Bought no vinyl for 10 years. Where to (re)start now?

[drmevo]

As mentioned, the Acoustic Sounds records are generally pretty good/great quality.

I also have really been impressed by almost all of the Craft jazz records I’ve bought recently, particularly the Original Jazz Classics reissues. Bill Evans’ Sunday at the Village Vanguard (along with Waltz for Debbie, same set of performances) is a classic, and it’s also one of my favorite jazz records ever. It’s hard to believe it was captured so well, live(!), in 1961.

Yes, these records are around $40, so not cheap, but also not ridiculous. Backgrounds are extremely quiet for vinyl (tape hiss is often louder, if it’s present). Virtually no ticks/pops. I haven’t received a warped or off-center disc from Craft yet. In today’s world of vinyl with all the quality issues some labels have and generally high prices all around, I consider these a good value and worth the small premium.

 

[JeremyFife]

... Joan Armatrading: Joan Armatrading. A&M Records SP-4588† isn't her debut (

I had a 'senior moment ' there - yes, that's the album and it's not her debut. Thanks for the correction.

 

[Timmy]

Yes, these records are around $40

Did some market research and found out, that I’m not willing to spend 40$/€ on records like that right now.

Instead I ordered Hania Ranis double LP »Ghosts« for 28 Euros. Should arrive here before the weekend.

 

[Joe Smith]

Sometimes good deals come up in record stores - audiophile albums that people ripped once and then sold off. Still usually not cheap, but in the $20 band.

If you have something specific in mind, Discogs is always a good place to go. Lets you see how prices are averaging, anyway, so you don't overpay.

 

[JaccoW]

Did some market research and found out, that I’m not willing to spend 40$/€ on records like that right now.

Instead I ordered Hania Ranis double LP »Ghosts« for 28 Euros. Should arrive here before the weekend.

IIRC there is a code on the inner sleeve so you can also download the hi-res 24-bit 48kHz files from Bandcamp.

 

[Timmy]

Well, the LPs arrived.

Nice packaging, and the records feel quite heavy (for my standards, that is)

Record 1:

Marvellous, flat like a mirror, pick-up seems hardly to move when playing it, sound is fine


Record 2:

A bit more wobbling, but still in a tolerable amount. But side 3 of it has a »funny« scratch or rather a damage right at the beginning, unfortunately cleary audible:

 

[Joe Smith]

You might try using a microfiber brush or a gentle cleaning, see if that improves it at all/enough. Or, return it and exchange, since it was 28 euros...

Yeah, shoot, QC in almost all the current plants is not what it was in the heydays of vinal production...

 

[Robin L]

You might try using a microfiber brush or a gentle cleaning, see if that improves it at all/enough. Or, return it and exchange, since it was 28 euros...

Yeah, shoot, QC in almost all the current plants is not what it was in the heydays of vinal production...

I worked at record stores (Wherehouse Records, Rare Records Glendale) during the heyday of LPs:

1974 - 1978. This overlapped with the oil embargo. The QC of LPs at the time was terrible. Mind you, there were premium labels (Telarc's first digital recordings, Sheffield Lab's direct to disc recordings) that had superior vinyl. They tended to cost at least twice as much as the standard product. $18 vs. $7. This is when regrind (returned defective LPs) found their way into the vinyl formulations of companies like Capitol records. Also, some labels, like RCA, deliberately cut way back on the amount of vinyl in each record, increasing the likelihood of the LP being warped. I haven't heard a new LP in a long time, but I'll bet current LPs have better quality control than they did during the time that LPs peaked in sales.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

One album which allegedly suffered from the surge in oil costs and vinyl purity being significantly degraded is Mike Oldfield's Hergest Ridge. It's an album where quite often the nuance is in the quieter instruments in the mix.

 

[Joe Smith]

I worked at record stores (Wherehouse Records, Rare Records Glendale) during the heyday of LPs:

View attachment 390428

1974 - 1978. This overlapped with the oil embargo. The QC of LPs at the time was terrible. Mind you, there were premium labels (Telarc's first digital recordings, Sheffield Lab's direct to disc recordings) that had superior vinyl. They tended to cost at least twice as much as the standard product. $18 vs. $7. This is when regrind (returned defective LPs) found their way into the vinyl formulations of companies like Capitol records. Also, some labels, like RCA, deliberately cut way back on the amount of vinyl in each record, increasing the likelihood of the LP being warped. I haven't heard a new LP in a long time, but I'll bet current LPs have better quality control than they did during the time that LPs peaked in sales.

You know, even with RCA Dynaflex records, I don't recall getting a bad one. I guess I was just lucky? MCA did great pressings, and I bought a lot of Classical on DG and Telarc back then. Today, I hear far more stories about issues and problems...course, people are I think demanding a higher quality these days, for what an LP costs...

 

[Robin L]

You know, even with RCA Dynaflex records, I don't recall getting a bad one. I guess I was just lucky? MCA did great pressings, and I bought a lot of Classical on DG and Telarc back then. Today, I hear far more stories about issues and problems...course, people are I think demanding a higher quality these days, for what an LP costs...

You were just lucky. Those of us working at record stores were on the receiving end of all those defective LPs. Of course, a lot of stereos had treble emphasis. Part of the reason why people found CDs "sterile" and "edgy" when they first appeared. But that also emphasized surface noise. Telarc only had a few LPs issued in the late 1970's, those were uniformly excellent as regards pressing quality, didn't see returns of those records. DGG records were better than domestic (USA) pressings, along with Philips pressings from Polydor in the Netherlands. London/Decca's LPs were a step down from that, but still better than domestic product. The WEA discs of the mid-70's tended to have better pressing quality and fewer returns. People started to notice the difference between domestic and import pressings in the mid-1970s. The Parlophone Beatles LPs began to appear in record shops around that time, those tended to sound better than domestic product for a number of reasons. Of course, there was also the novelty of hearing the LPs as the Beatles originally intended, with the correct number and selection of tracks.

Because people these days are used to the silent backgrounds of digital formats, they are surprised when they buy a $20/$30 LP and hear background noise. I got the complete Beatles in Mono LP set when it came out in 2015. With few exceptions found the sound disappointing. One of the "White Album" sides was audibly off-center, otherwise the pressing quality was fine, but there were a number of discs that had bad EQ choices (Help! in particular comes to mind). And yes, those remastered LPs were pricey.