Which LP defect annoys you the most?

I can name a whole bunch which are the very best-sounding pressings of those albums I've ever heard on vinyl so I can't disagree more.

 

Literally everything I have from 91-94 is electronic music mastered from DAT and it all has the wonderful warm sound you expect from vinyl. Modern reissues of those same records using the same DAT tapes often sound sterile and digital, as if they were straight out of the computer.

Back in the day the mastering engineers would run the sound through equipment such as Fairchild compressors, in my opinion it’s the modern equipment at the mastering stage that is causing this issue, not necessary the source.

 

Yeah, I don’t know why some people have that opinion of vinyl pressings from digital recordings or masters. When done well, they’re done well.

Sure, I have records that kind of sound like I’m streaming from Spotify. It happens, and it’s irritating when it happens. It’s a small, small number of the records I have, though. A large portion of my LP collection are records that were recorded in this current century, most of which obviously are digital recordings. They’re mostly pretty good!

 

As with AAA records, there are a few factors at work to determine whether the end result will be good. Typically the same ones; source, engineer, mastering gear.

 

Fortunately in the case of dimples, I’ve found simply exchanging for a new copy takes care of it. I can’t think of any pressings I’ve had multiple copies come to me with dimples.

 

The first specific example I think of are the Grundman Pink Floyd masters. Though obviously those albums were recorded analog, Grundman mastered them from files. My copies sound pretty excellent, certainly better than any CD copy I’ve had of those albums.

Other examples: any new release I’ve bought in the past five years. Almost never do I play them and think they don’t sound good. I’m certain very few, if any, were recorded to analog tape.

 

I went with non-fill. Because routine playing/cleaning seems to minimize pops and ticks, sometimes to the point of clearing them.

But non-fill will never go away entirely. Sometimes the zipper seams quieter, but you still hear it.

 

Since I am generally spinning only to rip, I went with non-fill as well. Off-center records can be easily fixed and ticks/pops removed during the clean-up process. I have a clamp and periphery ring, so warps are no big deal to me. However, non-fill is harder to deal with - especially if there is a lot of it.

If you're just spinning vinyl to enjoy the music from your turntable, I can see how these other three issues would be an annoyance though.

 

He’s old school, and I imagine he’s still sending the audio through the same analogue circuitry that he’s been using for decades.

I watched Michael Fremer’s video on GZ Media (really interesting watch) and the mastering was done entirely on PC. They then send the files to a different department who load them into an automated cutting machine and press go.

Both ways do the job, but the outcomes will sound very different!

 

I don't think I have ever heard "non-fill".

 

Sounds like paper being ripped/torn...

 

Exactly. So it’s not as simple as “non-AAA=crime against humanity”…

 

I have, but on, seriously, only like two or three records ever. I would never have thought it was a common issue if not for this forum. I must just like the right music to have mostly avoided it.

 

Ticks/pops. As for non-fill, call me lucky; I have seen it only on pictures !

 

Just received my first new vinyl defect in all the years I have been enjoying this resurgence and ordering online/buying in stores...

Received a Universal Music Group 180 gram reissue of hip hop artist LL Cool J's Bigger and Deffer, and the LP was so horribly warped right out of the jacket that I couldn't even get the stylus to lock onto the lead-in grooves on side two. Weirdly, side one played without a hitch, even with the tonearm riding up and down like a wild roller coaster; when I flipped it and played the second side, the tonearm jumped right across two vocal lines of the first song (i.e. skips) because the stylus couldn't lock on. I just contacted The Sound of Vinyl, where we purchased it, about a replacement so I will see what they say.

I am uncertain if this was because the album was sitting in our mailbox down the street for a day or so before we got to it (and it's over 100 degrees where we live right now) or if it was a factory pressing defect.

Over time, I have been getting picture discs that are really noisy (Run-DMC's Raising Hell and Michael Jackson's Thriller come to mind) and some that are just shrill and sibilant due to their mastering (the Reprise Europe 180 gram reissue of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and the Sony Legacy two-LP reissue of Journey's Greatest Hits come to mind here), but I suppose I could put up with that compared to the wickedly warped LPs.

 

Here's a record Sarah Jarosz I recently received. It's got a lovely warp. Thankfully, it was replaced without question.

 

Did you have to send the defective one back or did they just send you the new one?

 

They just sent the new one, although I did have to fill out a form in which I linked that video. Not sure if the video was necessary, but it certainly provided evidence!

 

I see; I actually couldn't play the video for some reason, but I'll see what The Sound of Vinyl has to say about my return request. I did buy a 12-inch single from a vendor off Amazon once which had a skip or two in it (the vinyl was gently used) and when I asked about a replacement, they did not have one; instead, they refunded my money and let me keep the record.

EDIT: I was able to watch the video -- yeah, my LL Cool J record is warped like that. I can't get the stylus to even lock onto the lead in grooves on side one!

 

Plenty of examples. I've got a dozen off the top of my head I could name.

 

I don't play my records often. So when I do, it's the ticks & pops that brings me back....

Sometimes, for sh!ts & giggles, I play this with my music: Dust & Scratches • The Ultimate Vinyl Noise Machine

 

I’ve seen cases where a label has painstakingly made a reissue from the original tapes, remastered it entirely using analogue equipment and pressed it on high grade vinyl only for buyers to comment that the end result sounds underwhelming, I think that’s to be expected when you’re dealing with 40+ year old tape without any touching up.

I’m dubious that The Beatles mono reissues that everyone raves about were done entirely in analogue as they say because surely they’d be littered with dropouts given how fragile those original tapes must be.

 

Having it sit in your mailbox for a day in high heat is death to vinyl records.

Don’t do that again!!!!

 

We didn't know that it had arrived; the ship/arrive date they confirmed was like five or so days off.

If we get a replacement, we're going to check the mail every day.

 

I read somewhere it's most often caused due to the temperature not being correct during the stamping.