Record manufacturing QC

Grenadeslio

Lunatic Member
I know this has been discussed before, but just needing to vent a bit. My sweet lady purchased a couple of records for my birthday last Sunday, the Rolling Stones "On Air" and Pink Floyd "The Division Bell". Well, the Stones album is fine, the Division Bell not so much. The defect is bad enough to be seen with the naked eye, too bad to because the SQ is superb otherwise.

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yeah, that's ugly
It's a two record set, the first was fine, but the second both sides were damaged. Luckily she purchased these at Barnes & Noble so no worries about paying shipping for a return with the risk they won't accept they're responsibility. The reason I'm no longer a Music Direct customer after decades of purchases.

Purchased 3 records, all had worse damage than the above, contacted Music Direct. Their response, I pay return shipping, only exact replacements (No problem with this one), and if the replacements are also defective I'm on my own (This was unacceptable). Threw the records in the trash and never considered dealing with Music Direct again, for anything, such poor customer service is inexcusable.
 
It's really a given that something so delicate may not turn out prefect through all the manufacturing, packaging and shipping. Bummer for the buyer when it happens but it will always happen when it comes to records.
 
It's really a given that something so delicate may not turn out prefect through all the manufacturing, packaging and shipping. Bummer for the buyer when it happens but it will always happen when it comes to records.
Exactly right and why I won't deal with a company that won't stand behind what they sell, Barnes & Noble will be hassle free.
 
Worst QC issues I've had in the last few years, we're marked as "made in EU ",
various labels/publishers, I couldn't give you a definitive rule.
 
maybe retailers should reconsider their business relationships with vinyl manufacturers.

I work in retail and anything we don't sell that becomes outdated, is returned by the customer, or defective / damaged packaging gets written up and a credit issued to the store.
 
The advantage of buy at a store is you can open it up right there and visually inspect it.
Buying on line is convenient (you don’t need to wear pants) until something goes awry.
 
maybe retailers should reconsider their business relationships with vinyl manufacturers.

I work in retail and anything we don't sell that becomes outdated, is returned by the customer, or defective / damaged packaging gets written up and a credit issued to the store.

Oh no, that's not how it works. If you buy a pair of speakers and they're damaged, "you" have to pay return shipping. Then the second pair show up damaged, they tell you to screw yourself you're on your own. Didn't you know this is normal business practice? Every company does this? You should accept that items can be damaged, it's not the sellers fault "their" policy screws you in this event so you should just accept the fact you have to keep ****ed up speakers.

Of course they don't, I'm making a point. Parts Express has the best customer service. One of my twin Dayton subs, purchased as a discontinued model they were severely discounting on eBay developed a hum. They sent a replacement plate amp free of charge, no questions asked, didn't even ask for the defective unit. Even followed up with an email to make sure all was ok, or if they could help in any other way. Now "thats" customer service.

It's obvious from your post you get this.
 
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The few newly made copies of old albums I've bought have sucked the big one. Major surface noise, off center holes and lopsided weight distribution.

I 'll stick to used vinyl at a fraction of the price and take my chances. Besides, most LP's I'm prone to buy these days are those no one would bother re-pressing.

The odd time, I've found "newly recorded" records (2009 or later) and they've been fine in all respects - really good actually. But one find was a "new oldie" - a recent pressing of Disrali Gears made in Eastern Europe - Lilith label. Mono I believe and very high quality. Heavy vinyl, pristine embossed jacket so good value at the $1.99 purchase price.

Another find (also $1.99) was a sealed copy of James Bay - Chaos and the Calm from 2015. It too was a quality recorded, made and packaged product. Worth a listen but I certainly would not have paid the original sticker (still attached) price of $34.99.

Those experiences would dictate to me that new new records are OK but newly pressed old ones are crap.
 
I remember seeing a programme about the pressing of vinyl. I was amazed at how rusty and grubby the machinery was, and that they could ever produce product that wasn't flawed...

I'm sure this isn't universally true...
 
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