Record Sleeve Recommendation

I really like the poly lined square paper sleeves the best. I just received another 100 of them from Acoustic Sounds this morning. These are the ones that leave a small opening on the top, BUT, I have NEVER had a problem with any records getting scratched or damaged or even smudged.

They go in and out of the record jacket very easily without bending. Also the record goes in and out of this sleeve quite nicely. Most of the exposed record is the "lip" or lead-in groove that has nothing on it.

I have used thousands of these and wouldn't use anything else...

The only record sleeves I would now purchase are the Mobile Fidelity (inner) sleeves. They are more expensive but they work as intended and the quality control tends to be more consistent than sleeves from other sources.

The poly-lined paper sleeves from Acoustic Sounds do leave the record exposed to contaminants from the record jacket. I've had dust/paper bits/etc. from older record jackets end up on the exposed portion of the LP. After spending a lot of time and trouble to clean them and protect them, I'm not willing to have the cleaned LPs subjected to contamination just because the sleeve wasn't designed properly. If they fix the design and manufacture so that the LP is fully covered the sleeves would be excellent for the money.

I no longer order any sleeves from other sources or manufacturers due to poor design or inconsistent quality control. If someone finds a source other than Mobile Fidelity that has a well designed sleeve and consistent quality control, I'd be willing to give them a try.

Tom

I too use the MoFi sleeves. I have never had a problem with them. Bought in large quantities, the price seems reasonable.

The poly lined sleeves tend to leave "wipe" marks on the surface of the record and are more prone to static.

Most if not all aftermarket sleeves are better than the standard paper sleeves. I use mofi myself as replacements for the paper sleeves. The clear sleaves with the rounded end that come with most japenese pressings are nice the way they easily slide back into the jacket. I haven,t had a problem with them and the last Classic Records issue I bought of Neil Young at Massey Hall had these for sleeves instead of the poly lined rice paper. I don,t like having any of the lp exposed after cleaning them either but it is still better than the plain paper sleeves.Most of the sellers I buy from sell and ship the albums with the poly lined sleeves anyway. I use those japenese outer sleeves with the resealable opening over the jacket to ensure no dust or debris finds it way inside. Cheers

I agree with the MOFIs-more expensive, but worth it. Never had any 'snagging' issues-not sure what you mean. The corners tend to fold over as you slide them into the jackets, but that's not really an issue.

As for using paper sleeves on the chance that your house burns down-that's like parking your car outside in case your garage catches fire. Paper sleeves are the worst thing this side of sandpaper sleeves to store your records.

You could check out piece I wrote for PFO a while back on the subject.

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue38/lp_sleaves.htm

Myles Astor

Myles,

Thanks so much for the article. I am going to try the Record City sleeves and see how I like them. As I stated above, I have always had great luck with the poly lined/paper backed sleeves, but I'm willing to try something new...thanks!

Mofi, don't know if you're refering to Sleeve Town/Sleeve City's "Diskeeper Ultimate Audiophile Inner Sleeves" mentioned in Myles' article, but I wasn't impressed with them. They could be fantastic sleeves for the money but they were designed/manufactured just slightly too narrow so that when you slide the LP into them they will often split. I've had to tape the split seams on more than half of the sleeves I bought. They don't always split the first time you put a LP into them but it seems that eventually they will. Again, they have potential, but until they get the sleeve design and manufacturing corrected they aren't worth the savings compared to the Mobile Fidelity sleeves. If you do buy the SleeveTown sleeves, I'd only buy a small batch to start with to see if they've fixed them yet.

Tom

Tom,

Thanks for the warning. Yes, those were the ones I was talking about. I have bought many of the Mobile Fidelity sleeves that you and several others have recommended, but I just don't like the way they go INTO the record jacket. They tend to bend and fold over like Myles says in his article. Coming out of the jacket is no problem, just going in. That's why I really like the paper/poly sleeves, but I might try the MOFIs again...

I got a great suggestion from over at Vinyl Asylum: Just fold the corners in on one edge. The sleeves slide in much easier. There are always a few jackets that were manufactured too narrow but for most of them the trick works great.

I'll mention again that the Sleeve City "Ultimate" sleeves could be fantastic and perhaps superior to the MoFi sleeves if they get the design/manufacturing problem fixed. MIGHT be worth a try.

