Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Vinyl

Please help me buy a usb turntable for my boyfriend.

weesha — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:22:31 -0800

Please help me pick out a usb turntable for my boyfriend. My boyfriend would like a usb turntable. I would like to buy him one, but know nothing about them. He's not really an audiophile, he would just like something he can hook up to his laptop and convert his record collection over so he can listen to his music on the computer . I would like to find something that's good quality, but in the +/- $100 price range.

Where is the german version of the montreal plateau!

Smegoid — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:25:07 -0800

Berlin-Leipzig-Amsterdam filter. Visiting all three for a conference on a record shopping (minimal, electro, german techno) and cool neighborhood finding adventure. Any ideas? I looked through previous threads but this rather specific. At a conference, first time in germany (and flying out of amsterdam). I'd love to find some good vinyl, especially all the old 2000-2005 minimal/microhouse/electro german music that I've never been able to find back in Canada (labels like bpict, force tracks, kompakt, ware, gigolos). Any hints (for berlin mostly, but leipzig and amsterdam wouldnt hurt).

Also I have some mates with me who are interested in good tips on where to shop for good euro fashion (mid designer stuff, g-star, energie, whatever). Neighborhoods where records and clothes unit would be a plus! Many thanks mefi! Multiple people here appreciate it!

My car is like a mullet - sometimes business, sometimes party

Lucinda — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:31:51 -0800

How to put a bumpersticker on fiberglass so that it is easily (and instantaneously) removable and replacable? I like to have many bumperstickers on my car. However, I cannot permanently affix them to the car.

To solve this, I put my bumperstickers on magnetic vinyl and attach them to the metal parts of my car. However, I'm running out of steel parts on the back of my car and would like to move to putting stickers on the (fiberglass) bumper of my car.

My requirements are that whatever I use, it has to be easily removable/reattachable (the stickers are removed from the car 1x to 2x a week), and leave no residue on the car.

(I saw this question but I'm not sure the low-tac adhesive would stand up to repeated removal/attachment.)

Converting vinyl records to digital files using an existing turntable...

You Should See the Other Guy — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:14:35 -0800

I like my vinyl records. I want to make digital files out of them. What are my options ... which don't include a new turntable and, preferably but not absolutely, don't require my computer and stereo to be in the same room? I'm on a Mac.

Guilty Downloader Here.

the NATURAL — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:01:11 -0800

Just curious: If I buy the vinyl version of an album, will the artist be supported just as much as if I had purchased the CD instead? I listen to (mostly) rap and hip hop, and though I often don't feel compelled to buy albums, when I particularly love one, I feel like I need to support the artist (and that the artist has earned my support).

However, since I've probably already sampled the album via torrent, would it still have the same sentiment if I purchased the vinyl instead? (You know - cooler to have around, maybe I could put it on my walls, etc.)

I suppose this is mainly a question of guilt rather than numbers, because what difference does one customer really make?

No glove...awww, sad, no love...

nakedcodemonkey — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:31:55 -0800

Can you hook a gal up? I'm looking for recommendations for a good latex-free, powder-free disposable exam glove for safe and very tactile sex. I understand nitrile is strongest, and slides on well. But does does such a smooth fit make your hand extra sweaty? I have mild eczema, so potentially that's a problem. And how does vinyl compare in your opinion?

Most options available in either material seem to assume that one is a lab tech wanting to restore fine motor control via added fingertip texture. For my purposes, this is less than ideal. I'd rather find something with a completely smooth glide. I've contacted a few manufacturers whose product details are ambiguous on this front, but so far they've been slow to reply.

Finally, it's unclear to me which size to get. Nitrile gloves in particular apparently run small. For dishwashing gloves, medium is a quite loose though comfortable fit; while small runs slightly short in the fingertips. Can you help me translate this into good sizing for an exam glove?

Turntable To Fast

tanmandu — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:04:32 -0800

I have a 1970's Panasonic Turntable. I've noticed it runs fast( about 35.25 RPMS). It is motor driven and has been cleaned numerous times. Is it possible that it is just made this way? Or is there something I can do to bring the speed down? As of now I have a rubber band holding the speed selector a little offset. Any ideas?

