Vinyl Me Please Essentials

[NathanRicaud]

Completely. I know it's partly the cart. No skips though, ever. I might be happier in some cases but the good pressings are... Incredible. I honestly can't imagine them sounding better. It's worth it for that.

100% agree with this! And I remember you said your Weyes Blood Titanic Rising pressing sounded decent when you played it on your upgraded system! I am so jealous of your system! It must be top notch! And the fact that you have an audiophile/very strong ear, makes the appreciation stronger! Must be so joyful when you do play a quality pressing that has no issues whatsoever!

I’ve got a question for you now that I’m thinking about it!

The October Essentials ROTM is OutKast’s Stankonia. You have the MOV pressing, which does sound great! If the VMP pressing for Stankonia is done at GZ, will you buy it? If so, why?

Same question for the November Essentials ROTM! The current pressing for Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun also sounds great and was cut by Bernie Grundman. If the VMP exclusive for this is done at GZ, will you buy it?

 

[moohoohahaha]

i am pretty sure mather just has a horrible copy...

i mean VMP has a track record of giving him ALL the warps and skips... its either VMP has a vendetta or canadian border patrol are horrible

I just think he needs to clean his stylus for once.

 

[duke86fan]

I just think he needs to clean his stylus for once.

wait he doesn't clean his stylus?

he has a goddamn ortofon black he can afford an onzow

 

[NathanRicaud]

im surprised he hasn't moved to moving coil yet since he is far up in the high level audiophile zone.


it also makes me wonder if me thinking of getting an ortofon blue was a mistake and should stay on grado or nagaoka

I don’t have the Ortofon Blue but many people seem to really like the cart! I want to try the cart myself one day! In my opinion, you did a good job choosing! Next cart can be a Grado or Nagaoka and you can compare the two and see which one you like more!

 

[duke86fan]

I don’t have the Ortofon Blue but many people seem to really like the cart! I want to try the cart myself one day! In my opinion, you did a good job choosing! Next cart can be a Grado or Nagaoka and you can compare the two and see which one you like more!

oh i haven't bought one yet.. currently on a grado but there is that nagging feeling of an improvement

 

[NathanRicaud]

oh i haven't bought one yet.. currently on a grado but there is that nagging feeling of an improvement

Ahhhh my bad! Totally misread your comment! I know that feeling all too well! I feel like most of us vinyl nerds have that feeling - improving the sound quality! I feel like my Elys 2 cartridge is starting to wear out! The vinyl I’m playing today all sound a bit flat, but I’ve never remembered them sounding flat ever. It’s due for an upgrade. But I want to spend my money on the Herbie Hancock Boxset first, then hopefully I can grab Rega Exact cartridge which is miles better than the Elys 2!

But then I want a record cleaning machine too! That would also improve the listening experience! Ahhhh vinyl as a hobby is expensive but it is worth it!

 

[duke86fan]

Ahhhh my bad! Totally misread your comment! I know that feeling all too well! I feel like most of us vinyl nerds have that feeling - improving the sound quality! I feel like my Elys 2 cartridge is starting to wear out! The vinyl I’m playing today all sound a bit flat, but I’ve never remembered them sounding flat ever. It’s due for an upgrade. But I want to spend my money on the Herbie Hancock Boxset first, then hopefully I can grab Rega Exact cartridge which is miles better than the Elys 2!

But then I want a record cleaning machine too! That would also improve the listening experience! Ahhhh vinyl as a hobby is expensive but it is worth it!

i think you need a buying limit

 

[Mather]

I just think he needs to clean his stylus for once.

Oh yeah great let's start THIS rumor now... Yes I clean my stylus, carbon fiber stylus brush before every session.

 

[Rip_City]

i think you need a buying limit

We've been suggesting this to him for months, but it's because we love him ❤

 

[NathanRicaud]

i think you need a buying limit

100% Dukey! No more Acoustic Sounds orders as I’ve made 4 orders with them since getting my super and all were AUD$600+

Literally only ever ordering from VMP and Amazon until the end of this year. I won’t be ordering much from Amazon though. The only thing I’ll order from there will be the Acoustic Sounds Verve reissues and Blue Note Tone Poet titles. That’s it!

So it is a really big change! Because I used to buy a lot from Bandcamp, artists’ sites (Weeknd, Run The Jewels, Disclosure etc), Discogs, Urban Outfitters, Newbury Comics and a lot of stuff from Amazon in general. And I’m not doing any one off orders like with Sam Records, Speakers Corner etc. Not renewing my membership with Wax Buyers Club either. No RSD purchases at all this month or next month. It’s a very big cut I’m taking. A pretty savage cut, but it’s good for the hobby! I need to focus more on sound quality on my system!

 

[JonnyH]

100% Dukey! No more Acoustic Sounds orders as I’ve made 4 orders with them since getting my super and all were AUD$600+

Literally only ever ordering from VMP and Amazon until the end of this year. I won’t be ordering much from Amazon though. The only thing I’ll order from there will be the Acoustic Sounds Verve reissues and Blue Note Tone Poet titles. That’s it!

So it is a really big change! Because I used to buy a lot from Bandcamp, artists’ sites (Weeknd, Run The Jewels, Disclosure etc), Discogs, Urban Outfitters, Newbury Comics and a lot of stuff from Amazon in general. And I’m not doing any one off orders like with Sam Records, Speakers Corner etc. Not renewing my membership with Wax Buyers Club either. No RSD purchases at all this month or next month. It’s a very big cut I’m taking. A pretty savage cut, but it’s good for the hobby! I need to focus more on sound quality on my system!

