Colored vinyl vs. Black vinyl sound quality

[sombunya]

I was wondering what the consensus here is.

I've heard people say that if the colored vinyl is opaque, no difference, translucent doesn't sound as good as black vinyl, it's all the same because black dye is added to the vinyl formula, and on and on.

It's nice to unseal a record and see colored vinyl but the last time I had a choice, I chose a 180 gram black vinyl over a colored one.

I'm sure someone here has some hard facts on this question. Opinions are welcomed as well.

 

[XV-1]

All things being equal black vinyl will always sound better than coloured.

Please see the quote from recordindustry , the worlds largest lp pressing plant says about coloured vinyl. Browse the web site, it is very informative.
http://www.recordindustry.com/index.php

Note: Although our colored vinyl has a very high quality standard, audio pressed on non-black vinyl is more susceptible to higher noise levels and/or clicks in the lead-in and lead-out grooves or on quiet parts of the recording.

 

[sombunya]

Thank you.

 

[paskinn]

I have always assumed colour in vinyl is a 'bad thing'....but I recently bought a copy of the Counting Crows 'live', and it sounded really fine, on white vinyl.So, black may be best but coloured vinyl can still sound fine.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

I've not had issues with any of the coloured vinyl I have.

 

[fabinho85]

Personally i've never had the chance to audition the same mastering of an LP pressed on colored vs. black vinyl.

However I have read a similar thread to this one on a german analog forum and the consensus was that, while black does sound better than colored the differences aren't as big as black vs. picture disc. The sound quality of picture discs was supposed to be the worst, then colored, then black and then clear vinyl being the best.

If this ranking that they came up with were actually the case i would like to know where the "clear colored" vinyl would rank. Above or below black?


I have no issues with the colored vinyl i own.

I have always assumed colour in vinyl is a 'bad thing'....but I recently bought a copy of the Counting Crows 'live', and it sounded really fine, on white vinyl.So, black may be best but coloured vinyl can still sound fine.

Just curious, what Counting Crows record are you talking about, the August and Eversthing After Live ?

 

[MylesBAstor]

I was always curious though how the record labels dealt with the issue of static electricity on clear vinyl eg. usually carbon black is added to normal LPs to deal with static electricity.

 

[garylkoh]

Some of the best sounding pressings I own are clear colored vinyl. Oscar Peterson Nigerian Marketplace and Deep Purple the Mark II Purple Singles being two that come to mind.

Others are worse than the black, some far worse. The Crystal Clear Records white vinyl direct to disc are variable. On some, the white sounds far better, on others the black sound better.

Unfortunately, as with all things audiophile, YMMV.

 

[Gregadd]

I'm pretty sure a pickup stylus is blind.:b Th difference in quality reflects attention to detail in some other area.

 

[paskinn]

Yes, that's the one, a double album, sounds good and nicely 'live.' I believe the original album is about to be released on vinyl again.Great album.Actually, the original is now released on lp.So I can order that today.Lucky I joined this thread!

 

[fabinho85]

The studio version of August and Everything After has been re-released as a 45rpm DoLP late last year i beleive. I have a copy here. I'm still looking for a reasonably priced original pressing though, but here in germany people are asking 300€ (which is about 400$) for those...

Good thing i have my 45rpm and my MFSL CD to listen to untl i find an original Geffen pressing.

And now that you told me the live version sounds good i'll order one of those as well.

I really like them Counting Crows, if you can't already tell

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

The studio version of August and Everything After has been re-released as a 45rpm DoLP late last year i beleive. I have a copy here. I'm still looking for a reasonably priced original pressing though, but here in germany people are asking 300€ (which is about 400$) for those...

Good thing i have my 45rpm and my MFSL CD to listen to untl i find an original Geffen pressing.

And now that you told me the live version sounds good i'll order one of those as well.

I really like them Counting Crows, if you can't already tell

Counting Crows: Mr. Jones

Billy Paul: Me & Mrs. Jones

Amy Winehouse: Me and Mr. Jones

Some fun ....3 great tunes!

 

[sombunya]

A pal of mine who once worked for Sony or a subsidiary told me if it's opaque then the quality is okay. If it's translucent then the quality will be lower, and probably won't stand as many plays.

Sounds like there are many opinions here. Interesting.

 

[fabinho85]

Yes, it really is quite inteeresting. It would be great if some expert could shed some light on this matter.

Sometimes you are presented with a choice of whether you want to buy a certain album on black/colored/picturedisc/clear or what not vinyl.... Just recently i bought the Drive Soundtrack and had the choice of black, white or pink vinyl.... Since its not the most audiophile album to begin with i went pink because i thought it looked cool. With a different album i probably would have gone with black. But if someone in the know would tell us that they're all the same we all could bring some diversity to the color theme of our vinyl collctions

 

[Shaffer]

A pal of mine who once worked for Sony or a subsidiary told me -if it's opaque then the quality is okay. If it's translucent then the quality will be lower, and probably won't stand as many plays.

It used to be said that the more cloudy the pressing, the less virgin the vinyl. Have no idea whether it's true.

 

[Bill Hart]

I often cue 'cuts' or 'tracks' from an LP and find the clear or translucent vinyl pretty difficult to see for track separation.

 

[garylkoh]

In the early 60's, Riverside Records produced a series of LP's using a red vinyl "superhard" formulation called Polymax. From the liner notes "POLYMAX causes the record material to harden far in excess of normal records. By hardening the groove surface, the impact resistance is increased beyond the ability of the needle to 'iron out' the more delicate sound impressions that contain the harmonic overtones and transients/ It is these delicate impressions that create the 'live' sound. Your ear knows that they should be there and when they are ironed out of damaged by needle pressure, the sound is that 'canned sound'."

These LPs also include a 400-cycle tone for channel balancing, and is played inside-out.

I have a few of these, but have given most of them away as novelty items to PNWAS club members.

 

[sombunya]

In the early 60's, Riverside Records produced a series of LP's using a red vinyl "superhard" formulation called Polymax.

That's interesting. I've often wondered how many plays would start to "iron out" a groove. When you think about it, there's a pretty violent interaction going on between record and stylus.

 

[Snoop65]

I have two original copies of Diana Ross "The Boss" one black and one yellow. I can't hear a difference.

 

[sombunya]

If I can add one more tidbit to this thread.

I played a record the other day, colored vinyl. A light blue/brown swirl, opaque. I noticed what I thought was quite a few artifacts between a couple of tracks. I contacted the label and had a friendly discussion with someone at the label and basically repeated what I said in this thread. Here's what he said:

"Ha! Yes, especially multiple color or marbled vinyls have a higher potential for surface noise. What most people don't know or acknowledge is that all vinyl starts as clear. So you would think clear should have the best sound quality because it has no pigments added but many swear by black. I like records for the sounds & the visuals so a fitting or especially unique looking color is always nice. Thanks for your kind words & support! Take care, A"

FWIW.