Dull Sounding Records

[jjohnson]

I am fairly new to the world of vinyl but have managed to pick up a couple of nice turntables with decent carts. I love the tactile feel of vinyl and the album covers. With many albums, however, I find the sound to be dull and lifeless. Most of the albums have a fair amount of age but are in good shape. I clean all of them before use with a record brush and cleaner. Yet, many albums lack the highs and lows that I'm accustomed to hearing with cd's. I would worry that there were issues with my table, cart, or just general setup. However, when I play certain albums like Donal Fagan's "The Nightfly", it's as good, or better than any of the cd's that I own. Do I need to buy a full-bore record cleaner or are there any other suggestions or thoughts?

 

[cactuscowboy]

The quality of LPs is going to vary considerably. Some will simply be poor recordings or poorly mastered, etc... That certain albums (The Nightfly) sound great tells me your gear is not the problem.

If you're buying lots of used vinyl, a record cleaning machine (RCM) is essential IMO. Some guys get great results washing by hand (no vacuum) but it never worked for me.

 

[tonybelding]

I'm pretty new at this too, I've had my turntable for a few weeks now. I've had sort of the opposite experience, where I've been surprised how good LPs can sound.

I lucked into a big batch of records from the 1980s that were mostly promo pressings. They were sent to a radio station -- a few never opened, most others look like they were played once or twice and then put in storage. They sound almost as good as a CD. If I compare back-to-back with a CD, then I can hear that the LP doesn't match the CD's lack of surface noise, finer sonic detail and crisper highs. The difference is subtle, though, and if I'm not comparing back-to-back then the vinyl sounds great.

Keep in mind I'm into my 40s now and have probably lost about 20-30% of my hearing by this time. That happens. :sigh:

I also have some recordings from the mid-70s that sound pretty scruffy. I think they were played too many times on cheap-and-crummy record players, which a lot of people used in those days. That's something you'll inevitably run into.

Incidentally, one of the worst sounding LPs I have is a new pressing of Lights from Paradise by Quest for Fire. It sounds like they took a super-compressed "loudness war" style CD recording and spooled it right into the record cutter. It's a sonic abomination.

I did get a record cleaner. I got a Spin Clean and am very happy with it. It doesn't magically turn records into CDs, but it can get a lot of grit off a dirty old LP.

 

[statman122]

Clean , clean, and clean again! vinyl is a lot of work, but (a lot of the time) it's worth it!

 

[beatcomber]

I am fairly new to the world of vinyl but have managed to pick up a couple of nice turntables with decent carts. I love the tactile feel of vinyl and the album covers. With many albums, however, I find the sound to be dull and lifeless. Most of the albums have a fair amount of age but are in good shape. I clean all of them before use with a record brush and cleaner. Yet, many albums lack the highs and lows that I'm accustomed to hearing with cd's.

Garbage in, garbage out. Some records are just not that well mastered. Dull sound has nothing to do with how clean a record is.

Specifically, which records are giving you trouble?

 

[rushfan]

I'd check the alignment of your cartridges. They're not exactly plug-and-play. Proper cartridge geometry is critical to obtaining best sound.

Did you pay close attention to balancing your arm, obtaining the correct overhang of the stylus and using the optimum tracking force for your cartridge?

 

[4dryhme]

It really can't be stressed enough that the cleanliness of the records makes a huge difference. How you go about that - is really dependent on your budget or DIY skills.

Some records though, are slabs. Played to death and won't come back no matter how clean they are. Some records are inferior pressings and are limited from the get go.

 

[jjohnson]

I'd check the alignment of your cartridges. They're not exactly plug-and-play. Proper cartridge geometry is critical to obtaining best sound.

Did you pay close attention to balancing your arm, obtaining the correct overhang of the stylus and using the optimum tracking force for your cartridge?

The arm is properly balanced but I've had to eyeball the overhang. My printer is toast and I don't have a cartridge protractor at the moment. I would think that if this were the issue, I'd have consistently bad results. On my other table, the overhang is correct and I get similar results.

 

[GreatTone]

Records can sound dull for a lot of reasons. One is that later pressings can use plates that are worn. Other times, later pressings are made from copies of the master tape, or copies of copies. If you know an original pressing of a certain albums sounds great and you find a dull-sounding copy, then that's probably the culprit. The sound has a way of sounding distant ("recessed") and muddy, as opposed to crisp and immediate.

If you want to see how good an LP can sound, try one of the Music Matters reissues of classic Blue Note albums. They come on 2 45 rpm discs. To my ear, they are the absolute pinnacle of the vinyl art. Nothing -- no other vinyl or CD -- comes close. They are pricey at $50 each, but I've found them addictive as the sound is just phenomenal. Japanese pressings are often good as well.

Part of the vinyl experience is learning about original pressings and identifying the mastering engineer on particular albums. For example, I have a King Crimson album ("Lizard") that's been in my collection for decades. I pulled it out the other day and was amazed at the great sound quality. Then I noticed inscribed in the deadwax the initials "GP" -- George Piros, one of the great mastering engineers. You can search Audiokarma for past threads on identifying mastering engineers and learn a lot.

Hope this helps.

 

[jimreeves]

I've heard many rock and pop records that sound terrible from new. Very congested sound.
That said, have you ever considered upgrading the interconnects on your LT-22? If you're using a MM cart it may make a world of difference. It sure did on some of my older turntables.

 

[BrocLuno]

Dull is sign of loss of highs. That can be from aged patch cables (Inter connects) that have pick up ambient moisture over the years and have added capacitance. Could be cartridge or stylus or both.

That a few LPs sound good could be that the stylus is tracking on un-worn areas on those LPs. That could be a sign that you need to get another stylus that will do the same on most of your LPs. I suggest having a couple of cartridges ready for each TT. A line-contact or shibata will often wake up dull PLs. Sometimes you need a 4x7 elliptical to ride slightly above the old wear pattern. It's trial and error.

Good inexpensive cartridges that will get into a groove are Nagaoka JT-555, AT 440MLa, AT95Sa, Shure M90 series with an HE or JICO SAS. These will all wake up what's there. However, they can't make up for bad pressings or bad mastering.