What is your platter made of?

I have a glass platter with a felt mat and don't have a problem.

Acrylic record mats are best. Least amount of static.


https://www.yoursoundmatters.com/how...d-performance/

This has been happening to me a bunch. I either a) buy a new record immediately and in a few months it's going for hundreds on ebay b) find a new band only to find out their records are sold out and going for hundreds on ebay or c) spend the hundreds to get one of those sold out records only for a repressing to cause prices to go back down to $30.

Yeah, that's really frustrating. Titles just randomly pop in and out of print, you never know when/if a title is going to get reissued, and when they do go out of print, the aftermarket prices skyrocket.

It's one of those things make record collecting a real pain in the ass. Everything is a de facto limited edition until it isn't. If you see something in the new release section, you'd better snap it up because it may not be there next week and won't be available to be reordered. Will it go back into print in a couple of months? A couple of years? Ever?

I miss the days when you just go into a record store, browse around, admire the cover art, discover new artists, buy a few things, save a few things for when you come back in a couple of weeks to pick them up after mulling over whether or not you want them. And all of the records were under ten dollars unless it was a double-LP.

I just pre-ordered a classic Pelican re-issue, "The Fire in our Throats will Beckon the Thaw", shipping July 1:


But my partner warned me that I shouldn't be ordering Vinyl in the summer, since we live in the desert, and there's a good chance the heat could warp the album in the mail.
Is that true?

Only if it's in direct sun-light for a while.
So if they leave it on your porch before you get home, and the sun is beating down on it, you may be at risk for a warp.
But being shipped and transported in heat, though sheltered, it should be fine.

It'll be fine - he just wants you to cut back on your vinyl spending.

Could be! Another annoying thing with the mail... I have a 5 foot stucco fence around the house and the mail man just tosses my records over the fence since they don't fit in the mailbox

I guess it's better than bending the album packaging and jamming it into the mailbox. I've seen people in music forums post photos like that.

Thankfully, our front porch only gets a bit of sun in the early morning, so by the time a record is dropped off on the porch, it's nicely shaded and cool, even on super hot days.

Our front porch gets sun for much of the day, so during the summer I get my records shipped to my office just in case.

This crossed my mind when I first got into collecting vinyl. Then I thought about how many planes, trains, and delivery trucks these records sit on before they reach my doorstep and haven't given it too much concern since then. It's still a good practice not to leave it sitting out if you know it's coming in the mail, but I wouldn't worry too much.

Yeah, things like that are always in the back of my mind when I order vinyl, but we also don't know how long these things might have languished it hot warehouses, hot transport vehicles, hot mail hubs, and hot delivery trucks. Even the ones we buy in out friendly neighborhood record stores are also subject to those conditions before they reach our hands.

I used to get tons of vinyl records from the Columbia House back in the day and those never seemed to have any kind of major warping issues.

Though back then I was paying something like a net of three-to-four dollars a piece for those records whereas today we're looking at an average cost of $30+ for a new record that's probably going to be hard to replace if something happens to it.

I really don't recall having any warped records back in the day. I wonder if the often thicker vinyl used these days (e.g. 180 g) are more susceptible to warping? Some of my mid 1980s vinyl that I still have are thin as shit, but no warping.

I had so many warped records in the past (yes RCA Dynaflex, I’m thinking of you) that I got 2 thick 12” square pieces of glass to flatten them out. Just put the record between them, maybe a book (like an unabridged dictionary) on top and keep it in a warm place for a number of days and it really helps.

I have a couple really warped records where I've considered trying something like that. Some also recommend taking those steps and leaving them out in the sun for awhile, but I'm kinda wary about leaving them out for too long.

Never tried this but I think I'll give it a go. Have a UK Sticky Fingers that could use some flattening. Oh and nice jab at the Dynaflex. RCA's marketing of those in the 70s was laughable.

So, I absolutely love the colored records - they look so cool, but I've been hearing that it affects sound quality and that it's mainly with certain colors and some colors even make them sound better.

I did some reading up on it but honestly, there's so much conflicting information on it.

Does anyone here have an opinion on it?

Just got Godspeed You! Black Emperor's F#A# Infinity today.


Interesting vinyl. It came with a penny that had apparently been run over by a train?
Strange in that it's another album that is pretty vague on which side is which. There is literally nothing saying what is A or B. No label. No text, nothing. I wish bands wouldn't do this. It isn't mysterious, it's annoying.

Apparently is called F#A# Infinity because side A starts with F#, side B starts with A#, and goes on forever. They closed the final groove on the album, so it just plays the last 1-2 seconds of the song over and over for infinity (or you stop it manually). I had this on CD, but bought the vinyl because I wanted to experience the infinity loop. It was just a tad disappointing
Anyway, it seems not everyone knows about the infinity loop, because I found this review on amazon:

"I don't know what the hell a locked groove is, one star!"

My favorite locked groove is on the original Def Jam pressing of Slayer's Reign in Blood, where you will endlessly hear a thunderstorm after the last song, "Raining Blood". I have a recent pressing of the album where there is no locked groove at the end, don't know why that was removed.

I have the Def Jam pressing of "Reign in Blood!"

Another locked groove album I have is Def Leppard's "High 'n' Dry," where the last track endlessly repeats "no no no no no..." (I think later pressings omit this feature. I have the original LP release of "High 'n' Dry," but they reissued it in the 80s with "Bringin' on the Heartbreak (remix)" and "Me and My Wine" that omit this feature.)

Also, I have heard that early pressings of Rush's "Fly By Night" have chimes that repeat endlessly at the end of "By-Tor and the Snow Dog." Unfortunately, I have a later pressing of this album that lacks this feature.

This is strange... I have the early pressing that is supposed to have the locked groove, but it doesn't look like it does, as I see a runout groove.

I'm basing that on the Discogs description with matching runout text. Although, mine is variation 1, so perhaps it's only variation 2 that has it?

Actually, it sounds like it's actually 'in' the runout groove, so I'll have to check it out, tomorrow. Since my main turntable is a manual, it should be easy enough to hear.

I agree it's annoying when records are like that. However, if you hold the record in the right light, you will find that pretty much all records have the letter indicating the side etched directly into the vinyl between the run-out groove and the center label as part of the identifier for the release (for example you might see something like SP4528-A etched on one side and SP4528-B on the other side).

"color" vinyl does not affect sound quality at all, after all, black is a color just like any other ("natural" vinyl is a hazy clear).
But there are many variables - sometimes, they may use "recycled" vinyl rather than virgin vinyl, which definitely affects the pressing (virgin being the better, cleaner one), and sometimes, the crazy colors, like intense splatters and swirls can affect the sound, but not always, as it depends on the process used to achieve that color/look. Like, I have a record that's half black and half white, each half sounds fine, but I hear a tiny tick twice per revolution when it changes colors. Then I have other half&half colors where you don't hear a tick.
But basic black virgin vinyl is your best bet. The pellets they use to achieve the black aren't used in other vinyl colors, and while they don't affect sound, they do make the record more "sturdy".

I think colored vinyl looks cool but I never seek it out and for some bands or artists it just feels off and I avoid it. Like, I can’t imagine a Ramones record with orange swirls. Totally and admittedly a weird personal preference/hangup.