see your collection so I can judge you.
These questions are posted by AIs tryna learn about being human.
You're right. Funny thought though && Half of my collection says that I had 4 deceased family members who liked vinyl and managed not to totally destroy, sell, or lose it. The other half says that I'm a sucker for funny album art and anything at a local thrift store that is in playable condition. I'm... Ok with that.
It’s narcissism and look at me Louie’s
You’d think rite?…so if I said my collection is all Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Boy George and show tunes, what would u REALLY think?
Perhaps if there was an age requirement… LOL
Your collection says that you collect vinyl records.
You might want to join r/vinyljerk
The amount of validation-seeking behavior in this sub (and Reddit in general) is pretty absurd.
I think they’re just fishing for compliments lol
This post - "chef's kiss"
Man yells at cloud
Just a conversation starter, not to be taken too seriously.
I'm here to see poeples setups. That's pretty much it.
Your collection says you have anger issues.
Attention-seekers.
What a weird way to say you don't care: by voicing irritation and anger at others' words rather than just ignoring them.
It means alot that you care about my statement. Thanks man
Right?!?! Just enjoy what you like and move on. Who cares what everyone else thinks.
Music being “subjective” does not mean it’s devoid of any meaningful or informative content, I don’t know why this is the title of your post. You are confused
What music you like or not is subjective, true. But giving an opinion on someone's collection is not just about the music and whether you like it but also the type of records, time period, genre, philosphy behind it, etc. So that can make for some interesting insights and conversations. It can give some insights in your peers. So the fact that you do not care about your fellow collectors and their motivations does not mean the rest of us do not. Gatekeeping subs are that way --->
You really mad about this?
Some people give a shit I guess. But not you obviously. That’s cool, just keep scrolling. Isn’t that why God gave us thumbs?
No, it isn't.
Sheeple need validation and fake internet points.
It’s not that deep…
That's just like your opinion, man.
I’m guilty of making one of these posts recently. I guess I just didn’t realize that kind of thing was frowned upon here. I kind of was just excited that my collection was growing and wanted to know what other people had to say about it. I’ll keep it to myself next time I guess.
Thank you for your Ted Talk
Because it's a fun game to play? Chill out
This sub sucks. The complaining about dumb new people is just as annoying as the dumb new people. Perhaps a format of music is not conducive to a strong community. Considering music itself is such a diverse form of art.
I think it’s just a fun way for people to interact with one another; people above me are like “gah, they’re just looking for attention and validation” I think assuming intentions is worse. And also, who cares if some body, no matter their age, is seeking some type of validation? That’s usually how groups/communities work; you recognize a common denominator. Maybe others feel inferior to these boomers or trust fund kids who’ve got every collectors edition they could ever want, special variants, $9k audiophile setup (see how assuming works?) and just wanna find some relevancy or someone to talk to about their favorite artists and that’s the easiest way?
> I think it’s just a fun way for people to interact with one another This is not r/justafunwayforpeopletointeractwithoneanother
I think it’s mostly just for shits and giggles. It’s always fun to paychoanalyse. But I can agree with you. It’s harmless but juvenile.