So I post then I forget for three days, meh…
None in that vein, sorry. Mostly 70’s rock, the stuff we listened to with the damp towels under the dorm room doors. Yes, Beatles, Stones, Eagles, Captain Beefheart, Zappa, Who, Dead, Dylan, Stones, Cars, some old Stiff Records goodies, etc…
Some tips on the care and handling of vinyl:
Store the records on edge, rather than lying flat. This will help prevent warping.
Never put your fingers on the record surface. Hold your records by the edges only. If you leave fingerprints on a record, the prints will collect dust and cause noise and wear.
Always put the record in the dust jacket before putting it back in the album cover. This will help prevent scuffing as you slide the record in and out of the cover. Also, orient the dust jacket so the hole doesn’t point outwards. Yeah, I know it’s easier if the hole points outwards, so you can just slide the record out without taking the jacket out, but by doing this you defeat the purpose of the dust jacket, which is to keep dust out and prevent scuffing.
Keep your records clean. Get a good cleaning system (like Discwasher) and use it before playing a side. Your records and stylus will last longer and sound better this way.
Be sure to set the tracking force and anti-skating properly. Again, this will help your records and stylus last longer. Also, you should know that a too-light tracking force can damage your records, just as a too-heavy force can (if the tracking force is too low, the stylus can mistrack and cause damage to the groove walls).
An anti-static mat can help keep your records clean.
Be sure to clean your stylus every so often. A dirty stylus can cause distortion and wear.
An acceptable turntable and a new needle, and a well maintained (preferably new) album will walk all over any CD you can throw at it. An album is a direct cut of the master. A CD is a digital representation of the master limited by a small amount of allowed points on a waveform. There is a vital difference.
Technology has pushed us forward in audio storage capability while sacrificing audio quality. This is acceptable only because modern music has also degraded in audio quality, what with the excessive use of compression and brick wall limiting and all.