Originally Posted by cultshock (Post 14277792)

I don't see the point of having a locked groove at the beginning of a record, that's just annoying. I have a first pressing of Samhain's November Coming Fire and it has a pressing defect where the first track has a locked groove and keeps playing the same part over and over, so I always need to start playing that album on track two (luckily the first track is just a short instrumental).

Originally Posted by cultshock (Post 14277792)

I don't see the point of having a locked groove at the beginning of a record, that's just annoying.

Originally Posted by joeblow69 (Post 14281655)

Hey, is it normal for you to get new, mail order Vinyl, unsealed? I've gotten a couple now, ordered direct from the label, where the album wasn't sealed, but instead in what seems to be a 3rd party plastic sleeve like you'd get on amazon for replacements. I guess it isn't a big deal, but I'd rather have the original shrinkwrap, and just slice one end to get the recode out, it isn't as bulky.

Originally Posted by joeblow69 (Post 14281655)

Hey, is it normal for you to get new, mail order Vinyl, unsealed? I've gotten a couple now, ordered direct from the label, where the album wasn't sealed, but instead in what seems to be a 3rd party plastic sleeve like you'd get on amazon for replacements. I guess it isn't a big deal, but I'd rather have the original shrinkwrap, and just slice one end to get the recode out, it isn't as bulky.

Originally Posted by slop101 (Post 14281755)

Sometimes, not often. I wanna say about 5% of new albums come that way, mostly indie titles.

Originally Posted by cultshock (Post 14281761)

A lot of indie labels will ship the albums with the record outside the jacket and the whole thing in a plastic sleeve in order to prevent seam splits during shipping, I like when they do that because seam splits suck.

Originally Posted by joeblow69 (Post 14282070)

what is seam splitting? -confused-

Originally Posted by slop101 (Post 14282145)

Speaking of shrink-wraps - a lot of people keep them on (even if split on one edge to remove the record), but over time, they could actually damage the sleeve.

Originally Posted by Rival11 (Post 14285987)

I'm not going to lie - I love the colored records - I got the Jack White Fear of the Dawn limited edition one and just bought the new Queens of the Stone Age sliver vinyl - I just think they look really cool.

Originally Posted by John Galt (Post 14286015)

Anyone ever purchased from discountvinylrecords off ebay? They just got in some inventory for a record on my watch list but I'm a little skeptical. They seem to have tons of inventory at the best prices you can find, plus an added 20% off if you buy 5 or more. They have 99.6% feedback rating, but there's a couple negatives that are a little concerning. They seem to accuse them of selling bootlegs. I just wasn't aware of anything like that for vinyl records. Is it possible they're selling off remainders with that type of stock?

Originally Posted by slop101 (Post 14276691)

"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".