redsonja

Hey, my friend has this exact set up, how did you get on with the Blue (noticed on another post you went that way). My friend needs a new Red stylus but is considering the Blue instead. Do you think the difference is worth the cost? Thanks in advance!

Got the European black pressing on release day and it sounds super! Noiseless, relatively good dynamics, and flat as a pancake. And the artwork book is amazing.

Thank you Plarocks! I'll look into it! And yep, wish there was a 2LP version of Bat Out of Hell 2!

Yeah I think that's my problem at the moment - trying to tell the difference between a record that's been kept badly and one that just needs a clean. I've actually somehow managed to collect a good hundred + records since I started buying June 2014, and it's gotta be something like 95% of them are snap, crackle, and pop free! So this recent fling with eBay has annoyed me a bit I guess. What's even worse is that I Googled it and came across dozens of posts on forums of people saying the surface crackle is inevitable even on new records, which is weird, because I honestly don't get any except if there's a small static build up, and then I just use my carbon brush and that usually takes care of it.

Wow, thanks for all the info, especially allenh for the encyclopedic post! There's lots to think about I guess

Hey, thanks Napalm, I guess it looks like I'm getting a spinclean then!

Thanks, but she wants to get it from the UK - for the p+p and import costs, but thanks anyway

Hey, OP, is the Red still for sale? I've got a friend who needs one!

Hey, thanks, I will do. I'll check that out too for sure. I live in England these days, and where I am the record stores are pretty limited. There's only one in my area, and it's pretty crappy (though oddly has a great reputation so I've heard). The owner wanted to give me £3 for EX + copies of Bat Out of Hell 2, Bon Jovi's Cross Road double vinyl, and an EX- copy of Seventh Son. That's £1 per record. When I told him that I'd rather just hang on to them, he just turned back to the counter and ignored me. The next time I was in there he had a copy of Bat Out of Hell 2, in VG+ condition (I gave it a quick listen on the store TT - crackles and pops, and it's a pretty naff sounding LP anyway), and it was priced at £25!

Thanks bigdz, I'm really starting to consider it. What do you think to this one? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000BFXIVW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_20&smid=AISL47LDQPERB

That's crazy prices! I have tried out several different pressings of albums before, but I was just really surprised that initially this seemed to be an identical pressing - but it looks like the numbers tell a different story.

Ah, you're right about the numbers! The thinner vinyl is: emc 3512-a-dmm-3u-1-1- sterling sound "it were so loud" on side one. And the thicker vinyl is exactly thte same except for this part: -1u-1-1-x1 When you pick both records up it's immediately noticeable how thin one is, too, compared to the other, and yet the thin one - with the annoying crackle - is the one that's actually more dynamic to my ears. Tracking down a NM copy of that one might be a bit of a pain ... not so sure I want to trust sellers on eBay or Discogs anymore. I know there are some really genuine sellers out there, but it's just too much time and annoyance at the minute (after the Maiden fiasco in my other thread). EDIT: confirmed - I just had a neighbour listen when she came over to drop off some post and she could hear it immediatley, though she said she actually preferred the less dynamic record because it wasn't as 'sharp' between instruments, by which she probably means the muddying made it sound more like a really good CD copy!

For me the bottom line is this: no-one likes getting ripped off. £80 for twelve records might seem like a good deal, but if most of them are unplayable without constant noise and distortion, then all I've bought is a pile of crap. It's not just the odd hairline I'm talking about in this case - I could definitely live with that if it was. I even asked the guy to listen to them before he sent them out, so we weren't both wasting our time, and he told me that he'd listened to several and they were immaculate, and that I shouldn't be concerned because they're 'in A1 condition'. I wouldn't buy a car from a retailer only to discover that it didn't work properly, and the same goes for records. Why should buyers be left in a 'well, I told you so' position, when the seller has either lied or is totally not competent enough to grade records in the first place. I mean, I'm no audiophile (!!). I've only being listening to records for the majority of a year, and that's no time at all, and even I know the difference. But if something is advertised as 'meticulously looked after', and in 'NM' condition, and then you contact the seller - who refer to themselves as a company with an 'office' selling 'top notch vinyl at affordable prices' - and that seller tells you that they don't even need cleaning becasue they're in 'amazing condition', and then you get said records and they look like a piece of shit, well, that's what pisses me off. Rant over

Trust me; it's mutual

Thanks - I did check the deadwax and the numbers are the same, pressed by Sterling, etc. I'll have another check just in case I'm off by a few digits!

