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People complaining about "pressing is bad" on discogs vinyls
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| Guest |
Has anyone else noticed in the last year or 2, droves of people ting on popular vinyl releases because the pressing is bad?
I've only had 1 or 2 instances where a pressing was so bad that I didnt play the record. The rest of the time I feel like noise is part of the experience of playing a record. There are a bunch of factors that can create noise outside of the actual pressing being bad. Dust is one. You could also be playing the record on a really dry, low humidity day, and have some crackle and pop going on that has nothing to do with the record and everything to do with your physical setup.
It bothers me to see people on discogs constantly bitching about a little noise in a pressing. If I were an artist reading those comments I'd be very discouraged for my next vinyl release. Maybe I'd just save myself the hassle and not do it. |
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| rubez |
i love vinyl crackle. if you don't, you shouldn't be buying vinyl. i even love built-in vinyl crackle into my old mp3's that came from vinyl rips. but inherent problems? from what i understand the very nature of the way vinyl is pressed means the further away from the first press you get, the lower the quality of record produced.
but on discogs, i have noticed commentating has only really taken off in the last couple of years really. it could be down to that phenomenon - people are unlikely to comment on the actual quality of the recording unless it is bad. so more people commentating, means a surge of negative comments?
quirks are part of the joy of vinyl. |
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| Sykonee |
| Yeah, I've seen quite a few releases flooded with such complaints lately. Not that I blame vinyl hunters for it. Records are expensive, made more so by limited runs. If you're investing in a 'black crack' version, you want to know you're getting your money's worth, and not some cheap, rushed pressing. After all, the only reason to collect vinyl is for the smug satisfaction that you have the superior version over all other mediums. It just won't do if a record pressing sounds no better than a digital rip. ;) |
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| Guest |
| quote: | Originally posted by rubez
i love vinyl crackle. if you don't, you shouldn't be buying vinyl. i even love built-in vinyl crackle into my old mp3's that came from vinyl rips. but inherent problems? from what i understand the very nature of the way vinyl is pressed means the further away from the first press, the lower the quality of record produced.
but on discogs, i have noticed commentating has only really taken off in the last couple of years really. it could be down to that phenomenon - people are unlikely to comment on the actual quality of the recording unless it is bad. so more people commentating, means a surge of negative comments?
quirks are part of the joy of vinyl. |
Yes I agree totally. I think some of the folks were previously digital, and used to an ultra sterile listening experience, and now that they went out and bought at TT they feel they have a license to on something that has always been the same way that it is now. |
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| rubez |
i have noticed the quality of physical CD releases is really lame compared to what they used to be - the quality of the material to house the disc, the actual type of case, the (lack of) artwork and inserts. all you get is a no-frills container these days since they must feel the return isn't good enough to justify something more elaborate.
maybe some labels have cut back with vinyl in similar ways? i don't know what kind of releases are affected, but there has been a significant surge in vinyl sales - causing makeshift plants to spring up to cope with demand. i think this is hipster-related. and they may be just banging out mass copies purely for profit reasons, in the same way they now do for CD releases.
though there was always big differences in the quality of different records. some are beefy, and others flimsy as . |
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| Mr.Mystery |
The amount of bad pressings has gone up, though.
People are trying to cash in with the new vinyl boom and aren't paying as much attention to the quality, they just want to get the records out quickly. Some releases clearly have not been mastered for vinyl use, and as a result contain (for example) far too much bass for needles to handle which results in distortion and muddy sound. |
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| Sykonee |
| quote: | Originally posted by rubez
i have noticed the quality of physical CD releases is really lame compared to what they used to be - the quality of the material to house the disc, the actual type of case, the (lack of) artwork and inserts. all you get is a no-frills container these days since they must feel the return isn't good enough to justify something more elaborate.
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I dunno 'bout that. While most cases have slimmed down to a simple cardboard sleeve, there are others that have done rather creative things with limited budgets. I've never seen such diversity among CD cases as I have these past few years, a far cry from ye' olden days of standard jewel cases. |
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| rubez |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sykonee
I dunno 'bout that. While most cases have slimmed down to a simple cardboard sleeve, there are others that have done rather creative things with limited budgets. I've never seen such diversity among CD cases as I have these past few years, a far cry from ye' olden days of standard jewel cases. |
the last few CD's that i have bought, from a variety of labels and countries, have came in minimum-effort, almost throw-away packaging. not something worthy of being in a collection anyway.
re-buying an old CD recently only reinforced this. the quality is great, real thought went into it, and it could double up as a weapon if need be.
it is pretty clear that they are only catering (in their minds) to old-schoolers whose only medium they can play is CD. their stripped-back offerings has put me off buying in physical format. no doubt it wont be quite as bad for the next sasha CD - if one emerges - but if definitely looks like CD is finally dying out.
i can't imaging as an artist putting all that work into a release and only having a digital release. that would suck big time. |
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| Adam420 |
| I think they are complaining about quiet pressings more |
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| Sykonee |
| quote: | Originally posted by rubez
the last few CD's that i have bought, from a variety of labels and countries, have came in minimum-effort, almost throw-away packaging. not something worthy of being in a collection anyway.
re-buying an old CD recently only reinforced this. the quality is great, real thought went into it, and it could double up as a weapon if need be. |
Guess it depends on the label or artist. Here's a few that stood out to me recently:
Ultimae - polished digi-paks, multi-page photo booklet, etc. Not really a new thing for them, as they've always been class, but it's cool that they haven't caved into cheapening their product either.
Aphex Twin & Petar Dundov - both their recent albums came packaged in a multi-foldout cardboard, Syro more as a joke for the super-long expense print-out, Sailing as a geometric puzzle.
Souls Of Mischief 20th Anniversary Edition - a book! With music playing inside it! Mind, many deluxe anniversary editions go to bat for their packaging, but still!
Emmerichk - A thin plastic sleeve, spring loaded so the CD is released by pushing a little button on the corner spine
Silent Season - nature photo pasted on bio-degradable sleeve. Okay, doesn't look that impressive, but points for originality.
Wu-Tang's secret album - in a goddamn safe, mang! |
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| Woony |
| I bet it's because the plants are so hopelessly overworked now that they don't have much time for quality control. |
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| sumergible |
| Is this a complaint about new releases? I'm kinda surprised. I would expected them to have improved to the point where the the only noise you hear would be the low rumble on the outer groove before the track starts. I have a couple of NM- house records from the early 2000s that sound nearly sterile. |
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