discogs marketplace?

how bout when you get little chunks of paper in the fresh wax. wtf

the fact that it plays through at all is so satisfying that i almost enjoy the reminder

you're doing this right tbh

I know the cyber attack on Royal Mail was mentioned above but I just received this email from a discogs seller in the UK, so head's up, everyone:

You may be aware from reports in the media that Royal Mail reported a major incident on Thursday 12th January of a cyber attack that left Royal Mail temporarily unable to despatch items to overseas destinations. This has affected every business in the UK.

Currently all international deliveries have been severely disrupted and no post is leaving the UK until the IT infrastructure is back up and running.

At present we await an update from Royal Mail when this issue will be resolved, once we have feedback that this issue is resolved we shall ensure you order is shipped.

We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

not sure if this is actually going to make any difference to anything? it was taking months for any post to get delivered before this anyway

my very late birthday card can attest :(

My seller in the UK says he can ship my item to me using something called "Global Priority" for £25 p&p which is £10 more than what he was quoting me using Royal Mail. Isn't Global Priority part of Royal Mail, though? If that's the case then I don't see how he can ship it using Global Priority but not the regular Royal Mail.

Apparently Parcelforce Worldwide aren’t affected for some reason. Presumably they use different IT systems.

alright I've got two records with skips and I finally managed to dislodge whatever the hell was in them with a toothpick. it's pretty hard to do because the grooves are so tiny, you kinda have to find the exact area and keep going over it until you get it. as far as I can tell the toothpick isn't hard enough to damage it. definitely a frustrating process and there is a pop where the skip was but I'm with emsworth, just being reminded that you were able to fix it is neat

When you get a new record that’s defective, some folks have been known to buy a copy from Amzn and then return the defective one for credit. Obviously this only works with in-print stuff.

you know what maybe it's time to enact revenge on them for all the bent corners and torn sleeves.

if there's one thing taking me out of this hobby it's new records that inexplicably have a lot of crackling and clicking. sometimes you can remove it with a good thorough clean, sometimes it's just a bad pressing. feel like it's better than it was, back in 2010 or so a lot of boutique labels would press records that sounded like absolute trash, almost like they never tested them. but it's still kind of demoralizing.

I had to laugh the other day when I saw a comment (not on ilx) saying modern vinyl is much better quality than records from 30/40 years ago. I think they were under the very mistaken impression that records being pressed on 180/220/50000g vinyl automatically makes them better quality

maybe they're referring to the flexidisc era. some of those were notoriously bad. I have an original copy of Muswell Hillbillies and it sounds kinda awful. not sure what is up with the 180g thing, I know it doesn't sound any better, but they are kind of annoying to put through the spin clean, since the thicker vinyl wears out the threads in the rollers really quick.

u mean Dynaflex, I knew what u meant

every dynaflex record I have sounds great

same!

ahh yes you're right. tbh I don't know if I have any other dynaflexes but this one sounds particularly bad to me. I'd have to compare with the CD. maybe the album just isn't recorded very well...most Kinks albums weren't

could be thinking about how there were certain record clubs in the 70s and 80s known for shoddy pressings. idk if I've gotten any of those though. I've given up on trying to figure out which of the 87 versions of Gordon Lightfoot's Summertime Dream I've got.

if there's one thing taking me out of this hobby it's new records that inexplicably have a lot of crackling and clicking. sometimes you can remove it with a good thorough clean, sometimes it's just a bad pressing. feel like it's better than it was, back in 2010 or so a lot of boutique labels would press records that sounded like absolute trash, almost like they never tested them. but it's still kind of demoralizing.

― frogbs, Friday, January 27, 2023 7:00 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

there is a record store in Los Angeles which, for awhile at least, had a policy where they didn't accept returns on new vinyl due to QC issues, which lost me as a customer pretty fast.

i'm pretty careful about what i buy these days, there were so many bad reissues pressed by lousy labels (4MWB) and i only want to pay the insane price for new versions if i'm confident in it. Stereolab, Blue Note, Verve Records, etc...

and obv the price gouging on used vinyl is a problem too, i think the prices remain kinda fair once you move up the ladder a bit at a lot of stores but there are fewer $3 treasures these days. for those you have to dig deeper.

xxp based on several reference copies over the year, it is my considered opinion that Muswell Hillbillies sounds like garbage regardless of format

year years

I originally (and for years) only heard Muswell Hillbillies on cassette. It sounded super hissy, dead, and muffled, but I put that down to the format. When it came out on CD...it still sounded hissy, dead, and muffled.

