Vinyl Quality

[Loverobot]

The #nowspinning thread has got me thinking about how I can be sure to get decent quality pressings
An example is the Shaft album that has just been shown
I thought I might quite like that so got onto the web and discogs and am met with a plethora of options
How can I know which is likely to be the better option pressing wise - a new reissue or an old original assuming I go VG+,NM or M?
With the new stuff it seems impossible to find out much about the actual quality of the press in many cases and I would quite like to avoid wherever possible simply buying a CD on vinyl?
BTW installed my new P8 with an Ania Pro and coming from a Planar 2 with an exact just wow wow wow!

 

[Al ears]

The #nowspinning thread has got me thinking about how I can be sure to get decent quality pressings
An example is the Shaft album that has just been shown
I thought I might quite like that so got onto the web and discogs and am met with a plethora of options
How can I know which is likely to be the better option pressing wise - a new reissue or an old original assuming I go VG+,NM or M?
With the new stuff it seems impossible to find out much about the actual quality of the press in many cases and I would quite like to avoid wherever possible simply buying a CD on vinyl?
BTW installed my new P8 with an Ania Pro and coming from a Planar 2 with an exact just wow wow wow!

Your best bet is to buy from record labels reknown for their quality of recording and pressing. Sometimes where it was pressed makes a world of difference.
Think Mofi, Analogue Audio, Speakers Corner and the like....
Other hifi publications do rate vinyl on music quality as well as vinyl quality so read around...

 

[camcroft]

I have bought quite a few off ebay VG+,NM or M is quite a good description system and if they are not fit for purpose or not as described you can send them back using ebay buyer protection. As Al ears says about labels etc I have been lucky in the past and got the likes of German and USA pressings.

 

[camcroft]

The #nowspinning thread has got me thinking about how I can be sure to get decent quality pressings
An example is the Shaft album that has just been shown
I thought I might quite like that so got onto the web and discogs and am met with a plethora of options
How can I know which is likely to be the better option pressing wise - a new reissue or an old original assuming I go VG+,NM or M?
With the new stuff it seems impossible to find out much about the actual quality of the press in many cases and I would quite like to avoid wherever possible simply buying a CD on vinyl?
BTW installed my new P8 with an Ania Pro and coming from a Planar 2 with an exact just wow wow wow!

There are a few good examples of the Shaft album on ebay it's the p&p cost s that have pushed the price up. There is one £ 12.99 + postage which is in good condition and sounds reasonable. Yes its used but vinyl is not a cheap thing to buy nowadays now that it is a popular format again.

 

[Loverobot]

Thanks both
Its not so much the idea of buying used its more that for example I saw I could buy a new repressed in the 2000's that costs less than a NM 70's press - and I got to thinking there must be a reason. I notice that the first pressings go for stonking amounts vs more modern represses - is it just rarity or is it quality (or both?)?
I have bought some used vinyl recently and so far the condition has been as described
Have invested in a RCM and that is being used before I play the discs too

 

[Al ears]

Thanks both
Its not so much the idea of buying used its more that for example I saw I could buy a new repressed in the 2000's that costs less than a NM 70's press - and I got to thinking there must be a reason. I notice that the first pressings go for stonking amounts vs more modern represses - is it just rarity or is it quality (or both?)?
I have bought some used vinyl recently and so far the condition has been as described
Have invested in a RCM and that is being used before I play the discs too

RCM is a very good idea if you intend to purchase a lot of second-hand discs.
Regards first pressings many want just that hence prices, they don't want later pressings that are often remastered or possibly cut from a digital source.
Remastering is not always better.

 

[daytona600]

Best sounding record ( Analogue AAA ) or original
avoid digital vinyl versions
Analogue Productions Steve Hoffman & Kevin Gray'

 

[skinnypuppy71]

You guy's really need to check out Black Country New Road their new album "Ants from up there " is a fantastic sounding record, ( well cd in my case, but I also have a copy of the deluxe vinyl edition) recorded using analogue gear and "for me" is already probably a album of the year contender, it's that good....with a dr rating of 18, no album I know of in the alternative indie genre comes close. just a shame Isaac Wood has decided to leave the band.

 

[Rui]

i´ve bought some new records and store them on the same place i have old ones ,normally the ones i´m listening to them more often and noticed that they start to get noise and older one´s stayed clean as they were

 

[Al ears]

i´ve bought some new records and store them on the same place i have old ones ,normally the ones i´m listening to them more often and noticed that they start to get noise and older one´s stayed clean as they were

I would suggest that even new vinyl needs cleaning before playing.
The fact you find it noisier than old vinyl bears this out.

