Jump to content

Why am I paying good money for badly warped vinyl?


Recommended Posts

So I've recently set up a vinyl rig to complement my digital library; I love the sound and the ritual, but as the title says, what can't new vinyl be flat?!!! I've got at least 8 new LP's which look more like taco shells than pancakes; at close to $50/hit I would've thought record producers could at least make their products sit flat and be easy to track.

Does this bug you too, and are there some brands better than others in your experience?

No easy way to flatten them either; related gripe no2!

Cheers, Steve [emoji20]

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites



Its tough as im not sure how much if it is warped straight from the factory and how much of it is warped due to poor shipping/handling practices. The game has certainly changed from a few decades ago where  the majority of our vinyl was locally manufactured.  Now it has to travel halfway or more around the world in order for it to arrive at your doorstep.

 

Shrink wrapping is also a relatively new process and has proven that it has the ability to warp a record so thats not helping either. I have some ripper examples of warping and once has to replace an album 4 times due to severe warping until I finally got a playable copy......very frustrating.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites



Hi Steve, @Wiffle, as mentioned above, it is largely a QA problem at manufacture and also with storage, with some contribution being made by transport and packaging, such as everything that comes out of the USA, pulled tight with shrink wrap. 

 

You should be returning the vinyl pieces that are warped to the dealer you purchased them from for a replacement. This can be difficult if you bought directly from overseas, so my advise may be a little biased, but you should try and buy locally whenever you can.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest ClassicalGuy

Warped vinyl and poor quality pressings was a huge factor in what made me get out of the game which was disappointing because hunting down obscure vinyl from my favourite artists was great fun. But, paying sometimes large amounts of money for new vinyl that was just a mess production and pressing wise was really annoying.

 

I also wonder what the possible increase in the number of poor quality vinyl will do to vinyl sales in the future. Some of the best sounding vinyl I have is pressings from the 70s and 80s - that fact that the quality of a product 40-odd years old is better than a lot of the new stuff I've bought from Amazon and JB is mind-blowing. 99% of the time I'd check for scratches and if the damage was minimal it would always sound better than the modern version. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for all the replies folks, clearly I'm not alone in this!

I do buy locally whenever possible, however it isn't always possible. The idea of paying return postage (possibly multiple times) to get a good flat copy only adds to the cost of vinyl, not to mention the dick-around factor. It does seem that a lot of it is QC at the manufacturing/packing end (I've also got a few new LP's with fingerprints on them!), so that begs the question; which labels/manufacturers take QC as seriously (almost!) as we do, and who do you steer clear of?

Cheers,

Steve :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Wiffle said:

he idea of paying return postage (possibly multiple times) to get a good flat copy only adds to the cost of vinyl, not to mention the dick-around factor.

Your vendor should pay for return shipping. Its a defective product. Not as described. unfit for purpose. Unplayable. Refund at their expense.

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites



Furthermore, if its bought new from ebay with Paypal you have 6 months to claim a refund (return shipping paid by vendor) if you bought from Amazon, they often let you keep the faulty one and send a replacement

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've said this before on here. "Knock on wood". I must be lucky. Never had a prob with warps. Sometimes I'll pick up a groove screwed LP from St Vinnies or Lifeline. The best LP's condition wise that I've bought have been from Gents on this Forum.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Blk plastic said:

Shrink wrapping vinyl before it has had sufficient time to cool down from the manufacturing process is one,if not the main cause of warping. The frequency with which it happens has put me off new vinyl.

I never bought one warped new record in the 70's and 80's.......I buy a few now! Shrink wrapping is a major reason in my opinion, especially if, as you pointed out, it's done before the vinyl has properly cooled.

My purchase of the Half Speed version of Peter Gabriel's 'So' had this exact problem...... I believe the 2 discs were placed in the inner covers and cover and shrink wrapped while still warm. This was almost proven when, on 'releasing' the album from it's tight wrapping, the cover and inner covers puffed up ridiculously and just would not lay flat at all. The actual records were very warped, virtually unplayable and I eventually got a full refund.

I also got an email from the seller saying that the manufacturer had scrapped the entire first pressing due to 'warping issues' and were going to do it all again. I had previously explained to them my theory of why it happened and they said I was the first person to put forward a possible explanation as to why it happened. I was stunned that they hadn't already worked this out. Hopefully the manufacturer had worked it out!

It does add credence to the fear that a lot of current vinyl manufacturers are in it only for the money and not for the pride of a quality product or belief in the theory that quality sells. If the vinyl revival continues for a long time, these manufacturers will not last and they will deserve to go bust.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

180 and 200 gram is the problem. It's unnecessarily thick and heavy for pressing records and takes ages to cool down once pressed. A lot of record manufacturers bung them in the sleeve too early, shrink wrap them and by the time you pay your $50 they are nicely bent out of shape. 

