Are Warped Vinyls Common?

PurpleHippo on 24/10/2024 - 17:46

Hey all

Been wanting to get into vinyls for a while. I saw the deal on the AT Sound Burger and bought it as my first player. I've also purchased a couple of vinyls from Amazon.

About half the vinyls I've purchased (brand new) sound extremely warped on one side (the other side sounds fine).

How common is this? Have I been super unlucky, or am I doing something wrong?
Is it my player? It seems fine with some other records…

Out of the 4 records I've had delivered so far, I've had to return two. And I have 3 more due to be delivered later this week…

Its been a bit of a disappointing foray so far, so any assistance would be really appreciated. Cheers

Entertainment Music Vinyl Record

Comments

  • oscargamer on 24/10/2024 - 18:08
    +1

    Sound warped? Like Star Trek?

  • Cluster on 24/10/2024 - 18:40
    +4

    It is unusual to get that many warped LPs. I assume these are brand new records? They should be perfect, given the current very high price of vinyl releases.

    You're also discovering one of the many reasons why people embraced CDs in the 1980s and moved away from LPs.

    • PurpleHippo on 24/10/2024 - 19:56
      +1

      Haha, yea… They are brand new..

      I've uploaded a short vid:
      https://streamable.com/aelfjm

      • oscargamer on 24/10/2024 - 21:56
        +4

        That's an error with your player

        • Benoffie on 24/10/2024 - 21:57
          +1

          Was just about to say the same. The flex because of no solid turntable is probably a high contributing factor

        • PurpleHippo on 24/10/2024 - 23:28

          starting to suspect it. But only getting it with some vinyl…

          This is what that same record sounds like on the other side. maybe slightly warped, but nowhere near as bad: https://streamable.com/vkyhqb
          and this is a different record: https://streamable.com/ohf4j0

          I'm trying to get hold of another player to test and make sure.

          • jetblack on 25/10/2024 - 09:55
            +1

            @PurpleHippo: Records come in different weights (thickness), perhaps the ones faring better are different weights to the ones that sound bad, preventing the extra warping that occurs while being played due to lack of support without a full turntable base.

          • bazingaa on 25/10/2024 - 10:19

            @PurpleHippo: try a player with a flat surface to keep the disc. looks like motor is working harder to rotate with the weight of the disc. I have a $50 player from a previous deal which drives better

  • ozzie freddo on 24/10/2024 - 23:30
    +1

    A warped disk doesn’t affect the sound like that. There is definitely a fault in your “turntable” mechanism causing it to slow down periodically as the disk rotates.
    We used to have stroboscopic printouts (paper disk with stripes on it that would show your turntable speed (and stability) via your house lights flickering (at 100Hz from our 50Hz AC supply)). At the right speed the stripes would be steady. You can probably download a test disk, print it out and put it on your “turntable” and it’ll show you the pattern is jumping backwards and forwards.
    You might have to use a fluorescent light or a cheap LED globe as some modern lights may have filtered out the flicker.
    This is a bad case of “wow” as in “wow and flutter” that used to be used as a measure of a recording medium stability.

  • pegaxs on 24/10/2024 - 23:47
    +3

    That sound is an issue with the player, not the records.

    That being said, that first example, the record is pretty warped and may be jamming on the player and dragging it to slow down.

    These kind of record players are crap. You need a turntable that as least has a flat platter for the record to sit on. Either that, it start buying thicker records that are not as prone to warping.

    I have had a few records come in lately that have been warped from new. There just doesn’t seem to be any quality control any more. Records are very expensive but they make them out of cheap shit vinyl and processes to maximise profits.

  • shaybisc on 25/10/2024 - 08:47
    +1

    If I bought a new record and it was warped I would get a refund but there are some tips on how to mitigate the problem on your player here.

    "Sound Burger Can't Play Warped Vinyl"

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZD8m5gd-08

    But to the question, are they common? I never had a warped record out of my couple hundred collection, back in the day. They certainly should not be common.

    • PurpleHippo on 25/10/2024 - 10:17

      Thanks for this. Will look into it when I get home

  • Topdog on 25/10/2024 - 09:52
    +1

    I have had a few from Amazon been returned. So I stopped buying them from Amazon. And just use jb or a local shop now and never had issues since

  • Pootie Tang on 25/10/2024 - 11:49
    +1

    FYI

    The plural of "vinyl" is simply "vinyl" when referring to multiple records made from the material. It’s an uncountable noun in this context, similar to words like "furniture" or "information."

    However, in more casual speech, some people use "vinyls" to refer to multiple vinyl records, but this is generally considered non-standard by many language purists.

    I'd hate for you to get laughed out of JB hi fi, thus affecting your want and desire to accumulate as much vinyl as you can.

    GPT

    • PurpleHippo on 25/10/2024 - 12:16

      Thanks! I've been informed on a different site I posted this to! I've also discovered how much gatekeeping there can be on certain hobbies and interests…

  • scooba on 25/10/2024 - 11:52

    Yes, warped records are very common these days.

  • casho on 30/10/2024 - 16:00

    Videos gone?

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