New Record Sounds Like Crap - How???

The pressing will make a big difference in the sound as well as the quality of the vinyl itself. I've also found the with many new records that there is a coating of mold release that needs to be cleaned off. If not, it traps microdust on the record, prevents good contact of the stylus in the groove, and clings to the stylus.

Jep is undoubtedly correct about the mold-release. The fact that he says "it needs to be cleaned off" may be, for an OLD SEALED record, easier said than done!

I've run into this problem before. If a record is old, oldish, older, whatever ;--) and was played even once or twice when it was new, then most of the (waxy when fresh) mold-release was scraped out of the groove (not the nicest way to get rid of it, but that's the way it's usually removed.) At least it's (mostly) gone.

When an old record has been sealed in it's original packaging for years and years, that mold release dries out, hardens, and may even bind to the vinyl as the solvents slowly come out of the vinyl. And it's a bitch to remove!

You really need to use at least a couple cycles of dish detergent and warm water, scrubbing in the direction of the grooves with a stiff (not a velvet) record cleaning brush. Do this on a towel to avoid wetting the label. Rinse several times using a new cellulose sponge saturated with distilled water, holding the record on edge and rinse/wipe it down while you turn it to keep the label dry.

At this point if you have one, run it thru your record cleaning machine. In any case, you absolutely MUST use Last Record Preservative. I say MUST, because I consider Last a treatment of LAST resort ;--) And this is one of those situations where nothing else will do.

The vinyl is SO dried out, especially because of its age and scrubbing off the old mold release with detergent. If you looked at it under a microscope, it would look like the cracked surface of a desert riverbed after a drought; and it's these cracks, or crazing, that make all the noise. You can't fix these cracks. And you can't fill them. But you CAN close them up. Last Record Preservative (and I have no connection to the company) is the only product I know that actually returns solvent to the vinyl -- re-hydrates it so to speak. The vinyl swells and the cracks close.

Apply judiciously just once. This means don't flood it, but don't be stingy either. Buff it in thoroughly. Play the record twice cleaning the stylus in between. A lot of junk will come out. I used to think the "junk" was excess Last. Now I think it's really "micro-dirt" that gets squeezed out of the cracks when the vinyl swells from the Last.

You will be amazed at the improvement. If it's an especially cherished recording, or it was really noisy, you can try another application of Last after several plays and a trip through your record cleaning machine. But not more than two. That's going to be as good as it gets -- for another twenty years ;--)

Hope this helps.
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There are a host of reasons for the existence or lack of surface noise on a record. Mold release issues might be one of them. However, the record groove has something to do with it as well and how it relates to your cartridge adjustment as Michael Fremer pointed out in a recent issue of Stereophile. I urge you to read that article. While records are often imperfect, at least the surface noise is not in the same frequency band as the music while electronic noise is with cd's. You might want to try Groove Glide II. I have been using this for years. I have demonstrated its superiority to the Last product over and over again to other audiophiles who have also switched. It will help to quiet noisey surfaces and improves sonic impact. Yes, it retards needle wear as well.