The Vinyl Thread: Still Listen On Wax, Don't Use The CD

[Simple Torture]

You can rip my MOV Jar of Flies/Sap pressing out of my cold, dead hands.

[Buby]

Pre-order alert...
The box set from their official site is waaaay outside my budget.
But the standard black vinyl really fair priced.

Where is black available?

I got it from NTX Vinyl.

[VinylGuy]

You can rip my MOV Jar of Flies/Sap pressing out of my cold, dead hands.

yeah, great fucking pressing. Lucky to have it

[Teeeeeekay]

Pre-order alert...
The box set from their official site is waaaay outside my budget.
But the standard black vinyl really fair priced.

Where is black available?

I got it from NTX Vinyl.

Thanks. Found it on revolver, I had never heard of this site.

[Buby]

You can rip my MOV Jar of Flies/Sap pressing out of my cold, dead hands.

yeah, great fucking pressing. Lucky to have it

Totally sleeping on that MOV release has haunted me for years. This release will hopefully make up for lost time.
Also nervous about slapping "remastered audio" on this new label, but it could go either way.

[VinylGuy]

I don’t think it’ll change much..the mov release is very good and have SAP which they totally should have been in this new box

[Chris_H_2]

Dear RM:

I pulled the trigger on a new turntable system for my daughter's birthday (thank you once again Trag - you rock). I now have to get some vinyl that she wants (she asked for Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence and Ocean Boulevard, any Billie Eilish, Grimes, and Taylor Swift).

So my questions are: (1) is there a reputable online store that you would recommend for vinyl, and (2) is there anything that I should know or be aware of when choosing which to buy (I've heard horror stories of people spending money for deluxe versions of vinyl that are pressed to sound like shit)?

Thank you - I'm forever in your debt.

[doug rr]

[Simple Torture]

Dear RM:

I pulled the trigger on a new turntable system for my daughter's birthday (thank you once again Trag - you rock). I now have to get some vinyl that she wants (she asked for Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence and Ocean Boulevard, any Billie Eilish, Grimes, and Taylor Swift).

So my questions are: (1) is there a reputable online store that you would recommend for vinyl, and (2) is there anything that I should know or be aware of when choosing which to buy (I've heard horror stories of people spending money for deluxe versions of vinyl that are pressed to sound like shit)?

Thank you - I'm forever in your debt.

With newer releases, you’re probably not going to find much variation between different versions, as they’re all likely to be the same masters and cut in the same place—there are exceptions, like you’ll hear often that colored vinyl pressings might have some issues that black vinyl does not. When you’re looking at older (or even slightly older) releases, you start to get into pressings of varying qualities—see the above discussion about Alice In Chains, and how the “remastered” label on the new pressing of Jar of Flies freaks some people out, because there’s always the chance it won’t sound as crisp as previous pressings. At that point, you’ll want to start reading reviews, getting a sense of what’s considered the best—of course, you’ll probably have to pay a premium for those. You’ll want to decide, especially buying for someone else, whether she’s really concerned with sound quality or more of the aesthetics of the whole deal, because maybe those more expensive pressings aren’t really worth it.

I’d go with whatever’s cheapest when it comes to ordering LPs, I even order regularly from Amazon (for new releases—they won’t usually have obscure pressings or anything you have to hunt for). Unfortunately you’ve missed the halcyon days of the early 2010s when everything was cheap as fuck, especially used records, but if you’re willing to wait a few months after new releases come out, the price tends to tick down a bit. When there’s inevitably some rare pressing that comes out on Record Store day, if you can’t find it locally, check Discogs the day after.

[bodysnatcher]

None of those artists you mentioned will have much — if any — varying degrees of quality between pressings. They absolutely could just be bad pressings in general though. If your daughter is just getting into records or wants to start with these, she’s not going to know the difference unless it just sounds like absolute garbage.

For those artists mentioned, cheapest route is Amazon, unless you have a local shop you really want to support. All shops are gonna jack the prices on those artists bc, well, kids want them. Just be aware you are sometimes taking a gamble with Amazon shipping. But if something shows up damaged or not to your standard, it’s an easy return process. But honestly, maybe take your daughter into a store and let her shop and find those albums. The experience of finding albums in the store is so fun and rewarding, and worth the extra few bucks, especially if it’s her first records. She’ll never forget it, versus having albums just anonymously show up at the door in a box after pushing a button.

[bodysnatcher]

Speaking of Amazon, they have Pixies “Bossanova” labeled at the #1 Best Seller in Brazilian Jazz. Lol.

[Jorge]

LOL

[Chris_H_2]

Dear RM:

I pulled the trigger on a new turntable system for my daughter's birthday (thank you once again Trag - you rock). I now have to get some vinyl that she wants (she asked for Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence and Ocean Boulevard, any Billie Eilish, Grimes, and Taylor Swift).