Tom

Tketcham, I too used to use the Sleeve City "Ultimate Audiophile" sleeves but had about 100 out of 600 that were cut too small. I have since switched to the MoFi ones. Sleeve City did send me replacements though. The MoFi's aren't that much more money and it's just not worth the hassle. Last time I called Sleeve City asking if they fixed the problems they were waiting on new shipment.

Another vote for the MoFi sleeves. I am replacing all mine as I play the albums. They just seem to be the easiest to slip the record into and the price isn't that bad especially if you buy enough and get the 10% when Music Direct does the weekend specials. Can't replace the vinyl.

Yeah, the MoFi sleeves do snag on the jacket. Not all LP covers are exactly the same size, and the MoFi sleeves are on the big side.

But this small inconvenience is not that bad, considering the quality of the sleeves. That is why I use them. I have many many many of them in my collection.

I actually had the same problem with the Mofi Sleeves that Tom had with the Sleeve City sleeves. I but 100 of them, and about 20 of them were too narrow to hold a record. I bought the Acoustic Sounds Poly-lined sleeves after that.

You just can't win! nt

Yet another vote for the MoFi inner sleeves. If a corner snags now and then, it reminds me to slow down and be more careful while inserting it into the jacket. For me that's a good reminder and a trivial price to pay for the superior protection from dust they provide vs. any sleeve made with (exposed) paper.

Doug: The problem with [us] using the MoFi sleeves is that the MoFi sleeves were originally designed for use with a cardboard inner sleeve. This cardboard sleeve allows the record in the thin HDPE sleeve to be inserted into the jacket cover vis a vis the MoFi releases, without the fold over effect commonly seen with all HDPE sleeves (though the sleeves that Music Matter Jazz reissues have switched to are better-though don't know if they're commercially available-and one might have some other reservations).

Myles Astor

Hi, Myles. Yes, the flexibility of the HDPE sleeve alone is a drawback. The HDPE sleeves with the paper insert panel(the "Ultimate") sold by Sleeve City would be ideal if the dimensions were corrected. They provide the benefits of the HDPE material with the stiffness of a paper sleeve. I'd buy a bunch of them if their supplier is able to fix the problem of inconsistent sizing.

Tom

Hi Myles,

Understood. I have plenty of MFSL's with the cardboard inner.

Still, provided we're careful, we rarely snag or hang up a corner when sliding a MoFi/HDPE sleeve directly into a non-MFSL outer jacket. Practice, practice, practice...?

Doug:

Plenty of practice, believe me :) In fact, maybe way too much :)

One thing to remember: not all record jackets are cut the same size. Consequently, it's not always possible to smoothly slide the HDPE/LP combo into the jacket without the corner folding over.

Cheers,

Myles

I have not tried many of them to compare, but I like very much Nagaoka sleeves. Look at ebay.

What do you all think of these lp inner sleeves available from Todd Garfinkle and MA Recordings?

http://www.lpinnersleeve.com/

They seem quite nice but are a bit more than the ones from Sleevetown or MoFI. I was thinking about getting these sleeves for some of my more expensive records.

I've bought both the Disckeeper and the MoFi inner sleeves from Sleeve City and have had no problems with them.

I've bought quality lined paper sleeves in bulk from vendors on ebay for very reasonable cost. I use these as an upgrade to those used in most records whenever needed.

I realize that this thread is kinda old, but I've completely switched over to the "Ultimate" Audiophile sleeves from Sleeve City.

I have purchased well over 2000 of these and they have all been perfect. If they did have a sizing problem before, they have corrected it. I have yet to have even one be bad.

These are the BEST sleeves that I have ever used and I have a massive record collection.

The cheap round bottom poly inner sleeves work perfectly.

All the more expensive inners are for audiophools , certainly do not protect you LP's any better but cost you more $$

The round polylined paper from covers33 are good if you do not have a cardboard lyrics inner. These are the same that speakers Corner, EMI use on their audiophile pressings.

I use to buy the MOFI sleeves but after all the used records i have seen with plastic "hard water marks" I just use a good paper sleeve now.

I like the MoFi's alot. After reading this, I went ahead and ordered the Audiophile ones from Sleeve City. I think they were like 20 bucks for 50, which to me is worth it. The thing I didn't like was the 10 bucks for shipping on a 20 dollar order.