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Why are records still warped?

This is more of a grouse than anything because I know the molding process won't ever be perfect. Still, here we are in the 21st century in the midst of a vinyl revival. Artists get it and are trying to satisfy us geeks with tasty pressings.

Cases in point are Bennett & Gaga's "Cheek to Cheek" and Lennox' "Nostalgia." Ordered both of them in (live in the sticks so no local source) and one dished, the other warped. Neither are unplayable, but both conditions are audible. Disappointing to say the least on such outstanding efforts.

The same week they arrived, I got copies of Hampton's "Silver Vibes" (mono) and Mendes' "Look Around" used at a swap meet. Perfectly flat with outstanding fidelity, especially considering their age.

Many of my "not" Golden-era pressings from the mid-70s through late-80s also lived up to expectations when I got them home. Many more did not, and that's why I ended up jumping on the CD bandwagon with a Sony CDP-101 in 1983.

In 2015, my digital playback deck is about 1000% better, CDs are better, SACDs are even better still, HD downloads can be superb, but still none of them best vinyl at its best. Unless it's warped.

We have the technology, know better and can better control the process. So, what is up with the warp thing? Is it laziness, budget or what?!?
effischer

Showing 4 responses by lowrider57

lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
3,018 posts
 
Case in point: A NOS RCA reissue copy of a Broadway play originally recorded in 1964 and pressed in 1974, wafer thin and flexible, purchased from Georgia and delivered to Ohio during the deepest of February's deep-freezes, flat. Still had the original price sticker from whatever out-of-business retailer and has gone through who-knows-how-many hands.

A good example of the the golden age of record pressing. Records did not come from the plant warped as they do today. LPs weren't always perfect, but the quality control was tight and the Cutters and line workers were craftsmen.

It's true that today's record plants are backed up with heavy volume, but I also believe this is a new generation of worker who can't quickly spot a defect on the vinyl before it is shipped out.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
3,018 posts
 
Don't these companies notice the high rate of defective returns? Or is it factored into the cost of doing business.
Clearly, they're not going to change their process.

Does anybody know what Steve Hoffman has to say regarding the high number of poor quality vinyl being released?
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
3,018 posts
 
I've also been told that venders have to pay for the cost of a return in this new vinyl world. I'll bet a company with the "buying power" of Amazon doesn't eat these costs and returns them to their distributor.

In the good old vinyl days, you would return an LP to a store and usually get an apology. Then the owner/employee would inspect another copy to make sure it didn't have the same defect.
Oh, the good old days.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
3,018 posts
 
Bdp24
New LPs are warped either because they were removed from the LP stamper before they had cooled sufficiently, or because they were not transported and stored properly after they left the pressing plant, or both.

The record labels and the pressing plants all say that demand is so high for manufacturing vinyl that their orders are backed up. There was a thread on Steve Hoffman, I believe, where somebody stated that the cooling stage had been shortened as one way to speed up the process. I'm sure there are other areas where vinyl production specs don't measure up to the original days of record cutting. Especially quality control as previously mentioned.

On a personal note, I returned "Mothership" 3 times to Amazon all with the same problem...a clicking sound thruout side one. It would seem an entire batch of product was shipped out w/o being checked.

" A small percentage will warp down the road because the molecules in that particular shot of material happened to all have lengths at one end of the distribution range (be it long or short) which completely changes the rheology of the flow of the material which changes the internal stresses."

Makes a lot of sense as far as new vinyl or the original cutting days.
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