Quality of vinyl must meet all audiophile standards. |
IME the LPs that they sell at Barnes and Noble is the same quality you would find if you were ordering from PopMarket.com, Rock&Soul Records, Urban Outfitters and other retailers that are selling new LPs being sold now. A U2 Joshua Tree 180 gram LP reissue or the Depeche Mode LPs I bought in various e-tailers and retailers looked exactly the same at what Barnes & Noble is selling. The quality they get would depend on their LP supplier right? How could there be a difference? I guess B&N would carry different titles. I found some Rodrigo y Gabriella albums that I didn't find in Popmarket. |
The quality they get would depend on their LP supplier right? How could there be a difference? There isn’t a difference. All of the LPs, now matter where you buy them, come from the same distributors. It isn’t like these specialty retailers are pressing their own vinyl... |
Say, isn't the new vinyl overly compressed, dynamic range wise?
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These are all new reissues of classic titles. So your question is really are these reissues up to audiophile standards? Some sound good, some sound awful. IMO, most do not sound as good as a pristine copy of an original pressing. Or original audiophile pressings by MoFi, Nautilus, CBS Masterworks and especially Japanese pressings. |
The poster/posting assumes and implies that the LP's sold at Barnes & Noble are unique to B & N. They are not; the LP's in the B & N racks are the same as those sold at all other retailers. B & N doesn't get LP's pressed expressly and uniquely for them. |
B&N lps not worth shouting about!! |
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SOOOO, here is my update on the new purchased vinyl from Barnes & Noble, i am a jazz ,fusion lover,the album i purchased was the jazz impressions of a boy named Charlie Brown, by Vince Guaraidi, the vinyl color was orange which i thought was kinda cool!!!, so i cleaned it and zapped it with my discwasher Zerostat,put it on the table first thing i noticed as i clamped it down in the center it was warped,the vinyl is VERY THIN , NOT AUDIOPHILE QUALITY, so as the needle played at the begining the surface noise was very bad, like it was dust on the needle, jumped in the batmoble back to old b&n was told they will only exchange it ,no money back!!! but you can get your money back if you don't open it,now they do sell vinyl that is thicker but of course ,YOU WILL PAY MORE= THIN $21.00 THICK $26.00 can someone lead me to some good quality vinyl, online shoping, that has a decent return policy. |
One thing to be aware of, for new-to-LP's buyers: In some cases, an album (album meaning collection of songs---an album can be bought on an LP or a CD, or even as a download. In other words, "album" is not synonymous with "LP") title will be available on LP from two or more labels. For instance, the first two Band albums are currently available in pressings by both Capitol Records (the label the original released versions were on, in 1968 and '69) and Mobile Fidelity. Capitol Records and Mobile Fidelity make their LP's to very different standards, and sound somewhat dissimilar. I don't know if Barnes & Noble sells either version, but the point is, if you bought either at B & N, it would be the exact same version of that particular LP pressing as you would get from any other retailer---brick & mortar or online. Barnes & Noble are not getting LP's pressed expressly for them, that are different from other retailer's copies of the same title from the same record label. The ultimate point to be made is that, when one speaks of the quality of the LP's available at Barnes & Noble, it is a matter of the specific label/version of the LP that determines the LP's quality, not that Barnes & Noble is selling it. That is immaterial. Is this horse dead yet ;-)? |
so as the needle played at the begining the surface noise was very bad, like it was dust on the needle, jumped in the batmoble back to old b&n was told they will only exchange it ,no money back!!! but you can get your money back if you don't open it,now they do sell vinyl that is thicker but of course ,YOU WILL PAY MORE= THIN $21.00 THICK $26.00 can someone lead me to some good quality vinyl, online shoping, that has a decent return policy. Sound like Barnes & Noble has a very fair return policy to me. They were willing to exchange a copy that you opened and could no longer be considered new, for a different one. Bravo B&N. I am curious why you would expect a refund after breaking the cellophane, altering the record and then playing it? Would you do this with a DVD after you watched the movie? Again, it is not the vendors fault if you don't like the quality of the pressing. Its the manufacturer or label as this title is sold by vendors other that B&N. Sounds to me that your relatively new to vinyl and your learning about its pros and cons. For instance, the thickness of a record had nothing to do with its sound quality or surface noise. Some of my quietest, best recorded LP's are thin. 180 gram Audiophile pressing is usually a marketing slogan. When you find that online shopping outlet with the liberal return policy, let the rest of us know, OK. Meanwhile, be aware that buying vinyl, new or used, is hit and miss. If your worried that a new pressing may be a dog, post a question about it first before you buy. You'll get feedback from those that are satisfied or those that will warn you to stay away. Good luck to you. |
Paraneer,
Lots of local to me record stores stacking a new releases on vinyl have descent policy. Apparently you can run into the defected copy or warped one. I ran into the warped vinyl and got that one easily and painlessly exchanged. The suppliers actually accept the defected ones and exchange. Must be real defect though. I've seen various such as uneven surface bump(s) or heavy warp. Both SHOULD qualify for exchange.
