I recently had a fun chat with Pat from the Shiro! crew to discuss vinyl records. While this topic (and cassettes) really need a deep-dive video to prove the points we made, I thoroughly enjoyed the technical speculation, as well as just sharing our thoughts on the format. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of video game music, or just music in general, if you were curious why people are talking about vinyl again, this is a great start! As always, these long-from chats are also available on every major podcast network – Just search your favorite app for “retrorgb vinyl”!
Pat’s recommended setup*:
Amp: https://amzn.to/3S78zIP
Record Player: https://amzn.to/3vaNXVX
Headshell: https://amzn.to/3v9GO8j
Phono Pre-Amp: https://www.mofielectronics.com/studiophono-phonostage
Speakers (UNshielded): https://amzn.to/3zpNZvz
My (much cheaper ;p) recommended setup*:
Amp (comes with good phono pre-amp): https://amzn.to/3742YzY
Record Player (comes with a great headshell): https://amzn.to/3J5V3B2
UNshielded Speaker – ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2: https://amzn.to/3jv2g1f
Shielded Speaker (If you’re near CRT’s) – Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 SE: http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cbm170/cbm170.html
Record Cleaner (this thing is amazing): https://amzn.to/3cB2kfU
Disc sleeves: https://amzn.to/3vmg3NY
Outer sleeves: https://amzn.to/3oItJz7
*as we said in the podcast, if you’re on a budget, get anything. You don’t need to spend a lot unless you’re 100% sure that music is as important to you as it is to us. If you get an old, beat up turntable, just make sure to get a new cartridge with needle. This is NOT necessary with new stuff, but you don’t want some beat, old player to ruin your records. Here’s a 3-pack for $12 that should be safe: https://amzn.to/3OwbE1M
Also, here’s a bunch more links of stuff we discussed. Just some random, fun stuff:
Pat’s Discogs List: https://www.discogs.com/user/londonbeckett/collection
Budget Audiophile records:
https://www.turntablelab.com/products/nirvana-nevermind-vinyl-lp
https://store.bluenote.com/collections/vinyl/products/hank-mobley-soul-station-lp-blue-note-classic-vinyl-edition
https://store.bluenote.com/collections/vinyl/products/art-blakey-the-jazz-messengers-moanin-lp-blue-note-classic-vinyl-edition https://store.bluenote.com/collections/vinyl/products/cannonball-adderley-somethin-else-lp-blue-note-classic-vinyl-edition
https://store.bluenote.com/collections/vinyl/products/lee-morgan-the-sidewinder-lp-blue-note-classic-vinyl-edition
https://store.bluenote.com/collections/vinyl/products/art-blakey-the-big-beat-lp-blue-note-classic-vinyl-edition
https://store.bluenote.com/collections/vinyl/products/kenny-burrell-midnight-blue-lp-blue-note-classic-vinyl-series
https://www.theingroove.com/products/neil-young-harvest-lp
https://www.theingroove.com/products/john-coltrane-a-love-supreme-analog-productions-lp