Do new vinyl pressings tend to sound a bit on the dark side?

You're right, it's more about new vinyl pressings than remasters. As the title of the thread suggests, of course.

I have a number of new vinyl pressings that suffer from this syndrome. By 'new' I mean anything cut in the past 15 - 20 years. Some of the worst ones are Erykah Badu. I already mentioned "Worldwide Underground" as the worst sounding LP I've ever heard. Also, her "New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)" sounds very dark. Almost like they cut out any frequencies higher than 1 kHz. Kind of ridiculous.

After purchasing a few more newly pressed vinyls, and noticing they're all cut from the same cloth, so to speak (they all lack the sparkle and the oomph that old school vinyl has in spades), I've decided to hold off on purchasing any new, sealed vinyl. Even my local record store sales guys agree with me that buying a sealed newly minted vinyl is a crap shoot -- you never know what you're gonna get for your $30 - $50 purchase.

 

Yep, via my SpinClean. My 2012 copy as well, I do this with most new (or new for me) vinyl before I play them.

 

Smart move

 

I guess I would be the opposite of many in these parts, as I will always have an EQ in my system. I like my sound the way I like it and the EQ gives me that. I don't think I will ever get rid of or do without an EQ in my system.

 

I took at peak at the OP’s gear profile, which indicated he’s using a Denon DL-103, and had a vague recollection of reading somewhere about the relative brightness/“warmth” quotient of that cartridge, and it turned out to be a review from Tone Audio a few years back. Interesting that the reviewer seem to have a 180-degree opposing viewpoint on the brightness of new vinyl. Maybe some of this “darkness” is the sonic flavor of the Denon cart?:

With virtually every bit of new vinyl being pressed from digital masters, most LPs are too hot in the upper registers and sound rather CD-like. If you’ve just scored a new turntable, and listening to some of your favorite recordings on LP leaves you a little bit cold, this cartridge is the answer. The DL-103R possesses a tonal balance that’s ever so slightly on the warm/romantic side, giving everything you spin a little extra bump of tonal richness.

Granted, the cartridge didn’t have enough richness to overcome the inherent brightness of the new 12” maxi single of C-Low Green’s “F**k You!,” but it went a long way at making the hit song much more listenable. But it worked wonders on the Twilight Singers’ Dynamite Steps (reviewed by editor Bob Gendron, last issue). The record is the perfect example of an album comprised of brilliant music with a bit too much ProTools in the final mix. Play it back with the SoundSmith Sussurro Paua cartridge—which reveals way too much detail for this particular record—and you will be running for the Tylenol bottle; it’s sure to give you a headache. Yet the warm midrange magic that the DL-103 brings to the sonic picture tames the beast and allows actual engagement.​

 

Denon DL-103 is a very vivacious cartridge. Playing LPs such as Janis Joplin "Pearl" or "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!", the first thing one notices is incredible brightness, which is the actual character of those LPs. I get a sense that this cartridge remains faithful to the source, and is presenting it the way mastering engineers wanted it to sound.

That said, I'm not sure why so many of the newer pressings lean toward less bright sonic landscape. Like I said, I have no problems getting plenty of sparkle and brightness from this cartridge, providing that the source material was prepared that way. That's why I'm pretty sure I'm getting a fairly faithful rendition of those new pressings.

Also, for the record, the above review pertains to Denon DL-103R cartridge, which is a different beast altogether. I'm using Denon DL-103 cartridge (no R in there).

 

The mastering engineer doesn't find the tape, that will be supplied by the band or label. Artists pay top dollar to the mastering engineer for him/her to get the best out of the tape, by (amongst other things) adding some EQ.

It seems you don't really understand what they do so I would suggest you read some articles on the subject.

 

I never said that the mastering engineer finds the tape. I said that the artists find the mastering engineer and pay them top dollars to work on their final master. Once the mastering engineer finishes the job, the master tape is considered 'golden', meaning no further changes to it are allowed. From that moment onward, this 'golden' standard will be used to mass produce the sound carriers (be it LPs or CDs or digital downloads).

What in the above do you think I have misunderstood?

So, that being the case, the goal when mass producing LPs/CDs/whathaveyou, is to do everything possible to make sure that the mass produced media sounds as close as possible to the 'gold' master tape, no?

 

So you've listened side-by-side to the 2012 180 gram remaster of "Abbey Road", comparing it with some earlier pressing, and didn't find it sounding more congested, duller and darker, with wimpier bass and rolled off highs? I find it surprising to learn that (if that, indeed is the case, and also if you've cleaned the old LP before listening to it).

 

I don't understand the obsession with questioning if members clean old records. Most of us clean every record before playing for the first time.

 

It's really hit or miss...

Some sound digital. Some sound great. Some sound great with tons of pressing flaws.

 

Apologies for being pedantic -- I have no intimate knowledge of how others approach their listening to vinyl. All I wanted to do is make sure we're comparing similar experiences. As I mentioned in one of the previous replies, my initial experience with dirty old records was corrected once I cleaned the LP, so I think it's an important step if we are to compare notes.

 

The engineering team that worked on the Beatles remasters did not apply heaps of compression on the 2009 remasters. You're overstating things.

 

Perhaps. But whatever they did to those 2009 stereo remasters, they made them way louder than the original CDs. You can't dispute that.

 

Louder, yes. Way louder, no.

 

That would depend on one's personal taste, I reckon.