What percentage of new vinyl you buy is defective?

I buy three or four albums a month. In the past three years, I've gotten only one that I needed to return. It was a warped Blues Project LP.

 

100% of the records i have purchased from amazon have been warped.

I have only one but still.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with you.

 

Wholeheartedly agree with this. All my LPs come from sources like Music Direct or other such internet sources and only top-grade pressings. Have had no problems whatever in many years.

I also wonder this: my buys are mostly classical and jazz; wondering if they're manufactured to a higher quality?? Just wondering

 

I must have bought around 20 LPs since the New Year, and had 2 with issues - both purchased from my local HMV.

Lennon's Imagine had a bad crackle on one channel throughout side 1, I returned it to the store, but the the replacement had the same issue, but not as bad. Couldn't have been bothered taking it back.

Stevie Wonder's Innervisions had exactly the same issue, this time on side 2. Not as bad as Imagine, so again I kept it. I presume both pressings are from the same plant, and it's definitely not my turntable.

If it happens again I'll probably order online more often, although I did buy more vinyl when I returned Imagine!

 

IMO seems to be getting worse, especially in last year...

 

I've noticed considerable improvement over the last few years.

Granted, I don't buy much new vinyl - maybe 3 or 4 items each month - and I usually stick to the cheaper releases, but I can't remember the last record I bought that was off-center, warped or afflicted with non-fill. Maybe I've just had an incredibly long lucky streak. :knock wood:

 

I'm getting warps more than not lately,really ticking me off.

 

Would you guys consider a small scuff/scratch creating several repeated ticks (say about 4-5 or more) a defect?

I can live with slight warping and off-centre records if it doesn't affect the sound and/or pitch. Both these issues can also be tamed or fixed if necessary. Scuffs and scratches on the other hand are non fixable. A single tick or pop I find accetable, but repeated ticks/pops can drive me nuts at times...

The store owner at my local recordstore does find me a bit too picky. I do feel bad when I encounter defects on new vinyl I just picked up. But I guess I shouldn't feel guilty and just ask for an exchange.

 

Do you wash your new purchases?

 

Used records get cleaned before I play them. For new records I just use a fiber brush before and after each side. If there is too much noise I clean the record more thoroughly.

 

Maybe thats the problem

 

My SH Tres Hombres is slightly dished, but it sounds fine.

 

You think? I don't know...
How could playing a record create a scuff/scratch? Most of the records I buy new play perfect using a fiber brush before play. First play is always a QC test for me. If there are any noises or repeated ticks I inspect the vinyl to see what is causing these sounds. Sometimes these marks are not easy to spot through the dust or other particles on the vinyl before dry cleaning with a brush.

 

I buy quite a bit. I think the problem is a bit worse than it was a couple years ago, and I seem to almost always have noise issues with colored vinyl. Lots of noise on all three discs of the Forrest Gump $60 three disc album....all the discs are colored. Got it exchanged and the new one is fine. What I am seeing is the popular stuff like Taylor Swift (her last three releases were all horrible quality...warpage, off center and very noisy vinyl...real garbage), Meghan Trainor...pop stuff that likely is selling in good numbers, is pretty awful but most reissue stuff sounds great. Don't know whats up with that, but luckily I mainly buy reissues and most are awesome. Did just return Carly Simons hits reissue...was very noisy!

 

Could be something in the groove. Didn't you say yourself that you couldn't see the scratch?

 

No, I can definitely see the scuff that is causing these repeated ticks.

I read mostly about warped and off centre records, but I was wondering what others do with small scuffs. Do you accept these minor damages, or do you return any damage which gives a few or more repeated ticks.

 

I hate a scuff on a new record but unless it affects playback I do not return. In part it is because I have relationships with the stores I buy from and I know what a hassle it is for them to do returns. and its not like I don't have records that show wear from going in and out of a paper sleeve. I am pretty mental about having a NM collection but if you cannot tolerate some level of imperfection vinyl is a very rough hobby to be into.

 

Do you mean audible, or skips?
I guess the amount of ticks and level of intrution to be tolerable is different for everyone?!

 

I ordered an LP from amazon last month and received a soup dish. The thing was so dished if it did not have a spindle hole in it I could have used it as dinnerware.

 

I suspect of great deal of issues (except for warps) are down to thicker 180 gram vinyl being "shoved" into outer sleeves designed for the thinner vinyl of the original releases. Most of my new purchases have severely wrinkled inner sleeves, and once removed take a lot of trouble (and swearing) to safely replace. Just a thought.

 

First, let me make this clear:

There is no 100% flat LP in the world. Everyone has different expectations and thresholds about these issues, as a professional seller and store owner I must always understand and respect that so in the end it's the customer call that counts and I always offer return/refund for anything regardless of reason.

But for me, as a private vinyl consumer (yep, I buy a lot of vinyl from other stores) it's something like this:

1- Function. If it's playable without obvious sonic degradation or effects caused by the warp/dish, it's not ideal, but it's ok...

2- Looks. If it looks almost normal, with minimal tonearm movement like a very gentle wave (no sudden steps or drops), and if I look at plate/disc level and can see just a few millimeters of space between vinyl and plate... it's not ideal, but it's ok...

