GZ Vinyl "Quality Control" (or lack of) see pics!!

In the unlikely event that I bought any new vinyl, I'd want to see it before I left the shop; I'd want to see it on a turntable, too, to make sure it's not off-centre. If I'm going to pay for expensive new vinyl, I want something that's done right.

 

I only have 6 or 7 titles pressed by GZ and they're all very good, no complaints. Also heard their recent all analog pressing of classical music and it sounds wonderful.
For those who wish they'd go out of bussiness, this ain't gonna happen as they are pressing literally nonstop and have quite a long waiting list.

Ondra

 

I recently sent a mastering to be pressed at GZ and it the product was clean, my mastering was faithfully rendered and uncolored by the transfer (I speciafically asked for it to be cut "flat"), and there was only a couple of clicks; BUT between tracks was a slight but audible wooshing noise like a vacuum cleaner.

 

I don't think saying that if GZ closed there would be far less titles on vinyl released is a strong argument. I think that lots of poor quality vinyl releases harm rather than help the current revival, as people new to vinyl will give up with the medium. Its not like the 70s, there are now lots of choices other than buying vinyl.

Also saying they are better than United or Rainbo isn't a great argument for them (although I note that you are not now favourably comparing GZ with MOV)
Although the one album I have bought that was pressed at United was certainly terrible, Michael Fremer reports that United have done a good job on the new Blue Notes. Thats all it takes, and I will now buy some of those titles.

If GZ have improved, I will be happy to buy their pressings, also. But they will need to convince me, and others, that they can produce a good quality product. I will look on here, and on websites that review vinyl, rather than blindly buying.

GZ have annoyed The Snodger to the point he now actively wishes the company ill. Thats not good. Trying to pin the blame elsewhere is also not good. The customer is always right, and in the case of the pictures at the start of this thread, a refund should have been given without argument.

 

Picked up the GZ pressing of Tommy not long ago- perfect. Dead flat and quiet.

 

I find it to be a very mixed bag. For Universal's premium (even more expensive) product, GZ seem to produce a different standard to their every day releases. Compare the standard Back to Black stuff - especially the recent Cash reissues - with all of their white dust, general dirt and streaky vinyl and something like the Wilko/Daltrey LP or The Who mentioned above and things are not the same. The Wilko/Daltrey was clean and unblemished out the sleeve, but from the same plant as most of Universal's day to day, sub-standard crap. It makes me think Universal are knowingly settling for the bare minimum on a lot of their releases.

 

GZ offers different levels of quality and pricing and this is the big mistake they make. People are not gonna point to the contractors but instead will point to the manufacturers of the defective pressings.

 

What "level of quality" would the pressings with fingerprints, dust and scratches (that I bought from GZ several times) be? "The vintage used look for cool teenagers"?

 

I

I got the latest Mike Oldfield LP, "Man On The Rocks" which is a GZ pressing on double vinyl for £15 which sounds great, and has no problems with it, same with Black Sabbath's "13". Both are way ahead of the "loudness war" CD versions which many have complained about.

 

Is this true about the cheapskate "no QC whatsoever" option?

 

GZ is supposed to be the successor company to Supraphon,which is a joke.If you have any of the old Supraphon classical LPs from the 50s through the 80s,you know what high quality they are,and what garbage today's GZ records are in comparison.

No.There are more vinyl pressing plants in the world than you might think there are.Many of them would jump at the chance to press vinyl for Universal.

 

What did you do? Did you complain to them?

 

Actually no, the choice to use GZ was that of the client I was working for, so I passed on my remarks to them, which may influence them next time they have a press an album. As it was a small run, I knew GZ wasn't going to launch a repress.

 

Thanks!

 

You're welcome.

 

I have two of the recent Johnny Cash American reissues (made by GZ) and both are very noisy pressings. Listening with headphones there's almost a constant "crackle" in the background, very noticable on the quiter songs and between tracks.

 

I bought "The Who Tommy" Universal 2013 Miles Showell cutting
and the records were in the same conditions as the pictures posted on the front page
Returned to the seller the first copy, the second I got was the same!
30USD down the toilet: pop, background noise in abundance.
Never again!

 

Some of the pictures make think that GZ has a Quality called Vintage Out-of-the-Sleeve, Slid Across the Floor, Thrift Shop Pressing. This is one notch above Played with the Blade of an Ice Skate Pressing.

 

Agree, GZ is absolute crap.

They even use a different softer vinyl formulation ( no doubt cheaper) that disintegrates / cooks if you use a professional lp flattener. No other pressing plant has these issues.

I also have concerns on the long term durability of this softer compound vinyl after repeated plays over several years.

 

I think that it is, as often happens, just a matter of money.
I wonder how much it costs to print a vinyl LP in the Czech Republic and how much it costs
to production houses to print the same vinyl at Pallas in Germany for example?
(I wonder how much they earn people's "quality control" that you see in the Youtube video in GZ)
It seems to me obvious that if Pallas costs X and GZ.com do it for 1/4 of X
For that price you can have what you see in the Youtube video posted here ...
Personally I am very happy to pay a few dollars more to buy RTI or Pallas or QRP pressing.

 

Just catching up on this old thread................

I too bought the discounted Grrrr 5 LP box from Amazon U.S. and found "horns" on all sides. I sent it back twice. The third one was just as bad as the first two but it didn't really affect the sound when played so I just kept it. But honestly, they just wore me down; I didn't feel like going through the hassle of returning it and waiting for a new one yet again. Very frustrating.

 

Exactly my experience.

 

I also bought a discounted GRRRR and it is actually clean. Just shows that GZ quality control is all over the place.

Does look good with my Crystal Head Rolling Stones 50th anniversary Vodka thou

 

I would also be very interested in knowing this. I bet the cost is negligible.

The other question is how come they can constantly put out crap and still be getting away with it? Nobody is complaining?

 

I do not think the cost of labor is negligible
In Germany a skilled worker earns € 2500 in the Czech Republic 800 €
produce a good or service in the Czech Republic
costs a third...