What do you look for in a new vinyl pressing?

[cpeck]

Just had my new LP mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound and paid to have the vinyl specific master delivered (that is: not the same master as the digital).

Starting to do some vinyl planning...just wondering what you vinyl heads want in a pressing. Obviously not looking for “the” answer, as it will differ...just looking for a little feedback/market research.

Thinking about DMM vs traditional lacquers, colour, weight, inserts, download cards, budget pressings vs more “deluxe” iterations, etc.

TIA!

[NickD]

Decent weight, 180g or so preferably, a quality pressing with no blemishes scratches etc and the main thing - good sound.

Packaging is nice - decent sleeve etc, but it is secondary. Make sure the inner sleeve doesnt put fine scratches on the record though, quite a few picture inners do.

I'm not bothered about download cards, but others may be.

[andy_tchp]

Decent mastering and sound quality is it for me in the main, I think you have this covered:

Just had my new LP mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound and paid to have the vinyl specific master delivered (that is: not the same master as the digital).

So a good mastering job and ideally low-noise. There have been some shockingly noisy and shit sounding pressings (and entire runs of records with built-in 'skips' and other pressing faults) from big name acts (Afghan Whigs, I'm looking at you) which is inexcusable these days.

Packaging is nice - decent sleeve etc, but it is secondary. Make sure the inner sleeve doesnt put fine scratches on the record though, quite a few picture inners do.

I'm surprised at how many (most) I receive with the cheapest of cheap hard paper inner sleeves, usually shedding fibres from the cutting process all over the vinyl ready to create scratches. I throw these away immediately and replace with MSFL inners, but it's a pleasant surprise when I don't have to. I don't spend a lot of time looking at the (external) sleeve once I've had an initial read/look.

A bundled digital download is basically a must IMHO. I get quite resentful at having to 'find' a FLAC download because a label/distributor has been too stingy to provide a download link. No, I will not buy your album a second time so I can load a copy onto my phone to listen to it in the car.

[andy_tchp]

Oh, and I don't care about 180g or other nonsense heavy-weight pressings. Utter snake oil.

Some of the best sounding records I have are old, thin, 120-140g jobbies.

And I've heard some absolute SHIT on '180g heavy-weight audiophile vinyl'. Did I mention Afghan Whigs, Do to the Beast?

The mastering/care from the pressing plant is far more important than the weight.

[MechaBulletBill]

Yeah the 180g thing is meaningless. Just ups the shipping costs.

[NickD]

Oh, and I don't care about 180g or other nonsense heavy-weight pressings. Utter snake oil.

Some of the best sounding records I have are old, thin, 120-140g jobbies.

And I've heard some absolute SHIT on '180g heavy-weight audiophile vinyl'. Did I mention Afghan Whigs, Do to the Beast?

The mastering/care from the pressing plant is far more important than the weight.

The thin vinyl is a cost cutting measure though, go back to decent pressings from the 60s and they are invariably pretty chunky. Quality dropped as the vinyl got thinner.

Mastering/pressing is more important, you are right, but it all adds up.

[cpeck]

This is all good intel. I’ve released 50ish records over the past 12 years and trying to decipher what sells is really difficult. I appreciate your input! Definitely glad I went with a vinyl specific master...I know it’s not always the case

[andy_tchp]

Oh, and I don't care about 180g or other nonsense heavy-weight pressings. Utter snake oil.

Some of the best sounding records I have are old, thin, 120-140g jobbies.

And I've heard some absolute SHIT on '180g heavy-weight audiophile vinyl'. Did I mention Afghan Whigs, Do to the Beast?

The mastering/care from the pressing plant is far more important than the weight.

The thin vinyl is a cost cutting measure though, go back to decent pressings from the 60s and they are invariably pretty chunky. Quality dropped as the vinyl got thinner.

Mastering/pressing is more important, you are right, but it all adds up.

I don't think I have anything that old, the oldest would be '70s/'80s, and mostly 120-130g, and mostly nice sounding, flat records. These days it's rare for me to buy a new release that isn't 180g (not through me actively looking for heavier releases, it just seems to be the done thing).

[blacktiger]

Good mastering (which you seem to have covered) and a good pressing. I would advise that you do your homework on pressing plants, some have such a bad rep for mispressings and bad QC (Rainbo springs to mind), that I will avoid any record pressed there - and I’m not the only one.

[tune_link]

I personally love colored vinyl so I do seek it out whenever possible. Splatter and swirls and hand poured stuff even more so. Also tend to look for something with a pressing thick enough to endure, doesn't have to be 180 gram necessarily as long as it's not floppy to the point of bending when you hold it (literally seen this on some terrible pressings before). Those tend to wear out faster from my experience and a lot of the time have crazy bad surface noise. Try to avoid that as well. One more thing I look for is dynamics in sound but at a volume that doesn't seem insulting one way or the other. Had a few records just be pressed loud to the point of distortion (not the kind inherent in the music itself) or in one case something that was pressed at a volume that was so low it was silly.

[øøøøøøø]

Just had my new LP mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound and paid to have the vinyl specific master delivered (that is: not the same master as the digital).

Starting to do some vinyl planning...just wondering what you vinyl heads want in a pressing. Obviously not looking for “the” answer, as it will differ...just looking for a little feedback/market research.

Thinking about DMM vs traditional lacquers, colour, weight, inserts, download cards, budget pressings vs more “deluxe” iterations, etc.

TIA!

This is important to get right.

You got the first step right in using Calbi.

DO NOT base decisions on what anyone on the internet says. Ask people who do this all the time, and listen to them.

Calbi would be the first person I’d ask for direction in your case.

