yeah, but then you remove the reason for a good portion (half?) of the vinyl sales -- kewl factor
and hipster cred. Many, if not most, vinyl buyers want artifacts more than they want high fidelity.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Randy A. Riddle" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2014 9:09 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Wax & Wane: the Tough Realities Behind Vinyl's Comeback
> Another thought came to mind when reading this article.
>
> It seems to me that the demands for different types of "custom" jobs -
> colored wax versus 180 gram pressings, etc - is making the manufacturing
> process more difficult and slowing things down for everyone. Common sense
> would tell you that if a factory just pressed discs in one weight in black
> vinyl and used similar printing processes for the labels and covers, the
> results would be more consistent.
>
> rand
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 4, 2014 at 8:44 PM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> Three observations, both one man's opinions ...
>>
>> 1. If United goes through on their plan to add 16 presses, others would be
>> foolish to expand for the time being. My bet is, 16 new presses at a
>> high-output place like United will be enough capacity for now. The article
>> also neglected to mention Chad Kassem's state of the art new pressing
>> facility in Kansas. I think Chad custom-build enough presses to do at least
>> what Gotta Groove does per day.
>>
>> 2. Chad told me that it's tricky, but colored vinyl can now be done so it
>> doesn't sound any worse than black vinyl. I have to say that the Record
>> Store Day colored vinyl release of Velvet Underground "Loaded" didn't sound
>> any worse than the CD from which it was mastered.
>>
>> 3. The article does a good job enumerating the "art" aspects of pressing
>> records. Ambient humidity, press temperature, the consistency of the water
>> heating system, etc, all play major roles in quality. Also, operator care
>> with pressing cycles, centering of labels, etc. The article did not touch
>> on what is needed to MASTER a good LP record. Too many new-issue vinyl
>> releases are made from toothpaste-compressed masters the same as the CD
>> and/or download releases. These sound particularly bad on vinyl because of
>> the nature of mechanical mastering and playback. It's also odd that the
>> Cleveland place is doing so much work for ambient and minimalist artists.
>> Those genres benefit the most from digital technology -- super-quiet
>> backgrounds behind the subtle soundscapes. I suspect the vinyl releases are
>> driven by artifact-hunting and general hipsterism.
>>
>> One other thing -- the article failed to mention that there are at least
>> two large-scale pressing plants in Europe. The biggest one, in Germany, has
>> been block-booked by UMG twice in recent years for the massive production
>> cycles associated with Beatles box sets. I suspect this has a bearing on
>> the long lead times at US plants.
>>
>> -- Tom Fine
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeremy Smith" <
>> [log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2014 11:20 AM
>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Wax & Wane: the Tough Realities Behind Vinyl's Comeback
>>
>>
>> Interesting article on the current state of vinyl production in the U.S.
>>>
>>> http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/9467-wax-and-wane-
>>> the-tough-realities-behind-vinyls-comeback/
>>>
>>> --
>>> Jeremy Smith
>>> Special Collections and University Archives
>>> University of Massachusetts-Amherst
>>> 154 Hicks Way
>>> Amherst MA 01003
>>> 413.545.6729
>>> project twitter: @WEB_Du_Bois
>>> http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
>
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