I couldn't agree more with Fightingwords' post. In the past few months I've returned quite a few of those "high-quality audiophile pressings" that cost over $30 but were either warped, had a visible crystal residue, or sounded distorted in part of songs/tunes. My latest purchase, Cannon Adderley's "Something Else," 180 gr vinyl from Blue Note, first came visibly scratched on one of the songs from musicdirect. I wanted it badly so I bought a copy from my dealer the same day and after we opened it at the store, it had a visible imprint/residue on the edge of the record, which my dealer identified as the mark made by the plastic sleeve put on the record too early. The record sounded fine so I kept it but c'mon, 2 same records both defective right out of the box from 2 different sources? There's obviously a problem with lack of quality control and care in manufacture at Blue Note.
I also had to return "Kind of Blue," (also from Blue Note) a 180 gr $33 pressing as it was producing 1-2 second distortion on Flamenco Sketches on both my set-up and my dealer's $60,000 rig. Same with Cold Play's "Viva La Vida," another "high quality" 180 (possibly 200 gr--I don't remember) pressing. Produced distortion for most of one of the songs. It also had a crystalline residue on it when I looked at it against the light, which might have been what caused the distortion. Brand new.
Btw, the both of the Blue Note records I've mentioned, are also next to impossible to insert back into their cardboard outer sleeves without some serious struggle. The paper/plastic sleeve is bunching up and the record simply won't go in. You have to move it up and down by the edges to ease it into the sleeve. Do these people have any sort of quality check for God's sake?
I also returned "Dark Side of the Moon" the 30 Anniversary Special Edition pressing, as it was warped way too much for the money and a special pressing label. I felt like my stylus was on high seas simply trying to stay afloat. The new copy is also slightly warped by not as much and at this point I just gave up and felt bad exchanging it yet again at my dealer's store.
All of this in the span of a few months. It should be absolutely unacceptable. All these so called "audiophile quality" or heavy vinyl releases are at least $30. It makes me so angry that established record companies such as Columbia or Blue Note have the balls to charge so much, advertise as "high quality audiophile pressing," and pay no attention to the actual quality. It's time to call them on their BS.
I also had to return "Kind of Blue," (also from Blue Note) a 180 gr $33 pressing as it was producing 1-2 second distortion on Flamenco Sketches on both my set-up and my dealer's $60,000 rig. Same with Cold Play's "Viva La Vida," another "high quality" 180 (possibly 200 gr--I don't remember) pressing. Produced distortion for most of one of the songs. It also had a crystalline residue on it when I looked at it against the light, which might have been what caused the distortion. Brand new.
Btw, the both of the Blue Note records I've mentioned, are also next to impossible to insert back into their cardboard outer sleeves without some serious struggle. The paper/plastic sleeve is bunching up and the record simply won't go in. You have to move it up and down by the edges to ease it into the sleeve. Do these people have any sort of quality check for God's sake?
I also returned "Dark Side of the Moon" the 30 Anniversary Special Edition pressing, as it was warped way too much for the money and a special pressing label. I felt like my stylus was on high seas simply trying to stay afloat. The new copy is also slightly warped by not as much and at this point I just gave up and felt bad exchanging it yet again at my dealer's store.
All of this in the span of a few months. It should be absolutely unacceptable. All these so called "audiophile quality" or heavy vinyl releases are at least $30. It makes me so angry that established record companies such as Columbia or Blue Note have the balls to charge so much, advertise as "high quality audiophile pressing," and pay no attention to the actual quality. It's time to call them on their BS.