bad sounding vinyl

[czurek13]

I have had a couple things bothering me for a bit now so i figured I would jump on here and see if anyone could filed the questions for me.

First I have noticed when I play some of my records for example the Lawrence arms Cocatails and Dreams when the needle gets to the inner tracks, they begin to sound very scratchy. Is this a bad record, a needle issue or pretty common? I have a number of records I have noticed this on.

Second do black records sound any better than the colored variants? It seems the black ones tend to feel thicker and I was curious if by getting the one that looks best if I may be sacrificing sound.

thanks

chad.

[sonix]

I've never noticed black copies being any different then the colored variants of the same pressing.

As far as Cocktails and Dreams, I've never had any problems with either my copies.. I'll listen to it again tomorrow and report back if I notice anything out of the ordinary.

[konk]

I've heard the inner groove complaint on here before, so I would say pretty common. Something to do with the angle of the needle as it gets closer to the center. I've never really noticed it.

A lot of people do say that black sounds better, but I haven't noticed this either. I don't think it has to do with thickness though because people also say that 180 gram does not sound better, just more durable.

[tre]

I can't recall the technical reasons, but outer grooves of the record sound better than the inner grooves. I tried to find the email that had all the hi tech mumbo jumbo, but I believe when I was told this it was via phone. But yeah, outside always sounds better than inside.

[AlexH.]

I had this problem, then when I switched from a standalone preamp (cheapest one I could find - stupid!) to an older receiver with a built in phono input, the problem went away. This might be a coincidence, but my records sound a lot better now.

[apeman]

I'm not sure if I can come up with the right terms for it, but the reason that the grooves sound better the further you get away from the centre of the record is very simple. The record plays at a constant speed all the way through, but as it nears the centre one full round spin of the record will provide much less 'information' to be picked up by the needle, simple because the groove gets shorter, but as said, the speed is constant.

Cd-players obviously work differently, as they will compensate in reading speed accordingly to which part of the disc is being played.

[xxmartinxx]

It has nothing to do with the length of the grooves. It's about the angle of the tone arm in relation to the stylus in relation to the grooves.

Better turntables allow you to align the cartridge to minimize it with the help of a turntable protractor.

http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge-alignment-protractors.shtml

If you can't make adjustments to the cartridge on your table I'd suggest cleaning off the stylus and if that doesn't help, replace it.

[cj]

It has nothing to do with the length of the grooves. It's about the angle of the tone arm in relation to the stylus in relation to the grooves.

Better turntables allow you to align the cartridge to minimize it with the help of a turntable protractor.

http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge-alignment-protractors.shtml

If you can't make adjustments to the cartridge on your table I'd suggest cleaning off the stylus and if that doesn't help, replace it.

what he said!

[xjustinxschwierx]

yeah the groove length argument is moot, because the entire side is one long groove, the record doesn't spin faster or slower when the needle is in the middle of the record...it's a constant speed.

[pjaicomo]

Some bonepipe I talked to via ebay tried to tell me that white vinyl sounds the worst, closely followed by clear. Neither makes any sense - I am pretty sure color doesn't effect the chemical makeup of the PVC.

Besides, why would black be better?

[xxmartinxx]

Some bonepipe I talked to via ebay tried to tell me that white vinyl sounds the worst, closely followed by clear. Neither makes any sense - I am pretty sure color doesn't effect the chemical makeup of the PVC.

Besides, why would black be better?

Whatever the natural color of polyvinyl chloride is would probably be the "best sounding". I have no idea what color that would be, but I doubt it's black.

[rhythmgtr5]

Besides, why would black be better?

It has to do with the amount of metal in the vinyl; it affects the magnets in the cartridge

[tim]

I've heard white and clear are the worst too. If it's not true it's a well-traveled rumour.

I just hate white because it almost always looks really cheap and tacky. Every white record I own looks better in some other variant which I would happily trade for even if white is more limited and valuable.

[username]

on a sort of related note:

will playing a scratched record damage the needle?

[tankerdesk]

I've heard the black sounds better rumor as well. With all the post about Pirates Press 'Mist' Dust I'm inclined to believe it. Almost all of the 'Audiophile' pressings come on black. Most 180-gram pressings are on black, though I have a couple that aren't that I wish were on black.

Now, keep in mind that I'm sure very few of us actually have a setup that is good enough for those distinctions to come through. Esp. on hardcore/punk records. Maybe if we were listening to a symphony recording on a $10K + setup we may be able to hear it.

[oakland]

Jake Bannon seems of Deathwish / Converge knows a lot about the subject of vinyl weight / color / sound quality. He's weighed in on this before and basically destroyed my misconceptions about colored vinyl. I'll be honest here: my hearing is so bad now that I can't tell much difference. One thing's for sure: a record that was recorded digitally won't sound as good as an analog recording on vinyl. Good mixing / mastering is hugely important too.

[charrette1223]

h2o's nothing to prove kinda sounds like shit

[littlejonnyhormone]

Fake Problem's It's Great To Be Alive did the inner groove thing to me yesterday.

[kidamnesiac]

I had this problem, then when I switched from a standalone preamp (cheapest one I could find - stupid!) to an older receiver with a built in phono input, the problem went away. This might be a coincidence, but my records sound a lot better now.

This.

[gileadbot]

The inner grooves sound bad because they're closer together and the actually grooves are more compressed, this image does a good job of illustrating this fact & makes it pretty obvious why inner grooves sound worse.

http://www.recordtech.com/vinylgrooves.htm

[czurek13]

I appreciate the responses. I more or less wanted to make sure i was not getting bad copies. And the color question came due to a little while back I remember vinyl collective saying one of their presses on green did not sound as good as it should which made me wonder about other colors. And all my best sounding records tend to be my black ones. For instance NWA for one reason or another sounds fantastic, though i rarely listen to it.

[mcnail]

I would replace your cartridge/needle. Some cartridges are just much better at tracking. Get yourself a Shure M97xe.

[bjorn]

A better cartridge will help a lot. I have an AT440mla and I don't get any inner groove distortion with it. Regarding the black vs color debate, I had two copies of mewithoutyou's Catch For Us The Foxes, one black, one clear blue, and the black sounded much better. But then I also have some clear/colored records that sound better than several of my black ones. I think it must come down to quality control at the press and the mastering that make the biggest difference.

[numanoid]

If you keep playing them with a cheaper cartridge, you can damage the inner grooves. Then if you do upgrade your stylus, you may still hear the noise. Upgrade as soon as you can.

[deafmx]

is it me or does the new pressing of Mr Bungle "Disco Volante" on clear green sound pretty crappy? i keep thinking i might need a new needle but other records sound just fine.