Is there a problem with Decca's new packaging for vinyl records?

@mahler123 

No, they are not sold together.

I ordered the vinyl and the CD versions as separate line items in the same order.  They were shipped in one package, along with other vinyl records from Hyperion.

The vinyl was about 250% more expensive than the CD,

By way of background, I am trying to find out for myself if analogue (vinyl) really is better than digital, for well-recorded classical music (where I have a very good idea of what it should sound like!).

I don't expect vinyl to come anywhere close to multi-channel SACD, so when I discover a recording that I want to buy, my rules are to go for the SACD if the recording is available on SACD.  Otherwise, if it is on vinyl and unlikely to be a frequent play, I buy the vinyl.

In this case, the performance is stunningly good and Decca does not issue it on SACD.  So for the first time in my life, I bought the CD and vinyl versions simultaneously.  Unfortunately, because of packaging damage or transit damage, the vinyl is almost unlistenable.  The vinyl was first released on March 24, 2023, before my previous Decca records (Beethoven Triple Concerto) which was released on October 4, 2024.  It came in a normal paper liner and is fine. 

I now have a dilemma because I want to buy Decca's Flying Dutchman (release date April 18, 2025) and Britten cello works (release date May 9, 2025).

As for my quest to answer the analogue / digital dilemma, I have discovered that

1. a lot of vinyl has gone through a digital stage so a lot of the hype is based on bulldust
2. I could almost instantly pick when my player was outputting multi-channel at CD quality rather than at SACD quality
3. I am now pretty agnostic to whether CD or vinyl is playing

No doubt a chorus will strike up to say that I should be streaming. I do download from Presto Classical (monthly subscription) if I am uncertain that I will like a performance. But as far as I am aware, no streaming service gets anywhere near SACD quality for classical music.

@faustuss 

Thanks for your input.  I am not sure what mass market records are?

I decided to go down the aqueous cleaning route, particularly using a contact-free ultrasonic cleaner.  See @antinn's book Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records-3rd Edition - The Vinyl Press.

In my opinion much of the debris collected by records is sub microscopic - in other words, it cannot be resolved using a conventional visible light-microscope.

However, the damage done to the Decca records in transit is not just the creation of detritus through abrasion of the liner.  In my opinion, the debris has been ground into the grooves causing physical damage akin to scratches.  No amount of cleaning can fix a scratch!

@mahler123 

One of the great things about this forum for me is that I frequently learn new things!

For example, I have just discovered that what I thought was a British independent label, Hyperion, was actually bought by the Universal Music Group in March 2023 - see UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF LEGENDARY CLASSICAL LABEL HYPERION RECORDS - UMG.

In the classical music space UMG also owns Decca and Deutsche Grammophon (DG), which explains why I see Decca recordings on Hyperion's website!  It may also explain why I cannot buy SACDs from Decca or Hyperion (35 listed, most deleted).  Now that the Berliner Philharmonika runs its own label featuring the multi-channel Digital Concert Hall I hardly see anything new I want to buy from DG.

So many other great labels are powering ahead with SACD including 2L, BIS, Chandos, Dacapo, LSO Live. Pentatone, Reference Recordings, etc.

Yes, I am totally convinced that well recorded classical SACDs should always be better than well recorded classical CDs.  For a start, most actually contain the CD version, as well as 2-channel and multi-channel Direct Stream Digital (DSD).  What have you got to lose? 

I am also totally convinced that DSD is better than PCM on theoretical, commercial and listening grounds.  Getting monotonic linearity from PCM is impossible unless it is converted to DSD using sigma-delta techniques.  If DSD isn't better, why would Sony and Philips, who designed the Redbook CD specification, have produced a revolutionary new format they intended to replace CDs?  It is a pity North Americans did not warm to the 'new' format 17 years ago.

I have told this story before, but on a whim, I bought a Reavon universal player.  My test SACD is Hyperion's Shostakovich Piano Concertos, in particular the very quiet second movement of the second concerto.  When I played this through the Reavon's DACs it had none of the air and sparkle I was used to.  On delving deeper, it turned out that the Burr Brown DACs were being fed DSD down-converted to 16-bit PCM and the lack of quality was almost immediately obvious to me, though no reviewer has picked it up!  (Fortunately the DACs in my pre-processor handle native DSD delivered via HDMI just fine),

 don’t mean to be snarky here but somehow you have imbibed the propaganda that vinyl is a higher resolution medium than bog standard CD

Far from it.  I stopped buying vinyl as soon as CDs came out.  My interest in vinyl has been re-kindled when I found out how much my old Garrad 301 table is fetching second hand (and the ridiculous prices for new old stock!).  I suspect one reason they are valued is that they can be adjusted to start and stop in a fraction of a second.  I have spent several thousand upgrading the Garrard and it now sounds to me to be about the same quality as a good CD player.  No doubt I could spend tens of thousands and do significantly better.  I have even recently bought my Hyperion test track on vinyl but sadly it will never match the SACD.

I am old enough to have watched manufacturers who did not have a digital offering dump on digital, and HiFi retailers sniff when I wanted them to play a CD.  Those same retailers today, when asked to demonstrate components worth as much as Porsches, reach for their iPhones to stream digital!

I am agnostic when it comes to vinyl but was pleasantly surprised when my dealer had a B&W speaker evening and in one room, was playing vinyl through a Holbo air bearing, linear tracking deck.  It even managed to make B&W speakers sound OK!

@mahler123 

Your post prompted me to check out Deutsche Grammophon’s website.  They now seem to concentrate on vinyl, often from their back catalogue.  And they list new recordings from their Decca colleagues.  So their owner, UMG, obviously sees more profit from vinyl, which at 250% the price of the equivalent CD, makes some sort of sense.

Having said that, they also offer digital downloads including Dolby Atmos, so all is not lost!

That’s why I spend most of my hard-earned on silver disks from 2l, BIS, Chandos, LSO Live and the Berliner Philharmonika!