Abnormal Grooves - why vinyl is better than CDs and MP3s

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  • Опубліковано 28 лют 2018
  • Some vinyl records have cleverly arranged grooves to delight and confuse the listener. Here's my collection.
    Listen to the radio show here: festivalofthespokennerd.com/tv...
    Read about other strange grooves here:
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unusual...
    Twitter: / moulds
    Instagram: / stevemouldscience
    Facebook: / stevemouldscience
    Buy nerdy maths things: mathsgear.co.uk
  • Наука та технологія

КОМЕНТАРІ • 1,8 тис.

  • @GFmanaic
    @GFmanaic 6 років тому +2779

    Admit it, you just wanted a good reason to play with the ladybug book.

    • @SteveMould
      @SteveMould  6 років тому +704

      It's *really* fun.

    • @mal2ksc
      @mal2ksc 4 роки тому +65

      When I heard the track "touches itself" I instantly thought "demonetized!"

    • @Netherexio
      @Netherexio 4 роки тому +20

      @@SteveMould My sister has the same exact book and I always try to find it.

    • @logangrove4103
      @logangrove4103 4 роки тому +7

      Lol this was so funny

    • @philippemichelvidori7248
      @philippemichelvidori7248 3 роки тому +8

      @@SteveMould I never hold my vinyls like this

  • @EebstertheGreat
    @EebstertheGreat 4 роки тому +1472

    7:49 Real horse racing is also basically a really tedious way of rolling a die.

    • @millomweb
      @millomweb 4 роки тому +43

      If you don't want boring, set up an automatic Worms game.

    • @jeffjackson6354
      @jeffjackson6354 4 роки тому +5

      If you don't want tedious run Worms with actual tanks.

    • @zwz.zdenek
      @zwz.zdenek 3 роки тому +18

      Throwing a wrench into the gears, real horse racing is a tedious way of just burning your cash.

    • @shahabazkhan1
      @shahabazkhan1 2 роки тому +4

      No, it totally depends on the performance of the horses, if you have like 4 champion horses then you choose one of them right? It's basically a sport. You can't say a whole world cup event of some sport is a tedious way of rolling the die can you?

    • @Llamagoyf
      @Llamagoyf 2 роки тому +25

      @@shahabazkhan1 I can and I will.

  • @TristanBomber
    @TristanBomber 6 років тому +1126

    We just need to encode "Dormammu, I've come to bargain" on that lock groove.

    • @MrDoboz
      @MrDoboz 3 роки тому +23

      Someone has to make that lol

    • @peppidesu
      @peppidesu 3 роки тому +8

      you don't need to encode anything. the thing inscribed is literally the waveform of the music

    • @dumchican
      @dumchican 3 роки тому +22

      @@peppidesu Well, it's encoding air pressure into side to side movement of a metal stylus. It's kind of like encoding something from written on a piece of paper into a punch card or as ascii, it conveys the same information, it's just in a different format.

    • @albert_the_cool8092
      @albert_the_cool8092 3 роки тому +4

      Its been two years but SynthRose you are an absolute genius

    • @maxrodgers5702
      @maxrodgers5702 3 роки тому +1

      @@albert_the_cool8092 agreed

  • @billyfairbank
    @billyfairbank 5 років тому +384

    "Where have I hidden your keys?" lol! Your poor parents.

    • @Kenionatus
      @Kenionatus 4 роки тому +7

      Good thing it's only got three possible answers :)

    • @ryansamarakoon8268
      @ryansamarakoon8268 4 роки тому +1

      How do you even engrave into a tiny vinyl with tools a kid would find?

    • @evelynphipps610
      @evelynphipps610 4 роки тому +2

      @@ryansamarakoon8268 He could just change the face of the card

    • @ryansamarakoon8268
      @ryansamarakoon8268 4 роки тому +2

      @@evelynphipps610 no the card just acts as a pointer to a specific track on the vinyl. You can't store data on them

    • @janemorrow6672
      @janemorrow6672 3 роки тому +2

      In a pigsty.

  • @AuroCords
    @AuroCords 6 років тому +1282

    This means that time travel to the past IS possible!
    All we need is a machine that travels forwards, and THEN switch the battery around like on that toy robot.
    Nobel prize please.

    • @unclejimmy7
      @unclejimmy7 6 років тому +101

      I know you're just making a joke here, but the analog to flipping the battery around would be negative energy or mass. In theory, if you had negative energy, you could reverse the flow of time.

    • @djedg10
      @djedg10 6 років тому +30

      Reverse the polarity!

    • @jasondashney
      @jasondashney 6 років тому +25

      ...but don't cross the streams.

    • @twirlipofthemists3201
      @twirlipofthemists3201 6 років тому +6

      Important safety tip.

    • @bjornnilsson1222
      @bjornnilsson1222 6 років тому +1

      Auro Cords 💩💩👻🖕🏿🖕🏿🖕🏿🖕🏿🖕🏿🖕🏿👦🏿👦🏿💍🤙🏿👅🤙🏿👶🏿👶🏿👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀💋👄✍️✍️

  • @dan_tr4pd00r
    @dan_tr4pd00r 6 років тому +146

    Favourite bit of insanity about the Matching Tie and Handkerchief record: even though it says the record comes free alongside the matching tie and handkerchief, you weren't always guaranteed to get one or the other with your purchase.

  • @thedoublek4816
    @thedoublek4816 Рік тому +29

    There were also vinyls which only consisted of locked grooves. Those were made for DJs (hip hop and electronic) who wanted to do some live remixing by playing some loops, like additional rhythm tracks etc., over the main track and were aptly named "DJ Tools". A popular kind of those tools were focusing on drum breaks, like those instrumental drum solos often found on Funk records (think "Amen Brother", "Funky Drummer" or "It's a New Day").
    The locked grooves contained loops which had to have a certain tempo in order to seamlessly loop over (most turntables have a pitch / speed control, so adjusting the loop tempo to the main track you want to "enhance" is not a problem anyway), 133 1/3 BPM. However, hitting the right groove could be tricky.