180/220/50000g vinyl

LOL. I'm picturing a record pressed on to a thick circular brick of vinyl, one so heavy it could be used for lifting weights.

There's a Chicago DJ who used to work at a record store way back in the '80s (maybe Rose Records?) who knew a customer who would come in every week to buy a pack of blank cassettes and a stack of new records, and he'd always return the records a few days later. It was supposedly blatantly obvious what he was doing, but I was surprised vinyl was so easily returnable in those days. I guess it wasn't enough of a problem for stores to put together a stricter return policy? (That and the fact that record sales were much higher in those days.)

yeah a lot of stores had a "rental" policy covering that specific usage

see also the halcyon 70s days of "shipped gold, returned platinum"

"The solo albums were released on September 18, 1978. Casablanca spent $2.5 million on the marketing campaign for the albums, and announced they were shipping five million copies, guaranteeing Platinum status.[57] Despite the large shipments, none of the albums sold particularly well and were later sold as cut-outs."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_(band)#1978:_Solo_and_film_projects

Despite various crap pressings in recent years, I've only returned an LP once. This James Carr pressing I bought at Dusty Groove 20 years ago, I took home to play and it was making that glitchy CD tik-tik-tik every quarter second, so obviously pressed from a CD with zero quality control. Dusty Groove was super cool about it once they played it back at the store.

huh ok that's interesting about Muswell Hillbillies, I guess I just assumed since I'd never heard of dynaflex before. I'm A/B testing with the MP3s now and yeah those sound shitty too. wonder how the recent remaster is. probably bad.

I've returned a handful of albums to my local shop but I really don't like doing it. I did one that was warped and unplayable (turns out the whole run was) and one used album that looked nice but played like total garbage. It was the first Roxy Music one and they happened to have the new RSD one on sale so I swapped it. turns out that's a notoriously noisy pressing, though I have hope that a cleaning could fix it. when it comes to returning new vinyl, do local shops have the ability to just send them back to the manufacturer? I've heard they kind of have to eat it sometimes.

as far as I know they basically can't return anything these days, they just eat the cost (which is why I try not to do it as well, only had one issue with Can's Flow Motion reissue, the replacement sounds fantastic like every single other release in that remaster series that I have).

never thought to return defective vinyl to the store, it’s not like an electric drill or something. I remember when I worked for a store (before the vinyl resurgence) this person returned a new record that he said was warped… I bought it for myself and it played fine.

The (2017?) record store day version of Muswell Hillbillies sounds to my ears a little better than the original US version. It also came with a disc of outtakes & strays that is actually an enjoyable album on its own. But I never had a problem with the sound as such - it’s just such a rockin little rekkid its sonic deficiencies never bothered me.

tbh I don't really like Muswell Hillbillies that much anyway. maybe it just sucks? j/k

Recently moved my phone from Android to IOS. Hit the Discogs app. I might be being a bit thick but I can’t see anyway to sell items from it.

i've had new 12"s shipped from europe (berlin, amsterdam) that had obvious flaws. one had a fleck of paper embedded in the grooves, the other had a big divot in the grooves that caused the record to skip. i sent photos and the shops issued a credit. they didn't bother to ask me to ship it back, since they couldn't sell it. i've had similar issues at two local shops (one record at each) and they did the same thing

these were obvious defects though, not just "this record sounds like shit"

one of the best sounding records i've ever heard was a 60s bowie giveaway flexidisc that came out of a cracker jack or ceral box or something

frogbs i don't mean to be rude, but if surface noise is an issue why not just listen to CD or stream music? surface noise is part of the format imo. it's like complaining that your cassettes hiss.

disagree! there is a line --- probably different for every vinyl listener --- between normal/acceptable surface noise and distracting/bad/unaacceptable surface noise. just as much as there's a difference between dirty beat-up records and minty ones.

ok yeah, obviously. i don’t buy G+ records on discogs ever. but surely we’ve reached a point of qualitative difference (vs just a matter of degrees) when we’re complaining about surface noise in mint records?

