Anime soundtracks on Vinyl/CD and sound systems/equipment

[zrdb]

Feel free to delete this but to me a lot of side threads are like look at one person bragging about what they've got and the next person says well this is what I've got and it's better than yours and then it turns into 2 little kids arguing in the school yard. Enough. I've been collecting cds since they first came to the market and the way I listen to music has evolved over the years. I still buy a cd once in a while but as mentioned before I keep most of my music on usb flash drives now a days. Believe it or not I label the drives so I know what's on them because they all look alike. I use a label maker-even with the smallest font size you can only print a small amount of information on the label like Anime OSTs vol.1. I've got about 40 of them and if they were cds I'd have probably a 4 shelf rack so they save me a lot of space. OK, thread back on track.

 

[Girls with Guns]

Oh, nice! Thanks Rui, for migrating my posts and related conversations about my vintage stereo system to it's own thread! The entire reason I started posting about my stereo system here in the AUKN forum was because I dug it out of storage specifically to be able to play all the new anime sountrack LPs I've been purchasing from All the Anime and elsewhere. This is basically the start of a new anime hobby for me, so it's why I wanted to post about it! This thread will also give other members a place to post about their anime Vinyl and CD collections, separate from anime and manga in other threads.

I had planned to keep the conversation on-topic by relating any audio hardware discussion to anime vinyl or CD products, and what people are using now in the 21st century to play them on. I mean, Vinyl and CDs were gradually becoming relics of the past, but since Covid both formats have been experiencing quite a resurgence again, especially with the younger generations, and I'm loving it. I really wanted to get back into appreciating vinyl again myself, and what better way than with all these new anime soundtrack LPs and CDs being produced - they have been the main driving force in me getting back into setting up a dedicated stereo system in the house again.

 

[Girls with Guns]

I had received one more Anime vinyl LP from an eBay seller a week ago, but I forgot to post it here. Interestingly, the back cover says Side A is to be played at 45 RPM, and Side B at the normal 33 1/3 RPM. I guess that is a clever trick as a play on the name of the first song, "Abnormalize," so you play Side A at an abnormal speed... (Abby Normal?)

Psycho-Pass: Cutting the Digital Domination 10th Anniversary Black Vinyl LP

Anyway, I listened to this album and it turned out to be mostly headbanger and death metal music, not what I was expecting and not really something I can get into. I think my oldest daughter would like it though, so I'll have to play it for her the next time she visits.

 

[cfx]

While fairly uncommon, LPs are sometimes done at 45 RPM if feasible from a time length standpoint because the sound quality can be better. The two sides not being the same speed is not something I remember seeing before though. There have been some audiophile pressings of things like classic rock albums that are on two LPs so they can be at 45 RPM instead of the 33-1/3 they would have originally been at. I don't remember who did that, might have been Mobile Fidelity, but could have been someone else.

I had one of 45 RPM LP way back when--not an anime LP, but electronic music by Richard Wahnfried, which was really Klaus Schulze using a pseudonym. The first time I listened to it, I played it at 33-1/3 instead of 45 RPM either because I didn't know, or just didn't think to change the speed. Because of the type of music it was, I listened to the entire first side not knowing it wasn't the right speed. Nothing sounded unusual to me, though I did notice that it seemed to be really long.

 

[Girls with Guns]

I received one anime-related LP today from a seller on eBay - A compilation of Studio Ghibli music by Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on a double album. The copy I received is the Limited Edition Picture Disk set. The images on the two LP's are basically the same on both sides, so I only photographed the front side of each.


Joe Hisaishi: A Symphonic Celebration - Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki

 

[Hunter_Killer]

t’s a nice, great album, but this particular edition is really just for looking at. I’ve never heard a picture disc that actually sounded good. It’s great to admire but not to listen to, which is why I choose other versions.

 

[zrdb]

I've honestly never been able to see what the appeal of vinyl is as I've never owned a turntable or any lps. I went directly from cassettes to cds and the higher quality digital formats such as DVD Audio of which I own a few- the Doors L.A. Women and Fleetwood Mac's Rumors sound better than any lps you'll ever listen to.

 

[Girls with Guns]

t’s a nice, great album, but this particular edition is really just for looking at. I’ve never heard a picture disc that actually sounded good. It’s great to admire but not to listen to, which is why I choose other versions.

That's OK, I figured there would be some issues with playing a Picture Disc, so I also ordered the 2-Disc Deluxe Edition CD for this same release, which comes in a digipak with two additional tracks on a 2nd CD, music from Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away, and a thick booklet, which I assume has all the printed information from the album gatefold.

 

[Girls with Guns]

Had been looking at these two for a while, and just bit the bullet to get them.
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Oh! I forgot to make a comment on your one photo above, Farzam - two of my drinking buddies and I have been watching The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime over the past few weeks, we're currently 2 episodes in on the second season, trying to get caught up for the third season that will be starting soon! And, I yelled out loud when I saw the soundtrack was done by Bear McCreary - I loved his music from the Battlestar Galactica remake series 20 years ago. I'll probably have to snag those Rings of Power LPs if they are still available!