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The Quality of New Vinyl Today

Lorenzo47

Lorenzo47

Super Member
I've had some bad experiences with new issue vinyl. I have bought some new stuff that has so much surface noise, pops and ticks brand new that it's practically un-listenable. I clean every record I buy, new or used with a Spin Clean before it ever makes it to my table. Many, many of my old vinyl, 20, 30 and even 40 years old are quieter than a lot of the new stuff.

Not only that, but apparently the actual formulation of the vinyl, or whatever they're using is different because many of the new albums I've bought are so full of static electricity that they're dust magnets. A good example of this is an album that I love, Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco "You're Driving Me Crazy" on the Exile label. Impossible to keep clean, full of noise. I am sorry I bought it on vinyl and will likely purchase the CD.
 
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I don't have a lot of new vinyl, but all the ones I've purchased or had given to me (birthday, Christmas gifts) have been fine with respect to surface noise, ticks and pops. No static problems, either, but then, like you, I also clean each album, new or used, when I first get it. I happen to use a Nitty Gritty and their Pure 2 solution. I have noticed a static charge in some used records I've bought, but the Nitty Gritty cleaning process takes care of it.
 
I bought a lightly used Led Zeppelin IV, 180gm re-pressing that side 1 sounds amazing. Side 2 sounds completely muffled. I assume that the Original Owner had returned the album and the store put it back on the rack to sell as used. I still listen to it. But, only side 1.
 
Lorenzo47 said:
I've had some bad experiences with new issue vinyl. I have bought some new stuff that has so much surface noise, pops and ticks brand new that it's practically un-listenable. I clean every record I buy, new or used with a Spin Clean before it ever makes it to my table. Many, many of my old vinyl, 20, 30 and even 40 years old are quieter than a lot of the new stuff.

Not only that, but apparently the actual formulation of the vinyl, or whatever they're using is different because many of the new albums I've bought are so full of static electricity that they're dust magnets. A good example of this is an album that I love, Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco "You're Driving Me Crazy" on the Exile label. Impossible to keep clean, full of noise. I am sorry I bought it on vinyl and will likely purchase the CD.
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I purchase quite a bit of new issue "audiophile" vinyl. With very few exceptions the discs are wonderful with very little surface noise and few, if any, defects. The labels I mostly buy from are Analog Productions, MFSL, IMPEX. Groove Note, Atlantic half speed mastered, ORG, Speakers Corner etc. In many ways I view this as the Golden Age of vinyl production.
I much prefer my LPs to the CDs.
 
wyn palmer said:
I purchase quite a bit of new issue "audiophile" vinyl. With very few exceptions the discs are wonderful with very little surface noise and few, if any, defects. The labels I mostly buy from are Analog Productions, MFSL, IMPEX. Groove Note, Atlantic half speed mastered, ORG, Speakers Corner etc. In many ways I view this as the Golden Age of vinyl production.
I much prefer my LPs to the CDs.
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I also much prefer vinyl over CD's. I have purchased a couple of very expensive audiophile disks and have not been disappointed. But, I do believe that there's a lot of new junk out there. A lot of it not inexpensive. I appreciate your reply.
 
Lorenzo47 said:
I also much prefer vinyl over CD's. I have purchased a couple of very expensive audiophile disks and have not been disappointed. But, I do believe that there's a lot of new junk out there. A lot of it not inexpensive. I appreciate your reply.
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Yes, too many companies are trying to exploit the sudden and unexpected increase in the popularity of vinyl without going through the pain of providing quality output. Fortunately there are numerous companies that go to great lengths to get it right.
 
Well, how do you know it isn't your spin clean that isn't mucking things up?

I find that almost all of my new records are in pretty good (physical) condition.
 
WaynerN said:
Well, how do you know it isn't your spin clean that isn't mucking things up?

I find that almost all of my new records are in pretty good (physical) condition.
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It doesn't seem to muck up the used records that I buy. The majority of my vinyl purchases are used.
 
Most of my new vinyl buys have been quiet. A notable, and disappointing exception, is my copy of Mark Knopfler's Privateering. Lots of surface noise. A real shame because the man has never made a bad sounding record.
 
You can’t judge by a few examples of new purchases, Sundazed Records doesn’t seem to have that problem and they specialize in older 1960’s releases. Then Gramaphone.co.uk and Juno.co.uk don’t have the problem either and prices are cheaper to include cheaper shipping with the added value of better sound on top of it all. Let’s face it, here in the States recording houses are cranking out as much vinyl as possible and quality can be lacking at times. In Europe they never stopped pressing vinyl due to their passion for vinyl and its evident when listening to their recordings. Not to be confused with the stateside gramophone records.
 
