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New vinyl a bit hit & miss

koi

koi

pfm Member
Don't you think new vinyl offerings are a bit hit & miss with regard to quality.

I have lost count of the returns to amazon

Few years back I had to purchase a few copies of Kate bush "Aerial " before I could get a playable one.

Quality control on new albums these days is shocking

That's my moan for today :)
 
I think GZ may be responsible for some crazy figure like 80% of the world output. they have an average reputation, I always blame them when i get a dud!
 
Purchase vinyl on a regular basis mostly from Amazon as yet have had issues. Always give the vinyl the once over on the record washing machine.
 
I also buy a lot of new vinyl (a lot of records in general... Ask the missus...) and almost never have a problem. Though I did have to take an LP back to Fopp the other day. Something that made me feel like I had entered a parallel universe... "I will not buy this record. It is scratched" (My hovercraft is full of eels...)

A good clean usually sorts any problems. With both records and hovercraft.
 
I.D.C. said:
Purchase vinyl on a regular basis mostly from Amazon as yet have had issues. Always give the vinyl the once over on the record washing machine.
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Must admit I agree with you, I normally don't suffer from warps but when I have had they have been doozies, and again everything, now and second hand gets cleaned. And I find that as long as your cartridge is set up properly the noise levels are not a problem.
 
I find the quality no worse/better than it ever has been.

Not sure if it is a good idea to clean before playing as if there is a fault you could be liable, always clean if good after 1st airing.

Bloss
 
Im not buyiing a lot of new vinyl apart from stuff from D'Agostini and a few discs from hi-fi dealers. Had to return 1 out of 20 or so to D'Agostini so far.

That said, it wouldn't surprise me if the current resurgence in demand has some of the dodgier suppliers just churning it out for the masses, in the full knowledge that the 'masses' are probably using poor kit on which to play it and won't notice.

Mull
 
blossomchris said:
Not sure if it is a good idea to clean before playing as if there is a fault you could be liable, always clean if good after 1st airing.

Bloss
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How can anyone tell if a record has been carefully cleaned, Chris? Really don't fancy that release mould gunk and existing detritus clogging up my stylus; I always clean first.

Had one record from Amazon where the warp towards the outer edge was so severe I couldn't cue ! Otherwise, apart from Leonard Cohen. my only beef is one of s.q. being a bit below expectations.
 
Mike Reed said:
How can anyone tell if a record has been carefully cleaned, Chris? Really don't fancy that release mould gunk and existing detritus clogging up my stylus; I always clean first.
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I play new uncleaned records to establish if there is a pressing fault, etc.

Mike the stylus after playing said record is cleaned with a tad of isopropyl.

The reason I do not clean first is that the release mould etc can be seen, on a new record prior to cleaning so I presume the retailer will know this and maybe raise an issue with me as to whom damaged the record.


Bloss
 
Might be because your turntable system today cost £5,000 and tracking weight is 2gm and 40 years ago the turntable system cost £200 and tracked at 5gm.
 
wacko said:
Might be because your turntable system today cost £5,000 and tracking weight is 2gm and 40 years ago the turntable system cost £200 and tracked at 5gm.
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In 1970, some 46 years ago, my SME 3012 with Shure V15 on 401 tracked at 1.5 g or less. Okay, £200 would have well covered the cost, and what with VAT, inflation and the general escalation of hifi prices and improvement, maybe five grand today might be about right.

If memory serves, the only cart's tracking at well over 2 g were the very small number of moving coils; mainly the venerable SPU. Magnets (and Deccas) were the cart's of the day, and there were virtually no phono stages for M/Cs either.
 
No, nothing has changed apart from the fact gullible young hipsters are happy to part with £25 for 'vinyls' and many don't even play them.

I gave up on LPs about 30 years ago because I was sick of having to return them.
 
