Russ I
Well-Known Member
It was a year ago today that I officially joined the N&G community. Seems longer, but maybe that’s because I lurked for a short while before reaching the point where I just had to participate in some of the ongoing conversations. And, obviously, the full year has been encompassed by the pandemic, which adds a surreal quality to the whole thing.
Anyway, during my time here, my record collecting habits have changed, in no small part a response to the influences of this community. I suppose an overriding theme is that I’ve spent more money than I think I otherwise would have, and I know that will come as no surprise to many of you. No regrets. But here’s a more detailed accounting of some of the changes I’ve recognized.
Anyway, during my time here, my record collecting habits have changed, in no small part a response to the influences of this community. I suppose an overriding theme is that I’ve spent more money than I think I otherwise would have, and I know that will come as no surprise to many of you. No regrets. But here’s a more detailed accounting of some of the changes I’ve recognized.
- Okay, I’ll start with spending. I definitely have spent more on records. Some of that is a result of FOMO, but I’ve gotten better at managing those impulses. Another part of it is getting a jump on pre-orders that I otherwise never would have known about (did I say FOMO?), or even learning about straightforward releases that I otherwise would have missed. And then of course there’s the focus on audiophile pressings, which definitely has been heightened in a big way by all of the attention paid to such things at N&G. I can look back and see that my first order of Music Matters Jazz titles from Acoustic Sounds was in 2018, so it’s not as if I was completely blind to such things, but it’s become something of a compulsion, and I know I have the community here to thank for that. A final piece of this is that I’ve spent a lot during major sales, primarily Target’s buy-two-get-one-free extravaganzas. I doubt I ever would have discovered these opportunities without N&G, and I definitely wouldn’t ever have figured out “the trick!” It’s been a great way to fill the shelves at significant savings. Oh, and then there was that time I ordered 500 Hudson Hi-Fi anti-static, rice paper inner sleeves….for $35!
A separate though obviously related area of spending has been equipment upgrades. Here again, it’s not like I wasn’t spending money on this pre-N&G, but the support, encouragement, and likemindedness it’s so easy to find here has helped. Significant equipment purchases within the year have included turntable and speaker upgrades.
- I seem to have changed my approach to accumulating vinyl, and this is something that has become evident to me only recently. While I always have enjoyed and appreciated records with good sound quality, I used to spend a lot more time scouring for used records than I did searching out audiophile pressings. Now I seem to have reached the point where I’m happy to pass up estate sales and other potential used-record sources for the sake of spending time searching out “the good stuff.” I’m sure this has something to do with the fact that physically hunting for used records wasn’t possible for much of the past year, but it’s also true that for the first time in my many years of collecting vinyl, I’ve fully bought into the notion of quality over quantity. This is perhaps best exemplified by my jazz collection. It took me several years to accumulate an eclectic assortment of jazz records numbering about 400. In the past year, taking advantage of the Tone Poet and BN80 releases, along with those from a few other high-quality reissue labels selling jazz records for decent prices, and with continued dabbling in the likes of Music Matters and Analogue Productions, I’ve basically re-started my jazz collection. Combining the high-SQ stuff I’ve bought in the past year with the small percentage of same I already had, I’ve filled about 30” of shelf space with “the good stuff.” A similar phenomenon is breaching other parts of my collection as the number of Mobile Fidelity, Kevin Gray, Bellman, etc. pressings starts to climb. It’s a brave new world, and I’m starting to find my footing.
Having said all that, it also is true that I’ve found new reasons to appreciate the somewhat extensive collection of records that I have, even if many of them are not audiophile quality. When posts in the Definitive Audiophile Pressings thread sing the praises of newly (or recently) reissued, remastered titles, for example, more often than not I will have that title (if not that pressing) on hand to listen to. This has been a great way for me to “rediscover” music I may not have spun in a while, and also provides some basis for deciding whether I wish to pursue the reissue in question. (I suspect many on this board can accomplish this same thing through streaming services, but that’s one modern road I’ve not yet traveled.)
- I’ve become more serious about cleaning my records. Used to be that if I cleaned records, it was with a cloth and home-brew cleaning fluid. Then a few years back, I purchased an inexpensive, provide-your-own-vacuum cleaning machine. Even then, it was only rarely that I used the thing, and I don’t even remember how I decided which of the thousands of records I owned I would use it to clean with. Within the past year, I’ve upgraded to a better cleaner, even if I am still providing my own vacuum. In my time on N&G I’ve run across many posts about not playing any records that haven’t been cleaned. Wasn’t long ago I would have just rolled my eyes at that on the way to ignoring it, but now I get it. And the notion of cleaning new records before playing them? Ridiculous. But now I get that too. I suppose it helped that the local dealer I bought my turntable (and most of my other equipment) from told me not to play any records with it before cleaning those records. Verification! So now I’m cleaning batches of records at least once a week, and my compromise is that while I won’t play anything on my Clearaudio that hasn’t been cleaned, I’m still willing to play some of them on my Dual. And for the kicker? I’ve gone so far as to pre-order the Humminguru ultrasonic cleaner. Can’t wait to see what that will bring to the process if/when it arrives.
- I’ve started cataloguing my records on discogs. I’ve known about discogs and used it as a reference for many years, but I’d always maintained my own catalogue of my records within an Excel file. Made sense to me, and I could carry it around with me on my phone. Over the past few months, I’ve recognized the undeniable advantages of using discogs for this purpose, so I’ve begun the process of building my discogs library. I’ll never get all of my records into it, but anything new will be entered, and any time I have reason to look up albums I already have, I’ll add them to my collection. I’m at 325 records entered, so only about 4,200 shy of the whole shebang! Yeah, that’ll never happen, but I’ll make it work for me.
- PIFsgiving blew my mind!
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