Major Labels Are Working on a New Vinyl Records Specification

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by arisinwind, Sep 12, 2018.

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  1. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    The only problem is likely some manufacturers not adhering to existing standards whatever they are. In fact it is likely the RIAA standards are very low in comparison to those of current specialist labels.
     
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  2. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    Records manufactured with the New Specs will be stickered:
    New Improved Sound ! Now Better Than Ever!”

    ...and also priced higher.
     
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  3. John Schofield

    John Schofield There is no replacement for displacement

    Location:
    OH
    I think you’ve hit at least one of the nails on the head Tommyboy. It’s too bad some level of consistent QC minimum requirement cannot be put on the pressing plants. Obviously the recording, engineering and mastering are huge components of any piece of vinyl. However, these are all largely reliant on the human (i.e. creative) components of recording therefore, will always be hugely variable. But, pressing the vinyl should be a straight forward and consistent process... get what’s on the stamper to the vinyl (non-warped flat vinyl)! At least with all the other components, if you know where & who recorded/engineered, who mastered, etc. you kind of know what to expect... good or bad.
     
    Tommyboy likes this.
  4. John Schofield

    John Schofield There is no replacement for displacement

    Location:
    OH
    VHS vinyl instead of BETA vinyl. And we all know the original BETA was higher quality.
     
  5. vwestlife

    vwestlife Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    Someone should tell them about Slugbug's "Truck Month" album, which was Sansui QS quadraphonic encoded and released on vinyl, cassette, and digital in 2013:

     
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  6. punkmusick

    punkmusick Amateur drummer

    Location:
    Brazil
    SHM Vinyl Record
     
  7. vwestlife

    vwestlife Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    That was already tried as far back as the 1920s, with the World Record company producing constant velocity records which started out at 33 RPM and finished at 78 RPM: Unusual types of gramophone records - Wikipedia

    A much simpler solution, which retains full compatibility with nearly all existing turntables, for symphonic music which starts out quiet and gradually gets louder as the side progresses, is to simply cut the record "backwards" (inside-start):

     
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  8. BOZMAN

    BOZMAN Forum Resident

    So what revisions were made in 1978?
     
  9. jon9091

    jon9091 Master Of Reality

    Location:
    Midwest
    The best standards update I can think of for vinyl right now is to close United Record Pressing.
     
    Leonthepro, sunspot42, Helom and 4 others like this.
  10. MrRom92

    MrRom92 Forum Supermodel

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Being that the RIAA represents (mainly) the 3 majors, it can be as simple as them setting a standard level for acceptable surface noise/offcentered-deviation, and then making it known that they will not continue to press anything at plants that can’t meet that standard.

    The “bad plants” don’t want to lose that major label money. They clean their act up to meet new standards. We get clean records. Everyone wins, the end.
     
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  11. Jeffreylee

    Jeffreylee Rock 'n' Roll Typist

    Location:
    Louisville
    So why do you?
     
  12. Tommyboy

    Tommyboy Senior Member

    Location:
    New York
    I assume this will not apply to plants outside of the US, such as GZ and MPO. Both have had a spotty history with QC. Universal uses both quite a bit.

    There have been numerous complaints over here regarding the pressings in the latest Stones vinyl box set. MPO bungled them.
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2018
  13. h46e55x

    h46e55x What if they believe you?

    Location:
    Gitmo Nation West
    The music industry hates digital! They have always been afraid that they were giving away the keys to the kingdom. They fought like maniacs to stop MP3 when standard compression was 128. Eventually they submitted to the unstoppable force of Apple, and Apple repaid them by devastating music. Even now they resist selling FLAC or HD versions of their music because it allows the end user to keep a perfect copy of their music, even as technology changes. Formats change, no problem convert it, you basically have the master.

    Vinyl, MQA and streaming are a gift to distributors. Vinyl records are easily degraded and painful to share and copy. MQA gives the user a "better" experience only if they have properly licensed equipment, and the source is hidden behind encryption masked as master quality authentication, so if MQA dies, all your files go back to CD quality or less. Streaming prevents people from owning an actual copy of anything so that changes can be pushed without end user intervention, comment or consent and catalogs can be withdrawn and re-licensed.