Small-quantity vinyl cut stickers?

nitor — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:01:17 -0800

I want to get a couple (or 4?) of vinyl stickers made (about 3"x3") that are white with a negative background to decorate my girlfriend's fleet of bikes. Obviously, this isn't a bulk order... Has anyone had experience with this? Any recommendations? Similar questions HAVE been asked, but i'm looking for vinyl cut stickers, not printed ones. I can only find sites that do bulk orders, or JUMBO decals.

Is cutting stickers like printing money?

box — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:55:56 -0800

Can I get rich by making custom-cut vinyl stickers? I see a lot of people on eBay selling vinyl decals--the carefully-cut monochromatic kind, where the sticker is sandwiched between two sheets of paper before application. Generally, a wide variety of custom colors and sizes and designs and whatnot are available, so I figure they're either making the stickers themselves, or working closely with a print shop or something. And people sometimes specify 'vector artwork,' making me think it's computer-controlled. But what about the rest of it? What tools do these folks use, and how much do they cost? What about materials? Can you actually make a profit selling the stickers? What's the economy of the eBay sellers? Do these guys ever get shut down for copyright stuff?

Help me build a vinyl collection instantly!

furtive — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:02:13 -0800

What's the best way of building a vinyl record collection if you know what you want? I'll be ponying up for some proper stereo equipment shortly, and although I have an excellent collection of music on CD and MP3, I will also include a turn-table in my purchase and as such would like to get a choice selection of my favourite albums on vinyl. Given that I know exactly which albums I want (ranging from Miles Davis to James Brown, Beastie Boys to Fugazi), what's the best route for me to get these albums in one shot, preferably in excellent condition.

P.S. Should I be making sure I get 180g/200g vinyls?

How to fix my record player?

atoastedheart — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:41:21 -0800

Lately, my record player (not turntable) of four years hasn't been working correctly. When I turn it on, the platter part of it doesn't start spinning until I give it a slight nudge. Even after doing so, it still doesn't spin at the right speed (33 1/3 sounds more like 45, 45 sounds closer to 78, etc). Is there a relatively easy way to fix this or should I just buy a new one? My current model is really similar to the new 3-in-1 "vintage-style" Crosley.

How to deep clean vinyl floors

otherwordlyglow — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:03:52 -0800

What's the best way to deep clean vinyl floors? We have a vinyl floor in our kitchen - you know the kind that's supposed to look like individual tiles but is actually a rolled out sheet of faux tiles. It's a rental, not my choice of floors but it'll do. I'm kind of lax about regular cleaning though I've been trying to be better and at least use a Swiffer Wet Jet every other week on account of the baby crawling all over the floors. It's hard to ignore the state of the floors when the evidence is smeared all over the knees of your child.

Occasionally I do the old hands-and-knees service with a bucket and a scrub brush. However, it seems to me that there's a layer of grime that I'm not getting to. I've heard all kinds of things to try: ammonia, borax, vinegar, isopropyl alcohol but really have no idea what I need to do to strip the floors of grime. Hopefully this is the kind of thing I can do once or twice a year and then return to my swiffering for more regular maintenance. And then, once I really have them clean, do I seal them somehow? With what?

Ideas? The less toxic the better.

How can I find out more about vinyl?

bibliophibianj — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:40:04 -0800

After finding out that I'm interested in music, the manager at the charity bookshop I volunteer at has decided to let me price vinyl. Help me do it well and learn more about vinyl along the way! It's easy just to look up records that look interesting in the pricing guide or on the websites he recommended (and that's what I've been doing so far), but I feel like a bit of a fake doing that. Can anyone recommend any good, and preferably interesting, books/websites/resources for learning about vinyl? Its history, production, role in the music industry...anything's fair ground, as long as it's interesting.