Did you get the AP Pet Sounds?

 

[duke86fan]

Oh yeah great let's start THIS rumor now... Yes I clean my stylus, carbon fiber stylus brush before every session.

your cartridge is probably TOO clinical and good..

or maybe its your cables

im surprised you haven't moved to a sumiko or hana moving coil cartridge or something when you are THAT high level to have a black

 

[Mather]

100% agree with this! And I remember you said your Weyes Blood Titanic Rising pressing sounded decent when you played it on your upgraded system! I am so jealous of your system! It must be top notch! And the fact that you have an audiophile/very strong ear, makes the appreciation stronger! Must be so joyful when you do play a quality pressing that has no issues whatsoever!

I’ve got a question for you now that I’m thinking about it!

The October Essentials ROTM is OutKast’s Stankonia. You have the MOV pressing, which does sound great! If the VMP pressing for Stankonia is done at GZ, will you buy it? If so, why?

Same question for the November Essentials ROTM! The current pressing for Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun also sounds great and was cut by Bernie Grundman. If the VMP exclusive for this is done at GZ, will you buy it?

I've been thinking about this one. In terms of Stankonia the MOV is good if not kinda unremarkable. No pops, but pretty digital and kinda lifeless to a degree in terms of dynamics... BUT considering the year it came out it's likely a digital master anyhow and from what I recall this album was pretty flat from the get go. So if they can prove that they've done some sort of upgrade then yeah I'll grab it. But if it's just the MOV plates or a repress of an older pressing then I'll probably skip it. And for Badu I'm not sure I'll get it either way but if the current BG pressing is solid I doubt I'll bother with the VMP. GZ is just too unreliable to spend $47 dollars on every month. Classics are still generally great and even RHH tends to come out better I find... Maybe that's because it's a smaller run...

 

[Mather]

your cartridge is probably TOO clinical and good..

or maybe its your cables

im surprised you haven't moved to a sumiko or hana moving coil cartridge or something when you are THAT high level to have a black

Dukey I only got the Black less than a year ago I can't go buying ANOTHER cart already don't give me these kinds of ideas...

 

[NathanRicaud]

We've been suggesting this to him for months, but it's because we love him ❤

This is why I’ve been wanting a vinyl boyfriend for so long! To help me control my vinyl spending habits!

But for real, it was because I took out all of my retirement fund that I went ape shit and just fully splurged on records. I wasn’t thinking properly at all! I wish the first things I bought with the $15,000 was a new stylus/needle and a record cleaning machine! Not merch from artists like The Weeknd and Lido Pimienta and heaps of Bandcamp purchases where I didn’t care spending $20+ just for postage alone!

I don’t regret taking out the $15,000, I just regret how I spent it! Wish I prioritised it to other things within the vinyl hobby, and not records itself. But it’s a good lesson learnt!

I’ve learnt a lot this year from splurging on vinyl! Having free membership with VMP is going to make the vinyl spending cut from October the 1st, 2020 very easy too!

 

[NathanRicaud]

Did you get the AP Pet Sounds?

I’ve got both the AP Mono and Stereo pressings for Pet Sounds! I love them!

 

[duke86fan]

i dont think we will EVER get a kanye ROTM if just because i think kanye is too impulsive to let VMP manage an exclusive vinyl pressing

 

[Urbs_hott]

Ahhhh my bad! Totally misread your comment! I know that feeling all too well! I feel like most of us vinyl nerds have that feeling - improving the sound quality! I feel like my Elys 2 cartridge is starting to wear out! The vinyl I’m playing today all sound a bit flat, but I’ve never remembered them sounding flat ever. It’s due for an upgrade. But I want to spend my money on the Herbie Hancock Boxset first, then hopefully I can grab Rega Exact cartridge which is miles better than the Elys 2!

But then I want a record cleaning machine too! That would also improve the listening experience! Ahhhh vinyl as a hobby is expensive but it is worth it!

I have the Exact and I LOVE it. It seems to have the opposite effect than Mather is dealing with. Records that were noisy with my Nagaoka are now mostly silent. If I hear noise now, I know the record is fucked. Since money seems to be no object, I definitely recommend you get the Exact! But really, why stop there? Just go right for the Ania.

 

[duke86fan]

Since money seems to be no object, I definitely recommend you get the Exact! But really, why stop there? Just go right for the Ania.

trust me you do not wanna go that deep into debt

 

[NathanRicaud]

I have the Exact and I LOVE it. It seems to have the opposite effect than Mather is dealing with. Records that were noisy with my Nagaoka are now mostly silent. If I hear noise now, I know the record is fucked. Since money seems to be no object, I definitely recommend you get the Exact! But really, why stop there? Just go right for the Ania.

Yeah, I remember talking to people on here about which cartridge I should get for my Rega Planar 3, and after hearing people’s opinions on here, plus doing research about my tonearm and turntable, the Rega Exact MM is the perfect upgrade for me! And the Elys 2 is a cartridge that many people dislike, and I kinda like it! But that’s all I ever know! I’ve had it twice, just because i wanted to keep things the same! I feel like I am not ready to notice the difference when I swap to an Exact cartridge! It will be heavenly for me!

I also love that this cartridge does the opposite of what the Ortofon Black does, even though that cartridge is more of a higher quality cartridge. The Exact will already be a huge upgrade and after the Exact, I will only go upwards from there or stay using the cartridge! The Rega Ania Pro will be what I will be my next upgrade after the Rega Exact MM!