Dynamic range and does old vinyl degrade?

[kirstysdad]

I replaced my original decades old AWB Average White Band album with a new 180gram copy. No surprise that the new one sounded better...

Wading through some of my boxes, I have discs that sound better than others of a similar era. I remember the 80's oil crisis and some vinyl was very poor quality.

My original ELO albums sound rubbish- tinny, compressed, flat. Streaming sound a bit better, there's a revelation. Some other albums too...

As Terry Wogan would have asked, is it just me? Even as a teenager I was careful, with my BSR turntable, yet some have fared better than others...

And what of these £180 LP pressings? I am probably late to this party, but WTF? 180g I get, but what about a 45rpm two disc cut of an LP? I am open minded to this if someone can explain.

[Macca]

I'm not much for the whole oil crisis theory (it was 1973 I think). Got thin records from then that sound good.

My experience of replacing later re-pressings with originals or much older re-releases suggests that possibly the most important things is that the record was from an early generation master and made at a time when that master was still fairly fresh - of course only applies to the pre-digital age of recordings.

Probably next most important is how warped it is and how off-centre the hole is pressed.

All else being equal 45rpm can sound a bit better. Higher bandwidth and dynamic range.

Never been much for Geoff Lynne's productions I don't think I've ever heard 'Out Of The Blue' sound properly good on any format or system. He never puts any wallop into it.

[Jimbo]

The weight of the vinyl does not necessarily determine SQ but 45rpm 12 inch vinyl has wider cut grooves so can sound very good indeed depending on the original mastering.

Mastering is everything and usually I have found original mastered material nearly always beats a remaster or re issue which has been taken from a digital rip.

However material that has been produced from an original digital recording (nearly everything since about 1980) can sound amazing depending on the production and mastering. Compressed digital stuff will still sound poor on vinyl as well as on CD.

Vinyl age makes not difference as long as it has been cared for and not played with a nail and thrown around the room. I have some very old vinyl and it sounds fantastic still.

[Wakefield Turntables]

I have some amazing MONO records approaching 60+ years old and they (to my ears) have not deteriorated.

[Macca]

each time you play the record there will be some deteriorating in the high frequencies but assuming the stylus is in good condition this will only be a tiny amount - you'd need to play it a lot to get it to a point where it is audible - many hundreds or even thousands of times. Otherwise longevity is down to storage conditions. I got records older than me that still play fine.

Whether the record is made from analogue tape or a digital copy of an analogue tape will make no difference on its own which is why the whole Mofi thing is nonsense and why nobody noticed they were doing that just from listening to those LPs.

The only thing that will matter is the condition of the analogue tape at the time the digital copy was made, since the copy will be identical in every respect.

[Jimbo]

I have records I play almost every week and have done for the last 8 years and they only have very very small amounts of deterioration. I know this as I have copies of some of my favourite records as back up and use these as a reference.

As long as you keep vinyl pristine and your stylus in immaculate condition plus pay attention to set up and calibrate regularly then vinyl wear seems to be extremely limited and beyond audible.

[kirstysdad]

Thanks for all above...
Jeff Lynn production, absolutely pants.
I had some doubts about these new fangled pressings...

[hifi_dave]

I'd go along with that. I have around 150 LPs from the 70s to the 90s, used for demonstrations. These disc have been used, literally, hundreds of times by staff often not bothered about keeping them safe. Certain tracks of each LP will have been used whereas others, never at all. This was the time when I had to dash out to pick up the latest Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Linda Ronstadt, Simply Red etc but that's what everybody was asking for and it was usually the same track each demo.

When I play some of these LPs now, they may have some surface noise but the HF seems to be hardly touched as I can easily use these tracks for comparisons of turntables etc. The fidelity is still there and no worse than the tracks on the same LP which have never been played.

Of course this applies to quality, well set up and maintained turntables and clean records.

[Pete The Cat]

Seems to me there are always exceptions on things like this, but most of my '70s and '80s albums play great, even the ones as thin as the plastic pint glasses you get at festivals. Like, I'm regularly beaming from ear to ear when I play something I bought 40 years ago. The use of "180g audiophile vinyl" to promote albums nowadays is, in my experience, complete nonsense, on balance my old records probably a bit better than modern pressings.

Pete