 

[Rui]

the problem is the cost of a good cleaner machine, i´ve seen some working and it not stay cleaned if cleaned once, also record´s prices are high and they deliver records with noise problems, new. I say this because i have a lot of records and recentelly ,because my father passed away his record colection came to me ,this because none of my brothers or syster wanted the vinil colection having now around 5.000 Lp´s .Only 70 , when putting them on a new house with 80 years i bought, the wall where i put a piece of old furniture with 70 of my most listened records they all caught a white mould that dried off , now they need to be cleaned and the price for a new good machine is very high ,more like i can´t afford it because of other matters that come first like health or kids books for studies. I think you´re right , but don´t you think that they should come clean when new , i remenber old records saying that "the use of EMITEX will provide years of listening without any noise , it protects the record against dust and prevents the excessive static " this evolved for a not so long text but is this what´s causing the problem with modern records, the non utilization of whatever his EMITEX is causing the increasing of noise, fastly on new records. I bought a few years ago a new copy of So from Peter Gabriel and it stays clean without gathering any noise ,it´s an EMI release. I have some Sub-Pop records and they were cheaply produced but they keep the existing quality after 30 something years, this because i had a radio show for 35 years and at the time several "alternative" labels used to send me complilations of their bands and Lp´s ,for me to play them on the radio, only FOOD records sent to me singles from their bands but with great sound, is there any sugestion for a good cleaner machine not over 1.000€´s ? Regards

 

[Clarkey_71]

the problem is the cost of a good cleaner machine, i´ve seen some working and it not stay cleaned if cleaned once, also record´s prices are high and they deliver records with noise problems, new. I say this because i have a lot of records and recentelly ,because my father passed away his record colection came to me ,this because none of my brothers or syster wanted the vinil colection having now around 5.000 Lp´s .Only 70 , when putting them on a new house with 80 years i bought, the wall where i put a piece of old furniture with 70 of my most listened records they all caught a white mould that dried off , now they need to be cleaned and the price for a new good machine is very high ,more like i can´t afford it because of other matters that come first like health or kids books for studies. I think you´re right , but don´t you think that they should come clean when new , i remenber old records saying that "the use of EMITEX will provide years of listening without any noise , it protects the record against dust and prevents the excessive static " this evolved for a not so long text but is this what´s causing the problem with modern records, the non utilization of whatever his EMITEX is causing the increasing of noise, fastly on new records. I bought a few years ago a new copy of So from Peter Gabriel and it stays clean without gathering any noise ,it´s an EMI release. I have some Sub-Pop records and they were cheaply produced but they keep the existing quality after 30 something years, this because i had a radio show for 35 years and at the time several "alternative" labels used to send me complilations of their bands and Lp´s ,for me to play them on the radio, only FOOD records sent to me singles from their bands but with great sound, is there any sugestion for a good cleaner machine not over 1.000€´s ? Regards

I use this.

VC-E – Pro-Ject Audio Systems

www.project-audio.com

It's perfect for my needs and seems to be within your budget.
Worth checking out.

 

[nads]

The #nowspinning thread has got me thinking about how I can be sure to get decent quality pressings
An example is the Shaft album that has just been shown
I thought I might quite like that so got onto the web and discogs and am met with a plethora of options
How can I know which is likely to be the better option pressing wise - a new reissue or an old original assuming I go VG+,NM or M?
With the new stuff it seems impossible to find out much about the actual quality of the press in many cases and I would quite like to avoid wherever possible simply buying a CD on vinyl?
BTW installed my new P8 with an Ania Pro and coming from a Planar 2 with an exact just wow wow wow!

One issue with the new releases is there is no longer a person inspecting them before they go into the sleeves. So release agent etc can still be in the grooves.
i bought my OKKI NOKKI about 15 years ago, yes it cost a bit but I don’t know if you saw my picture of my stylus after playing about 5 new un cleaned records?

is a RCM worth it? Yes. How much to spend depends on your collection and your kit. A dirty record will wear the stylus faster than a clean one.

 

[Rui]

One issue with the new releases is there is no longer a person inspecting them before they go into the sleeves. So release agent etc can still be in the grooves.
i bought my OKKI NOKKI about 15 years ago, yes it cost a bit but I don’t know if you saw my picture of my stylus after playing about 5 new un cleaned records?

is a RCM worth it? Yes. How much to spend depends on your collection and your kit. A dirty record will wear the stylus faster than a clean one.