  • @davideranieri5553
    @davideranieri5553 6 років тому +231

    Coincidentally, I listened to Sgt. Pepper for the first time on vinyl after having it on CD for a long time. I remembered the phantom track at the end, but of course, it lasts a limited amount of time on a CD. I spent a good minute or two waiting for the thing to finish before realizing the track was looping on itself... I felt like an idiot afterwards...

    • @duroxkilo
      @duroxkilo 4 роки тому +6

      @Human Resources chill bro, nothing travels faster than light :}

  • @vasilivanich3842
    @vasilivanich3842 6 років тому +1847

    "I'm trolling (...), obviously everyone agrees that CDs and MP3s have better audio quality than vinyl, that's not controversial" lol

    • @TarekMidani
      @TarekMidani 6 років тому +117

      Lol, sorry but CD's contain highly compressed forms of audio 😂 your title is actually correct, vinyl is better

    • @MovingThePicture
      @MovingThePicture 6 років тому +577

      Tarek Midani CDs are uncompressed 🤦

    • @truephysics2835
      @truephysics2835 6 років тому +642

      Sigh, this is going to be a comment chain I assume...
      No, vinyl does not give you "better" audio. The compression for MP3 is essentially inaudible, though yes, it does exist. However, it is absolutely nothing at all compared to the inconsistent and horrible frequency response you get from a vinyl player. You can not produce high amplitude signals in the high and low-frequency range from a vinyl, so the players often have amplifiers to boost these frequencies, that is they have equalisers. The equalisers are not all exactly the same and thus you get different audio from different players. Also, the vinyls themselves have tolerances, degrade, have issues with dust, ...
      If you are after high fidelity, vinyl is the wrong thing to look for.
      That doesn't mean it sounds bad though. Just like tube amplifiers which are way, way "worse" than solid state since they are horribly non-linear, they can produce nice sounds. It is just utterly wrong to say they are more accurate to what the artist wanted it to sound like, that is they are not high fidility.

    • @Noise-Bomb
      @Noise-Bomb 6 років тому +97

      To clearify: Every sane person.

    • @ViniOnTheRocks
      @ViniOnTheRocks 6 років тому +141

      Vinyl is romantic. That I can give it.

  • @consubandon
    @consubandon 5 років тому +11

    Somewhere here, amongst my three-sided Monty Python records, I've also got a copy of the 1812 Overture from the early-1980s days of audiophile digital vinyl. In order to more fully reproduce the cannon shots (the engineers of this particular record were very, VERY proud of the fidelity of these cannon shots, and the record came with the warning these shots could break poorly constructed loudspeakers), the phonograph needle had to swing so violently it would have crossed the normally-adjacent grooves, and so, at the appropriate moments in the recording, the spacing of the grooves abruptly becomes much, much wider than elsewhere on the disk, in order to allow for the physical motion required to reproduce this far louder sound. You can easily see the altered sections from several feet away, where the groove suddenly looks almost like the trace of an EKG.
    In that vein, w-a-y back in the early days of television, there was once a challenge demonstration featuring a man who was familiar with so many recordings of different musical compositions, he could correctly identify a piece of music just by looking at the groove pattern on the surface of a vinyl record, even with its label masked-over. He would have had no trouble whatsoever identifying The 1812.

  • @pun-isher1501
    @pun-isher1501 6 років тому +586

    I once made a playable disc out of vinyl in 10 minutes.
    That is a *record*

    • @Milamberinx
      @Milamberinx 6 років тому +55

      I once made a playable disc that represents the heavenly body on which we live. That's a world record.

    • @MarkTillotson
      @MarkTillotson 6 років тому +26

      Letter printed in an English newspaper in 1978 went something like: "Dear sir, I was born in '33 and am now, in '78, aged 45 - is this a record?"

    • @gabriel38g
      @gabriel38g 6 років тому +1

      Playable Disc from CD in 5 minute video
      ua-cam.com/video/yu9139LDIc4/v-deo.html

    • @-danR
      @-danR 5 років тому +22

      5 minutes later, you accidentally stepped on it.
      Record broken.

    • @unnamedchannel2202
      @unnamedchannel2202 5 років тому +1

      @Human Resources, it was the Mirror. But now it is broken as tubeist- dan accidentally stepped on it.

  • @SteelSkin667
    @SteelSkin667 6 років тому +291

    Really interesting stuff, while I did know about infinite run-out grooves, I didn't realise that those multi-track records existed. I too really like vinyl records not because of how they sound, but because of the way they work. Not to mention the artwork.

    • @DamiontheSpawn
      @DamiontheSpawn 6 років тому +5

      Want to know something even crazier? There are records that when played the needle moves from the center outward. Techmoan has a great video on it.

    • @georgeprice7922
      @georgeprice7922 6 років тому +4

      DamiontheSpawn And then there's Jack White's "Lazaretto", which not only has the inside out groove, but hidden tracks pressed into the labels (one plays at 45 and the other at 78).

    • @paulmichaelfreedman8334
      @paulmichaelfreedman8334 5 років тому +1

      @@DamiontheSpawn Think about it , had trey done that from the start (AND CDs also play from the centre outward) it would have made the mechanics of a record player much easier.

    • @paulmichaelfreedman8334
      @paulmichaelfreedman8334 5 років тому +2

      @Jayden Whitcomb The natural properties of vinyl and Tube amps sort of hide distortion, especially the amps tubes have a natural compressor function, rounding the distortion peaks and making it sound less distorted.

    • @Trev9
      @Trev9 5 років тому

      @@paulmichaelfreedman8334 soft clipping

  • @raykent3211
    @raykent3211 6 років тому +115

    Techmoan has a video about a record that plays from the middle outwards. Ta for this, my friend had a horse racing multi-groove one.

    • @maker-matt
      @maker-matt 4 роки тому +3

      Its Bolero - inside out and is still available. and there is a very good reason for it. not just a gimmick

    • @casey6556
      @casey6556 3 роки тому +2

      And now he’s done one on the horse racing one too!

  • @macronencer
    @macronencer 6 років тому +34

    "The way I played with it was to try and figure out how it worked." YES! That is the story of my childhood. I even extended that tendency to my parents' possessions. When I was 10 I took my dad's tape recorder to pieces and reassembled it. Luckily, I got it right...