That's an interesting theory - would there be any way of telling them apart?

Nice Shinigami (sp?). Yep, I've learned that the hard way I guess - but what I don't get is the sheer amount of people who leave positive feedback? I won't keep any vinyl that is in less than EX condition, just because I know I won't enjoy it. I really can't get into the heads of the sellers who grade like that and then say 'well, I stand by my grading'. Insane.

Something odd I realised the other day is that I have two UK first pressings of Somewhere in Time, and when comparing the two - one has a fair amount of crackle, but the dynamics almost make up for it; and the other which I got as a replacement in EX+ condition - it seems that although the replacement has way less noise, it doesn't sound quite as punchy as my first copy. And oddly, even though it's the same pressing, the first one is cut from much thinner vinyl - I can actually wobble and flex it a little (I probably shouldn't do that too much ... don't panic, I don't make a habit of it!), whereas the replacement copy is quite firm and unbendable. Any of you guy's had this experience? One thing I love about this album on vinyl: I've never heard it sound so good before (and my ex used to play that all day long at one time or other on CD). But it really comes alive like this. Sonja

That sounds like the way to go, thanks so much for the advice I'll post back and let you know how it goes!

Bake, thanks, that's good advice. Though I still can't justify the postage ... I guess I should do the maths on that one. I'm still unsure if he'll actually refund the money after receiving them though - how does this work with Paypal?

I feel your pain, man, that's pretty much how it is for me in recent experience, and then that odd one comes along that actually is NM for a great price and you sit there and end up thinking 'maybe I will give it another try after all ...'. It never ends! Still, at least I don't buy shoes and cell phones like most of my other friends (I mean, I have those, just not in abundance). Music is definitley a worthier cause

You guys just get funnier and funnier

I sympathise with this, I really do, but at the same time I think people need to know excatly what they're buying (but there are limits, I agree!). But even for a $20 dollar record the principle applies I guess, otherwise that same person ends up with five copies of the same unusable record, all with surface noise that wasn't listed, and it's cost them $100. So I guess it kind of ... goes both ways? I can understand how it's got to be annoying for a seller, too, though.

I picked Book of Souls up on release day, but it cost me about £23 I think? For a Kevin Shirley record it sounds really great in places. Empire of the Clouds is incredibly dynamic - and I swear it 'flies by' in about 8 minutes! $14 dollars though, wow, crazy prices. I actually used to have Fear of the Dark on vinyl. I must've been about eight years old and my uncle gave it to me with a stack of stuff that sat on my shelf as a nice looking ornamanet and never got used ... and then we moved house, I went to university, and I never saw them again. When I think how much that album costs now .......... And I think I'm one of the few people that actually really likes The X Factor, if only they'd have included the two b sides instead though. I really liked the first two solo Blaze albums. They were incredible. Edit: Something odd I realised today when comparing my two UK first press copies of Somewhere in Time. One has a fair amount of crackle, but the dynamics almost make up for it. I've never heard that album sound so good before (and my ex used to play that all day long at one time or other on CD), yet the replacement I bought which has way less noise doesn't sound quite as punchy to my ears. Oddly, even though it's the same pressing, the first one is cut from thinner vinyl - I can actually wobble and flex it a little (I probably shouldn't do that too much ... don't panic, I don't make a habit of it), whereas the replacement copy is quite firm. Odd...