What percentage of new vinyl you buy is defective?

Less and less as I figure out which stores and retailers don't know how to store, pack and ship them correctly.

 

I would return all of the above.

Just because the tonearm doesn't jump doesn't mean that damage/strain isn't being placed on your precious cantilever.
I don't mind the odd pop, or background noise as long as it is unobtrusive, but certainly not 3 or 4. A few farting noises is OK but not over half a track.

Visual defects such as light scratches that aren't audible aren't returned.

Bent covers I get replaced. This accounted for most of my returns from Amazon UK. I suspect the packaging wasn't up to the NZ Postal service's delicate handling.

I probably return between 5 and 10%, of which most would be for warps, followed by split seams/bent covers, the rest for manufacturing/pressing faults.

When I bought new vinyl in the eighties, I would have returned less than 1%.

 

About 5% but my local dealer takes care of me

 

Platter hole to small.

 

i wouldn't want to be your retailer

 

Of the last 100 Lp's I've bought, I've only had two bad records. One was an MCA "Heavy Vinyl" pressing of Dave Mason's Alone Together (mastered by Kevin Gray) which is pretty significant;y warped, but plays perfectly, so I didn't return it. The other, Snow Patrol's A Hundred Million Suns which was pressed off-center, so I sent it back to Music Direct, and they replaced it with no problems. Other than those two, I've had a very positive experience with new vinyl.

 

Always bothersome, but is this really considered a defect ?
Certainly no cause for a return ?

 

Don't buy any more new vinyl
defect scenario solved.

 

I guess that I've been really lucky over the years, the overall number of issues have been minimal. I try my best to avoid anything pressed at United, Rainbo, GZVinyl or involving labels of questionable reputation.

 

I'd return a record with too small of a hole. You could try to enlarge it, of course, but if you don't get it right then the record could be placed on the platter slightly off center. For me, that would be more trouble than it's worth.

 

It's hard to get a bad ho' centred, even if you've read all of Velvet Jones' books... If it's anything other than a little spur that I can file away easily, I'd return any other ho' problem.

 

Not sure why this is but I've found that 100% of the vinyl I've found utterly unacceptable was purchased in-store at Amoeba Records. I have never purchased anything from Amazon, Music Direct or any other online retailer that has had issues big enough to return.

I've returned maybe a dozen records to Amoeba. I'd say 75% of the 300 os so new LP's I've purchased this year were were bought from an online retailer. So roughly 10-15% of my in-store purchases have been defective.

Either I've gotten incredibly lucky online or maybe there's some reason I'm getting bad stuff at Amoeba.

I will say that as I'm educating myself more about vinyl, I think I will get much more picky about what I consider acceptable. I see a ton of non-fill on new vinyl that I ignore unless it gets really bad. Perhaps I should just keep returning albums with non-fill until I get one that is better.

 

Rachael, you're soooo bad! I love it!

 

I buy new vinyl - for new albums like Vaniish, Future Islands, Peter Murphy, Alcest, etc etc - and the vinyl quality overall has been very good. I had one mediocre pressing - The Wild Swans latest album - that was noisy but a good cleaning really helped.

However, I've noticed more problems with some of my recent audiophile purchases - for example the no fill and scuffs of the The Who - Tommy, and some general ticks 'n' pops with Neil Young - Live at the Cellar Door.

The Four Men With Beards stuff has been the worst - lots of warp and noise.

 

Off track question but how is the new Peter Murphy album?

 

I love that Dave Mason record.

 

I've given up on new vinyl mainly due to the change in the market place. In my opinion, an lp is either perfect, i.e. as new (nm), or not. There are no "acceptable" issues, or problems that I care to live with. My thoughts on new lps have not changed in a long time. What has changed, however, is the market place. When I began buying lps, if there was an issue (any issue), I went back to the record store and exchanged it for a new one - no questions, no problems, no extra cost. Record stores understood returns were a by-product of the process and handled it in an efficient manner. Now, the onus has been put on the record buyer to explain every problem, box up the offending lp, send it back, and wait to see how much the unacceptable lp is going to cost in $ and time. It is this inversion of responsibility that has, for me, made new vinyl purchases more trouble than they're worth.

 

Soy malo maximosa, en toda! ....to the core!

 

My local F.Y.E. store now stocks new and used vinyl,and surprisingly I seen a couple interesting things cheap.
If I pick up a couple new and used does the temperature of the room I store them in matter?For example I wouldn`t want a sealed Doors DCC on my shelf to warp during a 90 degree heatwave!

Maybe a silly concearn,but you known vinyl is often irreplaceable.

 

As for new, I've bought only 7 and all where fine. I usually stay away from new, but sometime an interesting album comes along. Once a month, I treat myself to a 45rpm LP, from Soundstagedirect, been great son far. Used, have been pretty good, as I only buy from local shops and a trusted (tested) seller on Discogs. Only problems have been warpage , and using my M97xE, brush down, solves that issue.

 

Id like to know as well. I had about 50 records I forgot about upstairs in a garage. They endured two summers of temps that were often anywhere from 30 to 45 degrees! I expected them to be wapred beyond recognition almost, but they seem fine. Go figure.

 

A couple of days ago I picked up The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead reissue that I'd been eyeing for a couple of years.

Side one was literally the noisiest, crackliest mess I have ever heard on a new record. And this was after cleaning. I bought a bunch of LPs out of a bargain bin a few days previously, and the worst of them didn't sound as bad as this new copy of The Queen Is Dead.

Side two sounded perfect, quiet as the grave. It's just too bad about the two skips.

Fortunately I've dropped enough money and built up enough good will at Zia Records that they allowed me to exchange it towards something else.

But this kind of proves what I said in an earlier post ... Rhino reissues that are not branded on a brag label as "RhinoVinyl" tend to be worse.

(In comparison, the new copies of Radiohead's OK Computer and The Bends that I bought were pretty much perfect, with only one repeating click between two tracks on OK Computer, which isn't a dealbreaker.)

 

Probably 10%. A minor warp (about 2mm) that's gradual is acceptable. Anything worse is immediately returned/refunded.
Very few of the new records are scratched in any audible way.
Very few are off center.

I've been pickier with the pressings I buy except for new music where I have no choice.

Most of the records are dusty and/or have static. Even RTI/QRP/etc, but to a lesser extent.

A good spin clean helps a lot.

 

Amazon and B&N exchanges make this as simple as possible, at least for online purchases. Their packaging is reusable (you just need packaging tape to re-seal and the UPS label is pre-paid). I've had two issues recently and returned two LP's with no muss / no fuss.

In-store, on the other hand, is a problem as you stated, and it's why I am hesitant to buy new vinyl via a B&M - I do buy occasionally but I know I'm rolling the dice and I know the store eats the cost, so it's a bit of a catch-22....buy the album and support them, but what if it's defective?

 

That's exactly my experience....very pleased. I am tolerant of physical defects regarding the cover and sleeve but the vinyl needs to be quiet and. NOT off center at all. Very rare one doesnt meet those standards. In fact, aside from the Beatles reissue fiasco, the only other issue was with a recent copy of The Stylistics Hits....full of pops and clicks and my retailer won't take them back so it is on line for me going forward. Dumb policy on the brick and Mortars part. I had to return vinyl constantly is the 70's so for me it is much better these days. No warping issues either, so far. Amazing considering how many sit outside until I rescue it from the porch after a delivery.