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It’s Record Store Day, so play some vinyl

Leigh :) StarkbyLeigh :) Stark
April 23, 2022
Reading Time: 4 mins read
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April 23 is World Record Store Day, and whether you’re masking up and heading to a local shop to listen to some classic records or looking online, it’s time to load up some vinyl.

The end of April may begin to herald the colder months for much of Australia, but it also holds a day where you can remind yourself of a love for vinyl, and the sound the medium holds for your tunes.

This year, Saturday April 23 is World Record Store Day, and while that might be a day to gather round your local record store and listen to some plastic classics, it’s also a time when you can dig up your own classics and just chill out to some tunes.

To do that, you might dig out the old media and gather round your own record player, or even finding one to show your kids what used to exist before music was available on every device for everyone to consume.

Grab a record player

Technics SL1200G

At one point in time, listening to music was very different, and was something you might do in a collective. While we’re all so reliant on headphones these days plugged into phones and computers for our own personal sound, well before that, things were different. You needed a device specifically for vinyl, and you still kind of do.

Much like how compact discs (CDs) require a CD player and a Mini Disc requires a Mini Disc player, records need a record player. In short, these use needles to pick up on vibrations and relay these into electrical signals, heard back as sound through a speaker. The grooves are the important part of the record where all the sound data is held, and without the record player to drive them, you’re not getting sound out of a record.

Record players come in lots of styles, ranging from simple cheap portable gadgets that can have low quality needles to very expensive devices built for DJs to cue or even folks to just listen.

You can spend as little as a hundred for a cheapie or well into the thousands, but if you’re going to play any vinyl, you definitely need a record player, so grab one, and then it’s time to find some music.

Find some tunes

Finding vinyl is fairly easy, be it at a physical record store, your local electronics shop, or even online stores and eBay being obvious places to turn to.

But there are other places you might be thinking of. Parents, for instance.

If your folks are around, you may be able to scour a box, cupboard, or bookshelf looking for old vinyl, finding remnants of the styles of music they used to listen to stored within the grooves of vinyl. Some of these examples mightn’t be in the best condition, but others could be totally ready for playback, and may even hold clues to the sort of tunes you listened to when you were younger, too, back before the age of CD and digital.

Get vinyl playing around the home

Sony PS-LX310BT Bluetooth record player launched at CES 2019

Once you have records and a record player, it might be time to get it playing around the house.

If you have yourself a speaker or amplifier with phonograph connection, you can plug right in and play those tunes.

Alternatively, if you have a multiroom system such as a Sonos speaker system, you may be able to use an input jack on one of those gadgets and send sound around. Owners of a Sonos Five or Sonos Port will find a way to convert their tunes to the signal a Sonos needs — a line-in, basically — and with that, you can make records play in more places than just at the record player.

Sonos Port
The Sonos Port might be an update worth taking if you want your record player or something else working in your multiroom stereo system and still keep updates flowing.

Turn old vinyl to digital

If your record player has a 3.5mm line out or a USB connection like some of the newer modern alternatives, you might want to convert those classics into something to play on your phone or computer for later.

Records are great to listen to, and deliver a warm crackling sound, but they’re not always the go-to experience for tunes. Most of us will rely on digital sources, and that’s not something vinyl typically accommodates.

While you can get digital vinyl by finding high-res audio, be it downloaded or streamed, converting classic vinyl records to digital not only grants you the ability to listen to those records whenever, but may also provide digital versions of songs and albums you can’t find anywhere.

Some albums were only made on vinyl, and have largely been lost to the catalogues, while others mightn’t be found on Australian streaming services due to differences in rights and catalogues internationally.

Sony PS-LX310BT Bluetooth record player launched at CES 2019

Leigh :) Stark

Leigh :) Stark

One of Australia's well regarded technology journalists working out of Sydney, Leigh Stark has been writing about technology for over 15 years, covering phones, computers, cameras, headphones, speakers, and more. Stylising his middle initial with an emoticon, he aims to present tech in a way that makes it easy for everyone. You can find him on Twitter and Facebook where he's typically talking tech, and can tune into what he's listening as he writes via Apple Music. While he founded Pickr in 2016, Stark's work can be seen in other publications including The Australian Financial Review, Popular Science, and many more. His award-winning podcast "The Wrap" is syndicated on Southern Cross Austereo's LiSTNR network weekly, while he can be heard on radio via ABC Brisbane and ABC Canberra, and seen on TV's Nine. Check out Leigh Stark's most recent media appearances.

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