 

Why are you (and I) paying good money? I suppose we're all eternal optimists and hope that someone offers a product that's actually worth the money. As time passes I'm getting more doubtful by the day.

 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had shocking luck with US made vinyl...and very good luck with Euro vinyl.

 

I know these are very generic statements and I'm sure there are good and bad in both countries....but everything that's come from my UK stores is flat whilst my US orders are running at 25% rejection rate.

 

Anyone else have an experience like this or have I just had this very biased experience?

Link to comment
Share on other sites



I've had various bulk sellers send a replacement without returning the bad one after I explain the insane postage costs to return. 

 

I only buy new now when I have no option.  Even then I reconsider. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Tubularbells said:

Shrink wrapping is also a relatively new process

I have numerous records from the early to mid 70s with shrink wrap in tact to this day, never had a problem. The warping is a new issue (for whatever reason), shrink wrap has been with us for a long time. In the golden age, many bought imports whenever they could because of better production, better packaging and heavier vinyl (mostly 120gm). There was also the fact that a lot of music wasn't released in Australia. A very high percentage of second hand jazz are imports, just look at what's for sale. This was mainly what they bought back in the day. These imports were almost always in shrink wrap, but they weren't warped.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, t_mike said:

I have numerous records from the early to mid 70s with shrink wrap in tact to this day, never had a problem. 

Your correct however I guess I was coming more from my personal buying experience as I remember all the shops i used to by LP's from had the album sleeves on display only so you would pick up what you wanted and take it to the counter in which the sales assistant would reach for the actual vinyl itself along with the inner sleeve, give it a quick once over for any obvious signs of imperfection and then package it all up for the sale.

 

This practice if continued today would imo stop the vast majority of issues we face today.

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Hergest said:

180 and 200 gram is the problem. It's unnecessarily thick and heavy for pressing records and takes ages to cool down once pressed. A lot of record manufacturers bung them in the sleeve too early, shrink wrap them and by the time you pay your $50 they are nicely bent out of shape. 

 

Why are you (and I) paying good money? I suppose we're all eternal optimists and hope that someone offers a product that's actually worth the money. As time passes I'm getting more doubtful by the day.

 

 

 

agree, 180/200 gm vinyl suks.    it is just a waank fest invented by the septics like Mofi to sell more records,  and does zero for better sound quality and many record plants do not allow 8+ hours drying time.      never had warp/dishing in the 80's with 90gm vinyl.

 

  i am always using my record flattener these days flattening 180gm dishing.   but owning one of these should not be a pre requisite.

  as others have said - keep taking back the vinyl if they are dished.

Edited by metal beat
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, ClassicalGuy said:

Some of the best sounding vinyl I have is pressings from the 70s and 80s - that fact that the quality of a product 40-odd years old is better than a lot of the new stuff I've bought from Amazon and JB is mind-blowing.

There was a discussion about this somewhere else and I responded that it was always the case. I must have remembered some extreme cases because over the last month or so I have not noticed a single record that has been warped. I sit pretty well eye level with mine and am actually surprised I have not noticed any warping. And these albums are 20 to 40 years old.

4 hours ago, Wimbo said:

 The best LP's condition wise that I've bought have been from Gents on this Forum.

Note taken, although not surprising.

3 hours ago, stevoz said:

I never bought one warped new record in the 70's and 80's.......I buy a few now! Shrink wrapping is a major reason in my opinion, especially if, as you pointed out, it's done before the vinyl has properly cooled.

I have as yet not bought a vinyl album since its renaissance. Partly because I am tight and am more than happy to buy CDs for $10 - $15. I intend to grab a couple of "audiophile" pressing for shits and giggles but am loath to buy duplicates of music I already own on CD,

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites



10 minutes ago, metal beat said:

 

agree, 180/200 gm vinyl suks.    it is just a waank fest invented by the septics like Mofi to sell more records,  and does zero for better sound quality and many record plants do not allow 8+ hours drying time.  

I was discussing this today and a guy was telling me how "160gsm vinyl" was better because it was supposed to last longer... I told him I have records that are 40 years old and still (it actually surprises me) sound actually better, courtesy of my new system, than they ever did. I wont be around to see if 160gsm vinyl lasts 40 years...

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Tubularbells said:

all the shops i used to by LP's from had the album sleeves on display only so you would pick up what you wanted and take it to the counter in which the sales assistant would reach for the actual vinyl itself along with the inner sleeve, give it a quick once over for any obvious signs of imperfection and then package it all up for the sale.

 

This practice if continued today would imo stop the vast majority of issues we face today.

 

 

Bingo! That's how I bought my records too, I wish stores did that today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, stevoz said:


It does add credence to the fear that a lot of current vinyl manufacturers are in it only for the money and not for the pride of a quality product or belief in the theory that quality sells. If the vinyl revival continues for a long time, these manufacturers will not last and they will deserve to go bust.

A lot? Methinks they’re ALL in it for the money!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...


  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...
To Top