On one of the The CAN releases "Tape Sessions" I had to wait couple of weeks till they get better batch of flat records.
Suppliers do find ways to work out the defect situation with retail stores to void hit-or-miss kinda business. Not sure what kind of deal B&N has with suppliers. Perhaps they go for larger profit margin than local retailers.
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The OP said nothing about a warp czarivey. I agree - that would clearly be a defect and not visible unless the packaging is opened. This discussion is about surface noise and this could be inherent in a poor quality pressing. It could even be the equipment the OP is playing the LP on.
I still think that B&N was very fair to off an exhange.
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Thank you guys!! for your help, the table that I have is a SME model 15 and my other vinyl played very well on it,the vinyl from Barnes &Noble was badly warped, and they did take the vinyl back,and yes the thickness in vinyl does MAKE A DIFFERANCE, other's have returned very thin vinyl back because of quality, i have started to invest in more MOFI releases with 180 gram, it work's for me. |
I got the Beatles 67 70 all analog new release there. Sounds pretty good |
Somewhat recent purchases from Barnes and Noble: 45 RPM Richard Thompson 2 record album, Ricky Lee Jones new thing, Sergeant Pepper LP to replace my original beat to crap version…all sound GREAT, so I recommend not worrying about it. |
Man, don't you guys have a real record store in your town?! If I had to rely on B & N as my only source for locally-bought LP's, I'd hafta move! |
I got a few (Willie Nelson Summertime and Annie Lenox Nostaglia). They were fine. Are they MoFi...No, but they did not cost $50. I don't buy them any longer because I would rather spend the extra money to get the acoustic sounds or other audiophile grade pressing, which, of course, you will not find there BUT, to me, the THRILL is seeing them. just seeing them. And young people buying them. The only thing that bothered me was I went up to two 15 year olds who were buying a record and asked them what they wee playing it on and they told me they did not have a record player "yet". So, not sure if the kids are buying them look cool, or actually aspire to listen to them. |
Forget B&Ns vinyl. They are just cashing in on what they think is a hot market. I have thumbed through their titles in a Broadway store in NYC and I would say they are cheapie reissues probably from RB digital tape or CDs. Like why bother? Not to mention way overpriced! |
how come there is so much conjecture saying what B+N is selling is inferior? Saying it is not up to "audiophile" standards is just ignorant and perpetuates the stereotype of snobs in audio. I say there is nothing wrong with exposing many more people to music/vinyl, and they don't need to go to "audiophile approved" shops to do so. |
B&N is not cashing in on a hot market anymore than the recent crop of used record stores that have sprung up where I live during this recent vinyl resurgence. Oh yeah, these used record shops also sell new reissues - the exact same ones the B&N is selling! Whaddya know? |
Just picked up Diana Krall, Stepping Out. Picked up one for my Dad too. Double LP, 180g purple vinyl. Sounds pretty darn good to me. No surface noise. With my B&N membership it was under $25; didn't feel that was bad. I've purchased many albums there and no issues. Listening to Stepping Out as I am typing this and it's definitely better than the CD. The original recording was done to tape, so hopefully the tape was used to produce the LP and not digital; regardless it sounds very good. |
Picked up 2 albums from B&N the other day and 2/4 LP's had several small (pin head size) circular dents/impressions. Would have never expected that considering the packaging looked fine. They'll be going back tomorrow. |