Really ,i never saw a so dirty stylus ,my needles i try to keep them cleaned but i only have around 15 new records bought since 2017 . Tried a expensive cleaning machine from Pro-ject but only after 3 times cleaned it sounds almost cleaned, i think the ultra sonic ones are the better but they are so weak and expensive this because i used to clean my laboratory material with a machine using ultra-sounds but it costed in 97 what today is 4.500€´s. I´m going to do a research to see if i can find a good cleaning machine, or two if combined they do clean perfect the records

RCM is a very good idea if you intend to purchase a lot of second-hand discs.
Regards first pressings many want just that hence prices, they don't want later pressings that are often remastered or possibly cut from a digital source.
Remastering is not always better.

I think that even digital recordings passed into analogue format or vinil. sounds better than it´s cd version and being remasterized so many times the records don´t even sound like the original ones , some even seems a good cover band playing the songs and i don´t mind if it´s the first pressing or not but, perfect kept records. I bought on ebay from germany some 2nd hand records that the sound was perfect but in Portugal my country it´s a gamble because a lot of people that own big records colections still had older types of needles not diamond tips or some thinked that the first needle would last forever ,it starts to destroy the sound in the grooves at first listening using this old needles
, thanks for your coment , i think all helped me to have a better view about new records and cleaning machines

 

[SteveR750]

I've just started to replace my vinyl collection, really disappointed with some of them. Brand new pressing 9f AC-DC Highway to Hell suffers from unbearable sibilance. Its almost as if the record is, damaged and forcing the stylus to jump. Don't have a problem on any other discs, so I'm thinking it must be the disc.

 

[Rui]

I use this.

VC-E – Pro-Ject Audio Systems

www.project-audio.com

It's perfect for my needs and seems to be within your budget.
Worth checking out.

thanks, i already cleaned some records on it ,owned by a friend of mine and it´s one of my options but the ultra-sonic ones at first clean they do clean the records perfect ,but not some cheapest ones i´ve seen but also tried a....don´t remenber the brand but it sells also speakers and other gadjets usefull to music listeners, that with the pro-ject you refer they do stay perfect after using both, thanks for the advice

 

[Rui]

Really ,i never saw a so dirty stylus ,my needles i try to keep them cleaned but i only have around 15 new records bought since 2017 . Tried a expensive cleaning machine from Pro-ject but only after 3 times cleaned it sounds almost cleaned, i think the ultra sonic ones are the better but they are so weak and expensive this because i used to clean my laboratory material with a machine using ultra-sounds but it costed in 97 what today is 4.500€´s. I´m going to do a research to see if i can find a good cleaning machine, or two if combined they do clean perfect the records

I think that even digital recordings passed into analogue format or vinil. sounds better than it´s cd version and being remasterized so many times the records don´t even sound like the original ones , some even seems a good cover band playing the songs and i don´t mind if it´s the first pressing or not but, perfect kept records. I bought on ebay from germany some 2nd hand records that the sound was perfect but in Portugal my country it´s a gamble because a lot of people that own big records colections still had older types of needles not diamond tips or some thinked that the first needle would last forever ,it starts to destroy the sound in the grooves at first listening using this old needles
, thanks for your coment , i think all helped me to have a better view about new records and cleaning machines

i agree 100% with you ,i own several 1st pressings that only got them because they were bought when were new by my father or me or even my grand-father but i have to say that the first digital recording i owned pressed into vinil it´s the dream syndicate live at the rajii´s wich monthes after being listening to it and telling to my friends or known people that it was the best rock album ever recorded live, this drums, bass guitar, rythm guitar ,main guitar , vocals it sounds perfect when in the back cover i spoted "recorded directelly into DAT" and later i bought the cd version just because of two songs extra that i liked from this band,not all songs are good to me allthough the ones i like i find them excelent and this live versions against the studio albums that i find badly produced in the 80´s, but returning to the cd version with extra tracks ,it sounds horrible compared to the vinil recorded from a digital source, so the problem is not being digital or analog it´s the old digital format, the CD. what i expect is having a perfect sound closer to what was recorded, and other view of the matter that i think it´s important to mention ,i since 76 have a very good equalizer but i never turned it on in my 76 pioneer top of the range system but in 93 when starting to buy more cds and maybe two records till2017 i felt i needed to use a equalizer in my home system and office too. when in 2017 bought three of my favorite records that were not in perfect condition but with a destroyd cover and the vinil still in very good condition, but new it´s better (i thought), today the older records have less noise than the ones bought in 2017 this inbetween tracks, but made me buy around 50 more new records and some i didn´t had because i had them recorded since new in reels at fastest speed ,or better audio resolution in the Akai recorder i own , so i don´t mind having the 3rd or 10th press of the record if it sounds as it should, and about remasterising, i heard on the cd of the first jethro tull Lp the vocalist saying that the first record was badly recorded on a litle studio that had two recording rooms and it was used by the rolling stones wich was a bigger room in the floor level studio or led zeppelin ,not sure, but he might be wrong because of the amounts of LSD he took and all other drugs, this because i heard Aqualung when it first came out and found it sounding real good and today i think the same the sound of the guitars and all other instruments also the mixing related with diferent levels of sound in the same song for voice and acustic instruments against the explosion of sound when all the band starts to play ,like the first song "aqualung" if it didn´t sound good i wouldn´t buy the 3 lp´s they released after and now he says it was very bad recorded .He´s old maybe with some brain sickness due to his age , and in all countries ,only he found it badly recorded and now it´s improved on this last remastering ,off course not it looses all the soul of the album, maybe he was after a sound like 80´s Epic style but he should be gratefull for the way the album sounds because if it didn´t sound so good he wouldn´t be known by anyone wich makes me sad after when being only 15 i listened to his first album, sorry the band where he sings and plays album , this is not a war against digital or analogue, is only seeking for good sound and at the time i only had a pioneer receiver in mono with two speakers from celestion and a also pioneer turntable already in stereo and a reel recorder from grundig from the 50´s, so what more can i say, i enjoy listening to good sound but i listen to late 30´s recordings from Django Reinhardt a old guitar player there aren´t much better ,this talking about recordings, regards