Bought the "new" Leonard Cohen on vinyl even though I'd already bought the download as I have all his others on vinyl and wanted "completion". Numerous surface marks and several visible pressing defects as well as distortion on 2 tracks. Sending back for exchange but not hopeful. Unlikely to buy new vinyl again.
 
Can be hit and miss I agree. But anything that says 'pressed at Pallas' is invariably going to be very good.

Accepting some of the downsides, vinyl editions of modern releases more often than not are mastered with greater dynamic range than their CD equivalents. Shame really when a lot of people on here probably have really good CD based systems and end up with a disc that has clearly been mastered for the car or iPod.
 
Aerial was recorded digitally so why buy it on vinyl the worst of both worlds,I have a first press of a kick inside on vinyl I prefer the sound to her latest stuff on digital so I never buy new vinyl if it's not all analogue what's the point.
 
Rk19 said:
Bought the "new" Leonard Cohen on vinyl even though I'd already bought the download as I have all his others on vinyl and wanted "completion". Numerous surface marks and several visible pressing defects as well as distortion on 2 tracks. Sending back for exchange but not hopeful. Unlikely to buy new vinyl again.
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Me too. First one from HMV had gliches on first two tracks side 1 (7 in all)
and repetitive clicks on lead out track on side 2. Cleaned on RCM and played a few times didn't improve it, so took it back. No prob's; refunded and exchanged (with new guarantee) and this one is perfect. Stonking s.q. on this, b.t.w.

'You Want it Darker' should have been 'You want it Deeper' as that first track has his voice so low I had to check my cart. I s'pose 'deeper' is the musical translation of 'darker'.:)
 
GWM said:
Aerial was recorded digitally so why buy it on vinyl the worst of both worlds,I have a first press of a kick inside on vinyl I prefer the sound to her latest stuff on digital so I never buy new vinyl if it's not all analogue what's the point.
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It has to be over 20 years ago, but I remember Neil Young saying that he was giving up recording anything in analogue because everything, irrespective of how the initial recording was made, went through digital manipulation afterwards, and he was in a tiny minority at that time - still recording in analogue. His argument was that he would at least then have some chance of understanding what the final music on an LP or CD, would sound like.

The whole discussion about recording format is a shade nuts anyway. As I have said to friends many times - think of an electric guitar, from playing it, through to a CD or LP. A string is vibrated, those vibrations are picked up by a transducer (probably using capacitance????). That is turned into an electrical signal that travels down a cable, to an amplifier, and so on.
How many transformations has that vibration been through, analogue and digital, before being sold on an LP or CD? 20? 50? 100? Quite possibly more. How many times has it been into and out of digital? Don't forget that any listening used to mix etc. will be at least several transformations.

Two things are for certain though - a groove in a disc of PVC is analogue, the code on a CD is digital.
 
Even if all digital in terms of recording and mastering, it's very common for the vinyl version of the same album to have better DR than the CD. So although I prefer an all analogue release, there is still very much a point in buying new vinyl.
 
Mike Reed said:
Me too. First one from HMV had gliches on first two tracks side 1 (7 in all)
and repetitive clicks on lead out track on side 2. Cleaned on RCM and played a few times didn't improve it, so took it back. No prob's; refunded and exchanged (with new guarantee) and this one is perfect. Stonking s.q. on this, b.t.w.

Now had 2 duds. 2nd had distortion on right channel on side 1 only. Was going to give up until reading your post. Will try again and hope
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GWM said:
Aerial was recorded digitally so why buy it on vinyl the worst of both worlds,I have a first press of a kick inside on vinyl I prefer the sound to her latest stuff on digital so I never buy new vinyl if it's not all analogue what's the point.
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Actually you make a good point but.. It is worth considering the vinyl version because I'm afraid that the loudness war is not over and the majority of new and often remastered issues are often a brickwalled clipping mess of distortion! The Rolling Stones recent album for example, recorded using an old valve mixing desk but then mastered loud as hell to the max ffs, the vinyl version still has some compression but is better.
 
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