Ticks in new vinyl record

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Johan Bos, Dec 24, 2020.

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  1. Johan Bos

    Johan Bos Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Netherlands
    Hi, I recently bought a new metal double album by the band Solstafir. It sounds very nice, and looks nice as well. But just at 1 point, at the beginning of a track, there are about 4-5 clear pops / ticks. (not static noise / pops) Not very loud as sometimes is the case. I washed the new record using my SpinClean, but after visual inspection I see 1 rather small spot on the area / track where the pops are. It is white coloured vinyl, and the spot is white as well. So my guess is that the error was there when the record left the factory.

    I had this problem before with other new records as well. Sometimes I change them, but sometimes I keep them as it can be a lot of hassle and it's not sure wether the next record will be a better / perfect one.

    What would you do in such a case? Keep it or return it?
     
  2. StuJM84

    StuJM84 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, UK
    If it doesn't detract from your enjoyment of the music, then maybe don't worry about it. Any replacement might have identical issues (i.e its a batch problem at the pressing plant) or could be even worse.
     
    Dennis Metz likes this.
  3. Swann36

    Swann36 A widower finding solace in music

    Location:
    Lincoln, UK
    As has been said can you live with it ? if the answer is yes i'd keep it unless you can keep it while you also order another one, i guess it depends where you got it from if an Indie shop perhaps take it back & ask to listen to a replacement before leaving the shop to ensure its quality ...

    i did that a good few years ago with a co-operative shop, they knew me well as a regular customer and so i guess i had some credibility ...plus they played the defective record and agreed it was sub standard ...the replacement still had a problem but much less i said i'd live with it to them.

    All much easier pre-covid .... another time last year i bought via amazon and bought a 2nd copy before the return period was up on the 1st one both were as bad so i simply returned both and gave up on that record as no way could i live with both ..But a friend with a different artists record did the same thing a week or so later with Amazon and their 2nd record was in perfect nik so they returned the 1st one ..no issues with amazon..

    Right now i have a BN Tone Poet release that has a known problem in the pressing at the start of side 2 .for about 10 seconds or so .. which i may live with ...undecided ...but that particular title is waiting a re-press and being in the UK it could many many months before we get that re-pressing ..so no point sending back right now as i'm enjoying the heck out of the rest of it so perhaps in a year or so's time maybe i'll buy it again or maybe i won't ...if i do buy a replacement then i'll try and sell it with a caveat in the sales about the pressing error, i suspect that for many they may not even hear the issue as on SHF not all do with the particular record.

    I'm not sure if that helps you much ...it's where i'm at with deciding over returning or not ...
     
  4. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    I have found light ticks often will go away with a good wet cleaning.

    When I find they appear suddenly, I think they are mostly from spittle. With a new record, my supposition is they come from contamination during the record's manufacture.
     
  5. nosliw

    nosliw Delivering parcels throughout Teyvat! Meow~!

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON, Canada
    The album was pressed at Record Industry and for the most part, my albums pressed from that plant are normally very good to excellent. Either contaminants may have appeared in the PVC puck during the pressing process or the metal stampers are dirty.

    You might have better luck asking other owners of the album on Discogs than here, IMO.
     
  6. Sterling1

    Sterling1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    I'd return it for my money back in a heartbeat. And, I would not buy another copy. Instead, I'd download a FLAC or Apple Music version and call it a day. Two things for sure, pops are unacceptable in this Century and LP producers need a quality control scheme that works. Hold their feet to the fire by rejecting their shoddy work. BTW, playing LPs is largely a novelty for me these days. I succumbed to the LP revival about three years ago, thinking the thing that made me abandon the medium for CDs back in 1984 had been resolved, of course, I'm talking about snap, crackle, and pop. Apparently still not resolved but worse. So, now my only interest in LPs is digitizing the ones I've got, and, in the process, filtering their pops. One more thing:
    Here's an experiment I made recently which suggested Apple Music is BEST in all manner that best can be discerned: music selection, recording quality, convenience, browser, library, ripping, store, radio, playlists, and much more.

    A few weekends ago I purchased Classic Hauser, a high dynamic range recording, on LP, CD, 24/96 FLAC Download, and Apple Music Download. Playing these, nine ways to Sunday as listed below, I had hoped the experimentation would determine what medium sounded best.

