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Vinyl from Barnes & Noble

 Last week I used a Christmas gift card to purchase an LP there. 180 gm , pressed at RTI, new 25th anniversary  remaster.... The album was wrapped in a baggy crinkly plastic. Inside that was the typical vinyl sleeve, which was not sealed. When I took the LP out I was amazed.... Filthy, covered in fingerprints with 2 very prominent scratches covering one entire side.. This was obviously not virgin vinyl. B & N of course returned it. The associate told me " you wouldn't believe  how often this happens ." ???!!!   I asked if it was company policy to repackage used items and sell them as new. He didn't answer that, instead merely insisting that this is a common occurrence. WTF!   Any one care to comment/ have similar experience?

winoguy17

Showing 3 responses by jnorris2005

jnorris2005
185 posts
 
I hope you all realize that the "new" records you buy from Barnes and Noble are, for the most part, from digital sources.  New recordings are all done digitally, and old ones are from masters that have have been digitally stored due to deterioration of the originals.  In these cases, the "analog" sound so lovingly referred to is a lie put out there by corporations trying to make a buck on the "vinyl revival".
jnorris2005
185 posts
 
@winoguy17 


 "This has nothing to do with analog vs digital for gods sake"

Correct, and I have no desire to step into that fray.  My point is that people are buying vinyl at ridiculous prices, putting up with its idiosyncrasies, and are not getting what they paid for.

@bdp24 

There are a number of truly analog sourced albums still out there, and I applaud their efforts, but you're not going to find them at Barnes and Noble or FYE.  "Overly-broad" or "sweeping"?  Perhaps a little, but not too far from the truth.
jnorris2005
185 posts
 
@bdp24

Sorry if you misunderstood, but I did not mean that B&N has only LPs from digital sources.  I meant that they only sell mainstream records that are most likely from digital sources.  The truly analog, less well-known records will most likely be found in hard-core record stores.

I would also beware of colored records.  My recollection of them - and this is going back a ways - is that they are noisier than black vinyl.
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