They are killing the vinyl...

I continue to find it fascinating how the 2020 crowd remains seemingly fixated on quality control as a "thing". I suppose with the cost of a typical vinyl release these days - it can be a cause for concern.

Back in 1979 - saw a record, bought a record, played a record. Never stared at the surface for too long. Pops, scratches and what have you were part of the purchase price. Played them over and over and it all seemed good. It was what it was.

I think I may have dealt with 2 warps or issues back in the day. Again - how times have changed.

VP

 

Audiophiles have always cared about vinyl quality. This board is full of them....

 

Like most owners of jukeboxes, apart from the nostalgia element, part of the enjoyment is the anticipation.
Choosing the track, depositing a coin, pressing the buttons, the click as the latch solonoid resets the buttons. The whirr of the carousel as the hammer on the wobble plate searches for the track. The noise of the gripper arm setting the record on the turntable, the noise of the stylus hitting the track-in grooves, the soft click of the amplifier mute turning it on and the anticipation while you hear the stylus tracking in before the music starts.

The odd hiss or click during play is also part of the experience and you don't care.

 

Understood - I am one of them but I still don't put defect tracking ahead of the music - unless the album simply will not play in some extreme case - that's would be my only quality concern moment.

If you are accessing vinyl in any way - imperfections are part of the journey. Better to just accept it and get on with it. Or - if it makes you that crazy - probably time to go digital.

VP

 

It depends on the level of imperfections. Odd tick or minor crackle not an issue but repetitive clicks ,crackles and constant background crackle, the record goes back. That was the same for me in 1979 as is now. People are also using far more revealing systems in general than in the 70s.

 

I've some recent experience of new vinyl, despite not having bought any for over two decades.

As I've a vinyl jukebox dedicated to Motown (and what others call Motown), I recently bought this 45 as the style of the group is very retro, I liked it and it fits in well with the rest of the selections.
I found the pressing excellent and at $5.99, I thought it very good value. As for the reproduction, I used a little Lumix DMC camera which will make short videos with sound to record it on my 51 year-old jukebox. It's not the whole record as the camera card ran out of space. But given the limitations of my camera, I was impressed.

 

Digitally sourced LP's seem to combine the main disavantages of both formats with the benefits of neither. That is why I do not get stuck on one format over the other.

 

I buy only used LP's. I can handle them, inspect them, grade them myself, buy them, bring them back if I don't like them. I don't buy online anymore because of QC issues. Plus, it helps my local record stores stay in business.

 

Some might say, "Dual-Disc" !

 

As of late, I've been opening the record at the time of purchase at the shop I frequent. It is rare that I order online because of the defects, even if they're used pressings.

 

I do not use clamp but have thought about starting. Do you recommend a good clamp? Why does clamp help so much? Thanks for any reply if you have time.

 

Gone but still a fair amount of NOS out there. Caveat Emptor.

 

Yikes. I'm going to guess the plant was jamming the records into jackets before they were fully cooled. This happens all the time.

 

As a former member of the Columbia Record and Tape Club, I never returned an album for a defect in all those years.

 

It's kinda like that today.

Records I buy aren't all that much higher in price than than their CD counterparts these days.... I see a record / buy it / play it.

 

The dishing defect is by far the most common defect I see as well with my new record purcahses.
I'm fortunate my copy of Speaker's Corner Charles Lloyd "Forest Flower" was very good, it's flat.
Pressed at Pallas in Germany, they are usually good. But i did get the new Norah Jones LP that just
came out, pressed 140g by Pallas, and it's dished like a bowl for candy.

 

There's still some decent vinyl around, I recently bought this mint copy. perfectly flat and good sound.

Mind you it was made in 1963.

 

This is really frustrating. I don’t mind TOO much if I receive an LP with an obvious defect - just send it back, not too much of a big deal. What I dislike more, is going through the process of cleaning a new LP, giving it a new liner and slip cover, and listening to it only to discover it is a scratchy, distorted mess.

I’ve had better luck with music-specific vendors as opposed to ordering from Amazon, but it is still frustrating.

 

Perfection comes at about 35,000.00 euros. Thirty five euros is take your kids out to eat at IHop.

 

Cleopatra are themselves are responsible for horrible dross with no quality control
sadly they own a a catalogue of obscure punk and goth bands that no one else wants to know about
and can do whatever they want as they have no competition

plus the very questionable Joy Division and Bob Marley releases

 

Contradictive world we live in...it's actually those very reasons as to why it *should* be prone to higher quality control. You'd think that it would be larger production runs that would be more likely to let defects slip through.

 

Strange that, I buy only buy LPs!


JG

 

Interesting.. are there so much difference in "overall" from the vinyl of 35 years ago or so and today?

 

Ya, collecting vinyl is now the same kind of "fun" that fishing is...

 

I see... Now this is more likely the answer to my question.
I actually have 100 or maybe 200 cd (never did pay attention to it) which I bought all new and just ripped it and put the CD away. I don't listen to CD so I thought Id try to sell all the CD's which I don't plan to use. When I see articles like these or even CD, it makes me change my mind for I might end up making a mistake in description while the buyer is holding a microscope in the other end...