  • @GamerX-2000
    @GamerX-2000 Рік тому +2

    I had a toy train when I was younger. It had a blue disk that was my first experience with learning how solid state storage works. The disk was also a gear(by that I mean it wasn’t really just a disk, but a gear), and when the train was turned on, the gear would spin. The gear had little bits that stuck out of it, like inverted grooves, that when the reached the part that was reading the information, it would play sound. I loved this toy and never disassembled it, so idk how it played sound, but it sounded like the parts sticking out were hitting pins that played music, like a music box. Because the inverted grooves were all the same length, it played different sounds based on where the grooves were, so the song was only as long as one rotation of the disk.

  • @Ultima2876
    @Ultima2876 4 роки тому +3

    The way he throws around those records makes me die inside

  • @jca111
    @jca111 6 років тому +234

    Ohh man - I can deal with the Crosley but don't touch the record surface.
    Not to mention the tossing of the records onto the floor!

    • @wellivea1
      @wellivea1 6 років тому +15

      Zero Cool Why? I mean, if you *want* noisy records with audible damage, sure. You don't have to spend a ton of money or anything, just be careful when you're handling them and brush them off with a carbon fiber brush before each use. There's also replacing inner sleeves that use paper rather than plastic (or plastic lined paper). All of that would probably have a max one-time cost of $40 max (the sleeves coming in packs of 50 or more).

    • @wellivea1
      @wellivea1 6 років тому +8

      They're not like CDs where you can scratch them up fairly bad and still get no reduction in audio quality (not that you should be scratching those either, though). You will get recurring clicks or pops where there is a scratch and a contant scratchy hiss where there is embedded dust, and with improper long-term storage you can get mold, etc that is very loud.

    • @timverma
      @timverma 6 років тому +17

      because Steve clearly prefers to listen to his music on cd so he doesn't care about the audio quality at all, they are just there for memories. the quality isn't going to be so bad as to be completely ruined, so the few times a year he used them this way won't matter.

    • @wellivea1
      @wellivea1 6 років тому +10

      Timothy Verma Well, if that's how he likes to use them, sure. But this is meant to be educational, he should have shown at least a little bit of care for them. Even when you're pretty careful you can drop a record and create a long gash like that. Putting one onto carpet which is riddled with small, tough fibers and stuffed with dust (vinyl attracts it's own worst enemy, dust, very well) just shows a complete lack of thought imo.

    • @dextertreehorn
      @dextertreehorn 6 років тому

      Maybe Steve is more kind of "user of this robot toy" ....

  • @ViniOnTheRocks
    @ViniOnTheRocks 6 років тому +44

    I'm so glad you started with that sentence.

    • @nilswegner2881
      @nilswegner2881 6 років тому

      Vinícius P. da Silva why, when the title is true?

    • @CockatooDude
      @CockatooDude 6 років тому +11

      +Nils Pc Vids Just because vinyl is capable of sounding good doesn't mean it sounds the best out of all formats.

    • @nilswegner2881
      @nilswegner2881 6 років тому +1

      CockatooDude no but definitely better than mp3 and other digital crap

    • @CockatooDude
      @CockatooDude 6 років тому +12

      +Nils Pc Vids "Other digital crap" Like what exactly?

    • @dupisdisasterpiece1058
      @dupisdisasterpiece1058 5 років тому +1

      DJ Slinus Certainly better than mp3 (Because mp3 is just lossy garbage) But certainly NOT flac or wav.

  • @adamruth
    @adamruth 2 роки тому +7

    Mad magazine did this in the 70s. They included a flexible record as a tear out insert. It had multiple grooves, possibly more than two. As I recall it was only the ending that was different, so you wouldn’t know which groove you had right away. Basically, each groove had a different punchline.

  • @EnergyWell
    @EnergyWell 3 роки тому

    I love that when I start one of your videos, I am typically over confident about the subject matter, and then you completely upend my knowledge from the bottom up and I learn so much anew.

  • @rohitchaoji
    @rohitchaoji 2 роки тому +6

    Never thought I'd see Steve Mould casually whip out EVOL. Great album. My favourite by them,

  • @GuyNamedSean
    @GuyNamedSean 6 років тому +670

    It hurts me so much to see you casually tossing those records around and placing them on the floor. I was taught as a kid to be very meticulous about keeping vinyls clean.

    • @olik136
      @olik136 6 років тому +80

      At the time vinyl was the goto medium most people didn't care as much as todays enthusiasts do- and yet most of todays records are from that time and work fine...

    • @AnimilesYT
      @AnimilesYT 6 років тому +8

      They are probably cheap ones no one wants to have.

    • @schregen
      @schregen 6 років тому +80

      I don't believe you. Because records were never called vinyls until the hipsters came along a few years ago. Their name is records.

    • @spiritusinfinitus
      @spiritusinfinitus 6 років тому +39

      I loved the fact that they were well used and filthy! Just to think of all the brittle "78" records we used to throw around like Frisbees as kids and "scratch" rapper style. Some may even have been priceless now for all I know. No idea what happened to any of them or what would've now been a vintage record player. You can't take any of this crap with you, so have fun with it and let it give you some good memories instead of it being overly precious. There's probably something similar in a museum somewhere for the people who care.

    • @douglas.turner
      @douglas.turner 6 років тому +30

      Well, that record player isn't doing them any favours, either...

  • @bpoldauf
    @bpoldauf 6 років тому +1

    OH MY GOD, how can you handle your records this way, I was not able to finish the video seeing you touching the grooves and throwing the records on the floot, ABSOLUTELY BARBARIC

  • @MikkoRantalainen
    @MikkoRantalainen 2 роки тому +5

    6:30 As there are two interleaved spirals, the easies way to swap to another spiral is to raise the arm using the lever, wait for half a turn and lower the arm. That should get you to the middle of another spiral if your lever doesn't move the player arm anywhere.

    • @perniciouspete4986
      @perniciouspete4986 Рік тому +1

      The anti-skating mechanism makes that difficult, though.