There are several steps where you stand a better chance of getting it wrong than right. If you don’t get (and heed) the right advice, the odds are stacked against you getting a great result, but you will almost certainly end up with a record that will play if you put a needle on it. But if you get the right advice, you can have an outstanding product.

For all you know, I’m just another person on the internet. But since you asked—

Yes to lacquer and no to DMM, in almost all cases. You will almost certainly prefer lacquer provided the cutting engineer is good (Calbi, Scott Hull, Alex DeTurk, Bernie Grundman, etc). Pay for the big name. It’s worth it. Do not use in house cutting at a plant. If you do not get to know the cutting engineer’s name, walk away.

Use black if you want the quietest record (in terms of noise floor). Do not use white unless you don’t care, as it’s usually the noisiest. Transparent is pretty good lately, the transparent vinyl tends to be almost as quiet as black these days (but not quite). Ask the plant for samples of things they’ve pressed on any non-black color you may be considering. Have them evaluated by your cutting engineer. Do not attempt to evaluate yourself unless you know what you’re listening for.

Do not worry about heavy 180g vinyl unless you just like the feel. 130, 140g is plenty to produce a stable record. 180g gains you nothing in terms of sound in almost all cases.

Choose your plating and pressing operation carefully. Pay for quality. Send me a PM if you want to know some places to NOT use.

Recommended plants: Quality in Kansas, RTI in Camarillo, CA, and on a budget Gotta Groove has been good for the past several years, especially if you deliver them a good lacquer (or even metal parts, if you prefer to have that control).

[cpeck]

Just had my new LP mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound and paid to have the vinyl specific master delivered (that is: not the same master as the digital).

Starting to do some vinyl planning...just wondering what you vinyl heads want in a pressing. Obviously not looking for “the” answer, as it will differ...just looking for a little feedback/market research.

Thinking about DMM vs traditional lacquers, colour, weight, inserts, download cards, budget pressings vs more “deluxe” iterations, etc.

TIA!

This is important to get right.

You got the first step right in using Calbi.

DO NOT base decisions on what anyone on the internet says. Ask people who do this all the time, and listen to them.

Calbi would be the first person I’d ask for direction in your case.

There are several steps where you stand a better chance of getting it wrong than right. If you don’t get (and heed) the right advice, the odds are stacked against you getting a great result, but you will almost certainly end up with a record that will play if you put a needle on it. But if you get the right advice, you can have an outstanding product.

For all you know, I’m just another person on the internet. But since you asked—

Yes to lacquer and no to DMM, in almost all cases. You will almost certainly prefer lacquer provided the cutting engineer is good (Calbi, Scott Hull, Alex DeTurk, Bernie Grundman, etc). Pay for the big name. It’s worth it. Do not use in house cutting at a plant. If you do not get to know the cutting engineer’s name, walk away.

Use black if you want the quietest record (in terms of noise floor). Do not use white unless you don’t care, as it’s usually the noisiest. Transparent is pretty good lately, the transparent vinyl tends to be almost as quiet as black these days (but not quite). Ask the plant for samples of things they’ve pressed on any non-black color you may be considering. Have them evaluated by your cutting engineer. Do not attempt to evaluate yourself unless you know what you’re listening for.

Do not worry about heavy 180g vinyl unless you just like the feel. 130, 140g is plenty to produce a stable record. 180g gains you nothing in terms of sound in almost all cases.

Choose your plating and pressing operation carefully. Pay for quality. Send me a PM if you want to know some places to NOT use.

Recommended plants: Quality in Kansas, RTI in Camarillo, CA, and on a budget Gotta Groove has been good for the past several years, especially if you deliver them a good lacquer (or even metal parts, if you prefer to have that control).

pm incoming

[mgeek]

Yes to lacquer and no to DMM, in almost all cases. You will almost certainly prefer lacquer provided the cutting engineer is good (Calbi, Scott Hull, Alex DeTurk, Bernie Grundman, etc). Pay for the big name. It’s worth it. Do not use in house cutting at a plant. If you do not get to know the cutting engineer’s name, walk away.

I've never used a 'name' cutting engineer, but huge cosine on lacquer vs DMM. I've never had a DMM record come back and felt happy about the way it sounds, but touch wood I've mostly had good results even using in house engineers with lacquers.

DMM cuts are so shallow that it doesn't take much in the way of surface scuffing to completely ruin the sound of the record too...whereas as I'm sure anyone on this thread has old records that were cut nice and loud in the first place, look like total crap, and still sound great. I've got some old soul and garage 45s that are straight up 'G' condition and play with less surface noise than brand new DMM's I've had.

RE: The Weight, 180 is overkill. Most sixties and seventies lps don't weigh that much. I've never seen a modern record as thin as an early seventies RCA dynaflex pressing, and those still sound good.

[øøøøøøø]

The sole performance advantage to the heavier weight is warp resistance.

There's one domestic plant, maybe two, that I've known to ship warped records right out of the box within the last five years. Those plants should not be used until they do better. That's not a normal thing. Standard weight vinyl should not be warped when new, and should not warp if cared for.

The main advantage to 180g isn't a performance advantage at all--it's to create the impression of a premium product, or a "deluxe edition."

It's not unlike paying more for a AAAAA flame maple top on a Les Paul. Yes, it costs more to make, yes it can be marketed as an "upscale" variant. No, it does not make the product sound or perform any better.

[Embenny]

I laugh when they call it "180g audiophile vinyl". Like you said, there are reasons to covet it (premium product, feels nice in the hand, differentiates from cheaper stock, fixing a problem you shouldn't have in the first place) but none of them have anything to do with being an audiophile.