[J.R.]

I have mentioned it before but I am really new to collecting vinyl and honestly must say I don't know much about it. When I collected vinyl records as a teenager in the 80s, I didn't think much past the whole 'must have every album by Band X'.

I have a question for you wise travelers in the vinyl realm: what are the do's and don't's or vinyl collecting? What should I look for when going for collectable, colour/ picture discs? Best way to store? Best type of stylii (or is that styluses?)? Basically, in your own collections, what is your criteria for 'good vinyl'?

My intention is to really just buy the scores to films I absolutely love, or if I spot a bargain that I absolutely cannot go past.

I would be grateful for any hints and tips, and like I said; i am a complete neophyte, so no suggestion will go unappreciated!!

[Bezulsqy]

I have only been collecting records for about two years now. When I found out about all the great soundtrack releases and re-issues I felt a bit overwhelmed. Death Waltz had released some really great stuff for some years. One Way Static put out some great stuff as well as Waxwork.
I wanted all their new stuff together with getting everything the previously released. And I am a sucker for all the limited stuff. I bought a lot... but I paid too much for some stuff, just because I needed to have it.
Now I have a bit more patience and more of an idea of the style of scores I prefer (synth and Italian funk more than orchestral). Besides the stye of music I do love to collect the releases for the movies I really love, even if the music isn't in my best of list. The packages that the labels create with the new art and more are just too good to not collect :-)
Although in the back of my head (and Discogs wantlist) I still want everything Death Waltz et al have released I find it easier to pass on new releases. I just don't make enough money to buy it all... Few do I guess.

My tips for you would be:
- Try to find out what you want to listen to most. A lot of scores are available on Spotify or Youtube.
- You can't go wrong with any release from Death Waltz, Waxwork or One Way Static if it is a release for a score from one of your favorite movies
- check the new release thread on this forum for gems from other labels
- Go on discogs and look for affordable releases or do some crate digging in shops or at fairs.
- Stay away from library records: the fastest way to become broke ;-)
- Get rid of your crosley type player. Those type of players are known to eat records. I don’t know your budget, but for a small amount of money you can get great vintage amps with a phono amp built in. (Pioneer SA 3500 or stuff like that). Get an older record player and some vintage book shelf speakers. For a 100 euros you can create a much better setup than you have now. If you want and can spend more the possibilities are limitless with both new and old equipment.
- For storage I use a simple Ikea expedit (or kallax) shelf thing. I’m still looking into sleeves for my collection. I think the records look better without, but because of the price of some records some protection probably isn’t a bad thing…
- I am no audiophile and don’t mind some background noise or the occasional hiccup. So I buy whatever variant I think looks the best (or is the most limited). A lot has been said about sound quality of pressings on this forum and I’m not going there anymore 

In the end: don't take it too serious :-) Just enjoy that magic feeling you get when receiving a new release, opening it, taking the record out the sleeve, putting it on your turntabel and listening to some great music while looking at the artwork on the sleeves and reading the liner notes...

[ScoJo]

Good stuff there from @Bezusqy.

I would just add two things:

- If you're not already, consider becoming a full-fledged movie geek/cinephile. Watching great films has always been the
best way to get excited about the music in them, and feel invested in the stand-alone listening experience of a soundtrack. I personally think it's kind of a sad thought to think about someone out there getting obsessive about collecting OSTs when they haven't seen 80% of the movies they're from. (which I'm sure must be happening now, to a
greater or lesser degree...) I'm not saying it's wrong...just a bit odd ;)

- Having said that, along with watching a lot of movies (like your life depended on it!) I definitely advocate taking
inexpensive chances on old records that you know next to nothing about (because you like the sleeve/have heard of the
composer or film or whatever...) and not just spending shitloads building a collection solely of fancy (and relatively pricey) new releases. It's about a balanced diet! Mix it up. Go to fairs/car boots/charity shops (or whatever your equivalent is).
Some of my all-time favourites are still things I picked up for .99p from a busted up pile of 2nd hand crap, and they ended up blowing me away.
An example? I was in Barcelona about 10 years ago and wandered into a side-street 2nd hand store which had a single box of records. Most of it was rock n pop, but I found a Spanish Morricone collection for 2 Euros. It all seemed to be really familiar stuff (Leone etc) but when I got home and played it, there were two vocal versions of tunes from the Dollars trilogy that, to this day, I still count as the most incredible soundtrack pieces I've ever heard.

Long live the new flesh!

[Aremagod]

Just remember that you are not building a portfolio for your retirement as some collectors think these days. Don't get caught up in the hype, my criteria now is.....will I listen to this record more than once or am I buying it because it is pretty and limited. Don't be afraid to buy a cheap beat up copy of something as a player until you can track down a better copy.

[J.R.]

Great advice there, thanks fellas!!

@Bezulsqy I definitely gotta get rid of that 'teenage girl' suitcase thing. I have a mate who works at a big box chain store here in Australia and he's gonna hook me up with new equipment in the new year. I am desperately trying NOT to listen to my records at the moment but my new ones a difficult to ignore! I got Creepshow, The Day After Halloween, Patrick and Thirst yesterday and so far only Creepshow has been tortured by that device.

