Well, this is not turning out how I'd hoped it would. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs arrived yesterday morning. I immediately put it on, excited to hear how it sounds on vinyl. Short answer - like crap. First, it was badly warped, but in a weird way. Rather than the usual cupping type if warp, it was wavy. The outer edge looked like a sine wave when it was spinning. Although I have other albums with a much larger amount of warpage, the short, but steep, warps of this one wanted to lift my cartridge out of the grooves. Kudos to the Signet. It hung in there, but there was an audible thump coming through the speakers as it bottomed out after every warp.
If that wasn't bad enough, there was a weird looking patch, looked almost metallic, about the size of a quarter, in the first track. With every revolution, there was a scratching/screeching sound as the stylus passed through this patch. I cleaned the album before the first play, but this "patch" would not come off and looked like whatever it was, was embedded in the vinyl. This is the first time I ever worried about playing a BRAND NEW RECORD with my most valuable cartridge/stylus.
In addition to these defects, the overall surface noise was nearly as bad as my Cure Greatest Hits picture disk. That kind of surface noise can be expected with a picture disk, but is unacceptable on a conventional pressing. Very, very disappointed. This is easily the worst sounding pressing of any new record I have ever purchased. I didn't even make through the second track on the album, before I shut it off and started a return claim with Amazon. An hour later, I dropped the package off at my local UPS Store. At least Amazon makes the return process relatively painless.
And, it gets worse...
Oh well, I thought, "at least I have the 2008 Van Morrison - Moondance reissue, that gets highest acclaim as a GREAT pressing, on the way". It was supposed to arrive today, and I was looking forward to hearing it. So, I checked the tracking info 15 minutes ago, to see if it was almost here. Well, it made it as far as Portland, and then this happened:
No wonder Van looks so sad. I am too!
Wow! 0-2. Just when I was really getting used to ordering albums online, and until now, all had arrived safely. I have had multiple good experiences with Barnes & Noble and Acoustic Sounds, and even had a previous good experience with Amazon, but after this, I wont be ordering any more from them. In fact, my Prime membership will be expiring on the 18th and I wont be renewing as I wont be ordering any more albums from them. It's just not worth the hassle. I have too many other options - many independent local record stores, plus a Barnes & Noble nearby that has a full music department with a great selection of new vinyl and what they don't have on hand, I can order online. Because I am a member, I get frequent coupon codes from them for both in store and online purchases. So, buh-bye Amazon.