LP Vinyl: Quality, Pressing, Label, Weight, Where to Buy ???

I buy new pressings from Music Direct. There are lots of people with strong opinions on which vendor. I probably buy six or eight audiophile pressings a year. I also buy from a local used record store here in Vancouver Washington. I lived in Tucson Arizona and purchased from a huge record store there… if you can look at the album before you buy it you can eliminate any scratched or warped records. A good cleaning machine, I had a VPI for about 25 years, now a German Nessie (way bettera0, and most albums sound pristine with no ticks and pops after cleaning. Of course that requires a great turntable, I now have a high end Linn LP12… my vinyl is a pleasure to listen to… whether a $5 used album from the late 1950’s or a newly pressed 200 gram audiophile album.

When the vinyl resurgence started and new vinyl was being pressed, results were not as good as original pressings. There was a learning curve and growing pains for the techs in the new pressing plants, but now new vinyl is worth buying. However, IMO, quality is inconsistent depending on record label and pressing plants. Forum members have reported the most common defect is warping. IMO again, quality control is poor, facilities have a backlog of orders and are trying to keep up.

One thing about new vinyl is that in most cases a remaster or reissue comes from a digital master. There has been an ongoing process by record labels to transfer analogue recordings to digital files. It makes for easier and safer storage and faster turnaround time to press an album. So, your favorite albums may have greater dynamics and no tape hiss, but may run the risk of too much compression compared to the original pressing.

Don’t get me wrong, there are excellent quality records being produced, usually they come from the specialty outlets like MOFI or Acoustic Sounds. Many of the bands and their producers have become more involved in the reissue process to produce a quality product. If you have a choice between new vinyl or a NM used original, often the original will have that magic sound you grew up with.

I had the same bad experience with Amazon, "sealed" records with scratches.

Never buy from them again 

I purchase most of my new albums from Acoustic Sounds and Music Direct but before buying will look for reviews from their customers and will also look at Discogs for the label and pressing release date and their reviews.

I will also buy from eBay but will also do the research on the release and record company

I generally listen to 60’s, 70’s, and early 80’s on vinyl.

I have received a number of very good new pressings but have to say that more than half the time I prefer the SQ of my early original pressings from that era. That’s not to say the new pressings don’t sound good but there is a difference. 

I buy from a range of vendors all over the world. Much of what I enjoy is interesting jazz from the period right after the ’60s. There developed more spoken word (Gil Scott-Heron), soul jazz (The Visitors- a/k/a the Grubbs outta Philly) and so-called spiritual jazz. I buy mostly used records because many of these have not been reissued and/or I prefer an earlier pressing.

There is an initial huge learning curve, both in terms of fluency of the works of a given performer or composer, but then being exposed to different performances, some by the same artist, at different times. Layer on layer of knowledge if that intrigues you.

To me, the quest is always for more, interesting music that sounds good. I have lots of notable or rare pressings, but the quest is always for new to me things.

In terms of how best to buy, that’s a whole other subject.....