@ScoJo Movie collector? Oh yeah, I've been reviewing movies for well over ten years in the horror and exploitation areas for an Australian website and the librarian of an in excess of 3000 disc movie collection which apart from maybe three titles of older films, I am very happy with it (the three movies I don't have but want are Lady Stay Dead, Spirits and Night Life). In actual fact, my reviews have been used on the covers of some films all over the world. Apparently the Dutch release of Turkey Shoot aka Death Camp Thatcher has a snippet of my review on it.

This is why I got into vinyl: I can evoke the feelings I get from favourite films just by listening to the soundtracks whilst I do other stuff around the house. As far as establishing what I like, I'm definitely into 80s synth (my next purchase is going to be an 80s Doctor Who score) and as generic as it is, I love Goblin so anything Simonetti does will be grabbed early (I already have a heap of their music on CD and just got the awesome Tenebrae score).

@Aremagod That's great advice. I used to keep toys in packets and comics in bags and collectable DVDs in their packaging until one day I woke up and thought 'when I cark it I am never going to have enjoyed these things.' so now everything gets opened and 'played' with!

Again, thank you all for the sound advice!

Get it? 'SOUND' advice....?

To early for a dad joke? ;)

[Pain_Bubbles]

As far as vinyl concerns it's hard to give any real advise, since it really depends on the age of the records you are buying, there's a whole different set of do's and don'ts for 50's vinyl than for 80's vinyl.

On the equipment side there are some general tips:

1: As stated before, avoid Crosley or other cheap turntables with a ceramic cartridge, get yourself a "real" turntable with a good cartridge. (On the budget side I'd reccomend the Audio Technica lp120 turntable, it comes with the AT95e cartride, which is condered a budget classic))

2: Contrary to the advise which is often given on many audiophile sites, I'd avoid buying "vintage" turntables as a layman . Lots of things can go wrong with them, either in use or in storage (Temperature extremes, moisture, things stacked on top of them etc.) and prices for any decent 70's table have risen to the point that imho it's just not worth the hassle. Get a new one , with a protractor or gauge so you can properly set it up yourself.
(Ofcourse never pass up on a potentially great vintage turntable when offered to you by friends or relatives :-)

3: Don't get caught in Audiophile purgatory: A good turntable should not have to cost a fortune, and half a ton of plexyglass and chrome does not by definition make a good turntable.
Same goes for cartridges: Some of the cheapest cartridges are actually some of the best, and a lot of the most expensive cartrides are usually handmade to significally worse tolerances than the mass produced cheapies.
My current go-to cartridge is the audio Technica 3482p, costs 17$, at 1.4 grams outtracks most of my expensive MC cartridges at 2 grams or more preventing record wear. It has great channel balance and tonal balance, is easy to install and there are several different stylus types available for it. (You will however need a P-mount adapter for this cartridge) I also like the Ortofon Om10, although it has a little more trouble tracking really loud records.

4: You should also consider that a phono cartridge is a disposable object, it only lasts a certain amount of hours before it starts damging your records. Depending on stylus profile I'd say about 200 hours for a conical, 400-ish for an eliptical and proably up to 600 for the more exotic stylus shapes (Fine line, micro ridge, gyger etc)
It's probably also worth noting that although the more exotic stylus types certainly last longer, they are much more likely to cause catastrophic damage to your records when worn or damaged.
Don't get fooled by the talk about 1000+ hours, it MIGHT be possible in extreme cases, but if you value your records, just don't take the risk.
Phono cartridges are also prone to mishaps: Missing the record when cueing, embedded crud and other anomalies in records, accidentally bumping the tonearm while it's playing, getting the sleeve of your sweater caught on the stylus etc etc etc.
Buy a stylus you can easily afford and comfortably replace when anything happens to it that raises any doubts about it's integrity, your records will thank you for it.

5: Make sure your turntable is properly set up, and get comfortable with all the settings and installing the cartridge , this will save you a lot of frustration and money. Many of today's retailers are not the "vinyl specialists" they claim to be, and will just order a cartridge and slap it on your turntable. Nothing you can't learn yourself, and certainly not something worth paying for.
Start with an affordable and rugged conical or eliptical stylus, experiment with a few different ones , listen carefully to discover what's important to you: If you only buy new and perfect records , like your music detailed and bright and have no problem with periodically forking out a couple of 100$ for a replacement stylus you might want to upgrade to a more expensive stylus, but if you value versatility ,a quiet background or are on a budget, you just might find that a cheap cartridge is all you ever need.

6: You could join the "vinylengine" message board, there's lot's of people there that can provide help with becoming familiar with the turntable of your choice.

[J.R.]

@Pain_Bubbles that Audio Technica one is the exact one I am looking at... though I am flicking through the pages of What HiFi? at the moment, dreaming of what COULD be!

