180 gram

[Jimboo]

What exactly does a heavy pressing vinyl bring to the party?

 

[Deleted member 108165]

Sweet FA! They still warp just like the thinner variety. I've purchased quite a few remastered 180gram LPs and have found that the originals from the 70's sound far better and there's not so much needle-talk either. Personally I now look on discogs for original LPs. This 180gram thing is all marketing bull***t.

I also go in search of original CDs as well as they tend to have more dynamic range than the overly-loud "remastered" versions.

 

[Al ears]

Oh dear, it sounds like DougK has had some unfortunate incidents with newer vinyl.
Personally think they don't warp as easy and I am old enough to remember the oil embargoes in the seventies (73 and 79) when many LPs became very thin so I would tend to avoid any first issues from this period.
I think quite a few of the newer 180 and even 200gm re-issues are far better mastered than the originals in a number of cases which is why I bought them, to replace my worn out originals.
I have found that most new vinyl is overpriced but many of the 180gm LPs cost pretty much the same as lower weight reissues so no downside there.
Having said all that I have become very selective in what I spend my hard-earned on and look for certain people that do the remastering and, indeed, where the vinyl is actually pressed.
The amount of vinyl I buy has diminished somewhat over the years but there's good stuff out there and if you want it to last get it on some heavier weight vinyl.

 

[iMark]

It's just a waste of material. I have inherited hundreds of classical LPs from the 1960s to the 1980s. Most of them weigh around 120g. The records have always been properly stored and they play without any problems. It's not the weight that matters. It's the quality of the pressing, preferably a short run at the factory. Like it used to be with classical LPs which were always more expensive and better pressings. It hardly gets any better than an Argo record from the 1960s.

 

[daytona600]

180g audiophile vinyl is just marketing BS from major labels
only means something if source , mastering , pressing plant is stated

Pursuing the Perfect Press - The Process of Creating 180 Gram Vinyl Reissues

For vinyl lovers, we take for granted the experience of bringing home a new treasure, peeling off the saran wrap and carefully pulling out that awesome new 180 gram version of one’s favorite record. But few of us know what goes into the making of those ultra-high quality releases. Today, we sit...

rel.net

 

[Al ears]

To be honest regardless of the parameters stated above if all remain the same and the only difference is the weight of the vinyl then I know where my money would be going BS or not. ;-)

 

[Deleted member 116933]

Weather market BS or not there are some sound engineering reasons why thicker it better (get your minds out the gutters). In theory, it should give a better-pressed grove as there's more material to displace/emboss. Ie the opposing sides aren't pushing on one another, which can be a problem when anything pressed like this is made too thin.

And deeper groves should lead to a longer a lasting record with less chance of scratches being a problem. But there are downsides thicker will mean more brittle and less tolerant to torsional stresses, and the reason you see more warped heavyweight vinyl is that it takes longer to cool and the pressing plants don't provide that some times, being handled too roughly just after production.

I don't really buy any old stuff/remastered stuff all fairly modern, older music just isn't my bag but I do have one 1 really good remaster on heavyweight coloured vinyl (HMV vinyl week edition), DJ shadows entroducing and it sounds superb better than the CD i have from the 90's. So not everyone has bad experiences, and at the end of the day if you buy modern music it will more likely than not come on 140gram and above. I would say its not about sound quality, more longevity and collectability (which is another prickly subject). At the end of the day buy what you like sound quality is subjective at best another mans sweet is anothers bitter.

 

[Al ears]

I for one am not convinced warp factor is down to the pressing stage in an LPs life but rather the storage post-production.
I may very well be wrong however.....