kucharsk@Solbourne.COM (William Kucharski) (02/06/91)
I was in the record store the other day, pondering the purchase of a LP ($9.99?!), when I asked myself a question: Now that the record companies are only pressing a few thousand LPs of any particular title (if they're available at all), has the quality of those LPs increased at all? Basically, I can see two results, with probably the latter being true: 1) Fewer LPs are being made from the master, so the pressings are probably better and sound quite good. 2) Fewer LPs are being made, so there is no quality control whatsoever and the albums are being pressed from the cheapest recycled vinyl the record companies can find. Can anyone who may have purchased a new release on LP lately comment on which route the record companies are taking on this? -- | William Kucharski, Solbourne Computer, Inc. | Opinions expressed above | Internet: kucharsk@Solbourne.COM | are MINE alone, not those | uucp: ...!{boulder,sun,uunet}!stan!kucharsk | of Solbourne... | Snail Mail: 1900 Pike Road, Longmont, CO 80501 | >* Support Desert Storm <*
ttak@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Tim Takahashi) (02/07/91)
In article <9370@uwm.edu> kucharsk@Solbourne.COM (William Kucharski) writes: >I was in the record store the other day, pondering the purchase of a LP >($9.99?!), when I asked myself a question: > >Now that the record companies are only pressing a few thousand LPs of any >particular title (if they're available at all), has the quality of those LPs >increased at all? I have found that recently pressed LP's are of fine quality. In my quest for vinyl, I have purchased many new (as well as used) LP's since 1987, while some of these are NOS, many are late 1980's or even early 1990's pressings I have found the pressing quality to be excellent. At the same time I have found some sealed mid 1970's pressings, when played they bring back all of the nasty LP memories (dynaflex, dynagroove, noisy surfaces, etc.). Tim Takahashi ttak@uhura.cc.rochester.edu .
iain@rtf.bt.co.uk (Iain Baird) (02/08/91)
In article <9370@uwm.edu> kucharsk@Solbourne.COM (William Kucharski) writes: > >Can anyone who may have purchased a new release on LP lately comment on which >route the record companies are taking on this? I bought the latest Laurie Anderson LP some time back. It is a thin, nearly translucent, piece of cheapo vinyl with rough edges. Despite careful handling, it is developing tics and pops at an alarming rate. Contrast this with say "Future Days" by Can - I bought the original 1970 (ish) pressing second hand. It looked terrible - dirty and scuffed. I brushed the worst of the crap off, and it sounds great. Remarkably little noise. It weighs at least twice as much as the Laurie Anderson LP, and I suspect it is higher quality vinyl. Another original Can album ("Soon Over Babaluma") I bought second hand is so badly warped that I can only play the tracks near the end of each side. So I bought a new copy - I can play all of it, but it doesn't sound as good as (bits of) the old copy. In light of these and other experiences, I have no doubt that the majority of record companies are following option 2). The reasons for this? They may include: - Oil prices have risen (not as much as record prices though). - Record companies and retailers prefer CDs (more profitable, cheaper to transport and store, manufacturing defects are concealed by the reproduction system), and producing shitty expensive LPs (or none at all for some titles) just pushes more punters towards CD. - Your average big record company is not the slightest bit interested in quality, they are there to make money. The answer? Forget the big record companies. I think the future of vinyl will be with smaller specialist companies, with a commitment to quality, and a small but loyal customer base of LP enthusiasts. After all, IMHO, they still sound better (given a chance)! -- Iain Baird iain@rtf.bt.co.uk ...uunet!ukc!axion!rtf!iain
david@agora.rain.com (David Robinson) (02/11/91)
In article <9370@uwm.edu> kucharsk@Solbourne.COM (William Kucharski) writes: > >Now that the record companies are only pressing a few thousand LPs of any >particular title (if they're available at all), has the quality of those LPs >increased at all? [edited -tjk] >Can anyone who may have purchased a new release on LP lately comment on which >route the record companies are taking on this? >| William Kucharski, Solbourne Computer, Inc. | Opinions expressed above My experience with albums has been very satisfactory of late...I'm speaking of new LPs here. The vinyl seems to be of a very good grade at the very least, with many LPs being quite excellent. Much better than the 70s and early 80s, in my opinion. Too bloody bad that just when LP technology was truly arriving that the marketing types and technogeewhizes took over. I like fine digital sound (hard to get, though), but me 'n my Linn Sondek will be together for a LONG time, methinks.... %-) david@agora.rain.com -- My opinions belong to me...and vice versa. They're not copyrighted; third party thinkers should feel free to clone them at will. david@agora.rain.com davidr@glacier.UUCP