However I do have one suggestion. Play it through 3 or 4 times before you give up on it, even if you do so while playing a CD so you don't have to listgen to it. I remember when MoFi firsst started putting out records back in the day they always said that they didn't polish the stampers before pressing the LPs out of fear that the polishing while it would help get rid of ticks might also wipe out some low level details. They said that the ticks that would get polished out would also get removed by the stylus during the course of the first few playings. I do remember that to be true, so before you write of what is a realy good album from a performance and musical standpoint you might want to try "breaking it in" first.
I vaguely recall the same thing Tom, but I don't know that I buy it. And even if it is true having to play an LP 3 or 4 times to make it listenable, while fine in an isolated instance, is not workable for a large number of records. For one, I would spend far more time breaking in bad pressings than listening to music -- given the quantities of vinyl that I buy. Secondly, this would also accelerate the wear and tear on my stylus or require that I use a second turntable to break these records in. No, that just isn't going to work -- at least for me it won't.
This is the main reason I stopped buying vinyl from Classic Records. I might put an order in for 10 to 20 LPs and about 30% to 40% of them would turn up with pressing defects. It got so bad at one point that I was seriously considering dumping vinyl completely because I felt that I was throwing my money away. But then I came to my senses and stopped buying Classic Records releases and things improved dramatically. I will still buy the occasional OOP Classic Records title if the price is right, but I won't pay serious money one for one since the risk of pressing issues is too great.
I am probably the hardest customer to please where pressing defects are concerned, and I am far more sensitive to them than I am mastering problems. Labels and pressing plants have to earn my trust. I loath RTI and think that at least 30% of what they press is junk. I try to avoid anything pressed by them. But there are exceptions. I believe Music Matters has their 45 RPM 180g Blue Note reissues pressed at RTI. I have bought just about every single one of them. Why? Because Music Matters has a quality control process in place that insulates me from issues with the pressing plant. I have only had a problem with one Music Matters reissue, and they replaced it promptly.
Quality Record Pressings has some work to do in order to earn my trust. For now I am approaching them with the same caution that I did with Classic Records. I won't judge them based on one LP...but this is not a very good start. So I don't feel that I can buy with confidence like I do Music Matters or Speakers Corner titles.
At the moment I think that Pallas Records in Germany is pressing the best vinyl on the planet. Speakers Corner and Pure Pleasure Records are using them. Chad is also using them for the Impulse! 45 RPM 180g series, and also used them for the Bill Evans Riverside recordings boxed set. You will not find a rough edge or off center label on a record pressed at Pallas. The records are simply beautiful to look at, and a sheer joy to handle and listen to. I own a few hundred of their pressings and only had a problem with one from Speakers Corner.
--Jerome
