Waiting Casually

So I recently bought a record player and the other components necessary to use said record player. I got it hooked up last night and I thought I’d share my thoughts on it so far. In no particular order:

• it sounds wonderful. Most of the music I listen to is of the MP3 variety on my iPod with the default headphones or my iMac’s built-in speakers, so maybe it’s more of a product of finally hearing things through good speakers than records themselves, but either way I am pleased. Seriously. The best article I’ve read describing how reviewers attempt to qualify how good a speaker/receiver/whatever sounds said that what they’re listening for is something that sounds like life. If it doesn’t sounds like what all of that music would sounds like if the musician was right there, then it’s not perfect. The setup I have now doesn’t sounds like life, but it sounds really fucking nice.
• filing through all the old records my dad sent me (his entire collection!) brings back a lot of fun memories
• no wonder CD players took off. It’s tough to set up a record player. First you have to attach the cartridge to the headshell by connecting four wires and then screwing it together (and possibly adding a weight to it all–I did), then you have to mount the headshell to the arm, then balance the arm to a neutral weight, then adjust it to the recommended pressure, then adjust the skate… It’s complicated! I’m just glad that the cartridge will theoretically last for 15 years so I won’t have to do that again for a while
• it’s cool that records sold now include codes you can use on the web to download the MP3 album for portability
• I’m such a consumer whore
• I wonder if I’ll turn into a stoner or something now that I have all these Neil Young, Santana, Hendrix, and Doors LPs
• I also wonder where the ‘red line’ will be on that volume knob. The Mrs. has already asked me once ‘It’s kinda loud, isn’t it?’ We’ll see.

The first record I put on the platter by the way? Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes.