Most new vinyl I have purchased recently has been so bad that I just quit buying any new vinyl. With a new DAC and maybe even a new R2R next year coming I’m not sure I’ll continue on with Vinyl if the quality of the new releases doesn’t get better.
I think that would be a shame. While I quite enjoy digital now there is just something about vinyl!
For a possible alternative I have posted in Kingrex's other more positive slant on Vinyl, "Used Records and Surprising Gems ".There are lots of great pressing out there no need to buy new reissues.
Yes it is the pressing quality. My tonearm and cartridge as setup really well also and all of my old records still sound great. Very clean with very little noise. When I find an old record that I want it generally sounds good after a good cleaning. That said many if not most of the new pressing including 45 rpm from trusted sources that I have purchased in the past 2 years are just too noisy to enjoy. Snaps, pops and even scratches right out of the new sleeve. Maybe I just have bad luck ... who knows. As I will be upgrading most of my system in the next couple of years I'm finding little reason to continue to upgrade the phono front end which I know in turn will leave me less than engaged with that format.
I feel your pain. There seem to quite a few poor pressings out there, it's discouraging I agree.
Having said that you mentioned cleaning. Recently I purchased a new pressing that I played before cleaning it was awful and clearly mistracking on many tracks. The occasional snaps and pop just punctuated the issue. Now I usually clean any new record but this one I hadn't and given the mistracking I was tempted to give up on it. I ended up cleaning it with the rest of the records I had ordered.
Later that week I was hosting some audiophile friends and the topic of poor pressing came up. Having this new record I put it on just to show how bad this new copy was. The record played flawlessly and I have never heard Shelby Lynne sound better! There is a moral in this story, lol.
I clean every used record before playing. I am a little more lax about the new issue. But I do need to clean those too.
Even after cleaning, a classic 1970s POP/Rock hit band album is potentially very played. And not on a well tuned system.
I did get 3 really good records the other day. Hence I started the new thread.
I am nervous about the UHQR Aja. $150. I spent not a whole lot more to get the RR 15 ips. I think $350. I do love tape, but vinyl is so much easier. And there are loads of records for $5 that are a decent classical. Jazz are more like $18. I have a line on very good classical tapes. But they are about $180 per reel. And they are a pain to use. You have to load it, rewind it, reload it, then play it through without stopping. So when your drink runs out, you have to sit there dried out, parched, wondering if you will make it to the end.
JR was at my house last week and setup my TT. It plays way more clean now.
I compared my Diana Krall/Tony Bennett album to digital. I would have a hard time telling them apart.
I then did a compare to another album, forgot which, but the recording was panned a lot different. The digital was more bright and emphasizing the high end. Both were decent but different.
I sort of find I can listen to any source and be pretty happy. But I do like to hold an album and read the back and inside. I like to touch it. I am sure I have a little bit of bias that makes me want to like the vinyl more. But I have to admit, digital is very good. I have new Crystal choke coming for the DAC as well as damping material. Basically another upgrade. Who knows where the digital will fall then.
I do have a copy of A Charlie Brown Christmas on 15 ips tape. OMG, it is leaps and bounds ahead of any of the 5 different pressings I have of the album as well as any digital I have from streaming or CD. I did get a $600 vinyl version from the 60s. Its the worst one I have. That left a bad taste on that purchase. I do have some tape this is just amazing. The vinyl or digital don't come close. So there is something to tape. But you have to have relationships to get them. And they are not inexpensive. And they are hard to store. Space and temperature and emf considerations.
I feel your pain. There seem to quite a few poor pressings out there, it's discouraging I agree.
Having said that you mentioned cleaning. Recently I purchased a new pressing that I played before cleaning it was awful and clearly mistracking on many tracks. The occasional snaps and pop just punctuated the issue. Now I usually clean any new record but this one I hadn't and given the mistracking I was tempted to give up on it. I ended up cleaning it with the rest of the records I had ordered.
Later that week I was hosting some audiophile friends and the topic of poor pressing came up. Having this new record I put it on just to show how bad this new copy was. The record played flawlessly and I have never heard Shelby Lynne sound better! There is a moral in this story, lol.
I always clean new records before first play. Unfortunately in my case the records don't ever get any better which indicates that the pressings are in fact very poor quality and not a cleaning issue. I wish it were a cleaning issue ... Glad it worked out for you!
I always clean new records before first play. Unfortunately in my case the records don't ever get any better which indicates that the pressings are in fact very poor quality and not a cleaning issue. I wish it were a cleaning issue ... Glad it worked out for you!
Usually I clean my new records before first play too. On occasion I have cleaned a few cranky new records for a friend and we noted that there was an improvement on many of them. The degree of improvement varied and some were not improved at all. So it's not a for sure thing, some are just poorly pressed. The improvement on the Shelby Lynne record that I related earlier was remarkable and well beyond what I have experienced in the past.
I recently switched from my tried and true VPI vacuum record cleaner to an Ultrasonic cleaner. It is a Kirmuss and while it is a time consuming pain in the ass to use it works very well and is a significant improvement on the VPI. Now I haven't compared the Kirmuss with other ultrasonics but my experience tells me there is something to his restoration claims.
So I would ask what record cleaning process are you using? Perhaps it would be worth investigating something else.
Usually I clean my new records before first play too. On occasion I have cleaned a few cranky new records for a friend and we noted that there was an improvement on many of them. The degree of improvement varied and some were not improved at all. So it's not a for sure thing, some are just poorly pressed. The improvement on the Shelby Lynne record that I related earlier was remarkable and well beyond what I have experienced in the past.
I recently switched from my tried and true VPI vacuum record cleaner to an Ultrasonic cleaner. It is a Kirmuss and while it is a time consuming pain in the ass to use it works very well and is a significant improvement on the VPI. Now I haven't compared the Kirmuss with other ultrasonics but my experience tells me there is something to his restoration claims.
So I would ask what record cleaning process are you using? Perhaps it would be worth investigating something else.
I use the VPI vacuum cleaner ... I tried an Ultrasonic and for records that were good pressings but just dirty the Ultrasonic clearly did a better job than the VPI unit. That said ... the Ultrasonic did nothing to help the poorly pressed records which gets back to why I'm so down on new vinyl these days.
I use the VPI vacuum cleaner ... I tried an Ultrasonic and for records that were good pressings but just dirty the Ultrasonic clearly did a better job than the VPI unit. That said ... the Ultrasonic did nothing to help the poorly pressed records which gets back to why I'm so down on new vinyl these days.
True on a bad pressing and there are, to many really. Just trying to say that a truly good cleaning can sometimes show that it's not the pressing it's some kind of gunk that is the problem.
This does not negate the fact that many new and reissued pressing are not what they should be. That is why I am suggesting that used old stock pressings purchased from a reliable source could be what we are looking for.
