What do you do when you get a bad vinyl record pressing?
I'm not talking about just buying any record off the shelf, taking it home and discovering it sounds like turds. I mean when after you've done as much research as you could to find out what particular pressing is the best sounding of that album and purchased it online or found it in the wild.
I had my latest disappointment with The Cult. I remember the album, which I had on CD, from my college days and recalled there were some pretty cool songs on the album. In fact I recall liking the whole album. I wondered how it would sound on my rig now? So I did the research and got a NM Canadian pressing. This is the honest truth - the whole record sounds terrible with no bass except for She Sells Sanctuary! It's crazy how the mastering of every song on an album may not be from the same recording. Many times it seems there is one song or a couple that seems to just sound better than the other songs on the album.
I was really bummed out. That album could have been such a killer album. Bernie Grundman or Steven Wilson should remix it. So what do I do when this happens and I love the album?
I play it on another rig. A less critically serious rig. Most times these albums spring to life and are great. Is it the coloration of the vintage gear? Who knows but sometimes ignorance is bliss!
+1 @lewm
ever listen to a Phil Spector girl group song on your best rig? That whole walk of sound thing sounds like cheesecloth. A lot of popular music was mixed with the notion that people would be listening on a jukebox or AM car radio. Not meant to be played on a system that cost more than your parents house. |
in 2021 i bought a 3000 pressing classical collection off ebay. i was already a classical enthusiast if not very knowledgeable and owned about 2000 classical pressings. this collection had been owned by a Gramophone reviewer and was very good for performances, but not necessarily the spendy rare pressings. lots of early music. it sat upstairs for 3 years and finally after i had retired for a year and some shelving arrived i needed to make the logistics work i began the process of cleaning and organizing. which included listening briefly to each pressing. it took me 7-8 weeks to complete the project last summer. being retired i could stay on it. the first thing i did was to pull out all the digitally sourced pressings, which came to 400-450. these i took to a second hand store and sold them for $200. next i isolated the mono pressings as best i could. about 250. i love mono and have a separate mono arm and cartridge, but i was going to be particular about which mono’s i would clean and sample. also; another few hundred were box sets, and these i decided not to clean. box set classical is usually un-played and already clean and mostly dust free. if/when i play them i will clean as necessary. this left me 1800-1900 pressings to clean and sample. the collection was remarkably pristine and appeared mostly to be un played. but as i went along i did encounter a few bad pressings; maybe a skip or noise issue. they went in the garbage as i was not going to waste a record sleave or plastic cover. maybe 25 out of 1800 were in some way or another throw away’s. cleaning and sampling this collection was the most profoundly enjoyable hifi thing i have ever done. reading the covers and listening was a huge education and time machine as i learned about how early music evolved into modern classical. i would google each composer and artist and learn as i went along. turns out that early music recordings are very simple and pure. mostly live recordings, and little of the over processed type sound. and lovingly mastered and pressed. so the sonics were very fine. and it was painful to throw away records. but i wanted to end up with a clean and curated classical collection. each record had to earn it’s way onto my shelf. and they most certainly did do that. here is a thread about this on WBF. https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/stuff-of-dreams-3000-classical-records-inbound.33887/ |
Unwanted records and avoiding the bin/trash final destiny. A LOGICAL OFFERED UP SOLUTION…… “Vinyl Turnover Delight”
RECIPE Preheat oven to 180 degrees Undress (not you) the record Place on middle shelf with a cardboard base Allow to cook/heat (door open) for one minute Remove from oven and evenly bend up the sides Form vinyl into a nice round rippled bowl Stand for one minute (the vinyl, not you) End result is a nice round crinkled plant pot The pot also has the requisite hole in the bottom No crackles, pops or bad recording ever again Serve on a suitable saucer. “A splendid time is guaranteed for all”
If you can’t live with a sub standard recording or pressing, don’t punish yourself ever again. Disclaimer….. The above solution is obviously a one way trip. @slaw use cover for “Wall art??”
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"There are a lot of poorly made records, and many poor recordings in every music format. Truly great recordings are exceptional. It's always been that way." Agreed, although the percentage of bad vs. good has gotten bigger and bigger since the late 80s. That Cult album may have sounded terrible all along, you just didn't care so much back in college! lol. |