  • @ryanburr8419
    @ryanburr8419 2 роки тому +6

    Those were some clever records, I especially loved that robot. I think what all the examples come down to is the experience of the medium being fun and unique. Not technically better (although vinyl sometimes suffers less from the loudness wars less making them better in one way) but a unique experience that many people appreciate.

  • @zimbag
    @zimbag 4 роки тому +5

    Love the low key relaxed presentation, Thanks mate.

  • @SlavomirDanas
    @SlavomirDanas 5 років тому +18

    Steve talks about playing music from a CD holding in hand an installation medium of Microsoft Windows...

  • @LaGuerre19
    @LaGuerre19 5 років тому +41

    "Daddy? *_ERRRGGH_* Followed by the sound of gunfire." lmao

  • @caiocc12
    @caiocc12 6 років тому +112

    The thing is that by restricting the usage of content so much by excessive copyright enforcement, less and less people get exposure to the content which will lead to less and less people consuming it, reducing profits.

    • @Metal_Tao
      @Metal_Tao 6 років тому +1

      What?

    • @Milamberinx
      @Milamberinx 6 років тому +11

      I think The Beatles are doing ok.

    • @Gabu_
      @Gabu_ 5 років тому +11

      @@Milamberinx For how long? I don't know a single young person who listens to The Beatles.

    • @twobob
      @twobob 4 роки тому +4

      @Fester Blats "their" copyright nonsense. Pretty sure it has zero to do with "them"

    • @Sammie_Sorrelly
      @Sammie_Sorrelly 4 роки тому +17

      It's complicated. In isolation, exposure is a good thing, of course - but since the piracy boom in the 90s and the streaming services which provide a legal alternative but still pay musicians basically nothing, the general perception is that music is something that's inherently free, which makes it hard to make any money as a musician because people only *buy* music as an additional extravagance. As a musician, I'm quite happy with the idea of my music being freely available to anyone who might want to hear it, but I also want to make enough money from it that I can afford to dedicate a significant amount of my time to it, hone my craft and make the best music I can. So... as things are now it's not an easy problem to solve.

  • @CoolDudeClem
    @CoolDudeClem 6 років тому +542

    You say you love vinyl, but you're using a crosley turntable?

    • @nilswegner2881
      @nilswegner2881 6 років тому +79

      CoolDudeClem yeah, this person does not have the right of talking about the war between analog and digital because of course his records will sound worse than CDs when played on one of these record grinding machines

    • @nickminadeo8386
      @nickminadeo8386 5 років тому +69

      DJ Slinus why should it be a war? Why can't people enjoy both...analog and digital should be side by side, not competing. It's just a waste of time to compare, they're too different

    • @candykanefpv98
      @candykanefpv98 5 років тому +42

      and grabbing the record by the grooves.

    • @nickminadeo8386
      @nickminadeo8386 5 років тому +121

      If you want to get nit-picky, it's technically one groove...

    • @thugasaurusrex6004
      @thugasaurusrex6004 5 років тому +5

      Nick Minadeo I love you lol

  • @rickybasilone8989
    @rickybasilone8989 6 років тому +1

    I love watching you discover and explore stuff, it's so inspiring

  • @alicyjinx8923
    @alicyjinx8923 6 років тому +30

    I'm someone who grew up listening to CDs and MP3s and I think Vinyl sounds really nice, and dropping the needle on the record and then watching the needle slowly make it's way to the center of the record is a very tactile and mesmorizing experience. I'm also endlessly fascinated by older technology and audio formats...that's why I have 3 different tape decks and an 8 track player XD

    • @electricpaisy6045
      @electricpaisy6045 Рік тому +4

      I also enjoy that but what is somewhere between sad and annoying to me is that since the rewive of vinyl people romanticised it so much, they will tell you it's better and they won't accept any scientific explanation why they are wrong with that. They even get angry about it sometimes.

    • @jamespyacek2691
      @jamespyacek2691 Рік тому

      Both of my cassette players are broken. But I have plans to fix them. Then I'll buy a turntable.

  • @Mikeztarp
    @Mikeztarp 4 роки тому +12

    "Where have I hidden your keys?" So as a kid, you were like the Riddler? xD

  • @theguyinthefunnyhat
    @theguyinthefunnyhat 4 роки тому +8

    Some locking grooves/run-out grooves contain "noise" which, when recorded to a tape and put into some old computers, run programs. You could also include an SSTV signal into the run-out to have a slow scan image of the album cover, photo of the artist or anything really.

    • @novameowww
      @novameowww 2 роки тому +4

      Could you run Doom on a vinyl?

    • @dylantowers9367
      @dylantowers9367 Рік тому +1

      @@novameowww You can't actually run doom on a vinyl, as it isn't Turing Complete. You can store the executable binary on the vinyl though. It's not that different to storing binary data on an audio cassette, which is what the ZX Spectrum did.

    • @novameowww
      @novameowww Рік тому +1

      @@dylantowers9367 I think that might've been what I meant but I honestly can't remember. Thanks though!

    • @thedoublek4816
      @thedoublek4816 Рік тому +1

      There is a video on UA-cam, where somebody managed to boot an old computer from a vinyl, forgot the title though.

  • @styleplague
    @styleplague 4 роки тому

    Very happy to find your channel!

  • @andrewballard780
    @andrewballard780 2 роки тому

    Thank you so much for all your incredibly entertaining and informative videos. You are a legend, keep up the good work.

  • @CalebMaclennan
    @CalebMaclennan 6 років тому +18

    Trolling meter: off the charts, certified platinum.

  • @thepianoaddict
    @thepianoaddict 6 років тому +70

    A record does have multiple grooves. One on each side.

    • @bdf2718
      @bdf2718 6 років тому +32

      +Zero Cool
      Did you read the "one on each side bit"? Read it again if you're unsure.

    • @David-ne2wx
      @David-ne2wx 6 років тому +2

      bdf2718 Funny guy

    • @munjee2
      @munjee2 5 років тому +2

      Not if its single sided like many often are

    • @baranoid
      @baranoid 5 років тому

      @Error 909 Not Found it's like a don't repeat rather than don't repeat list. neat.

    • @johnb6723
      @johnb6723 Рік тому

      Lol.