Some stuff is just beyond the pale, like the distortion on this Wayne Shorter juju reissue I have is ungodly, it sounds like the daughter in Poltergeist is talking to me through Wayne’s saxophone

I’ve been pretty lucky with manufacturing defects tho

Recently moved my phone from Android to IOS. Hit the Discogs app. I might be being a bit thick but I can’t see anyway to sell items from it.

you are correct, doing that is an exercise in folly, their iOS app is a POS. all the transactional stuff happens outside the app in webviews, it's really awful. I'm not sure how big a company discogs is, I gather it's not huge, but you'd think they'd put some money into app development; it would be so nice to easily scan bar codes and list for sale.

frogbs i don't mean to be rude, but if surface noise is an issue why not just listen to CD or stream music? surface noise is part of the format imo. it's like complaining that your cassettes hiss.

― the late great, Thursday, February 2, 2023 3:35 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

fair point...I think some amount of surface noise is fine, but when something has a 4-minute section full of non-fill right out of the shrink that's just bullshit.

disagree! there is a line --- probably different for every vinyl listener --- between normal/acceptable surface noise and distracting/bad/unaacceptable surface noise

Totally! Also this varies from record-to-record according to a complex equation that I don't totally understand - eg I have a beat up copy of No Pussyfooting that sounds absolutely great with a bit of crackle through it - ditto some classical recordings - yet other records are totally fucked by a hairline scratch, or the combination of recording and surface noise is just unbearable

And 100% co-sign being sick of terrible-sounding new records - have pretty much given up on reissues except for very special occasions

Non-fill is really the one flaw I can’t abide. Even a small amount of it makes me crazy. I know it theoretically has always been an issue, but I’ve never encountered it in a vintage record, only ones from the post-2010 era.

I have two older records with some instances of non-fill - a copy of Conference of the Birds - and the first Laughing Clowns LP

whereas I have had numerous recent reissues that have been plagued with it

re: iOS app. I assume that's to stop Apple taking their standard 30% cut of any transactions that happen in-app.

I know it theoretically has always been an issue, but I’ve never encountered it in a vintage record, only ones from the post-2010 era.

same here and it's kind of depressing, since it doesn't feel good to be into a hobby that even the manufacturers don't really take seriously. maybe they think people aren't actually listening!! it hasn't really deterred me from getting reissues yet, since I only have maybe 3 that are wrecked by it - if it's just a little in one spot then whatever, meanwhile my copy of Tri Repetae has scraping all throughout "Overand" and as a result I just have to skip it. maybe I'll pick up a copy from Amazon and send the old one back. the way I see it, they owe me for all the dinged corners on the records I've bought from them. not to mention their anti-union stance.

that said pretty much everything I've picked up in the last year or so has been fine so maybe they are learning. shit was really bad around 2009 or so - I have some OPN and Dam-Funk records from that era which sound AWFUL. like "maybe they didn't even do a test pressing or listen to a single copy" awful. luckily they were cheap but still.

you know who does an amazing job? Light in the Attic. I just bought this previously lost Leo Noncentelli of the Meters solo record, just flawless, high quality press, great mastering, excellent jacket quality, great booklet, every time I buy something from that company I think this is what vinyl should be

yep - everything I've gotten from them has been stellar. they must've found a great plant. I love all the extras too. Great Tracks out of Japan does a tremendous job as well. in fact most Japanese vinyl I've gotten is excellent - I've picked up a number of used records from Japanese sellers (it helps to get a bunch at once to save on shipping) and even the ones listed as VG are virtually flawless. idk what it is they just seem to take better care of their media stuff.

weirdly, i buy (what i think is) a lot of records, and after looking at some images online i'm pretty sure i've never run into this non-fill problem

wonder if it has to do with certain manufacturers? or if certain labels have high standards, maybe it follows that certain labels have lower standards?

or maybe i've just been lucky. i picked up a tri repetae reissue and it didn't have that issue. my copies of lp5 and chiastic slide don't skip either, though that might be down to choice of stylus and tracking weight

I'm so nervous to sell records that I grade - I worry the buyer will think I graded it too high. I should just say they are all roof shingles