Quality Record Pressings - Excessive Dishing and Warping

I've had good QRP pressings and some not so hot ones. Dishing is fairly common on their records IME. My theory is that the plant needs to do a certain amount of outside work in order to remain profitable, and they are taking on too much. This means the quality of outside label work as well as the parent company's Analog Productions label is suffering.

 

Sounds like GZ are a lot better now. Clearly QRP are getting worse. Apart from one slight dish warp I had no serious issue with their product but it's been a couple years since I remember buying any QRP pressing (Maria Maldaur reissue I think). Certainly no AP titles that have appealed recently. Come to think of it 'Amused To Death' is quite noisy in places but I put that down to a mass produced issue causing problems at the time.

 

I think the biggest dive in quality recent has to be, for my experiences, Record Industry in the Netherlands. Honestly, I have had so many warped records from them recently. GZ records look so much better now and they have improved significantly. I rarely get warped records from them either.

The specialists of dished records goes are Pallas USA.

 

That's the problem with pressing vinyl records. Too much uncontrollable heat issues and there are external forces at play.

 

I've rarely had any issues with Pallas Germany. In some ways, I think they're the best.

 

no issues here from QRP

 

Last week I ordered Norah Jones' Feels Like Home from Acoustic Sounds. I got around to playing the LP this evening. Side 1 was warped, while Side 2 was plagued with excessive surface noise. Too many small ticking noises for my liking, with areas of non-fill. I will be requesting a replacement copy. I can't let this pass at $35 a pop. Not acceptable.

 

Absolutely contact him, I'm sure he's a stand up guy. The more he here's there are perceived problems with his pressings and QC the sooner he can move to correct and resolve issues.

I contacted him already.

 

Its Pallas USA that all the dished ones have come from..

 

Non-fill was my biggest issue with Pallas, particularly on dynamic jazz albums. It would have been rare for me to get a copy without non-fill on the first try, usually required one or more exchanges.

 

I contacted AS and they are sending replacement LPs for the cost of shipping. Sure, this is great, but my worry is that people may have a limited amount returns for this sort of thing before they are considered cranks. Then things could get more difficult and more expensive.

 

Oh boy, I call it the curse of the Classic Records pressing machines, which produced some pretty noisy vinyl.

I think they need to get some of the new production pressing machines, like Third Man Records in Detroit. The new machines have sensors and are monitored by computer software so that records come out more consistently. Plus, new machines would lighten the load. I don't want to hear about cost either since they have no problem charging $75 for a record and plenty of $54 dollar releases.
The machine operators over at QRP need to be more careful and follow protocol to the last degree, not just whip records in and out without any thought.

 

Yeah, well, I rec'd and returned 2 Neil Young Vol. 1 numbered boxsets due to non-fill on 2 of the 4 albums in the set.
It was a shame, because what was there was absolutely brilliant soundwise, and the packaging was outstanding.
Pressed at Pallas in Germany.

(I know exceptions to every example, but this was a big disappointing one for supposed German quality in my book....)

 

In my opinion, If Acoustic Sounds is going to ship bad product to customers, they should not be charging said customer return shipping for good replacement product, that customer has already paid for and did not get.
This is why I have not bought any vinyl from AS in a while. If they think their LP's are worth $55.00 in some cases, they better inject some Quality Control in the process.

 

Music Direct does the same thing.

 

I had issues with Acoustic Sounds a few years ago when their returns guy told me that maybe i wasn't a good fit for them and maybe should look elsewhere after returning 2 copies of Neil Youngs Prairie Wind after receiving 2 copies in a row with severely off center pressings.
I was livid!

I haven't bought a thing from them since.....

 

Well this is what I am talking about and it's not just AS. I do think that we may have more leverage with Acoustic Sounds if it is a QRP pressing and more leverage with Music Direct if it is a MFSL pressing.

 

Unfortunately with a box 1 I didn't buy it from AS but I did email Chad to let him know, of course he couldn't do anything because I didn't buy from AS nor did I expect him too but I did want to let him know that I wasn't happy with the QC at QRP.

 

I found this link which talks about QRP using temperature sensors and microprocessors to control the pressing cycle among other improvements, so I think they are already doing something similar to Third Man as far as the sensors go. If so, Im at a loss to explain the quality issues. I have had best luck with QRP, only a few returns for noisy pressings, no warps or off-center, and Ive had worse luck with other plants. That said I would be hesitant to buy a boxed set regardless of where its pressed these days.

Quality Record Pressings

 

Did he reply to your comment on QRPs quality control?

 

He did, Chad is a stand up guy. Emailed him and in less than 12 hrs I had a response directly from him, he went as far as to pull a TP box set 1 and open it to see if he could see any anomalies. He was honest and said the set he opened was scuffed and somewhat dirty but no playable defects. He said the customer requested the use of the original tight paper sleeves like the old copies. He doesnt care for them and they can lead to scuffing and other physical anomalies. He did not address the off center pressings. He did add that QC was important and they are always looking to improve and he would look into some of the issues I mentioned.

I like Chad all the interviews I've seen with him, he comes across as a really decent guy who loves music. I really want to see QRP succeed. He certainly has a vision and has build something successful out of nothing but there looks like there might be some growing pains at play!

 

Did he say anything about the wrong music on Southern Accents?

 

Furnace manufacturing:
Furnace is also very proud to have exclusive North American partnerships with the most regarded and recognized plant in the audiophile market - the Pallas Group from Germany. Pallas produces audiophile quality 180g records that outshine the competition and are well worth the extra dollars spent.

 

Did not, AS was sending replacement copies via Universal for anyone with that issue.

Kind of crazy that those went out the door like that without being noticed.

I remember crazy stuff like that in the 70's and 80's. One bought a Henry Paul Band lp and got it home put it on the table, guess what Yes Fragile was playing!

 

They did the same thing to me around then, but they actually banned me from buying anything from them. Interesting customer service model.