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Let's talk about pressing plants.


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I'm interested in everyone's opinions about pressing plants. 

 

Which consistently put out quality presses of albums? Which press crap?

 

I know other variables affect the quality of the sound (i.e., mastering, plating, source material, etc.).

 

I've had great presses from Pirate Press, and terrible output from Memphis Vinyl (i believe that is the plant's name.). I'm interested in everyone's experiences.

 

Or you can tell me to fuck off and go to the Hoffman forums.

 

 

 

 

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A big chunk of my collection seems to be from Pirates Press - very hit and miss on quality - but i avoid the Haze pressings like the plague (massive sand/grit on most of the copies) if I plan to listen vs. collect. Sometimes there is minimal grit however. Sometimes grit from a previous pressing will spill onto nonHaze variants in that run - or even onto an entirely different album.

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2 hours ago, VinylMario said:

You know about the same time you posted I was out and about driving and thinking how many pressing plants are out there, lol

 

More than you'd think. Gotta Groove claims there are 22, listed here: http://www.gottagrooverecords.com/2009/07/every-vinyl-record-press-in-the-united-states/

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This article has nothing to do with the quality of records but is super interesting if you're an engineer. Newbilt  is the new company producing semi-automatic record presses. They're the supplier for the new Third Man plant machines.  Interesting tidbits are that there are 22 US plants, 10-12 European ones, and about 3 in Asia. Newbilt is the only company making new vinyl presses, with a full line costing about $220,000 USD. If they go public any time soon, I'd invest in them honestly. You'd have to watch carefully, but it should grow for at least a few years. 
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20161007/NEWS/161009884/germanys-newbilt-machinery-tackles-the-niche-for-vinyl-record-presses 

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53 minutes ago, MCDELTAT said:

This article has nothing to do with the quality of records but is super interesting if you're an engineer. Newbilt  is the new company producing semi-automatic record presses. They're the supplier for the new Third Man plant machines.  Interesting tidbits are that there are 22 US plants, 10-12 European ones, and about 3 in Asia. Newbilt is the only company making new vinyl presses, with a full line costing about $220,000 USD. If they go public any time soon, I'd invest in them honestly. You'd have to watch carefully, but it should grow for at least a few years. 
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20161007/NEWS/161009884/germanys-newbilt-machinery-tackles-the-niche-for-vinyl-record-presses 

Putting my money on Sycom:

They are almost ready for production. Plus I remember reading that Pirate Press was developing their own machines too. I presume it will be a bloody battle.

Edited by nico
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On April 16, 2017 at 0:22 AM, nico said:

Putting my money on Sycom:

They are almost ready for production. Plus I remember reading that Pirate Press was developing their own machines too. I presume it will be a bloody battle.

 
 
 

Thanks for finding that. I was searching for that video for my post above. Approaching the vinyl record from the injection molding direction is very interesting. On one hand, the product quality is very repeatable. Nearly every piece that comes from the mold is exactly the same as another. Depending on the material used as the master mold, the stampers can also last quite a long time, more than is currently accepted with the high pressure on stampers. That said though, tooling costs for injection molding are ridiculously high because things have to be done rigght the first time. I think that Sycom and Newbilt will find a nice equilibrium together if vinyl sales continue. Sycom will make it's way into plants for larger labels that have the start up money and need thousands of copies, and smaller labels will gravitate toward the more efficient and older methods. 

Edited by MCDELTAT
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these are my feelings based on first hand experiences.  i am no authority on the subject 

 

A to Z media and Pirate Press (and one more smaller broker that I can never remember) all use the GZ plant in the Czech Republic .     It all seems to be hit or miss there

 

URP (United) seems to me to be really really lacking in QC in every aspect....you'll get banged up jackets sometimes, your quantity will be off, occasionally the spindle hole will be punched off center

 

Rainbo isn't a favorite either...they do  brokered deals as well and seem to lack QC as well

 

Memphis is essentially brand new, I'm hoping they'll get up to speed rather quickly 

 

Erika seems to consistently put out low quality/cheap pressings

 

RTI seems to consistently put out quality pressings

 

Furnace seems to put out quality pressings

 

Gotta Grove seems to put out quality pressings

 

The Vinyl Factory should be solid because of the history of the building and machines they're using, but I guess they're lacking the knowledge part?  seem hit or miss

 

 

 

 

 

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I'm actually a big press nerd being on the distrubutor/retail side. I agree with a lot of what birdwell says, IMO Gotta Groove is the best plant in the US (they also have two press operators who make amazing hand pours on the side https://www.instagram.com/waxmagerecords)
There's a newer plant in Kansas called Quality Record Pressings that immediately started pressing for labels only, mainly Legacy and Drastic Plastic, they even do their own electro plating in house which is interesting. 

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1 hour ago, jentenenbaum said:

I'm actually a big press nerd being on the distrubutor/retail side. I agree with a lot of what birdwell says, IMO Gotta Groove is the best plant in the US (they also have two press operators who make amazing hand pours on the side https://www.instagram.com/waxmagerecords)
There's a newer plant in Kansas called Quality Record Pressings that immediately started pressing for labels only, mainly Legacy and Drastic Plastic, they even do their own electro plating in house which is interesting. 

Acoustic Sounds sells a lot of the albums pressed in Kansas at Quality. 

 

I have the H. Hancock Headhunters pressing by Quality and it's very good. I think they are geared more towards audiophiles, so they press a lot of jazz, classic rock, etc on 180 to 200g often at 45rpm. 

 

I didn't realize Wax Merge was part of Gotta Groove. I follow those two ladies and their hand pours on Facebook.

 

Edited by zdkaiser
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I personally do not like anything pressed at Gotta Groove from an audio standpoint. Wax Mage and those hand pours are unreal looking, but I can tell the instant my needle touches a record if it was pressed at GG: the lead-in grooves are ALWAYS super noisy. Something about the way they plate. 

 

United has had the worst QC in the industry. Additionally, their customer service sucks some serious balls, but that is neither here nor there. 

 

Rainbo is great, IMHO, but it depends on who cuts the lacquers. As long as a third party cuts them, they sound fantastic. Their QC is pretty solid. 

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