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New Vinyl Defects

I'd like a little input from you vinylphiles out there.

My buying recently shifted back to almost exclusively vinyl rather than CD. I'm buying mostly "pre-owned", but recently purchased an armload of new and 180 gram pressings. A recent order of 4 LPs, 2 of them were defective. One is unplayable - it had label glue on the last track, and (this is the really odd part) the grooves were off-center, so much I could see the tonearm oscillating back and forth, and the sound was also oscillating. The other one wasn't so bad, or unusual, the first track had near-constant "scratching" sound for nearly the whole song. I recall this as being pretty common in "my before cd" days, but assumed with 180 gram LP's that the QC may be better.

Here's the questions:
1) is the above unusual? That is, is 50% defective - common, or anomaly?
2) What's the likelyhood that if I send back the second LP (Johnny Cash "American V: A Hundred Highways") for a replacement, that I'll get a good copy? I like it and will tolerate the first track if they're all bad.
bdgregory
hals_den
77 posts
 
Vinyl is somewhat unpredictable. I have bought brand new vinyl with lots of loud pops that never went away and have found and bought records that looked like they had survived countless late night Ultimate games at Chico State that sounded surprisingly okay.
I recommend checking out Last Record Preservative. Last was the first to explain to me why records develope pops in the first place. Since I've been using it, I don't expect pops on new records any more.
And I'm not sold on the heavy vinyl. Generally my lighter vinyl sounds better than the heavier.
oregon
807 posts
 
I'd return the defective new, 180 gram Lps. They ought to be pristene if advertised as new. No question. If the seller refuses, stay away from them and leave - feedback so we steer away.
Thanks.
jependleton
155 posts
 
I agree with the comments of the others here. A record being new and pressed on 180 gram vinyl doesn't mean that the rest of the production process has been performed to strict quality standards. It is also important to clean records before they are played the first time, and to keep them clean.

It is important to perform an initial thorough cleaning to remove the mold release that is on new records. The mold release can cause a 'veiled' or 'scratchy' sound, and will attract dust,etc. to the record. It will also foster microbial growth on the record. A good enzymatic cleaner is the most effective for removing mold release. By the way, the Audio Intelligent Vinyl Solutions products will be back on the market in a few days and they offer an enzymatic formula and a product line the was picked as the Stereo Times Analog Product of The Year in 2005. Their products are the most effective that I've found in over 30 years of cleaning records.

Good luck with your analog rig.
overhang
199 posts
 
I had big problems with WHatmusic Brazilian reissues.Out of 30 records i bought at least 20 had some kind of imperfection.Usually it's the bubbles and off center pressings.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,137 posts
 
Setup definitely lessens surface noise issues with vinyl, but other than an out of production Nakamichi I've never heard of a turntable or setup procedure that corrects for off center pressings.
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