I think the colored vinyl pressings today are noisier than the ones from the 70s-90s Oh,and I forgot to mention "I Am The Amazing Buzzcocks Twelve Inch Clear Vinyl Maxi Disc",all of the various colors of the "Miss You" and "Hot Stuff" 12" singles,the many color vinyl ELO and Led Zeppelin records from around the world from the 70s,the red vinyl first pressings of the first Squeeze and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers Lps,Eskimo by The Residents.... No there was hardly any colored vinyl before the 2000s. Roger ________________________________ From: Michael Biel <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 3:57 PM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] The Color of Vinyl in 2012 Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> Are the colored vinyls more noisy than black like the picture disks used to be back in the 80s? From: Aaron Levinson <[log in to unmask]> > Tom I have not noticed the noisy colored vinyl effect found on the old picture discs you mentioned. The problem with noisy picture discs concerned only one type of disc, and then only one side of those discs. There are several ways picture discs were made. If the disc used a central core printed on both sides with a blob of clear vinyl placed under and over it in the press, the result will be a very quiet disc but slightly fuzzy pictures on both sides with a clear rim. Another style used a preformed black vinyl core with a printed sheet on both sides and just a thin layer of clear vinyl on one side and a thicker layer on the other. The thin layer had a clearer picture but more noise. The rims will be black. > These all seem to sound pretty good overall though in the ultra high end > 45 rpm market I see many that are uncolored and contain no pigmentation > whatsoever. The 4 LP single sided 45 rpm, 200 gram reissue of Blue Train > is on translucent pigment free vinyl and it sounds astonishing. There is a possibility that colored and clear vinyl pressings are using virgin vinyl because any impurities will be visible. The only reused vinyl must be the exact same color. It could be edge-trims from early pressings in the batch mixed in as the pressing continues. Black pressings can use older reused vinyl without visual notice. I have also noticed that mixed-color pressings are equally quiet as the stylus passes over each different color. This also includes the splash shellac pressings on Pathe in the mid-20s with black and red shellac, and the Aeolian-Vocalion pressings that had 4 to 6 colors. The different colored shellac did not deteriorate or wear at different rates. This proves that the 35 cent red Perfects were as good as the identical 75 cent Pathe laterals. Mike Biel mbiel.com