Potential quality of pre orders

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Erictheking, Jul 2, 2020.

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  1. Erictheking

    Erictheking Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Manchester
    Sorry if this has been asked before, I did have a search in here and a look on Google but couldn't really see anything.

    I currently have my eye on a few records to pre order on vinyl. Obviously I know the quality of new releases can vary massively and was wondering if there's anything I can look out for that could make pre ordering less of a lottery. For instance are there any mainstream labels/artists that generally produce better vinyl than others and also I've seen people mentioning who pressed certain albums is there a particular place where I could find out this sort of information?

    I know the chances are it's going to be pot luck and I'll have to take the rough with the smooth, just trying to educate myself as much as possible.

    Cheers
     
  2. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    The best thing you can do is to not preorder in the first place, unless it's something you really, really need.

    I often email labels and ask details about their vinyl releases because that info is not always given up front.

    Sometimes I get a good response back and other times I don't. But even if the best cutting engineer and plant is involved there are not 100% guarantees with vinyl. A lot of things can go wrong in the plating and pressing process. Then there is packing and shipping. I HATE vinyl preorders for this reason and rarely do them anymore.
     
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  3. JamesD1957

    JamesD1957 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cypress, Texas
    When it comes to pre ordering vinyl, yes, it's a crapshoot. That's why I only pre order through Amazon. If it turns out to be a substandard pressing, back it goes without (at least so far) a hassle.
     
  4. nosliw

    nosliw Delivering parcels throughout Teyvat! Meow~!

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON, Canada
    Depends on the label themselves and which pressing plant or mastering engineer they used. Some labels tend to be more consistent with pressing plants or broker companies they used for their LPs. Others simply get whatever pressing plant they needed depending on their scheduled release.

    Otherwise, it can be a real crapshoot for the above reasons. What records and labels are you referring to, OP?
     
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  5. mbg

    mbg Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Additionally, I don’t believe there’s a single location with aggregate information on all upcoming releases.

    At least not that I’m aware of.

    Searching here for specific releases sometimes will give you an idea of if the mastering/cutting/pressing facility is more or less respected but it’s also important to understand that there’s a fairly wide range of what people find acceptable as far as source/manufacturers so there’s no guarantee of consensus.

    So unless it’s something you have reason to believe will sell out instantly and are willing to gamble on, at least a little, avoid preorders.
     
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  6. nosliw

    nosliw Delivering parcels throughout Teyvat! Meow~!

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON, Canada
    Perusing record labels' Discogs site and their releases also help what pressing plant(s) and engineers they used, assuming that information is recorded and accurate on their pages since it's crowdsourced data from all kinds of people.
     
    Erictheking likes this.
  7. Erictheking

    Erictheking Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Manchester

    To be fair that in itself is very good advice (as much as I hate giving Amazon my money)
     
  8. Erictheking

    Erictheking Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Manchester
    Ok that's a good idea, didn't even realise labels had pages on there. Will have a gander now.
     
  9. Erictheking

    Erictheking Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Manchester
    Not what I wanted to hear but to be honest kind of what I expected to be told. Maybe a bit of self discipline is what I need.
     
  10. Erictheking

    Erictheking Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Manchester
    Was looking at the new Bob Dylan, a blue note reimagined due in September and also the debut celeste album also due in September (which I'm probably going to wait till after release thinking about it now.)
     
  11. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Preorder fever is a sales tactic. It's designed to get people to click the "buy now" button weeks or months ahead of time due to FOMO when the fact is most of this stuff is going to be around for some time afterwards. RSD works the same way.

    I stopped doing vinyl preorders a long time ago and stopped going to RSD as well. There is NOTHING I need that badly. I'm not missing out on anything that important either. A lot of releases that are hyped up to be limited or whatever I end up buying months or years later when I feel like it.

    I don't buy records off social media either. I've seen that a lot over the last couple years. Usually it's an overgraded copy of something not that rare going for too much money. Then it gets hyped up by the sock puppet accounts and lemmings that join in the feeding frenzy due to FOMO.
     
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  12. nosliw

    nosliw Delivering parcels throughout Teyvat! Meow~!

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON, Canada
    I'm going to take a guess, based on the labels' history of pressing plants they used, that they will use Optimal Media GmbH as their pressing plants. Some people have good experience, others are mixed. No idea if they will hire any outside lacquer cutting engineer or if they'll use Optimal Media's in-house DMM engineer.

    I imagine that their records will still be available afterwards so if you want to play it safe, I'd wait for people's impressions of the pressing quality either here or on Discogs. Ultimately, it's up to you.
     
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  13. JamesD1957

    JamesD1957 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cypress, Texas
    Yeah, I feel the same way about Amazon but I did get burned on a pre order from another company. Off center pressing and non-fill. They refused to do anything about it. That was the last time they got any of my money.
     
    Erictheking likes this.
  14. Erictheking

    Erictheking Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Manchester
    Cheers for all the advice, seems everyone is in agreement that I should just hang on and wait till reviews of vinyl quality appear. Already pre-ordered the Dylan album so will keep myfingers crossed, after that I'll just buy after release.
     
    patient_ot likes this.
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