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What's wrong with classical music on vinyl?

As I go through my collection of classical music on vinyl, and get new ones from record stores and eBay, I notice that I am not impressed with the sound quality. Most of my pop music albums sound fine. The classical (even sealed), on the other hand, sounds full of static, noise, and pops that completely drown out the music. The rubber surrounds on my woofers ripple visibly, and the more intense passages become distorted (particulary the brass instruments). (And yes, I've tried it with minimal volume, to test the feedback theory, and with the same results.) I've tried extensive record cleaning with some of the most recommended products. On the other hand, my non-classical music sounds fine. Madonna, Yes, and Simon and Garfunkel play fine. So do Crosby Stills + Nash, REM, and Nickelback.

The only thing I can think of is that the classical music tends to be recorded at a much lower volume, thereby causing a low signal to noise ratio, whereas the pop music is inherently recorded at a higher volume, and this helps to drown out the noise.

I'm beginning to think that I should stick to CD's or brand-new 200g LP's for classical music from here on.

Any comments/suggestions?
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rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
Yes, I remembered you'd had some problems with excess surface noise. I'm somewhat at a loss to understand why you keep having as much difficulty. That's why I suggested that perhaps I'm just more used to it and the level of noise we experience is about the same. Still, everything should be at least listenable (or better). If you're having good success with new vinyl reissues, the only other thing I can think of is that you're ending up with used records that have not been cared for. I buy a lot of used classical records from various used record shops, and I don't run into the problems you're having, so I'm stumped. I am pretty picky about what I buy, however. For example, I won't buy a record that doesn't have an intact inner sleeve: I figure if it's been stored in the jacket without an inner sleeve, it hasn't been cared for and it's very likely in poor shape.

And, as I mentioned above, different turntables/cartridges can produce very different levels of surface noise. Some just seem to exacerbate it, some get ghostly quiet; I don't know how the Project is in this regard.

Hope you're doing well. We've missed seeing you at our local audio group gatherings.
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g_m_c
443 posts
 
This is illogical. You get surface noise on your classical lp/s, and not on your pop lp's? Is surface noise selective of it's music genre'?
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
G_m_c, he didn't claim it was logical, he said this was what he was experiencing. And, as we've been discussing, there is certainly a reason he may be hearing more surface noise on classical recordings as a result of the greater dynamic range of most classical recordings and due to pop records typically being mastered at a higher average level across the entire record.
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g_m_c
443 posts
 
Rushton, I am not sure I understand. Pop, static, and surface noise is not usually something that is transfered from the master tapes (unless very poor recordings). As you said yourself, such noise is typically associated with hardware issues such as dirty lp's, or noise sensitive cartidges. Frankly, I find many pop or rock albums can have pretty wide dynamic range. I agree that many classical recordings are demanding in terms of pace and speed, but that characteristic does not translate to surface noise.
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
G_m_c, I admit to being puzzled by Sufentail's experience, too. His experience doesn't match mine, but I'm not inclined to discount it either because I talked with him about this same issue two years ago when he lived in the area and was participating in the local audio group here. As you say, it's not a function of the music per se, but it may reflect the overall lower level at which the many classical LPs are mastered. That lower volume level sometimes puts the music's quiet passages quite close to the noise threshold of the LP. Still, I've got more than a few classical LPs, so I continue to wonder if it's the quality of the used LPs he's found to buy. Particularly since he says he doesn't experience the problem with new reissued classical vinyl.
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