Recommend kitchen flooring that's green

theora55 — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 13:54:50 -0800

I like cork flooring. Will my dog ruin it? Looking for ideas for kitchen flooring, preferably green* and not very expensive. Wacky ideas welcome. *green - least environmental cost The subfloor is plywood, with ugly, beat up, vinyl tiles. I like commercial grade vinyl, but it's not green at all. Cork is warm and quiet underfoot, but I have a klutzy dog, and I'm worried it would get trashed. Same w/ bamboo. I don't want ceramic tile. I love real linoleum, but it's pricey.

By wacky, has anyone used reclaimed pallets? or? It may come down to what I can pick up on Craigslist. I expect this to happen no sooner than April so I have time to shop CL. A lot of recycled products are not avaiolable here, so would be costly to get.

Vinyl Origami

mippy — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:13:53 -0800

How can I make an iPod case out of a vinyl record? I rather love these, but they seem to have sold out years ago. I've never tried warping a 45 myself before....

Recommend a budget phono preamp

The Michael The — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:14:53 -0800

Which budget phono preamp (less than $50) should I buy? I've got a Technics SL1650 that I'll be connecting to a Yamaha RX-V540, neither of which has an integrated phono preamp. I'd like to pay as little as possible for that separate preamp, certainly under $50. I understand that I'll be sacrificing sound quality vs. a higher-low-end $100-$200 model, but frankly I just want to play my records. So, let's have your recommendations for something that's less than $50 but doesn't sound like complete crap.

Playing records and listening to my iMac through one system

Foam Pants — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 01:32:39 -0800

I would like to set up a system where my turntable and my iMac all flow out of a nice set of speakers. I have no idea where to start. This is the junk I have:
1. iMac
2. Pioneer belt-driven turntable with audio out hardwired and no amplifier
3. a super crappy stereo with half of the speakers missing. Funny story, I had to toss one because a mouse made a nest in it. I want to make this ugly, usable-space-sucker go away.
4. Basic Airport
5. Record collection that I like to play AS RECORDS
6. a sizable MP3 collection that I play through iTunes

Stuff I am willing to purchase
1. New turntable, even though my current one sports a kick-ass sticker collection
2. amplifier
3. Another Airport
4. Sweet speakers
5. Something else a dunder head like me doesn't realize she needs.
6. The services of a male escort.

While I love my music, I am an idiot who doesn't know jack about setting up an audio system. Please advise me, you can be condescending if it helps it come out.

Where can I find this skeleton/DJ T-Shirt?

kuperman — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:38:40 -0800

Where can I find this amazing DJ-themed t-shirt, showing a skeleton with a vinyl heart and tone-arm collarbones, as seen in this YouTube video (which is completely awesome of its own accord)?

Recommend a LP to CD conversion service?

Comrade_robot — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:47:35 -0800

Recommend an LP to CD conversion service? Hi!

I recently purchased an LP record that my parents played for us as a kid. LP players aren't very common these days, though, so I was wondering about converting it to CD -- I've seen quite a few ads on the internet for companies which offer to do this, but there's a pretty wide range of prices, and I haven't the foggiest idea who to go with. I'm hoping someone has a recommendation!

Local (I'm in Durham, NC) would be cool too.

The Kinky Wizards on 180 gram vinyl?!

Bageena — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 08:00:48 -0800

I'm building a record collection, and I want opinions on the records every audiophile and music lover should own. I'm looking to legitimize, to some degree, my mp3 collection by building an incredible and diverse vinyl collection. I actually started this hobby about two years ago, and I'm quickly approaching owning 200 records, but I'm starting to run out of ideas. I have all kinds of music spanning decades and genres: everything from Nirvana's Nevermind to The Beatles' White Album. I love underground hip hip and own records by Atmosphere, Del the Funky Homosapien, and Aceyaalone. I have a lot of classic rock, including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Eric Clapton. I have and love indie artists like Rilo Kiley, Mates of State, and The Mountain Goats
I need more ideas though, and I want recommendations for albums that I might not have heard of or records that, on a whole, are either cool because they are rare or unique in some way. For instance, I'm trying to find a copy of Beck's rare Mellow Gold record on gold colored vinyl, Tool's Aenima, and The Flaming Lips' Soft Bulletin, all pricey and hard to find... and RAD!
Blues, Jazz, old Country - whatever you like and treasure but on vinyl. Other record collectors - what albums in your library do you cherish? Help me build a Christmas wishlist!