  • @PiotrBarcz
    @PiotrBarcz 7 місяців тому +1

    The lock groove is:
    1. Yeah, meant to keep the needle from skidding off onto the label, deafening everyone in the room with the scratching and to keep the needle from wearing down really quick
    2. The biggest reason, I think, on 33 rpm records and other more modern records is to give the machine's auto-stop mechanism time to actually lift the needle and return it to it's cradle

  • @xja85mac
    @xja85mac 6 років тому

    I love your hand keeping on turning the record inside the logo. Good job!

  • @sapphireskies9129
    @sapphireskies9129 5 років тому +15

    Anyone else crying inside with how he is handling the records😫

  • @shreyanshdarshan3199
    @shreyanshdarshan3199 6 років тому +231

    Minutephysics, kurzgesagt, and now you! Today is a good day 😂

    • @jesselanting3931
      @jesselanting3931 6 років тому +6

      Shreyansh Darshan now we just need a cpcgrey vid and it will be complete

    • @shreyanshdarshan3199
      @shreyanshdarshan3199 6 років тому +10

      Or a 3blue1brown vid 😊
      Edit: Smarter Every Day just uploaded 😮😮

    • @PratikPatel
      @PratikPatel 6 років тому +3

      So did physicsgirl

    • @Henrix1998
      @Henrix1998 6 років тому +1

      jesse lanting And Vsauce

    • @notmyname5449
      @notmyname5449 6 років тому

      Almost the same comment was on SmarterEveryDay's video today ;)

  • @cathyerley3057
    @cathyerley3057 4 роки тому

    Steve, you crack me up the faces you make sometimes, but I learn something new with each of your videos, like multi-groove records. (I too used to take my toys apart to see how they worked. Still do, in fact!)

  • @zanryll
    @zanryll 6 років тому +2

    On alt J's album this is all yours there is a lock groove before the final track. This way you have to manually move the needle past the groove to listen to the "hidden" track

  • @DaveShevy
    @DaveShevy 6 років тому +4

    I love this video so much! Wish I could like it twice:) Thank you as always!

    • @Badassvidsz
      @Badassvidsz 4 роки тому

      No problem just make more accounts ................lol :-)

  • @jahrenskiashkevron1499
    @jahrenskiashkevron1499 6 років тому +5

    10:24 This is Steve as you should know him.

  • @tomharner83
    @tomharner83 2 роки тому

    I don't know what I expected when I clicked on this video.... But this was awesome!
    My family started getting into record again... We'll be in the look out for these weird records now.

  • @mrsuperguy2073
    @mrsuperguy2073 3 роки тому +1

    "it was hard questions like where have i hidden your keys" - fucken killed me

  • @joystickmusic
    @joystickmusic 5 років тому +6

    oh man the dust and fingerprints on your records! O_O

  • @davidvirgilio4166
    @davidvirgilio4166 6 років тому +16

    I think it would be interesting to record a known sample of white noise onto a high quality vinyl record, play it back on a high quality player, digitize it with a good ADC, then correlate that with the original white noise. It would interesting to observe the noise which is introduced because of the vinyl. Perhaps even doing the playback at different speeds to measure how the dynamics of the needle movement affect the system.

    • @volbla
      @volbla 6 років тому +1

      Wouldn't it be only harder and more ambiguous to try and distinguish noise from noise? Why not just do it with a plain sine wave and compare that.

    • @W4LL37SK83R
      @W4LL37SK83R 6 років тому +3

      Because noise has many frequencies but a plain sine wave just has one. Also I assume the idea was to analyze the difference using a computer or something like that, not just listening with your ears.

    • @davidvirgilio4166
      @davidvirgilio4166 6 років тому +5

      Volbla - Good question. A key word I used is *known* white noise. So I can compare the output of the system to the known signal. There are ways of doing that computationally on a computer. The advantage of doing it this way is that the response of a linear system can be determined with a very short sample. A disadvantage would be it's harder to detect nonlinear behavior such as harmonic excitations at a given frequency. So yeah putting other signals in there such as a sine wave which rises in pitch and sweeps out the entire spectrum would be a good idea. Thanks!

    • @volbla
      @volbla 6 років тому

      I think i understand _slightly_ better. I'm glad if i was any sort of help :3

    • @MarkTillotson
      @MarkTillotson 6 років тому

      Just play a popadum, that's close enough.

  • @Warhawk76
    @Warhawk76 Рік тому

    I love the anecdotes about the toy and your childhood. You are I seem to be close in age, and I was always taking stuff apart as a kid too, so good times hearing about that

  • @sadsongs7731
    @sadsongs7731 Рік тому +2

    9:07 "through the magic of buying two..."

  • @Ricocossa1
    @Ricocossa1 5 років тому +4

    I agree the lock groove on sgt peppers is creepy as hell. I remember when I first listened to it. My record player just stops when it hits the end, so the sound would get lower and lower in pitch until it stopped. When you don't expect it it's quite creepy.

  • @ToMeK3001pro
    @ToMeK3001pro 4 роки тому +6

    "it's too precious"
    *plays the vinyl backwards few moments later*

    • @kindlin
      @kindlin 2 роки тому

      It sounded like it was dying. And it definitely wasn't designed for that.

  • @Wolfdings
    @Wolfdings 4 роки тому +1

    The fact I love most about vinyl - especially when it comes to traditional recording methods is: A physical, mechanical wave (instrument or voice) turns into a physical sonic wave, turns into a physical mechanical wave (microphone membrane), turns into a physical electrical wave to a physical magnetic storage (tape) is being turned into mechanical movement engraving a master, and being pressed onto a vinyl - then vice versa the mechanical movement of a stylus is being turned into physical electrical waves, amplified and turned into physical mechanical movement of a loudspeaker membrane and finally turned into a physical sonic wave, reaching the listeners ears. So in basic you have a non digitally processed wave that was originally played by the artist you're listening to. Like a carbon copy. This is the original tone conserved and replayed. A CD or mp3 is just a photocopy of the original handwriting.

    • @mkpleco
      @mkpleco 2 роки тому

      A wav file format is a raw sound recoding that is digitally stored. An mp3 is a compression scheme for that wav sound file to make it smaller and sound good. you can compare your own sound file recorded on your computer in both formats to see and hear the difference.
      I to prefer live sounds over recordings. However, I do treasure the recordings of my kids when they were young, as files on my computer.

