Anyone else tired of new LP's arriving like this (pics) ...?

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Simon_LDT, Jan 25, 2017.

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  1. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    Same here. I even keep them in the poly bags if they came into those. Never a problem. Fancy replacement bags are unnafordable down here. Would love to use them.
     
  2. Arkay_East

    Arkay_East Forum Resident

    Location:
    ATX
    I don't have this problem. I totally eliminate it altogether by physically driving to the shop, looking at the records and picking them out after playing them. If I buy a sealed record with a flaw that causes playback issues I exchange it the next time I'm in (usually every few days). I have a lot of new, pristine vinyl.

    I know not everyone has this option. But if you do, and you buy sight unseen anyway, well ...
     
    Dale A B likes this.
  3. Revolver

    Revolver Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I consider myself lucky. I've bought hundreds of records from EBay, Amazon and Discogs over the past 10-15 years and had to get replacements on maybe 10 of them and it was never a problem except the time I got the last physical copy of this one album and it was just more than mildly warped. I got a decent discount and kept it. Amazon's return policy is excellent if you don't abuse it.
     
  4. jason202

    jason202 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    I'll occasionally get a brand new record with scuffs like that, but it doesn't really bother me if it doesn't affect how it sounds.

    Now on the other hand, I regularly see bad warping and deep scratches in the surface of records that do indeed affect sound quality. Or some sort of residue in the grooves that I can't seem to remove without fear of inflicting further damage. These records get returned.
     
  5. babyblue

    babyblue Patches Pal!

    Location:
    Pacific NW
    Yeah, I can see how new LPs in this condition are upsetting. But when buying LPs back in the day (1960-70s) scuffs like this were pretty common. It seemed to be caused by pressing or vinyl problems (filler in the vinyl?) , rather than actual dirt or scratches caused by sleeves. Sometimes this affected sound, sometimes not. Most of the time I learned to live with it. I still play many of these LPs.
     
    24voltsdc likes this.
  6. The_Windmill

    The_Windmill Forum Resident

    Location:
    Italy
    how did they do it?
    melting the surface and re-pressing or melting discs altogether to get new vinyl to feed the plants with?
     
  7. Satrus

    Satrus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cork, Ireland
    I'm with you on that line of thought! If I hear that a record is pressed at Rainbo, URP or GZ Vinyl, it gives me pause for thought. Rainbo has problems pressing 180 gram LPs, and the records tend to have spots of non-fill. They can produce good records it seems, when the money is right and they are watched over by the customer. I actually have a high gloss, 180 gram vinyl LP pressed by Rainbo that is flat and dead silent. I had to adjust the spindle hole for concentricity (invisible mend!) though and it plays wonderfully well. I would imagine, since I don't knowingly buy Rainbo LPs, that the run of the mill output from them can be a very mixed bag. Rainbo made a complete dogs dinner some years ago of 'Here Before' by The Feelies which was very disappointing for me.

    United or URP, are really poor in my experience and have a bad attitude with respect to complaints about quality issues . Their vinyl can be really crunchy and noisy. My last LP from them was last year's Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers 'Rehab Reunion' and it is noisy as hell. Ultra Sonic Cleaning however did help as it seems to have pushed the noise well below the threshold of the music. You will still hear reduced noise and crackle between tracks but when the music starts, the noise disappears as if by magic. It is a fine sounding disc but 429 used the wrong plant! QRP could have made a demo quality disc out of that one!

    My only recent experience of GZ Vinyl is the current Paul Simon album 'Stranger to Stranger' which is fine, thankfully. They are capable of good quality but I suspect only for 'high value' jobs.

    All of this, I think, goes to show that, at least two of these plants can produce good product when they set their minds to it and I imagine when the price is right. If a label wants to save on costs by bypassing the de-horning process and other quality controls then you often end up with records that nobody really wants to listen to or play. I can honestly say though that I have never heard any noise from LPs where the de-horning process was bypassed. Sure the surface looks a mess, but what you are seeing is not physical damage on the vinyl itself but an imprint from the stamper, if that makes sense. Mobile Fidelity made a big issue of not de-horning the metal parts on its reissues but the initial JVC Japan pressings are clean and glossy and the later and current MoFis are very nice too. Somehow I never fully bought in to what MoFi says about the noise disappearing with subsequent plays but maybe I haven't spun my MoFis enough over the years?
     
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  8. bubba-ho-tep

    bubba-ho-tep Resident Ne'er-Do-Well

    Location:
    San Tan Valley, AZ
    You don't sound like a jerk at all. Ever since the Beatles stereo box debacle I steer clear of anything with the name "Rainbo" attached to it.
     
    Opeth likes this.
  9. babyblue

    babyblue Patches Pal!

    Location:
    Pacific NW
    This does take awhile, but it does indeed work. I've had a few LPs that were terribly warped that are now perfectly flat.
     
    Gaslight likes this.
  10. Tartifless

    Tartifless Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    2 % rate here, over the last 200 i purchased i had 2 non-centered holes (Sufjan Stevens twice), 1 long scratch (Sticky Fingers) and one white spot (like paint) on a Led Zep iii remaster.

    Sufjan Stevens i didn't exchange it a third time but i drilled the hole correctly, Sticky Fingers i exchanged at the record store.
    Led Zep 3 i got reimbursment from amazon (didn't have to send it back but i put it in the bin anyway).
     
  11. Trevor_Bartram

    Trevor_Bartram Senior Member

    Location:
    Boylston, MA, USA
    And you're paying so much for this trash. When I came to the U.S. in 85 I replaced some of my noisey U.K. LPs for $5-7. These were superb new pressings. The music store owner had never seen a CD!
    I assumed with the vinyl resurgence that much stricter quality control justified the high prices, it seems not.
     
    GMcGilli likes this.
  12. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    I can confirm this but it's been warped vinyl I forgot about for months or even years.
     
  13. babyblue

    babyblue Patches Pal!

    Location:
    Pacific NW
    Oh, it definitely takes at least months to work. One Beatle bootleg was so warped that I didn't even pull it out to look at it for years, but when I finally played it again, it was perfectly flat.
     
  14. PATB

    PATB Recovering Vinyl Junkie

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Last month, I took advantage of the Nonesuch 50% off one day sale and purchased a Brad Mehldau (1 disk), Allen Toussaint (2 disks), and Emmylou Harris (3 disks), and all 6 disks have varying degrees of warpage. Took me a whole week of using my Vinyl Flat to flatten all of them. The disks are relatively quiet and have great mastering, but the fact that I had to fix the warps (even though I could with my Vinyl Flat) make me think twice before getting any new Nonesuch vinyl. The disks are relatively cheap (because of the 50% sale), so shipping them back at my expense did not make sense. Otherwise, I would have returned them for replacement.

    I also bought the Star Wars hologram OST -- and both disks are so warped the clerk at Barnes and Noble was laughing when I showed it to him. The replacement disks, from the BN warehouse shipped to my residence, were even worse. And I could not fix the warp with my Vinyl Flat. BN allowed me to replace them with the Neil Young Greatest Hits, which is perfect!
     
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