    The music industry does not care about music, or format quality. What they care about is their ability to sell the same material over and over again. Vinyl, MQA and streaming have given them new life.

    IMO
     
  14. MrRom92

    MrRom92 Forum Supermodel

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    I’ve had nothing but good experience with the quality of GZ’s pressings. Can speak from experience of having actually pressed through them, pulling out and testing quite a few random copies, each one not only being adequate but impressively well done… enough so that I have another project cooking up on their presses right now!


    The quality of their in house mastering, or some of their packaging options is another story altogether and does leave a lot to be desired.
    I find that their printed inners are often full of dust and other sediment, not to mention generally having a “scratchy” texture. I suspect any pressings out of GZ with noise issues might be related to this. Pressings from other labels have also performed exceptionally well, especially the ones packaged in nice polylined inners. I trust them to put out a good product.


    I’ve noticed a clear downgrade in United’s output. I’ve also since noticed a significantly smaller amount of new records that have been pressed through them. Not sure if this is correlated in any way.

    I only bought one LP in the past year that was done at MPO, nothing to write home about. No major flaws but wasn’t what I would consider particularly impressive either. Just seemed kind of average, less than silent with all sorts of marks and blemishes across the surface. (I later found that the label was dishonest about that particular record being cut from the original masters, so that particular purchase was a bit of a bummer all around)
     
    nosliw likes this.
  15. wgb113

    wgb113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chester County, PA
    This would be enough in terms of a standard for me.
     
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  16. wgb113

    wgb113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chester County, PA
    They never went "deep" into vinyl - even Barnes & Nobel went deeper in terms of selection. And NONE of the data factors in the used market which is likely several times the size as new vinyl.
     
  17. Brian Barker

    Brian Barker "No matter where you go, there you are"

    I think it's a long shot that they'd put SPARS codes on the vinyl. It's a great idea, and a helpful tool for those that want to know, but this is the same industry that removed the SPARS codes of CD's since folks were complaining about CD's that weren't fully digital.
     
  18. nosliw

    nosliw Delivering parcels throughout Teyvat! Meow~!

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON, Canada
    From what I can tell, it appears that United don't etch the (U) on to the deadwax for the most recent records any more, including Crystal Method and a large myriad of records from Universal and its subsidiaries. The pressing plant is likely very aware of their problems and is trying to get away by being very opaque.
     
  19. MrRom92

    MrRom92 Forum Supermodel

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    That could explain things. I visited their new facility last summer but it’s literally the only pressing plant I’ve ever stepped foot in. Certainly wasn’t cleanroom conditions but I’d be the wrong person to determine if anything I saw was “off” relative to other plants. I’ve had great well pressed records from them so I know they’re capable of it, but definitely not the last few (known) URP-pressed things I bought. Not sure what their deal is.
     
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  20. Nostaljack

    Nostaljack Resident R&B enthusiast

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    They do not love digital; they endure it because they have no choice but they do not now nor have they ever loved digital.

    Ed
     
  21. bean_counter

    bean_counter Well-Known Member

    Um... I don't. I don't see why other people do.
     
  22. Jeffreylee

    Jeffreylee Rock 'n' Roll Typist

    Location:
    Louisville
    Um ... you literally talk about buying some things on vinyl in your post. That's why I asked the question.
     
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  23. bean_counter

    bean_counter Well-Known Member

    Perhaps I wasn't clear; I only buy new vinyl sourced from digital if it is the only available medium for a superior mastering. If the SAME mastering/file is available digitally (file or disc), I get that and forgo the vinyl.

    Make sense?
     
  24. Kevin j

    Kevin j The 5th 99

    Location:
    Seattle Area
    under 20 bucks for a record is quite affordable, and in the US that's pretty much the standard.
     
  25. It does for me, why play a record sourced from Hi Res digital files when you can play the ACTUAL digital file without the analog distorsions introduced by record playing?
    If I want to listen to the Star Wars (OT) soundtracks digitally I play either the Sony 2016 19/24 or the new Disney remixed 192/24 albums, if I want to listen to them I play my pristine original LP's from 77, 80 and 83. 'Though I have them I'd never play the Sony golden colored LPs from 2016 as they were sourced from the same 192/24 files I own, they are the worst of both worlds.
     
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