Record labels for vinyl

aragorn723 · 1787

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Offline aragorn723

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on: May 17, 2022, 04:03:30 PM
A while ago I posted a thread asking about whether a certain album would be worth buying on vinyl.  Someone mentioned that certain labels have a reputation for putting out good recordings.  Has anyone had experience with Uni Dist Corporation records?  I'm contemplating buying "The Girl in the other room" by Diana Krall on 180g vinyl:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Diana-Krall-Girl-In-The-Other-Room-Vinyl/55906735?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&&adid=22222222228095609419&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=212835591294&wl4=aud-1185573580265:pla-398224466527&wl5=9010837&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=55906735&veh=sem&gclid=CjwKCAjwj42UBhAAEiwACIhADjNPsUSreHl1G6-u95pdp8lagEqdRjrnu1TDKbjTHIYB3uEzf5W1lhoCTL0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thoughts?  Yeah, Walmart.  I know lol.

Dave



Offline Aural Robert

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Reply #1 on: May 22, 2022, 04:51:47 AM
I don't know about Uni Dist but I have bought hi-quality vinyl at Mobile Fidelity mofi.com. I am not associated or affiliated with them in any fashion except as a purchaser of their products.

They have a proprietary one step pressing process that results in jaw dropping sounds to emanate from your transducers. The one-step releases are limited editions and are obscenely expensive but the sound quality is worth the price imo. I bought Yes Fragile, cut from the original master tapes in a special box set, 45 RPM across 4 sides and stunning sound. And I have an SRV release, and Janis Joplin Pearl. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

They also have a lot of "regular" recordings as well priced more reasonably.

Aural Robert.

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Offline aragorn723

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Reply #2 on: May 22, 2022, 07:59:19 AM
I don't know if my U-Turn turntable with a Grado Black cartridge is capable of resolving that level of detail.  I also have a London cartridge I'll probably get an audio shop to install, which will probably help.  Mofi does look like good quality in general, I've bought their record sleeves and have been pretty happy with them, and plan to buy their album sleeves too.  Will have to check out some of the regular Mofi recordings too.

Dave



Online Larpy

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Reply #3 on: May 22, 2022, 09:37:46 AM
I can't answer your specific question (about that pressing of the Diana Krall record), but answering your general question is complicated.  Vinyl is unexpectedly hot again after spending a generation in near dormancy.  Most companies are pushing out product not because they're analog purists but because there's money to be made.

The reality is that most current vinyl is mastered from a digital source (indeed, almost all recordings these days are made digitally).  That doesn't mean they can't sound great or even better than their digital counterparts but, unless you stick with the respected audiophile labels (AP, MoFi, Intervention, Speakers Corner, etc), chances are pretty good that the new LP record you buy will be a digital recording pressed onto noisy vinyl.  For an analog purist, that's the worst of both worlds: the disadvantages of digital and vinyl in one package.

Of course, there are many, many wonderful-sounding LPs from the 1950s, '60s, and '70s out there in used record stores, and they're worth seeking out.  Condition is key though, and prices aren't cheap.  As for new music, it's probably going to sound just as good or better and cost less when bought as a CD or streamed from uncompressed digital files. 

Also a factor is the cost of an analog set up that can rival great-sounding digital equipment these days.  You need a turntable, a cartridge, and a phono stage to play vinyl.  To match the equivalent quality in digital equipment (a disc player or, more likely, a DAC and a way to stream digital files) requires an asymmetrical investment.  Does spending $5000 on a TT, cart, and phono stage really sound better than a $1000 DAC and a subscription to a streaming service?

Maybe to some of us, but it's no slam dunk.

Perhaps all this is old news to you.  If so, sorry for coming off as pedantic.  And negative.  But if you're new to vinyl, I advise being cautious.  Buy some of your favorite music on vinyl and see what you think, what your ears hear. 

Seems to me that much of the vinyl boon these days is generated by a backlash against the absence of physical media.  It's fun to hold a record cover and see a needle in a groove, especially if you were born within the last 30 years.  For a lot of people, it's not about the sonics but the experience.  I respect that, but how long will it last?  It's a cultural moment in time, not an acknowledgement of analog's technological superiority.  (And I write that as a vinyl lover.)


Larry


Offline aragorn723

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Reply #4 on: May 22, 2022, 01:11:03 PM
I would say 70-80% of my music is from the 1960's to 1980s.  A lot of it I've bought on vinyl over the last 4-5 years, and that's what I like listening to most.  I'm a bit leery of the newer recordings on vinyl because of what I've read both here and other places, hence the thread.  To me I don't mind spending money on older vinyl, since to me that is what sounds best, though I don't have any experience with the modern audiophile vinyl recordings.  There is something neat to me about going to a record store, finding an ablum I like, and paying just a few bucks since there arent many people looking for it.  Would I spend 10k on a vinyl setup?  Probably not, unless I somehow won a huge scratch off or the mega millions.  It does make me happy though, 50 records into this hobby (and a lot more cds / mp3s that are slowly being replaced by vinyl).

Dave