Does colored vinyl sound as bad as picture discs?

One can make a case that black vinyl is likely to be the WORST sounding color because of the carbon. According to the blurb on the back of my Peter Appleyard direct to disc album, "Salisbury Labs decided to use white virgin quadradisc vinyl after several tests proved it to be quieter than black vinyl. Carbon Black normally is added to records to strengthen them."

It is indeed a very fine sounding LP, but I suppose by the same reasoning, without the Carbon Black may not remain as good sounding after 25 or 30 plays.

Stevecham -
interested in your comments on The Who pressings. have you heard the classic pressings of Who's Next and Tommy, and what did you think? I have been thinking of picking these up, assuming they would be better than my US mca issues. anyone else who's had a chance to hear these would welcome the input.

The remark about the use of carbon black to strengthen the vinyl is incorrect. Initially carbon black was used because the previous material used for records (78 rpm shellac) was black and it wouldn't do to change that colour! The very tiny carbon black particles (essentially soot) would not contribute to the strength of the vinyl in any meaningful way, but might help with the noise problem, however.

Bob P.

I have Tommy, Who's Next and Quadrophenia. Tommy is the only one that is defect free. All the way through Baba is this right channel scratch noise that is irritating to the point that the disc is no longer playable. Side two is defect free, thus this is a pressing defect. Side two of Quadrophenia has several similar defects; the other three sides are defect free, but side two happens to be my favorite complete side of that album. My MCA reissue pressing of Who's Next is somewhat better but is not defect free; it has several pops and ticks in places that make them clearly audible and distracting. My old Who's Next on Decca is still my best version of this classic rock recording. For shame to the nu vinyl wannabees. I still think they are trying to press too quickly, need to leave the biscuit in the press a little longer, and need to use higher quality vinyl.