Yeah that is a bad one. Sometimes the hole is centered on the record but the pressing isn't. So it looks good- until you notice the arm swinging back and forth.
Affects of Badly Centered Hole
Recently I bought a new LP record and while listening to it I noticed that the speed seemed to waver, especially on the last two tracks of the record. The sound of the music sounded like the tape was slowing down. I remember this sensation with tape decks in the 80's when the motor would wear out or tension wasn't correct in the mechanism.
Anyway, I wasn't sure if this was part of the music or not so I kept listening until I realized that there was definitely something wrong. When I looked at the spinning LP I saw the cartridge undulating back and forth at least 1/4 of an inch. This is the worst out of center I have ever seen a record cut. I guess I had never realized how much this affects the pitch of the music. I've noticed that out of center holes are not uncommon, but I have never noticed the pitch affected by it.
Anyway, I wasn't sure if this was part of the music or not so I kept listening until I realized that there was definitely something wrong. When I looked at the spinning LP I saw the cartridge undulating back and forth at least 1/4 of an inch. This is the worst out of center I have ever seen a record cut. I guess I had never realized how much this affects the pitch of the music. I've noticed that out of center holes are not uncommon, but I have never noticed the pitch affected by it.
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Wow from warps, off-center pressings and misplaced center holes has driven me nuts since I was twelve...which was perhaps about one or two years ago(!). Flutter and wow from Four Tracks, Eight Tracks, cassettes and reel-to-reals at anything slower than Seven and a Half IPS did the same. It's one of the reasons I looked so forward to the compact disc. And back then, when you traded in a defective LP for a new one, chances were only about fifty-fifty it'd be better. And oh yeah, don't attempt the exchange in the summer. The vinyl would warp while wending its way across the continent. |
This is the worst out of center I have ever seen a record cut. Worse than this? This is a new speaker corner print of mine, returned and replaced, it was a terrible off-center print. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-_BJUMXBCQ |