Lo,
At 18:54 17/04/2013, you wrote:
heisenberg wrote:
> Some slight differences in the way the LPs were pressed, or handled, or
> packaged etc., contributed to the variation in the sound quality. I
> guess the technology was immature back in the day, coupled with shoddy
> quality assurance etc.
>
> I wonder if the same consideration holds true for the modern pressings,
> or if the technology had advanced to the point where there is much more
> reliability in terms of the quality assurance?
The biggest variables in record pressing comes from two factors - where
in production run was a particular copy pressed and the purity of the
vinyl.
The master disc is used to make multiple stampers which, in turn, are
used to press the records. Because the stamping process is physical, a
stamper may only produce perhaps 1,000 records before it is too worn and
has to be replaced. Think of a sharp knife which progressively dulls as
it is used until it needs to be resharpened.
When you buy a record in a store, it is sheer blind luck as to whether
you get a LP that was stamped early during the production run with one
of the first stampers made from the master or whether you get a copy
from the end of the production of a stamper made toward the end of the
master's useful life.
IIRC you can look at the dead wax and see the stamper run.
Ideally it would be A/1 stamped with the A or 1 being the first run using the
stamper.
Sadly i cant remember more details but that should give you some more info
to google with.
Martin
Running MorphOS v3.1 (July 2012) on a PowerPC Powerbook, Moderator of
MiniDisc,amithlonopen,bwfc Yahoogroups
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