 

[MrTeroo]

i agree 100% with you ,i own several 1st pressings that only got them because they were bought when were new by my father or me or even my grand-father but i have to say that the first digital recording i owned pressed into vinil it´s the dream syndicate live at the rajii´s wich monthes after being listening to it and telling to my friends or known people that it was the best rock album ever recorded live, this drums, bass guitar, rythm guitar ,main guitar , vocals it sounds perfect when in the back cover i spoted "recorded directelly into DAT" and later i bought the cd version just because of two songs extra that i liked from this band,not all songs are good to me allthough the ones i like i find them excelent and this live versions against the studio albums that i find badly produced in the 80´s, but returning to the cd version with extra tracks ,it sounds horrible compared to the vinil recorded from a digital source, so the problem is not being digital or analog it´s the old digital format, the CD. what i expect is having a perfect sound closer to what was recorded, and other view of the matter that i think it´s important to mention ,i since 76 have a very good equalizer but i never turned it on in my 76 pioneer top of the range system but in 93 when starting to buy more cds and maybe two records till2017 i felt i needed to use a equalizer in my home system and office too. when in 2017 bought three of my favorite records that were not in perfect condition but with a destroyd cover and the vinil still in very good condition, but new it´s better (i thought), today the older records have less noise than the ones bought in 2017 this inbetween tracks, but made me buy around 50 more new records and some i didn´t had because i had them recorded since new in reels at fastest speed ,or better audio resolution in the Akai recorder i own , so i don´t mind having the 3rd or 10th press of the record if it sounds as it should, and about remasterising, i heard on the cd of the first jethro tull Lp the vocalist saying that the first record was badly recorded on a litle studio that had two recording rooms and it was used by the rolling stones wich was a bigger room in the floor level studio or led zeppelin ,not sure, but he might be wrong because of the amounts of LSD he took and all other drugs, this because i heard Aqualung when it first came out and found it sounding real good and today i think the same the sound of the guitars and all other instruments also the mixing related with diferent levels of sound in the same song for voice and acustic instruments against the explosion of sound when all the band starts to play ,like the first song "aqualung" if it didn´t sound good i wouldn´t buy the 3 lp´s they released after and now he says it was very bad recorded .He´s old maybe with some brain sickness due to his age , and in all countries ,only he found it badly recorded and now it´s improved on this last remastering ,off course not it looses all the soul of the album, maybe he was after a sound like 80´s Epic style but he should be gratefull for the way the album sounds because if it didn´t sound so good he wouldn´t be known by anyone wich makes me sad after when being only 15 i listened to his first album, sorry the band where he sings and plays album , this is not a war against digital or analogue, is only seeking for good sound and at the time i only had a pioneer receiver in mono with two speakers from celestion and a also pioneer turntable already in stereo and a reel recorder from grundig from the 50´s, so what more can i say, i enjoy listening to good sound but i listen to late 30´s recordings from Django Reinhardt a old guitar player there aren´t much better ,this talking about recordings, regards

I don't mean to be rude but your posts are unreadable because of lack of paragraphs.

You put so much effort into them it's a shame. I don't know about anyone else but despite wanting to read them I just pass them by.

Could you hit the return key a few times?

Again, not intending to be rude.