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HD Vinyl (Is the bubble about to burst?)


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This HD vinyl claim sounds like complete bollocks. There are probably much more exact ways of cutting masters than the traditonal lathe cutting, but there is no reason to believe that something like laser cutting could be any cheaper.

 

And storing significantly more information in the groove while retaining full backwards compability also sound very unlikely. This would require completely new manufacturing processes which (even if they existed) surely will not mean lower costs.

 

To me the most important step to better quality vinyl would be new pressing machines with state of the art technology. But despite the rising demand for vinyl, no pressing factory really seems to be interested to invest several hundred grand in new machinery.

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DMM claimed to do a lot of what this method is saying that it will. It was an 80's last ditch effort to breathe new life into the format. It worked to an extent; you could fit more music on with less noise for sure. There was one less step in the production process, as they cut out the need for a laquer. But I guess mastering engineers didn't like it. From what I gather, it's hard to cut into the metal stampers, and it actually throws off some of the frequencies. I can't remember exactly how, but Steve Hoffman chimed in on it before on his forum. 

 

This sounds like it is unnecessary and will never take off.

 

I think if they want to improve vinyl reproduction, reformulate the vinyl mix into something that's got a lower noise floor and is less prone to pops and clicks, or just improve manufacturing. I don't think all of the laser cutting in the world will save United from their subpar product.

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Even at a 50 percent cost reduction per piece of vinyl, the sheer start-up investment from pressing plants would put off most investors or interested parties. Especially given they could just invest in more pressing plants where they know the product will sell, and there is a shortage. Furthermore, when was the last time a 'new' technological breakthrough in physical media format ended up being cheaper than its predecessor?

 

Heck, this sounds akin to the blu-ray of vinyl... 30% greater running time? Higher fidelity audio? Environmentally friendly? Those all sound like extra dollars in Columbia's eyes. 'HDFi' pressings of all your favourite blues, soul, jazz and rock artists. Don't forget to buy your special HDFi player for the BEST sound possibleTM!

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On the whole I think any advancement that does what it says on the tin must be a good thing but there are two caveats that spring to mind for me:

 

1) I'm not convinced it will cut costs by as much as is being suggested, yes I can see it removing one of the bottlenecks in the process but is that such a major cost pressure?

 

2) I'm worried about the fitting more on a disc point, if you have an average cartridge that sits higher up in the groove you are going to get groove crosstalk pretty soon on a disc that has the information more tightly packed in, as far as I can see to retain all the information within the groove the groove has to be more accurately cut but also they have to get progressively closer together. If you listen to some of the old 80's and early 90's compilations that have a lot of music packed on this effect is there on a cheap stylus.

 

And the market with cheap decks with cheap styli is surely the market that this is all aimed at? 

 

I also agree with this. The basic material hasn't changed for many many years and can't be the best we can come up with modern technology.

 

 

I think if they want to improve vinyl reproduction, reformulate the vinyl mix into something that's got a lower noise floor and is less prone to pops and clicks, or just improve manufacturing. I don't think all of the laser cutting in the world will save United from their subpar product.

 

More accurately cutting the groves from a tracking point of view has to be a very good thing though

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I also agree with this. The basic material hasn't changed for many many years and can't be the best we can come up with modern technology.

 

 

Why do you think it hasn't? Since Kaiser closed shop there has been some effort by Rimtec and Kenan made several efforts to deliver improved vinyl formulations. I forgot the name, but this pressing plant in Ohio claims to have an sound-optimized 180g using a proprietary Rimtec formulation.

On the other hand none of this seems to be of interest neither for producer nor buyers, so it seems that there is virtually no demand for higher quality vinyl.

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I was thinking more of moving to another substance with vinyl type properties but that is a completely new material.

 

It's something you see in Chemistry and engineering quite a lot but never really seemed to happen with the material records are made out of. I'm sure there was a huge amount of experimentation in the 40's and 50's which just tailed off

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This reads as you saying either that blu-ray isn't a substantial upgrade or that you believe "HD vinyl" will be.  :huh:

 

Would you not consider this set of features a substantial upgrade for physical music medium like vinyl?

 

"The HD portion of the vinyl comes from what they claim is 30 percent greater running time and greater volume plus double the audio fidelity."

 

(Whether these features turn out to be real is yet to be seen, and frankly I was just having a little fun)

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I'm not convinced it will cut costs by as much as is being suggested

Again, nobody is saying without a shadow of a doubt the price for records will go down. There's a possibility but only time will tell.

Also, at the very least, if this:

Those all sound like extra dollars in Columbia's eyes. 'HDFi' pressings of all your favourite blues, soul, jazz and rock artists.

...becomes a thing, perhaps major labels will be more inclined to press unnecessary reissues on HD Vinyl, alleviating some of the workload old school plants are currently crushed by and making delays less likely.

Or they'll package HD Vinyl with regular vinyl and a digital copy, like those wacky Blu-Ray combos.

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Buy LP

Buy CD

Sell LP

Buy SACD

Sell CD

Buy MP3 192

Delete MP3

Buy FLAC

Buy LP 180G re-issue

Buy HD Vinyl

You've got it wrong.  Why would you sell any of those?  

 

Buy LP

Buy CD

Sell LP

Buy SACD

Sell CD

Buy MP3 192

Delete MP3

Buy FLAC

Buy LP 180G re-issue

Buy HD Vinyl

Thank you for selling your cds so I can pick them up for a buck or two.  

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You've got it wrong.  Why would you sell any of those?  

 

Thank you for selling your cds so I can pick them up for a buck or two.  

 

 

 

I think my point was too subtle. I was listing all the actions that record companies would love us to do...in order to keep their coffers full. It followed directly on from a post which made the same point.

 

 

But if you really do want my old CDs, you can go around the charity shops here. Ones I didn't want recently I gave away.

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Not HD Vinyl, but bubble related... check out the descriptions! Haha. :(

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND: Trout Mask Replica 2LP (MS 2027CLP) 46.00

2016 repress, much higher price. Red colored vinyl version, manufactured by Rhino.

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND: Trout Mask Replica (180 Gram) 2LP (MS 2027HLP) 46.00

2016 repress, much higher price; 180 gram vinyl, manufactured by Rhino.

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  • 2 years later...

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