Discoloration On New Vinyl LP From Amazon Will It Affect Playability

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by AcidPunk15, Feb 14, 2018.

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  1. AcidPunk15

    AcidPunk15 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Brunswick, NJ
    Imgur: The magic of the Internet

    https://i.imgur.com/irAqLIW.jpg

    I bought a new record from a noise rock band on Sub Pop Records engineered by Steve Albini. The first album I got had a ton of clicks, pops and scratches so I returned it. The 2nd record I got was dead silent and I couldn't hear a single clicks or pops and sounds great, but it has this weird discoloration red sort of scratches looks like dirt does this effect playability.It doesn't seem to, but can anyone explain what this is to me? I posted pics above.
     
  2. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    The only contribution to this thread I can make is that I have a number of albums which play flawlessly, yet have some discoloration. Please remember that the black color of most vinyl LPs is actually a color purposefully dumped into the mix to give it that color.

    And one LP has a gash from when I dropped my clamp on it, yet it plays flawlessly as well. No pops or clicks or anything.

    If you're seeing something like this, yet you don't hear anything out of the ordinary, the damage/discoloration might be on the surface of the track on the LP but not *in* the track where the needle would be reading the musical information.
     
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  3. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    If it's just a coloration problem and not damage to the playing surface, it's OK. My copy of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma has this weird sort of rainbow effect on both sides of the first LP and yet there's no problem with the sound at all. Something didn't get mixed properly at the plant is all, I figure.
     
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  4. AcidPunk15

    AcidPunk15 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Brunswick, NJ
    An Original Ummagumma
     
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  5. GroovyGuy

    GroovyGuy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Halifax, NS Canada
    Does it sound okay to you? If so, keep it and enjoy :). If it doesn't sound okay to you and/or if you're not comfortable with keeping it in the long run than ship it back to Amazon. It's your money so it's your call. Hope it works out for you :)
     
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  6. If it sounds good keep it. It is not a movie. :tiphat:
     
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  7. AcidPunk15

    AcidPunk15 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Brunswick, NJ
    Are the White spots come from using a dirty microfiber cloth. 2nd photo bottom center of pic
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2018
  8. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    As others have said, it could just be that copy which had too little black carbon coloring in those spots or its maybe some left over vinyl of another color that got stuck on the stamper and pressed into your copy. If it doesnt affect sound I say keep it. Life is too short to worry about such trivial things, at least for most.
     
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  9. AcidPunk15

    AcidPunk15 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Brunswick, NJ
    Yah I agree I guess I just wanted to see how this came to be. Another color being stuck makes the most sense to me.
     
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  10. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    I iften see it on colored records especially. A white record might have some black spots or stripes for example. Im not sure if its true, but I heard its a good way of telling that you got an early press of that particular color on that stamper. Makes sense but Im not sure.
     
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  11. JohnO

    JohnO Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    No (about the cloth).
    Many vinyl records start from a mix of "virgin" vinyl pellets and "regrind" or recycled shredded or pulverized into pellets old vinyl records. Then they melt it all together and mix in the black coloring. The new vinyl may take on new black color better than the recycled vinyl, which may have lost some color in the melting or somehow. It's almost normal and has been that way for many many years. It's usually not a problem. When a pressing uses pure virgin vinyl, it usually says so. If your copy plays well for you, that's all that counts.

    It could be that the first one you got was pressed from all recycled vinyl - someone was being cheap or committing a fraud. In the 1960s, some cheap labels with their 99 cents LPs would use that cheapest type of vinyl. But mixing some amount of recycled vinyl in with virgin vinyl can be ok and keeps costs down.
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2018
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  12. AcidPunk15

    AcidPunk15 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Brunswick, NJ
    This band is on Sub Pop (Owned 50% by Warners) those spots always come after I clean my LPs with microfiber cloth I use a lot of water and the LPs don't dry properly so they from "water spots"
     
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