2. analog
  3. 1247092305

New vinyl's noisy little secret

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the current crop of vinyl formulations just have higher noise levels than LPs made years ago. A case in point--I stumbled upon an old, original copy of Henry Mancini's 1962 soundtrack to the movie "Hatari" in my collection a few days ago (I had never even played it), and was astonished at its deathly quiet playback. Simply no surface noise. What gives? OK, you may make fun of this black-label RCA pressing (LSP-2559) for its content musically (though it's actually pretty fun), but it sure reminded me what we are missing with new releases--super high quality vinyl with very low surface noise. Even the occasional mechanical clicks from scratches seemed subdued. Most of my (expensive!) new vinyl comes replete with very onerous surface noise. Is it just impossible to make this old-generation type of vinyl currently?
kipdent
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,538 posts
 
"manufacturing plants for all media"

For better or for worse, eventually, everything will be accessed and downloaded digitally and there will be few or no manufacturing plants for any audio media, unless perhaps analog media manages to hold on somehow. If it does, however, be prepared to dig deep into your pockets if anything of quality is produced.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,538 posts
 
Well, ironically, the local music store had a used record/cd sale today. I added about 40 new records across various genres all in very good/excellent shape at 4/1.00 or about the price of a gumball each.

I also bought 1 new CD that cost more than the 40 records combined at that price. Lots of great listening ahead!

How much for that new, possibly noisy vinyl again??
pettyofficer
462 posts
 
I wonder how much of this phenominum might be due to the aging of the original Master Tapes? There might be only so much you can do with a 50 or 60 year old Master Tape when transfering it to new Vinyl. I notice allot of newer Re-issues on CD, and Vinyl don't seem to sound as good today as opposed to 30 or 40 years ago, despite advances in todays technology. It is sort of like Butterfly wings, once touched they can never be the same again.
ducatirider
111 posts
 
Nothing to do with master tapes. They are just downright poor quality control. Noisy surfaces, warps, defects. Plus some of the manufacturers have a no return policy even if they are defects so either the retailer or consumer gets shafted.
pettyofficer
462 posts
 
Dear Ducatirider,
Point well taken. Fewer Manufacturers, less competition, less drive for improved Quality.
Still think deteriorating Master Tapes are a separate, but big problem. Even if you improve the quality of the Records, what are you going to transfer onto that Record with Tape deteriorated.
Quality of the Record is a separate issue. Quality of the Recordings seem to suffer with every New Generation of Listeners.
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