    • LP>Technics SL-1210GR/Shure V15V (SAS)>Sony TA-E9000ES Pre-Pro Phono Preamplifier input
    • 24/96 FLAC Download>Foobar2000>OPPO-205 DAC up sampling to 24/192>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
    • 24/96 FLAC Download>Foobar2000>Creative Sound Blaster X-FI HD (for usb to S/PDIF conversion at 24/96)>TA-E9000ES optical S/PDIF input
    • Apple Music Download>iTunes>Airport Express (wi-fi to S/PDIF 16/44.1 output)>Sony TA-E9000ES optical S/PDIF input
    • Apple Music Download>iTunes>OPPO-205 DAC up sampling to 24/192>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
    • Apple Music Download>iTunes>Creative Sound Blaster X-FI HD (for usb to S/PDIF conversion at 24/96)>TA-E9000ES optical S/PDIF input
    • Apple Music Download>Network connection to OPPO-205 DAC up sampling to 24/192>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
    • 24/96 FLAC Download>Thumb Drive>OPPO-205 DAC up sampling to 24/192>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
    • 24/96 FLAC Download>Network connection to OPPO-205 DAC up sampling to 24/192>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
    • CD>OPPO-205>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
    • CD>Rip to iTunes in ALAC>OPPO-205 DAC up sampling to 24/192>Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
    • CD>Rip to iTunes in ALAC>Airport Express (wi-fi to S/PDIF 16/44.1 output) Sony TA-E9000ES analog input
    • CD>Rip to iTunes in ALAC>Creative Sound Blaster X-FI HD (for usb to S/PDIF conversion at 24/96)>Sony TA-E9000ES optical S/PDIF input
    Conclusion: all processes yielded a satisfying listening experience, whereby tone, sound stage, and detail seemed so similar as to preclude any revelation to what process delivered the most compelling sound; however, three things did stand out: first, the presence of pops distracted LP pleasure, second, play of downloads via OPPO usb DAC, Thumb Drive, or non-gapless alphabetical order Network connection is inconvenient, and finally, the iTunes play of the Apple Music AAC download via Airport Express to the Sony TA-E9000ES was most convenient, and sounded on par with the CD, ALAC and FLAC media. This makes me question any need for a means to music other than APPLE MUSIC. At any rate, the exercise was a fun activity on a cold and dreary weekend which has kept me indoors. Note, Apple Music to thumb drive was not tested, since I perceived it would have required purchase of the album to permit copy to thumb drive.
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2020
    Khorn and joeriz like this.
  7. Johnny Action

    Johnny Action Forum President

    Location:
    Kailua, Hawai’i
    Return it immediately. It sends a clear message to the vinyl industry.
     
    VinylSwan likes this.
  8. trickness

    trickness Gotta painful yellow headache

    Location:
    Manhattan
    It's part of the "charm of the format" and the "superiority of analog to digital" - bask in it.

    Seriously though - this is why people dumped vinyl like a loaded diaper within a couple of years for CDs even though they were way more expensive. And at least back then, there was a basic level of care and competency put into the manufacturing because it was the core product. Now it's often digital masters with eq tweaks and garbage pressings for 30 bucks. Before I got clean from my vinyl addiction, I mostly bought old NM/M records, avoiding reissues, especially from major labels, because at least 50% of the pressings were noisy brittle sounding garbage.
     
  9. Mayidunk

    Mayidunk Just passin' through...

    Location:
    New England
    Not to be flip, but down through the years I've often encountered records that can be somewhat noisy/clicky as the stylus traverses the lead-in groove, but then quiet right down just before the music starts. It kinda comes with the territory, and I learned to live with it a long time ago.

    Of course, as always, YMMV. :)
     
  10. Aftermath

    Aftermath Senior Member

    I would return it.
     
  11. Johan Bos

    Johan Bos Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Netherlands
    Hi, thanks for your reactions. I recorded the first seconds of the track, so you can have a listen:

    easyupload.io

    There are at least 3 ticks, at 0:22 - 0:27. I'm still not sure if this is acceptable - the rest of the record and sound quality is very high.
     
  12. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I have recently had light ticks on records and, if you look under a good suitable light, you can see small scratches. This usually emanates from paper sleeves being used.
     
  13. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    another thread complaining about the poor quality of 'new' vinyl....there sure are a whole lot of these aren't there?
     
    csgreene likes this.
  14. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found

    Location:
    AZ
    Wait OP, does this mean that four days later you still haven't returned it???!! :D:angel::cheers:
     
  15. Gregalor

    Gregalor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    It only sends a clear message to the record store, which cannot return vinyl to the label.
     
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  16. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    really?

    they sell a product to vendors known to have deficiencies and then refuse to accept returns from the vendors who sell it to the general public?

    is that even legal?
     
  17. trickness

    trickness Gotta painful yellow headache

    Location:
    Manhattan
    It's called a one-way sale. Pretty much how the entirety of RSD works. Not sure if all vinyl is non-returnable, but basically the labels know vinyl has a high enough defect rate that they don't want to deal with returns on what is really a niche product. So the terms of a one-way sale are that you buy it, you own it, no returns.

    Which really says it all about the general quantity of most vinyl being sold today (by majors anyway)
     
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  18. Gregalor

    Gregalor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I have heard that no labels take returns on vinyls. Sellers eat the cost. They likely will try to sell it to someone else and hope it doesn’t come back again.
     
  19. violarules

    violarules Senior Member

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
    Spittle???

    Who is hacking up crap around their stereo??
     
    ggergm likes this.
  20. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    My turntable is in the middle of the room and normally doesn't use a dustcover.

    You can't tell it on the interwebs but I tend to spit when I talk. It's worse if I'm singing. Most of us at least occasionally spit as we talk. If you are talking in the middle of my living room, you could well be less than 5' from my turntable.

    The following picture is from a "Weekend Records and Cocktails" post. Do you see how spittle might be the least of my problems?

    [​IMG]
     
  21. Uglyversal

    Uglyversal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney
    It does happen, generally with a discount, it has to be something terrible to be taken out of circulation.
     
  22. Uglyversal

    Uglyversal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney
    I saw the glass there while going pass this photo very quickly and I thought the TT was next to some kind of griller in a kitchen..... Then I went back:doh:
     
  23. Johan Bos

    Johan Bos Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Netherlands
    Hi, I returned the album and got another new one which has exactly at the same track the same problem, but much less prominent. Two distant ticks rather than three clear ticks. So it seems that these problems are in the master itself...
     
  24. theMot

    theMot Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney
    Yeah but the big artwork, bro.
     
  25. Mike70

    Mike70 Forum Resident

    You tried to clean the record in a good RCM? I clean every record before the first play, everyone ... even "brand new" (that means with the fabrication process dirt).
     
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