You paint me right round, baby.

Glitter Ninja — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:38:56 -0800

Where can I find a small number of vinyl records (20 - 30) inexpensively? Alternately: other things to spray paint and throw on my walls! I'm trying to turn my childhood room into a music-themed but grownup room suitable for a college girl. Part of this involves taking down all the Redwall posters from the books I loved as a kid, and packing them up. Once we repaint the walls, I'm afraid everything will be terribly bare and it seems I can't function without some sense of clutter in my surroundings. Can anyone reccomend shops online, or in the Columbia SC area, where I'd be able to find records to spraypaint and hang? Being on a college student budget, I'm trying to dish out as little money as possible.

clipping on fox confessor?

ArcAm — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:37:25 -0800

Do you hear Neko Case's voice clipping when you play her "Fox Confessor..." on vinyl? Especially the inner songs on both sides?

Tape Creep

Tube — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:48:48 -0800

Is the vinyl tape on my flashlight exhibiting anomalous rheology? Recently I bought a new flashlight that I decided to keep in the side pocket of my Carhartt trousers. The flashlight was slightly too skinny and too long for the pocket, and kept falling out. Furthermore, the on-off button was not recessed particularly deeply, and would become actuated accidentally.

I decided to wrap a band of vinyl tape around the flashlight, just below the on-off button to help keep the flashlight in my pocket, and to possibly decrease the accidental discharges.

The vinyl tape was some I got from Boeing Surplus years ago, and seemed in every way ordinary, with normally sticky adhesive on one side. The tape was one inch wide, and I wrapped a one inch wide band to a thickness of about 4mm. As much as I could, I kept the wrapping tension constant.

I put the flashlight back in the pocket and went to bed. This morning this is what I found. The top layers of tape had remained annular, but the bottom layers had crept remarkably.

What I find interesting is that I was not wearing the trousers at the time, so as far as I know, the flashlight was more or less flat during the night. Temperature was normal indoor room temperature. Only the head of the flashlight is tapered, the rest of the flashlight is cylindrical.

Is this a commonplace behavior of vinyl tape, or is something more interesting going on? Could this be due to a unique brand of tape that Boeing used? Am I simply a rheology n00b?

Looking for a Nice, Relatively Inexpensive Turntable+PreAmp

robdon — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:12:21 -0800

VinylFilter: Looking for a quality Turntable and PreAmp to fill the needs of a poor audiophile ($500-650 Budget) I've been easing into the world of audiophilia for quite a while now; I've spent my time combing through countless issues of Stereophile, practically live on the Head-Fi forums, and have replaced all of my digital music library with tasty, tasty FLAC. However, after living next to someone with a turntable, and hearing the warm, buttery sound emanating from his turntable rig, I want one. I plan on listening mostly through a pair of DT770 Pro Headphones [80 Ω] (and to a lesser extent a pair of Grados) but will likely purchase a proper Power Amplifier and set of monitors at some point in the future. Just looking for something that will last me awhile and make the vinyl I've had my eye on sound fantastic through my cans.

I've heard fantastic things about the Rega P3, but I feel it might be a touch pricey when you factor in a preamp...

500-650$ Total Budget

Warm (and Stained) Leatherette

yellowcandy — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:28:21 -0800

Faint but visible blue handprint on white leatherette couch...help me, Heloises! We bought this sofa (photo here) precisely because we knew it would be easy to clean. So far, it has been.

However, this weekend, we discovered a blue-green handprint that we suspect is either from one of our contractors or from ink transferred from sweat on a green throw pillow. Either way, we're not sure what the handprint is made of, but it appears to be permanent.

Having been an organic chemist in a previous life, I tried and failed to remove it using: a Magic Eraser, hair spray, and soap & water. I avoided acetone, as I suspected it might dissolve the sofa fabric.

What I want to know is simple: What leatherette/vinyl cleaners will remove the stain safely? I would really like to hear ONLY from people who have used the products they recommend, not generic like-dissolves-like speculation--I want to keep the sofa intact.