I've lost many hours and brain cells of my life returning records... more often than not, replacements usually had the same problems or worse... sometimes they had different problems... my replacement experience as a customer was overall pretty bad, not because stores didn't treat me right (on the contrary), but because when a product is made with small imperfections, or when there is a common cause for such imperfections, a lot of luck is needed to find one that is free from such issues...

I used to obsess over these things... but over the years... as I'm getting older... I find that I shouldn't waste my time with minor issues, or with non-disruptive issues... if it doesn't look horrendous, if it can play and plays mostly well... I'm done


But that's me! And we're all different...

I've mentioned this before... I believe it more and more everyday based on my experience as a store owner. I used to have a lot of problems with warped and dished vinyl in the past. I mean warped and dished more than what is acceptable, near unplayable and visually really bad!

Over the years, I started to find patterns... not just certain labels/pressing plants more affected than others, but also where the records were coming from... what country... what store... huge stores, small stores... stores from audiophile backgrounds, stores from generalist retail area, stores with connections to the professional DJ world... all these things made a difference, some stores were really bad (like 7 out of 10 LP's severely dished), but others were mostly perfect...

Here's what I've learned. Not everyone values vinyl like we do. Not everyone knows how to store, handle and ship vinyl like we would like them to. For some, it's just another merchandise, it could be potatoes or car batteries, whatever... for others, it's just a professional tool to be used at work and by professionals who see a record in a very different way... and for a few, it's a beautiful a precious thing for music lovers and vinyl collectors

As a store owner, because I know I'm moslty free from severe warp/dishing issues (not completely free, some come like that from the factory, but not many), I started thinking and questioning why this happens. The bottom line is: quality handling, packaging and storing.

The bigger the store, the more problems... because when a store has to handle and move around ans store thousands of LP boxes coming in and out every couple of days or every day, it's impossible to do it with true and effective care like vinyl records require.

This happens not only because the store personnel and infrastructures are not adequate for vinyl, but also because the distribution of vinyl records is not made with strong enough and solid boxes... I'm always in shock to see the low quality of the big boxes used for shipping LP's across countries (sometimes continents) that go through several warehouses, trucks, planes, trains... you name it, being handled by dozens of peolple who don't even know the nature of the merchandise they are manipulating (and even if they knew, they would not care as it's not their job to care about that). The packaging is usually very poor and in my opinion inadequate for moving vinyl around.

Then, when it finally reaches the stores... there are many different ways to deal with those boxes... and each store does it differently. The huge stores will just bump them around like any other box (read Amazon or any major retail store from any country, physical or online)... I've been to the "backstage" of a few huge stores, and what I've seen would make most of us cry in pain...

There is the crucial aspect of timing. If a box with 50, 100 or more LP's arrives at a store, it should be unpacked within a couple of hours and shelved properly. Not left around for days or weeks, sometimes with records stacked horizontally and with unbalanced weight over them, until it's time to unpack... guess what, this happens a lot! I've seen boxes stacked like "potato boxes" and left waiting for more than a week under some heat until they were finally unpacked. What happens to perfectly good shaped LP's after that? They get warped and dished

For small stores, the same can happen, if the owners and employees are not in the same mindset as we are... I've had much better experience with small stores, but some were just as bad as the big ones.

Then there is the storing of LP's as they should be stored, after unpacking. And the shipping, from store to buyer... many warps and dishing problems do occur at this last stage, it depends on the quality and sturdiness of the box, the shipping distance/time, and the time of the year... and on being lucky

Basically, today I know that warps and dishing can be caused at the production stage (let's say maybe 10% or 15% of such issues), but mostly it happens in distribution and in the backstage even before the records are put for sale in the stores (same for online stores). I know this because I've been able to experience that doing it right really makes most of these problems go away

 

Every time I think I might get into vinyl, new reasons to ditch the idea tend to pop up. Today's reasons come from some of the responses in this thread. I guess you suffer for what you love, but this sounds like a major PITA.

 

Ok, so the past few weeks I bought about 13 new records (including 5 yesterday at RSD). All records are flat. Some mild warping, but really nothing to worry about. 3 titles from RSD were slightly off centre. This is too bad but fixable, so doesn't count as a real problem for me. 4 titles have a certain amount of ticks and pops. Not light ticks, like static or dust. All these titles were cleaned with l'art du son and rinsed with distilled water by the way (using 2 sets of disco antistat baths).

- 1 Has already been exchanged (mark knopfler - tracker). There was a visible scratch with repeated ticks. The new one sounds perfect!
- I am about to ask for an exchange for Yes Expanded (debut album on music on vinyl). Also visible scratch with ticks.
- Tomorrow (mono reissue for RSD 2015) has some nasty sounds at the beginning of side 1 and a scratch near the end of side 2.
- Anthony Phillips - The geese & the ghost (esoteric reissue for RSD 2015) has a bit too much noise on side 1 (some loud snaps at the beginning for example). I can't really see what is causing this on the vinyl surface. If this doesn't go away with more cleaning I will try to exchange. Especially since this is a silent, acoustic album in nature.

So, this comes down to about 30% of new vinyl that is defective in my point of view. They all play perfect. The defects are pure audio related. Do these issues warant an exchange or am I too picky on what to expect from a new product?

 

From experience I can tell the noise won't go away. Exchange asap.