I've also had mostly great results with new vinyl from the labels listed above. I have noticed that a thick new pressing can charge with static up like a battery and needs to be discharged by a wet clean or anti-static brush. Other than that I generally don't clean a new pressing.
 
I've been disappointed, too. Off-center pressing - gotta hate seeing your stylus hula dancing across the record. Sharp edges, thin pieces of vinyl that come off in the Spin Clean, off-center labels (I'm looking at you, Jack White, for Lazaretto!), etc.

I know they can do better, because my recent pressing of Nirvana's "Nevermind" is nice and sounds great - and it wasn't a premium-priced product, either (other nice jobs I've purchased recently include Alice In Chains' "Rainier Fog," Eric Johnson's "Ah Via Musicom," and just about everything I've snagged from Music On Vinyl). Obviously, if I buy Mobile Fidelity, I expect perfection from sound quality all the way to everything related to the pressing being perfect. I don't hold other labels to THAT standard, but like the OP said, my stuff from the 1980's, although not 180 gram vinyl, seems to be of much higher quality!
 
Djcoolray said:
You can’t judge by a few examples of new purchases, Sundazed Records doesn’t seem to have that problem and they specialize in older 1960’s releases. Then Gramaphone.co.uk and Juno.co.uk don’t have the problem either and prices are cheaper to include cheaper shipping with the added value of better sound on top of it all. Let’s face it, here in the States recording houses are cranking out as much vinyl as possible and quality can be lacking at times. In Europe they never stopped pressing vinyl due to their passion for vinyl and its evident when listening to their recordings. Not to be confused with the stateside gramophone records.
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I am a fan of mid to late century (1950-1980) jazz. Rarely have issues with used records from that era as long as I can visually inspect them. Some new reissues have been a mixed bag.
 
My brand new copy of Pink Floyd Animals LP has one wicked pop at the very beginning of Pigs that just can’t be cleaned out. It has to be embedded in the vinyl. It’s still better than the NM reissue it replaced, which looked super clean, but had more static noise than an AM radio. I wish all new vinyl records were perfect, but is not going to happen. It’s just the nature of the beast. That’s why I keep buying up old CDs. They may be digital, but at least they don’t snap, crackle and pop.
 
For new vinyl I try to only purchase from Amazon. Never a hassle to return to them and NQA. Five years ago or so, new vinyl was having growing pains as demand was high. Lately new vinyl has been much better. YMMV
 
The few re-issues I've purchased got given as gifts and had all/some of the previously mentioned deficiencies.

The only re-issue I actually own is an Eastern European made copy of Disraeli Gears on the Lilith label. The vinyl is thick and plays flawlessly. And the jacket is spectacular. More vivid graphics than early releases and it's embossed.

That album came to me in a small stack of newly made records bought at a thrift store for two dollars each. Other than that one, all were recently recorded albums by indie bands, the oldest being from 2009.

All of those sounded fine too. It made me wonder at the time if newness of the master source might account for that. It was easy to imagine that in all probability, any old so called master tape of an album was employed just to get a vinyl copy to market as fast and cheaply as possible.

It makes me think of the parallel with bootleg 8 track tapes. Not hard to make unlimited copies from a newly released LP to sell in gas stations for a couple of bucks.
 
New vinyl.....Its new, black and has grooves. When placed on a turntable and in contact with the stylus makes noise that can be heard through your speakers. Always newer than old vinyl. Probably cleaner and shinier too with fewer scratches and less noisy. Recyclable as well. About sums it up.
 
Most of what I have bought new has been good but there have been some noisy ones. What a disappointment. When I'm not happy, they get sent back. Try to buy from sellers who have a good return policy. Hopefully they send a free postage return label. It takes the worry out of buying records.
I have a couple that I just gave up on and ended up buying the CD. I don't think anyone should have to buy audiophile pressings to get a satisfactory product. If you feel you want the absolute very best vinyl available and have the money to do so, then by all means go for it.
 
I've run into this, but only a few titles.

Gregory Alan Isakov - The Weatherman
Gregory Alan Isakov - This Empty Northern Hemisphere

Both GREAT records, by the way! MADE for vinyl, IMO.

This Empty Northern Hemisphere actually sounds pretty good, except for ONE skip at the end of the last song. Haven't been able to get rid of it yet.

The Weatherman sounds like complete ASS. Pardon my language, but it's awful. So much surface noise, it's basically unlistenable. I've washed it and used my vinyl vac, no help. One of my favorite albums too, a real shame. I'm scared to try to buy another copy, might end up with the same thing. Contacted the seller but I waited too long before deciding to contact them, so nothing they could/would do.
 
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