Vinyl injection moulding - New technology for making records

[spartanmanor]

http://www.factmag.com/2016/11/06/vinyl-manufacturer-injection-moulding-symcon/

This could be interesting. The durability factor is my main concern.

 

[tubewade]

It's interesting, but hard to draw many conclusions without more research. At first it sounds a lot like the polystyrene record process we previously used for 45 rpm single production which did not end up being durable at all and are shunned by many enthusiasts. There are surely some differences in this "new" process.

 

[enderwiggin]

If I did understand it right, those records should be more pricey and less durable... I'm not so hot about this...
Bye

Luca

 

[sqlsavior]

What does the following quote mean?

"Testing the sound quality also isn’t easy – the conventional quality system for vinyl is not directly compatible with injection-moulded records."

I'd have thought that sound quality was assessed by spinning the record on a turntable with an appropriate cartridge.

I read the other article and it didn't really say anything more. I know Stanton once developed a forked stylus, to be able to play stampers. My guess is that what it means is that there is no way to test the SQ in any intermediate steps, since there aren't any, so they have to make a mold and a record from it to hear what it sounds like. My guess is the molds themselves are relatively expensive to produce, so the temptation to release from molds that are "good enough" would be strong.

 

[james73_2010]

There are still some hurdles to overcome, however. Vinyl records are slightly more durable than the injection-moulded samples Symcon has made so far....

James H

 

[SpruceMoose]

And then they convert it all to digital to hear how the analog pressing sounds. Hmmmm...

 

[arts]

The original video shown is really rather ridiculous,and they are clearly hoping for a technically ignorant audience.

 

[hifitommy]

good tech to watch. it sounds like they haven't perfected it yet but the research is coming along.

 

[OMGCat!]

I really don't see why this wouldn't work if they could figure out how to injection mold vinyl. It's no problem getting DVD sized pits and lands using polycarbonate, squishing out record grooves would be simple by comparison. Plus, it's likely there are a lot of DVD and CD injection molding presses sitting idle in warehouses that could be repurposed. As far as I remember from my time working in a production plant, there should be enough room to accommodate the larger mold size though i might be wrong.

 

[hifitommy]

it says right in the article that they are still working on materials etc to ensure low wear of the product.

 

[flavio81]

The video says "We don't use PVC", so those aren't vinyl records.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

http://www.factmag.com/2016/11/06/vinyl-manufacturer-injection-moulding-symcon/

This could be interesting. The durability factor is my main concern.

Not new technology. 45 RPM styrene singles have been made that way often since the 1950's. Vinyl superior and more durable pressed the conventional way!

 

[loudnoises]

Not new technology. 45 RPM styrene singles have been made that way often since the 1950's. Vinyl superior and more durable pressed the conventional way!

I can only imagine the nonfills and foreign material issues. Those grooves are so small...

 

[Route 66]

This thread is almost 8 years old. I wonder what ever became of the process they're describing.