Vinyl records in year 2024

[Gold]

Semi related....how do you decide what is "too hot" for reliable playback on mainstream pickups/arms?

I kinda recall a story about very early Led Zep II albums being recalled because they were "unplayable".

Bri

The real answer is experience. I have technical QC things I do that are important. At the end if the day its a judgement call that depends on lots of things. Both technical and mind reading abilities are required.

 

[Brian Roth]

Both technical and mind reading abilities are required.

The best thing I read today!! <g>

Bri

 

[MidnightArrakis]

Hopefully not. That would be two mistakes. A 7” record at 33 1/3 RPM usually sounds bad, for lack of a better word.

The high end is usually distorted. This is due to the smaller inner diameter of a 7” compared to a 12” record and the resulting tracing distortion.

Tracing distortion is due to the shrinking wavelength for any given frequency at the inner diameter. This is exacerbated by the corresponding reduction in linear velocity at the inner diameter.

([we asked for 45 rpm and received 33 rpm] -- So.....your band's music was played-back "slower"???) -- When I wrote my response, I kind of knew it wouldn't be interpreted as me "making a joke". I was kidding!!!.....
My comment was -- sort of implying -- that you had asked for a 45RPM record, but instead you had received a 7" 45RPM record cut at 33-1/3RPM.....which would have meant that your demo would have been played back slower!!!
HUH!!!.....now that I'm actually thinking about it, if your demo had been cut at 33-1/3RPM and since it is a 7" record, it would have been played back at 45RPM, which would have meant that your demo would have been played back as being FASTER.....meaning that your band would have sounded like "The Chipmunks"!!!





Oh, well.....so much for trying to make a joke!!!

/

 

[Brian Roth]

I kinda recall a story about very early Led Zep II albums being recalled because they were "unplayable".

Bri

Here's Bob Ludwig discussing that:

https://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.com/2011/10/bob-ludwig-on-mastering-led-zep-ii.html

Bri

 

[totoxraymond]

FASTER.....meaning that your band would have sounded like "The Chipmunks"!!!

Exactly what happened when i first played it.

Did you send a limiter-less premaster for the cuter ? vinyl don't like square wave

No, I did asked my mastering engineer who pre-mastered both for CD and vinyl, he told me it should be ok...

What is your album length ? maybe it's also the reason they don't cut at 45RPM ?!?

Side A is 3'20" and side B is 3'36". I think it should be ok for a 7" @ 45rpm?
Anyway, I would have expected them to let me know if 45 rpm is not possible for whatever reason.

The high end is usually distorted. This is due to the smaller inner diameter of a 7” compared to a 12” record and the resulting tracing distortion.

Sound like this could be the problem? Thanks for your insights.


Hopefully this will be sorted out.

 

[Gold]

Exactly what happened when i first played it.


No, I did asked my mastering engineer who pre-mastered both for CD and vinyl, he told me it should be ok...



Side A is 3'20" and side B is 3'36". I think it should be ok for a 7" @ 45rpm?

Sound like this could be the problem? Thanks for your insights.


Hopefully this will be sorted out.

Anything up to about 4:30 should be fine at 45. Someone wasn’t paying attention. It’s a bonehead mistake. Really no excuse.

 

[kags]

Just today in the Washington Post:
Link might be paywalled, https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...id=hp-mv-top-stories_top-table-main_p001_f005

 

[totoxraymond]

Anything up to about 4:30 should be fine at 45. Someone wasn’t paying attention. It’s a bonehead mistake. Really no excuse

Yeah, that's what i think. I'm not mad, shit happens everyday and that's why we do test press.

I'm a bit more pissed by the fact that it's been more than a week now and the factory didn't reply. Maybe that's because of easter holidays...

 

[totoxraymond]

Hi everyone,

I received the new samples, now they play back at 45rpm as requested, they sound good, although the low end is a bit shy, but tha may be due to vynil limitations.

One concern though is that all five samples i received are warped. The package i received was well packed and it arrived unharmed, so i think they were already warped at the factory.

What do you guys think? Is there a risk that the final production could be warped? Should i raise the concern to the factory? Can i approve the production?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thomas

 

[zamproject]

although the low end is a bit shy, but tha may be due to vynil limitations.

I'm not sure there is that much limitation ?!? maybe it's more the playback ? or the mix ? with monoing issue in the low ?
I mix an album knowing at start it will go to vinyl, I took care as much as possible of this parameter from day one.
The low is superb on that record, at least on my playback system.

so i think they were already warped at the factory

Hard to know, heavy load at shipping can happen and not necessary harming the packing ?

But yes, if there is issue you better let them know

 

[thomasdf]

Low end should not be shy on your record Thomas. Maybe you could A/B your pressing and a known ref with both pressings and dig files so you can try to figure out why your record sounds a bit thin.
As Zam pointed out, low end could have been monoed "blindly" during the cutting stage.

90% of the time when the cutting is done by the broker or "at the factory" I am very unhappy with the pressing. It's like playing russian roulette ...
If you need serious cutters adresses in Paris I can think of at least 3, maybe 4. Let me know !

Cheers

 

[totoxraymond]

Thanks for your advices and help.
Low end has already been monoed at the pre-mastering stage (and i kept it mostly mono during the mix).

The reduced low end is not really problematic. It's very small and the mix still sound good this way.
I wish i could hire a proper cutter, but unfortunately we don't have the budget. (We are already over the max expense at the moment).

My biggest concern is still about the vynils being warped.

Thanks guys!

Thomas

 

[Gold]

Are you used to checking test pressings on this system? Have you played it on more than one system? Phone cartridges can sound very different from one another.

 

[totoxraymond]

Are you used to checking test pressings on this system? Have you played it on more than one system? Phone cartridges can sound very different from one another.

To be fair, i'm not used to checkes test pressings t all. I was using my home system on which i listen to all my vynils.

Could be worth checking it on another system.

Thanks!

Thomas