    • @uzefulvideos3440
      @uzefulvideos3440 2 роки тому

      In every of those steps you have loss, digital audio can preserve the original source better, more precise, a CD can easily sound indistinguishable to the analog master tape while that's hard to achieve with Vinyl

    • @gbennett58
      @gbennett58 Рік тому

      I'm 70 now. As a child I remember my parents playing 78rpm records. They were in mono, not stereo, and very noisy. Stereo came soon after, still on 78rpms, with the same noisy playback. Then came the 33rpm lp records, which were a big improvement but still plagued with pops and clicks, and sometimes a track would become damaged and endlessly repeat itself. Even music played from lp records on the radio had pops and clicks. Also, the more the record was played, the more noisy they were, the quality degraded with the number of plays. When the CD came out in the early 80s I was so very happy. The quality was excellent, no more pops and clicks and best of all, no degradation of sound with the number of playbacks. I still have the CDs I bought back then and they are still as good as new. I can't really understand the recent interest in vinyl records, but to each his own.

  • @Nil_Echo
    @Nil_Echo 6 років тому +1

    Godspeed You! Black Emperor has a locked groove for the F#A#(infinity) album making a really cool ambient riff, and Tool's Opiate has a secret track where the groove splits and half the time you play it, the needle goes into a different groove.

  • @samoopsd
    @samoopsd 2 роки тому +4

    10:58 wow, TF2 was confirmed years ago in a toy with subliminal messages, valve really out did themselves!

  • @jopmens6960
    @jopmens6960 5 років тому +17

    Vinyl = music + random ASMR

    • @reiniervanzwieten7092
      @reiniervanzwieten7092 4 роки тому +1

      If you have a clean vinyl and good gear there are no crackles

    • @Callie_Cosmo
      @Callie_Cosmo 4 роки тому

      Reinier van zwieten well then you would loose the best part of listening to vinyl :/

    • @off_Planet
      @off_Planet 4 роки тому

      @@reiniervanzwieten7092 That is, in fact, a lie. A vinyl record will always have a poor noise performance when compared to digital audio. It's funny how Vinyl Stans are pretty much all physics deniers.

    • @reiniervanzwieten7092
      @reiniervanzwieten7092 4 роки тому

      i didn't say anything about noise. I was talking about crackles. I am not stupid i know about audio :P. It's just stupid how some people think that vinyl always has crackles while that's not the case. And when i point it out they think i'm saying vinyl is superior(which i am not saying is the case)

  • @burkeysvids
    @burkeysvids 5 років тому +2

    My dad had that horse racing record - it blew my mind as a kid! I always thought it was a skip that cause the randomness, I never knew it was 8 seperate tracks. It's really kind of cool to have discovered an answer to that question of how that works - 30 years after I had that question!

  • @thepatchinatior
    @thepatchinatior 2 роки тому

    loving this window into your childhood here, steve

  • @Beateau
    @Beateau 3 роки тому +4

    One of my favorite lock-grooves is on a Mars Volta vinyl that sounds just like a dripping faucet.

  • @deepblue8143
    @deepblue8143 5 років тому +14

    Ah Crosley, the number one when it comes to audio Fidelity and quality.

    • @hajoact
      @hajoact 2 роки тому

      The shittest quality I've ever heard/seen.

  • @jacobduncan87
    @jacobduncan87 6 років тому +1

    Very cool I collect vinyls and never knew about the multiple tracks I'll have to keep an eye out for those. I learned something new today.

  • @jedgrahek1426
    @jedgrahek1426 2 роки тому +1

    I love the pretty pink Siamese Dream vinyl, and the see-though green of Pisces Iscariot. And I've listened to the copies of the White Album and Abbey Road on vinyl that I got from my dad at least as many times as listening to them digitally. Playing the White Album loud on a good system, knowing everyone in the building is hearing Back in the USSR.... feels great.

  • @DavidGreen_au
    @DavidGreen_au 6 років тому +3

    Wow. That was a blast from the past. I had the Monty Python record and the Horse racing game (back in the days of antiquity). Transferring Side 2 of Python to a cassette tape (as none of ever did back then :) ) was a problematic, involving several restarts to get it right.

  • @55Ramius
    @55Ramius 6 років тому +7

    Very interesting. I remember playing around with those rotary string pulled sound toy. Pull string after positioned dial to hear a cow or something. If you give the string a small tug at the right time you can get it to say- This is what a cow sounds like - then tug and it would be a chicken sound or something. I used to confuse my little niece with it. lol

    • @ChertineP
      @ChertineP 6 років тому

      55Ramius yes! The See N Say, right?

    • @55Ramius
      @55Ramius 6 років тому

      Yes ! That was the name. I could not for the life of me remember what it was. : ) My niece is grown and has her own business now. Also she does not confuse cows with chickens anymore, after therapy .... lol

  • @guilhermeaandrade
    @guilhermeaandrade 5 років тому

    This was really cool. I though I was going to hate this video but I ended up loving it. Congratulations.

  • @aidanwansbrough7495
    @aidanwansbrough7495 5 років тому

    Really interesting!!! Love your videos!

  • @hsavietto
    @hsavietto 6 років тому +117

    I'm not really a fan of vinyl recods, but touching their surface with your fingers makes you look like a savage.

    • @AndrewKay
      @AndrewKay 6 років тому +15

      Or like a DJ.

    • @hsavietto
      @hsavietto 6 років тому +24

      Andrew Kay thanks for reinforcing my point!

    • @SocietateaAscendenta
      @SocietateaAscendenta 5 років тому

      Shhhh...........

    • @pow9606
      @pow9606 3 роки тому

      Hey you lay off my fingers OK

  • @mchevre
    @mchevre 6 років тому +5

    Hey! I have Evol on vinyl too. I'll have to check that out, never noticed it.

