@slaw I have as well. Often too late for me to return, as I would just put them in my collection still sealed and not play them for a year or more. I mostly avoid the re-masters now, having had so much trouble with them. Many of them I have found to be inferior in SQ as well, compared to originals. Disappointing when you spend $40 or more for something that is supposed to be high quality or "Audiophile". Some are great buy many just are not.
Brand new vinyl - what’s acceptable to you?
I just ordered a dozen new albums - this time all 180 g variants. The Norah Jones had a scratch on it coming out of the paper sleeve the first time. (Separate gripe - why do they package ostensibly “audiophile” albums in crappy sleeves which might actually damage a record?). I’ll return the Norah Jones. But, the Miles Davis album has a noisy spot 1/4 the way through the first track. I’ll try cleaning the record but usually don’t have to for a new album. Or should I as a better practice? (This old dog can learn new habits).
Fortunately, the Pat Metheny is dead quiet - thank you ECM! All my ECM vinyl - even from decades ago are quiet. However, my experience is that ECM is very much an outlier: that most labels will come with some noise.
I’m working my way through all the albums but it made me want to poll the group: How much noise do you accept on a new pressing? Do you have a rule of thumb for what to reject?
Thanks,
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Just recently I bought Patricia Barber “Clique” by IMPEX. Noisy vinyl. No scratches just terrible noise floor. It was on final sale at Acoustic Sounds so I guess I’m kind if screwed but I’ll try to reach out. Best new vinyl so far: Rhino catalog mastered by Kevin Gray AAA, quiet and amazing sound MoFi stuff pretty much all solid. Newvelle Records - great quality vinyl, very limited catalog. |
@mylogic 😂 Indeed! Back in the day I had several records that were unlistenable due to being off center. You could see the tonearm pivot a half an inch. I haven’t come across that on a new one - yet - but more often than not, I find I need to relax the spindle hole a bit as many fit very tightly (too tightly) on my clearaudio table such that I’ve had some trouble getting them off safely. @audphile1 I have a number of MoFi I purchased in the 80s including Fleetwood Mac and DSOM which I had treated with LAST back then and they’re still very quiet (and sound great) today with just a brush cleaning. |
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