So my questions are: (1) is there a reputable online store that you would recommend for vinyl, and (2) is there anything that I should know or be aware of when choosing which to buy (I've heard horror stories of people spending money for deluxe versions of vinyl that are pressed to sound like shit)?

Thank you - I'm forever in your debt.

With newer releases, you’re probably not going to find much variation between different versions, as they’re all likely to be the same masters and cut in the same place—there are exceptions, like you’ll hear often that colored vinyl pressings might have some issues that black vinyl does not. When you’re looking at older (or even slightly older) releases, you start to get into pressings of varying qualities—see the above discussion about Alice In Chains, and how the “remastered” label on the new pressing of Jar of Flies freaks some people out, because there’s always the chance it won’t sound as crisp as previous pressings. At that point, you’ll want to start reading reviews, getting a sense of what’s considered the best—of course, you’ll probably have to pay a premium for those. You’ll want to decide, especially buying for someone else, whether she’s really concerned with sound quality or more of the aesthetics of the whole deal, because maybe those more expensive pressings aren’t really worth it.

I’d go with whatever’s cheapest when it comes to ordering LPs, I even order regularly from Amazon (for new releases—they won’t usually have obscure pressings or anything you have to hunt for). Unfortunately you’ve missed the halcyon days of the early 2010s when everything was cheap as fuck, especially used records, but if you’re willing to wait a few months after new releases come out, the price tends to tick down a bit. When there’s inevitably some rare pressing that comes out on Record Store day, if you can’t find it locally, check Discogs the day after.

Thank you for this, and for taking the time to respond. This is super helpful.

I suppose I'm just being kind of lazy and could read a bunch of reddit stuff, but I trust you guys a tad more (maybe the joke's on me though).

Seriously, thanks.

[Chris_H_2]

None of those artists you mentioned will have much — if any — varying degrees of quality between pressings. They absolutely could just be bad pressings in general though. If your daughter is just getting into records or wants to start with these, she’s not going to know the difference unless it just sounds like absolute garbage.

For those artists mentioned, cheapest route is Amazon, unless you have a local shop you really want to support. All shops are gonna jack the prices on those artists bc, well, kids want them. Just be aware you are sometimes taking a gamble with Amazon shipping. But if something shows up damaged or not to your standard, it’s an easy return process. But honestly, maybe take your daughter into a store and let her shop and find those albums. The experience of finding albums in the store is so fun and rewarding, and worth the extra few bucks, especially if it’s her first records. She’ll never forget it, versus having albums just anonymously show up at the door in a box after pushing a button.

this is very good to know. thanks. I always wondered about ordering from places like amazon.

one thing i did notice with online sites like discogs is that they don't filter stuff based on "new/unopened," but rather "mint/near mint." I found that strange.

[VinylGuy]

yeah, you wont have a problem with those artists, but their vinyl are expensive as fuck, well these days pretty much all vinyls are.

Still, if you dont want to be scamed, looked for price in different online sites, like discogs or easy street for example so you can understand better if that price is ok or not.

I suggest to get the last Lana album too, sounds awesome.

[bodysnatcher]

None of those artists you mentioned will have much — if any — varying degrees of quality between pressings. They absolutely could just be bad pressings in general though. If your daughter is just getting into records or wants to start with these, she’s not going to know the difference unless it just sounds like absolute garbage.

For those artists mentioned, cheapest route is Amazon, unless you have a local shop you really want to support. All shops are gonna jack the prices on those artists bc, well, kids want them. Just be aware you are sometimes taking a gamble with Amazon shipping. But if something shows up damaged or not to your standard, it’s an easy return process. But honestly, maybe take your daughter into a store and let her shop and find those albums. The experience of finding albums in the store is so fun and rewarding, and worth the extra few bucks, especially if it’s her first records. She’ll never forget it, versus having albums just anonymously show up at the door in a box after pushing a button.

this is very good to know. thanks. I always wondered about ordering from places like amazon.

one thing i did notice with online sites like discogs is that they don't filter stuff based on "new/unopened," but rather "mint/near mint." I found that strange.

That’s because Discogs sells a lot of used stuff, so it’s a way for sellers to grade the condition of the record and the sleeve.

Discogs used to be primarily a used marketplace, but eventually just became a marketplace for stores and distributors to sell new, unopened albums too once the vinyl resurgence started taking off. If it’s new/unopened, a seller will generally (or should) say so in the comments on the listing.

[Simple Torture]

Man, I miss the days when you could get 3 LPs for $30 on Discogs.

[Ello Sailor]

I can't wait to see which Grimes vinyl Christopher purchases first.

[Chris_H_2]

I can't wait to see which Grimes vinyl Christopher purchases first.

[VinylGuy]

thats awesome