Vinyl

Vinyl records were the main source of recording audio, whether it was music, or documentaries, or even interviews, from ages passed.  Yet all these years, it has managed to live on.
After the medium started to phase out by the mid-90s when everything started to shift to digital, especially with commercials showing the newest line of Compact Disc players, with 10-30 seconds of Anti-Skip technology, known as BUFFERING today, giving clean, and crisp digital sound.
Ah, the world has gone from high fidelity, to a world of convenience.

I used to be into vinyl, but not to the same extent as I find myself today.  I enjoyed listening to CDs, then MP3s.  I started out shooting Digital photography, with my first dSLR.
Strange, as my tastes have grown, so has my desire for something simpler.  I drive a manual transmission car, shoot film on manual cameras, and sometimes automatic cameras with manual controls, and even the odd fully auto camera, but that's very rare.
After going on with 35mm film for a while, I find myself moving more and more into the realm of Medium format film, for more resolution.  Of course, nothing looks like 35mm film! It's a feeling all its own.
I guess as I have gone more form quantity to quality, it just makes sense that I'd get back into the world of Vinyl records.
High Fidelity, it seems, is well on its way back.

After popping into a few record stores (yes RECORD stores) on the weekend, I couldn't help but notice one thing.  They were very busy!  I mean, they were BUSY!  I could barely move in there, and people were pulling up records left and right, testing them on the Technics SL1200 turntables, or Stanton tables... or even the odd Rega Planars..
It was amazing to see!  Of all the formats to be making a massive comeback, it seems Vinyl is making a huge one!
I guess the age of convenience is coming to a close.  Artists today are even noticing the trend, and have begun releasing their albums on LPs, as special editions, with "Digital Download" or even a "CD" with the purchase of the LP.  Of course, they do charge a bit of a premium for said Vinyl, but that's okay, it's worth the added price, if you get a good LP.

Even SPs are back!  The smaller 45s are being released..

I had a cheap Candle Turntable, I got from my father-in-law, which had been sitting for far too long.  The platter's drive wheel (a piece of round hard rubber) had been sitting too long against the drive pin, and well, you can imagine what happened.  There was a tiny, but noticeable, divot in the rubber.  So as it played, the sound of the rubber, coupled to the bump bump bump of the divot, was picked up by the stylus and tone arm, and thus, pumped out through the speakers.  Plus, that, and the motor was starting to die.

My wife and I went out and picked up a Technics SL-Q200 turntable, with a Shure M92E cartridge.
Sadly, the needle fell off (old) and so I had to order a new stylus.  But we did listen to a couple of records with it, and found we also needed a Pre-Amp, so we could listen to the vinyl properly.

After the Stylus arrived, and the pre-amp was setup, we got to listening to the albums we have been picking up.

Coldplay - Ghost Stories
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
Nine In Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion II
Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation

Just a few to get started....  We've been quite enjoying listening to the uncompressed audio of Vinyl.
So yes, High Fidelity is well on its way back!

One thing, I absolutely love how the cartridge just seems to float on the stylus as the record spins.  The sound is something else.. The warm tones of Vinyl indeed!

Until next time, keep those shutters firing!

Chromes tones of classic music!

The smooth tones of the Vinyl record is something that cannot be compared.  Although many have chosen convenience over sound quality, a true audiophile will prefer the wonderful uncompressed and classic sound of a record over the digital sterile sound of a CD or the compressed nature of a MP3.

I remember years ago watching old Shopping Channel commercials of classic music sold and showing the clean sound of a CD.

Compare 'this' sound to the CD.

Of course, the needle was dirty, and failing, and the record was covered in nicks and small scratches, so you'd hear every single pop, click, and hiss of the record.

Then compare it to the studio sounds of the CD.  The clean, noiseless sound that came out of your speakers.

Yes it was like magic!  Strange, even though CDs caught on and sold like crazy, records never truly went away.  Yes there was a time where record sales were failing badly, and music stores just simply stopped carrying them.  But the magic of the Vinyl record never actually left.  The music of our parents generation seemed to have something that today's music didn't.  Warmth!  Now I'm not meaning that today's music is garbage, and our parents' had the best music ever.  Not in the slightest!  Whether you are listening to Beethoven, Bach, or the screaming guitar of Led Zepplin, or even the unmistakable sound of Offspring, a Vinyl record has something that an MP3 or CD does not.
That true analog sound... it just feels right!  Like you're actually hearing it played as it was supposed to be heard.

I may need a new turntable, as mine is a cheap one from the 80s (and believe me, it's cheap) I still prefer its sound over that of the CD or MP3.  It just sounds... better!




Until next time.. Keep those shutters... and tunes .... going!

My New Arrival

Earlier this year I had purchased my wife a pair of Zebra finches.  After several weeks, sadly, the female died, and we were left with a single male.

Well, after about 4 weeks that the female was gone, I popped into a pet supply store that actually sold various birds.  One of the birds they had was a PAIR of Zebra Finches, and were quite inexpensive for the pair.
When I asked for the one, they said that they had to be sold as a pair..

So... I said, "Fine.. give me the pair.."

Needless to say, the male escaped!  Although it was upsetting, I was secretly saying.. "YES!"

I got the female only, instead.  Great buy too!  Half the price for the one bird (and on top of that a third of the price of a regular Zebra Finch).
Well, I brought her home, and my wife was ecstatic to see the new finch for her family of birds.. (Yes it's getting a little extensive!)

The finches bonded very easily, and quickly..  After 2 weeks the male was dancing and singing for her.

About 2 months ago, they were mating, and within a few short days, the female had finally been coaxed into the nest.  It wasn't until about 1½ weeks ago that we say the baby.  We were in process of cleaning out the birds cages, and we had reached down the finches cage.
Sure enough, there in the nest, we say the chick.  Pink, and covered in soft fuzzy down.  No not like a baby chicken, or a duck, or even a goose, but kind of ugly, yet... cute!

We halted cleaning of their cage, and just placed it back on, and left them alone.
Strange, we didn't even know that the egg had hatched!

Today, the baby bird was OUT of the nest!  We're guessing that the baby is about 4 weeks old.

In fact, the baby was out, singing, and flitting about the cage, and sitting with its parents on the perches in the cage.

Amazing to see!

So here the baby is, sitting on the edge of the nest..

Again, absolutely amazing to see, when just a short week ago the baby was nothing more than a pink little puff!
Until next time, keep those shutters firing!