2. analog
  3. 1375503272

Do you know why

the vast majority of today's records are warped regardless of where they are pressed? This has come to a boiling point with me in the recent months. I've bought numerous records, most of them heavy vinyl as is the trend these days, and the vast, vast majority of them are seriously warped, to the point that I would not play them without my periphery ring. Warped heavy vinyl records have to me now become the norm. I suppose my anger and frustration have been particularly fueled by warped records pressed at RTI or QRP, which are considered and hold themselves to be the best pressing plants in the business.

I recently returned a Norah Jones album pressed at Kassem's QRP as it was horribly warped (in addition to being pressed off center), which I find absolutely unacceptable at a price of almost $40. Then I put on a brand new Black Sabbath album (Heaven & Hell with the late Dio) pressed at RTI and the record has warps and bumps throughout so bad that I can't even stand the thought of subjecting my Delos' suspension to over an hour-long torture test. Julie London superb sound-wise 45 rpm $50 reissue by BoxStar? Warped. Most of my MoFi albums, which are pressed at RTI as well, are also warped to some degree, although easily tamed with the ring, thankfully. So seriously, WTF?!!!!

In contrast, the vast majority of my used records from the '60s, '70s, and '80s, all of them pressed on the thinnest vinyl, are perfectly flat with a rare exception here and there.

I simply do not understand this phenomenon. Do you?
actusreus

Showing 1 response by whart

whart's avatar
whart
3,118 posts
 
Act- I have found that many new records, whether 'audiophile' or just plain ol vinyl issues, are warped. Apart from manufacturing defects, I wondered whether it was storage- Amazon seemed to have endless issues that way, but recently, at least the US Amazon, seems to have improved.
I bought a copy of the Cloud Atlas soundtrack on vinyl from Amazon UK that arrived hideously warped, and now it is unavailable for replacement.
Ironically, as others have pointed out, many older records do not suffer this problem (though they may have more noise, or have been damaged by nasty record players back in the day).
FWIW, I think it was 'Dynaflex' that RCA used to denote thinner records; 'Dynagroove' was their mastering process that also sucked. The late Hans Fantel was a proponent at the time. I avoid them like the plague.
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