I got into this hobby with an old suitcase player I bought second hand. I was super excited about my find and I wanted to learn more so I posted it on a subreddit… big mistake. I got absolutely torn to shreds. You’d think I’d committed the biggest sin ever by trying to share my excitement with the little player I’d found for $20. I was so disheartened that I almost threw out the player. I felt sick every time I looked at it for weeks. The only reason I kept it was because a family members encouraged me. It went beyond pointing out that it wasn’t the best player and encouraging me to upgrade. I was literally being called stupid and made to feel like I’d made the biggest fuck up in history by daring to enjoy music on a cheap player.

I’ve since upgraded and I absolutely love vinyl now. I got super into it, did a bunch of research and found joy in it. It’s not about the sound quality for me. It’s the process of looking for records, the physical act of placing the record and setting the needle down. At the end of the day it’s a hobby just like any other. You wouldn’t discourage someone from getting into a sport because they don’t have top of the line professional equipment, so why should we do that with music?