Agreed.... I later upgraded to the Speakers Corner release which is like turning the light on. Excellent pressing, and the mastering is very good. noise floor is very very low. I used my bowl shaped reissue as a frisbee after the speaker corner release arrived. If you can source a copy of the Speakers Corner release, I say go for it. Excellent and worth the money.
My copy of On The Beach (2016, EU pressing) has a similar issue. At the beginning of the title track (side 2). A short ‘krrr’ sound. It’s only once. When the needle arrives at the same spot at the next cycle, the ‘krrr’ sound is gone. Is it non-fill ? I don’t know. It doesn’t sound to me like ‘shshshsh’ or like a zipper. I would describe it as a short crackle. My cartridge is a 2M Bronze. So far I haven’t been plagued by non-fill or similar sounding defects.
The problem with vinyl discs is not new! Before Compact discs arrived I bought vinyl and at least 2 times out of 3 I had to go back to the record store due to bad pressnings. And when I finally got a good pressing I had to be very careful not to scratch the record. So I still prefer Compact discs!
Had a copy for over 20 years. However it is the analogue remix done in late 70s. Bought the new one as it claimed to be original mix. Have a couple vintage copies but background is never going to be quiet enough from trying quite a few copies.
Which you have to be careful not to scratch either side! Actually I suspect vinyl is more durable if not abused and played with a good stylus..
I grew up in the UK as a teen in the 80s. I had maybe 500 or so lps and way more 7 inch singles. I can think of 2 times I had to return an lp for a scratch, or being visually damaged. So either I was lucky, or at that time pressings were better, who knows.
Actually the 80s were the best period for fault free pressings in my experience. Not sure vinyl cuts sounded as good and suspect DMM and digitised signal in cutting rooms was to blame. Returned few records between early 80s and early 90s.
Enjoyed this thread. Ive bought some bad pressings too, lately. One question for you folks, how do you get information on where a record will be pressed? A perfect example is I just dropped 300 dollars on the upcoming Chris Cornell box set. Now, its a preorder with the usual gimmicks of first 500 copies will get some bonus stuff. Is there any way to figure out where the set will be pressed before hand other than knowing his label is Universal?
Sometimes it says in the promotional material (e.g. Led Zeppelin re-issues from a few years ago mentioned "Pressed in Germany by Pallas"). Otherwise, I doubt there's any reliable way, since a record label could certainly switch pressing plants as needed if their usual one got backed up.
I’ve all but given up on the used vinyl bins in favor of new pressings and really have had quite good luck all around. I think reissue Vinyl has improved significantly over the last 5 years or so. Of course, it helps to stick with trusted labels and pressing plants. I tend to get some good sounding and well pressed sets. I find a lot more “bad vinyl” in the used bins these days.
The supply of good used vinyl has dwindled. I think as far as quality is concerned the label is more important than the plant. Likely down to checking test pressings properly and paying for a better level of QC.
No, I just want to know if one of my colleagues made a mistake and/or there was some QC issues at GZ or another mastering/cutting studio is responsible for those 2 mentioned problems. U2 Joshua Tree was pressed several times in various plants and years.
I've obviously been quite lucky with new vinyl, though I hardly buy loads in the first place. I still find it strange people are buying new reissues for £20-25 when originals can be much cheaper but whatever...there's a recent reissues of The Blue Yusef Lateef I want (originals are a bit pricey) but have no idea what it sounds like, might have to just risk it. I did pick up the mono reissue of A Hard Day's Night a few weeks back and my word, it sounded absolutely stunning. Blew me away!
Does anyone have any feedback on Music On Vinyl pressings? I see their stuff everywhere in the U.K and there's a few albums I'm thinking of getting but didn't think they were that great, couldn't find a thread on this.
My recollection is that when I first played it there was a noise like a slight (soft) 'tick' on track 1 side 2 that repeated over a number of revolutions. This was not at the start of the track, though. It happened about one third of the way into the song. It didn't sound like 'non-fill' at all. My copy of the record was wet cleaned first and ultrasonically cleaned later. Somehow the US cleaning may have made what was a 'tick' sound like 'non-fill' or maybe a crackle. But .. the noise is now gone/inaudible when I play it using the Kleos?? It is pretty astonishing really but it makes me so happy! I think this version of 'OTB' is the best one I have heard and my record is otherwise flawless. There is absolutely no visual evidence of a surface defect on track 1 side 2. There were a number of posts here discussing the same or a similar issue on that same track when Box Set 5-8 was first issued.
Yes, it's very satisfying when such an issue goes up in smoke. I can imagine you enjoy OTB with your Kleos. (actually I had to google the name and nearly fell of my chair).
I had full listen to my replacement U2 Joshua Tree. Of the 4 sides it's side A that had the distortion/static cut in the grooves of both copies I tired. Most notably on track A3 in the last minute. So much so my wife and 9 year old both asked what that noise was? Side 1 Deadwax: Machine Etched: 137285E1/A3 1750949-A Hand Etched: 1750949-A3 CB/SS The Hillbilly Moon Explosion - Buy Beg or Steal, on Side B track 2 very early in the song there is a glitch that sounds like someone nudged the needle over the grooves. Deadwax: 93986E2/A AU79LP005-B Thanks!
137285E1 - lacquers for U2 / Joshua Tree project were cut by Chris Bellman / Scott Sedillo (CB/SS) from Bernie Grundman Mastering - Bernie Grundman Mastering , see both individual profiles 93986E2 - cut here by DMM in 2011 - it is tooo old to find anything about that now, even on our backup HDDs. May be our fault, sorry for that. It is strange we had no claim at the time of test pressings phase, nor later. Or it can be a pressing problem on one or several records accidentaly sounding as a cutting issue. Regards,
Thanks you for the info. I assume there were multiple stampers made from the original lacquer. I'm guessing the "A3" in the laser etched matrix "137285E1/A3" is the stamper number? I see a 2016 pressing with E1/A and the 2017 Deluxe set with E1/A2 on discogs. I would like to seek out a replacement that is not affected if I can. (This packaging is wonderful but I think the mastering could be even better. It sounds like CB/SS had digital files to work with in my opinion).
Not a stamper number, but a nickel mother number engraved by a mechanial engraving machine (not laser). The new mother(s) was(were) produced from the same negative "father" stored here.
It's normally pressed very well and is a quality product. However, and it varies a bit with different titles, I find the sound to be not that different from a well mastered CD. It doesn't always sound that 'analogue' if you get me. So if it's a title you really need on vinyl then I would say buy it. If you are not bothered about the format though I would say just get a cheaper CD.