how were copies of vinyl made in "third-party" countries

well, I love ELO, to me they are in the top 5 influential bands ever (and that's generous, since it was all written by Lynne. He wrote and produced top hits for  George Harrison, Tom Petty, Brian Wilson and more.

I also love the Birmingham sound, besides ELO: the Spencer Davis group, the Moody Blues, how this bleak little town created so much in the 60s and 70s  

@russ69

if it's not that tricky why are there so many versions rated so differently? And people paying 100s for a specific copy? I am just curious. 

thank you all. I guess now that I know more, I feel way more ignorant than this morning. 

@bdp24 

"A production tape sent to a foreign country"

OK, so if it was 1s generation, then it was "original", with 2nd generation, was there a loss?

Would they have to send it back to the owner of the tape? And the owner would trust x number of countries with it? (Back then, the record companies in Eastern Europe were state run.)

Also, could they have also sent the mothers, stampers?

@teo_audio 

That's a lot of awesome info! I wonder if there is any processing data anywhere on the sleeve or the LP, like abbreviations for the manufacturing steps.

I will definitely look for Canadian prints.

@lewm @drbond 

I have a lot of Russian records, they are awful. Yugoslavian records: flawless. In the 70s and 80s, there was no competition in Eastern Europe. Every company (other than hairdressers and mechanics) was a monopoly in their region. They could make horrible or flawless quality products, it did not make a difference to them. The biggest factor was the culture and the heritage: e.g. Hungary was a science and math oriented country, full of nerds, which showed, musicians cared about quality in every sense, and they couldn't (I assume) cut good copies just for themselves - if they wanted a good LP, they had to have a good all around process.

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@teo_audio @bdp24 @russ69 

is there a way to tell if an LP is likely to sound better from looking at it? Such as the weight? Gloss? Little telling signs? I browse a lot of used records and so far it has been a complete hit and miss. 

and I just looked: my 90s Hungarian LPs are absolute crap while 70s and 80s are delightful. So much for capitalism :)

@russ69 

I used the smiley, I was joking. The real proof of "greatness" was the Trabant. And don't ask me about the our shoes (and not even running shoes) and clothes, they lasted months at best.

I know a lot of audiophiles in Hungary, they swear by US LPs and CDs as if God created them. The grass is always greaner....

"third party" - not the country of origin for the music or the record company

@bdp24 

"produced early in the morning sounded different than those in the afternoon"

wow, much like Maseratis :)

fun fact: I have buying an album about one a week from ebay, the cheap ones under $10.

usually they are in much better shape than I expect it. There was one that was however a total mess, like the cat regularly puked on it and then it was used as a weapon in a domestic dispute. 

It sounds so clear and detailed like nothing I have ever heard. 

@bdp24 if you are lucky enough to have big record stores in your city, you are lucky enough!

I recently discovered a store in my town with 1000s of 45s in boxes. It takes 15 min to go through one. 50 boxes at least. If only someone cataloged it, or sorted at least? I guess browsing is part of the fun

@bdp24 

cool story

One of my favorites is Jeff Lynne. I always wondered why his own records sound so substandard. I always blamed the type of music. Or my equipment

In Hungary, an LP was around 500 forints ($10) in the early 80s. A month’s salary was about 5000 forints. (same for a doctor as for a bus driver). Our collection grew by about 3 LPs a year around Christmas. (a gallon of milk was about 10 cents, same for a loaf of bread) 

@bkeske 

my Russian LPs are way worse than the rest. And the Hungarian ones after 1985 are way worse than pre1985

@bkeske yes I am sure it varies within a country, a factory, a time of day, as I am learning here. I probably wouldn't play my russian copies much these days anyway. 

@whart 

cool, thank you. I am amazed by how different they sound and how my rating in the store fails me. I only buy records for myself and I only buy used and these pointers are very useful. Now I have to see if I can apply it :)

@steve_wisc 

I enjoy it a lot too. I learned way more than if I had googled it for hours. Some of these commenters are the coolest, most knowledgeable people!

@whart definitely reminds me of the movie "Juliet, Naked" - the getting in contact part.

What you are describing is somewhat blurred to me by the MoFi story. 

Is this a fair assumption? >>

old LPs (pre 90s) may be inferior quality but likely made from better source (and definitely analog)  )and "suffered" from less steps in the process 

newer LPs benefit from better technology and would have higher quality but the source may not be the original and analog?

@whart 

keep these stories coming!

@o4hc sounds like quiet a trip for the stampers!