  • @JimmyLundberg
    @JimmyLundberg 6 років тому +1

    Thanks for the brilliant video. Really interesting! Cheers

  • @Antilevitation
    @Antilevitation 5 років тому

    that openingstatement, i love you

  • @TmoVie93
    @TmoVie93 6 років тому +3

    I can't be the only one thinking at 8:32 : "Piiigs in Spaaaaaaaace!"

  • @DIO-nm2ut
    @DIO-nm2ut 3 роки тому +3

    2:10
    he said funny guys

  • @jawa7609
    @jawa7609 Рік тому

    Just here to keep the chat and video alive! Thanks Steve, I actually lol'd!

  • @scytube
    @scytube 2 роки тому

    The way he’s middle-finger massaging that vinyl at the end, while not for a second breaking eye contact …

  • @luka9843
    @luka9843 6 років тому +7

    1:20 you can see the record getting scratched and vinyl shavinga coming up.

    • @nrgzrbunny7775
      @nrgzrbunny7775 6 років тому +6

      Luka Agulashvili I think it's just dust already on the record

  • @kakurerud7516
    @kakurerud7516 6 років тому +5

    if you directly capture a vinyl record to a cd (or equivalent quality format NOT applying frequency 'loudness' compression) and do a blind test, you can not tell the difference without guessing. I use to do this test on all sorts of snooty "audiophiles." It was fun times. They can also not tell if both sources are vinyl or digital. (also I found out the low limit for stereo sampling rate is around 33khz before they notice something's up) and yes it is true the older the subjects were the less highs they are able to notice.

    • @kakurerud7516
      @kakurerud7516 6 років тому

      I use to do evil stuff like record the raw output from a cartridge (dont matter what kind) and then apply the equalization to the wav file's output during playback.

    • @robertromero8692
      @robertromero8692 6 років тому +1

      Kakureru D
      I love what you did. It really does expose the whole "vinyl is better" nonsense. There have been other such tests exposing similar nonsense involving amplifiers, speaker wire, etc.

    • @georgekolbaia4246
      @georgekolbaia4246 5 років тому

      Kakureru D
      Michael Fremer can tell a difference :) (I am at Analog Side)

  • @bobbart4198
    @bobbart4198 3 роки тому

    ... ' Matching Tie and Handkerchief ' in the original vinyl is AMAZING ... I bought this thing when it first came out in '75 (the US release of the 1973 album) and played it for an hour before I got the odd track to work. Still got it, still use it ...

  • @timothyjohns3561
    @timothyjohns3561 6 років тому +1

    9:58... LOL... btw: you now owe me a new Macbook.... because mine is covered in the mouthful of coffee I was drinking.

  • @tobyjackson6514
    @tobyjackson6514 6 років тому +29

    No wonder vinyl sounds worse, when its played on a crosley.

    • @Knaeckebrotsaege
      @Knaeckebrotsaege 4 роки тому

      yeah the intro and that crosley on the floor made me stop watching pretty much instantly

  • @cerebralaudio5587
    @cerebralaudio5587 6 років тому +21

    I'm glad you were trolling with the title of this video, and admitted it up front... I was ready to watch this video and write a comment about the inaccurate nature of it... Fortunately there is only two things to "complain" about: you are totally handling those records incorrectly. And, please, get a better turntable than a Crosley...they are absolute garbage.
    As for the other content: yeah, I knew about the lock groove and multiple grooves things... But there are things that you can't do with a record that you can with a CD, such as hidden tracks... I've had at least one CD where you won't find a track until you go back past the first track... I've also had CD's that you didn't find all the tracks unless you were willing to skip out to track 60 or 80, when the last listed track was actually 10 or 12... How is that possible? It has to do with the ways CD's are encoded... They contain a "header" that is kind of like a table to contents to the CD. The specs for the header allow for some interesting and unusual track arrangements... So, either way there were creative things you could do with both CD and records...kind of makes them equal in my book...

    • @nilswegner2881
      @nilswegner2881 6 років тому

      CerebralAudio it is a shame, that he was Trolling with the title, because it is just true what the title says

    • @cerebralaudio5587
      @cerebralaudio5587 6 років тому +12

      Hahaha - nice attempt at a reverse-troll... I'll play along. ;)
      The simple fact is: it is objectively provable via scientific measurement that digital reproduction is more accurate (aka better) than analog reproduction. (I'm not talking about crappy low quality lossy encoding formats, but correctly created, non-lossy CD's, FLAC encodings, etc.)
      On the subjective side: your ears may *prefer* the sound of analog reproduction from vinyl, tapes, etc. But that does not make it better (in the objective, scientific sense) than digital reproduction.

    • @TheGreenDoggoOfWisdom
      @TheGreenDoggoOfWisdom 3 роки тому +1

      My Green Day record has a hidden track. Vinyl can have hidden tracks.

  • @ideegeniali
    @ideegeniali Рік тому

    Getting extra sounds from your toy as a kid was brilliant!

  • @bizarrefruit
    @bizarrefruit 2 роки тому +2

    Really cool video, I also love bone records from countries where rock music was censored; using X-ray vinyl to print music on was such a clever idea.

  • @PierreThierryKPH
    @PierreThierryKPH 6 років тому +3

    Monty Python, amazing yet again!

  • @Redspl
    @Redspl 6 років тому +57

    christ allmighty, why is your record so dirty

  • @rachelrodgers9171
    @rachelrodgers9171 2 роки тому

    I love this guy's expression when the robot did the ''gunfire'' sound as it plays the voice backwards.

  • @AmaroqStarwind
    @AmaroqStarwind 4 роки тому

    - Going from the inside to the outside.
    - "Random" tracks.
    - Lock grooves to have a section of the song repeat forever.
    - Weirdly-shaped records.
    - Records with extra sound packed onto them by having grooves in the spiral section.
    - Records encoded with CE or DBX.
    - CLV records.
    - Etc.

