(Regarding Records) Does the country the album is pressed in matter?

Hey everyone, I had this thought when I was browsing through pressings of Revolver and was curious if there is any reason to go with a UK pressing over one made in France or Germany. Is there a difference in audio quality?

 

Depends and yes/no, sometimes.
This forum has a ton of info. It would probably easier to search for your favorites to get opinions.
I prefer the old US OMD-A&M over the UK and Japan.

 

Varies with labels, and their caring about the quality of their vinyl. Japanese were known for good vinyl, same with German labels; in this country you couldn't count on a consistently satisfactory experience from A&M or MCA, for instance, particularly through the waning days of vinyl dominance before CD's took over.

But, someone will always pipe-up with a different experience, but consistency is the key to a label's reputation. Go ask a used record dealer, for a broader perspective.

 

Rule of thumb is to go with a pressing from the country where the record was recorded, or from where the band is from.

 

I've oft heard this, but I don't understand the logic. If, on average, german and japanese plants use better quality vinyl/have better plants, what would country of origin of band have to do with it? "Oh, they're not local, use the crappy stuff" doesn't sound like any kind of business practice.

 

The only logic may be dubs being sent out compared to the actual tapes.
However, Cocteau Twins-Heaven or Las Vegas, sound bit identical, (US/UK) which tells me that Wally didn't master, only cut this one.
However plates can be shipped out over seas as well. I have an excellent Holland Toto-Hydra that uses the US.
I have a theory (so far three titles have been confirmed) That on a Holland manufacture a 'star' indicated US plates were used.

 

It's not the manufacturing process. It's the mastering process up the the creation of the stampers. When records were pressed regionally, different generation tapes were sent out to each plant to create the lacquer's in-house. So the closer the pressing plant is to where the recording was done, the better the chance that 1st generation tapes were used. I would go as far to say albums from different labels mattered. Atlantic is a US east coast label, so pressings from plants on the east cost will have 1st generation tapes. For a label like Capitol based out of Los Angeles, the opposite coast is more likely to have 1st generation tapes.

 

That explains the crappy Beatles Capitol records....

 

A lot of the time, the master tape is copied so that these dubs can be sent to various and sundry. That will promote a lack of fidelity down the chain.

So, for example, early Elvis Costello pressings on F-Beat have a far superior sound than the US pressings made from copies of the master.

 

Master tape is cut on to lacquer. Lacquer produce mother (this too is called a "master") which stampers are made from.
What masters are sent? Master tape (dub of, so it seems...which makes sense), or metalmothermaster ?
If it's master tape, how many generations removed are we talking? if it's 1 (which would make most sense), a ZOMGW! difference isn't going to be heard, though two would be pushing it and I could get on board with 3. It makes even less sense if it's metalmothermaster (which stampers come from) in a plant with better tooling/materials/machines.

I submit best option already mentioned by @c-eling. There's a wealth of info here, look for the specifics you're after. Everything else seems very hit or miss. I took a chance on a Korean Megadeth "Countdown to extinction" and other than it being a bit bright, it sounds better (less compression, better separation of instruments) than the MFSL one from several years ago.

 

The replies you’ve been given aren’t based on speculation...it’s known fact. Steve Hoffman will tell you as much, and plenty more.