[Pain_Bubbles]

The 38482p is one of my best cartridges, and I also own serveral much more expensive ones.
It's cheap to try, just get the P mount adapter (If you have a standard half inch mount truntable, with two slots in the headshell) I got mine from Ebay.co.uk I think. They are sometimes called t4p adapter.
Alle the "amazons" also sell the atn3472se replacement stylus, which is a "special eliptical" replacement stylus.
They are easy to switch out, and if you prefer the eliptical over the conical, you can always use the conical for old mono records or early (pre 1965) stereo records.
I usually just leave the original conical stylus on, it sounds great to me and is muc less sensitive so surface noise than an eliptical. The conical Replacement stylii with the carbon cantilever are hard to find, but since the cartridge i so cheap I just buy an entire new cartridge.

[Peek-a-boo]

Pretty much everything is being reissued at the moment, so this year I've been trying to buy a lot more private/one off pressings until the vinyl hype dies down. This has been fun because I've had to delve a bit deeper & by doing this I feel I have reaped the rewards.

[Bezulsqy]

Pretty much everything is being reissued at the moment, so this year I've been trying to buy a lot more private/one off pressings until the vinyl hype dies down. This has been fun because I've had to delve a bit deeper & by doing this I feel I have reaped the rewards.

Could you give an example of a private/one off release?

[chiefbrody]

I agree with most of the above. My tips are to budget.
1. Unless you're lucky, you'll not be able to buy everything you want, so try to find out what you like before you buy it (Spotify, YouTube, etc). Blind buys are good, but it means less disappointment overall.
2. Unless you're really lucky, you won't have time to listen properly to all of the records you want. Think about how much time you realistically have, and don't buy too many records for your time 'budget'. I have far too many records (scores and otherwise) that I've not yet listened to, or listened to just once because I bought a handful at the same time and it was all I could do to listen to each once... then I'd buy another handful!!
3. Consider whether a subscription is worthwhile. I joined the OWS Club and its been a great decision (for me). In addition to the OWS releases, I've saved a good amount on discounts too.

@ScoJo, I wouldn't be too disheartened at the idea of owning scores for unseen films. I fall into that category, though it's probably more 50/50. It's not that I'm a completist or 'hipster', I just don't see it as any different from buying Lost Themes, or something by Vi-Res or even Bob Dylan or John Grant. If it sounds like it's something I'd listen to and will stand up on its own, then I'll give it a go. As it happens, the DFC has introduced me to a lot of scores for films I haven't seen.

I agree that having the visual reference point mostly improves the experience (I enjoyed listening to It Follows far more after I'd seen it, though it was still special beforehand). I also think buying a score to a film you've already seen is a better experience overall. Buying The Fog was more exciting than buying Big Bad Wolves because I'd seen the film 20+ times and loved the score and film beforehand. The added value of seeing the film was the very reason I suggested the Film Club around a year ago - I have loads of scores for films I haven't seen, but it's mainly because I trust the judgement of people on here life Spencer, Seb or you guys at the DFC (among others).

I wish I had the time to watch all of the films, but I can't find enough time to even listen to 40 minute scores! I have more sealed dvds and blurays than I have unplayed records!

[ScoJo]

@chief - 50/50 is damn good frankly, and probably pretty close to my own ratio! As I said, I just get the impression (with all the hype these days) that there are some out there who are blind buying ALL of these records, without having seen MOST of the films, and worse....with little intention of actually playing the records much (if at all). Stockpiling, I believe is the phrase! Heh heh....that's fine if you can afford it, but definitely not my idea of fun :D

[chiefbrody]

@ScoJo, totally agree. The rise of vinyl has brought about a rise in obsessive collectors, whereas you'd hope it would result in a rise in passionate music fans. I'm not going to criticise anyone for putting more stock in art, or even collectability, but they're not factors in me picking something up. I do confess that I got a bit obsessed to pick up all of the Death Waltz LP releases as they were consistently top drawer, but once I caught up (by RSD15) I realised I couldn't afford to keep up and still buy other records, so almost immediately gave up (Cannibal Apocalypse was my last buy from them, for now)!

I think 50/50 is perhaps also a reflection on how limited my collection is!

Cheers

[ScoJo]

@chief - I'd say we're pretty much simpatico sir!

[J.R.]

Thank you all for your contributions to this thread: consider all your good advice to be taken on board!

[Volzom Zofbie]

Avoid colored records! Get the black one, if it's available. Colored records look fancy (to some people) but are sure to retract from the audio experience. Amen.

[J.R.]

Really? Bummer!!

[Avedon_Arcade]

I did know about the audio quality not being as good when pressed in color, but since the majority of my color collection comes from buying original game music from the 80s, it's something I can live with.

By the way great post, OP. Learning a lot from all this as well. My general knowledge comes from my father's equipment and collection, but he wasn't an audiophile like I would somewhat consider myself. His collection is small but it was enough to really get me into the hobby growing up, yet never truly buying much outside from a favorite groups, and with the surge of game music on vinyl it's brought me back into buying regular releases not just limited ones.

Thanks everyone for the information!