  • @EduardQualls
    @EduardQualls 4 роки тому +6

    And, again, the audio-phillies have to be reminded that, unless they have a gramophone [or tape machine] (from the 1940's, '50's or early '60's) that is entirely tube-based, that analog signal from the tone arm HAS to go through analog-to-digital processing hardware (a RAMDAC chip) before that now-sampled signal can be sent through the computer that is the pre-amp, amp and modulation core of any modern audio system. Once the system is through with the digital signal there, it has to go "in reverse" through a RAMDAC to create a now-analog signal that can drive any attached speakers, or it stays digital to go through Bluetooth, etc., to the RAMDAC in the headphones/earbuds. Digitally recorded audio goes only through that second, sampled-to-waveform RAMDAC; vinyl has to go through two of them.
    So, all modern audio playback is digital, no matter what the recording medium/format.
    All vinyl does is give people something to read while they imagine that the sound quality is better: it's a form of record-scratch fever.

    • @skrubol
      @skrubol 4 роки тому +3

      I think you're a few decades off and are partially confusing solid state with digital. There are still plenty of turn tables with no digital in the audio stream, and it's not too hard build a system with a discreet analog amp rather than piping it into a surround sound receiver or something.

    • @ColoradoStreaming
      @ColoradoStreaming 4 роки тому

      @@skrubol I agree, even with a Class AB or Class D amp as long as you have a analog volume pot the signal is analog from Vinyl to speakers. The only time the signal is digitized is if it is run through an AVR with a remote etc.

    • @slinkman79
      @slinkman79 4 роки тому

      I want to smoke the same shit as you, sir!

    • @edwardpaulsen1074
      @edwardpaulsen1074 4 роки тому

      Your definition of "modern" must be exceedingly narrow... and is only fitting if being the signal is sent to a digital device... opamps are NOT digital and are the most common devices used within most audio equipment... also a RAMDAC is quite literally a Random-Access Memory Digital-to-Analog Converter and is entirely incapable of converting an analog signal to digital so you lost half of your argument already. When you also couple the fact that a RAMDAC chip was **ONLY** used for video devices... well you have only proven your complete ignorance beyond all reasonable doubt.

  • @jeremystanger1711
    @jeremystanger1711 6 років тому +71

    "That's not controversial"

    • @CockatooDude
      @CockatooDude 6 років тому +19

      In fairness it shouldn't be. You can make digital audio sound however you want. The same cannot be said for records.

    • @deadeyeduncan5022
      @deadeyeduncan5022 5 років тому

      @@CockatooDude Yep, you can make them sound however you want. And that's why nothing sounds like it should sound.

    • @gavinjenkins899
      @gavinjenkins899 5 років тому +3

      Sure some silly people believe anything you can say. I think he just meant to say something more like "objectively true"

    • @reiniervanzwieten7092
      @reiniervanzwieten7092 4 роки тому

      Like modern vinyl is mostly stuff recorded digitally and then ported to vinyl so same quality as the digital stuff. But because of the nature of digital audio if audio hasn't been digitised it is better.

    • @threepe0
      @threepe0 3 роки тому +3

      @@deadeyeduncan5022 absolute nonsense.

  • @williamnye2501
    @williamnye2501 4 роки тому +1

    Ok ok ok ok ok, vinyl is the best form of audio, but it is expensive, complex, and specific to yield the results that are what the vinyl community holds dear, your a very smart man. You are just unlearned In this specific topic, if you keep an open mind and talk to some people you will discover somthing amazing

  • @jeanpauls123
    @jeanpauls123 3 роки тому +2

    You could have included Eyes of the Heart a 3 side jazz album by American pianist Keith Jarrett, the fourth side is a continuous silent Groove very good for testing "rumble and hum" ( unwanted noise from the motor and magnetic interference feeding back into the pick-up cartridge) On a good quality Hi-fi record deck.

  • @BensWorkshop
    @BensWorkshop 6 років тому +72

    I'm not surprised your vinyl sounds worse than your CDs. If you handled my records like that or got them anywhere near that turntable I wouldn't let you in my house ever again.

    • @nilswegner2881
      @nilswegner2881 6 років тому +7

      Benedict White I wouldn't either. And please, please throw that Crosley out and grab some vintage equipment

    • @nathanielscreativecollecti6392
      @nathanielscreativecollecti6392 6 років тому +3

      Or a U-TURN orbit

    • @nilswegner2881
      @nilswegner2881 6 років тому +2

      Nathaniel Neubert yeah or if you really want something not expensive but new get an atlp120

    • @halo3odst
      @halo3odst 5 років тому +5

      Or i could just be that vinyl doesnt sound as good as CDs.

    • @halo3odst
      @halo3odst 5 років тому

      Alright, allow me to put the debate in the ground where it belongs *10" open reel deck at 15 IPS.*

  • @Henrix1998
    @Henrix1998 6 років тому +20

    Doooon't touch the vinyl with your dirty fingers! Only touch the edge or the middle

    • @AndrewKay
      @AndrewKay 6 років тому +1

      That's what they said to Grandmaster Flash, too.

    • @MarkTillotson
      @MarkTillotson 6 років тому

      Remember to clean the fingerprints off with emery cloth and white-spirit now...

    • @Blitterbug
      @Blitterbug 4 роки тому

      ...or with a hammer :)

  • @profdrdrnoname4360
    @profdrdrnoname4360 5 років тому

    I loved this video a lot. Thanks!

  • @oddjobbob8742
    @oddjobbob8742 2 роки тому

    I like all your UA-cams (even, and maybe especially the ones I can’t hardly understand) and I especially enjoy the discussion you snd ElectroBoom have been having about chain falling from a cup. “The Mould Effect,” you should be absolutely proud. Your kids should be enormously proud. But, the only people who can see any superiority, in any level, of vinyl records over even the worst MP3 did not grow up when Vinyl was the only option.
    The deficits you describe in CDs and MP3 players is not a deficit of the technologies, it is the fault of the recorders. The people who are producing the CDs, etc.

  • @kirillfedtsov
    @kirillfedtsov 6 років тому +6

    Sonic Youth!

  • @coriscotupi
    @coriscotupi 5 років тому +4

    I never expected to live in a time where someone would need to explain to newer generations how a vinyl record works, that the needle goes down a spiral groove, etc. The future definitely has come.

  • @lewismassie
    @lewismassie 6 років тому +1

    A small Steve disassembling his toys to mess with people is an amazing image

  • @AkashJainAkashJain
    @AkashJainAkashJain 6 років тому

    amazing one yaar ... haven't observed such thing ... great stuff