Here in Canada, we got this fine plant based in Ontario called Precision Record Pressing. They don't play that 180 or 200 grams game, but their pressings are impeccable.
These are exactly the five pressing plants in the world that I was told recently (by a mastering engineer at one of the world’s most prominent studios) have the best electroplating/galvanics, which is critical and often overlooked. For DMM cutting, the only remaining options are in Europe. Mostly at three big plants (GZ, Optimal, Record Industry, with Record Industry reputedly the one that takes the most care with cutting), but also at a few German mastering houses. It's probable the DMM lathes at the plants are only available for in-house use (that is true of Record Industry at least).
@@burningdetroitDMM produces more accurate pressings, with less distortion, frequency coloration, compression, crosstalk, and adjacent-groove echo, compared to lacquer cuttings. If you think that sounds “worse”, that’s fine. I happen to disagree, and find DMM to be a nice blend between delivering accurate and clear sound reproduction with a bit of the characteristic distortions of vinyl. In the early days, DMM was a brand new technology in need of refinement, with production stopping just about the time they were starting to do so, and today all the DMM lathes are at big plants who mostly just want to focus on efficiency and reliability rather than taking great care with getting the best results from the cutting, so it may be hard to get a DMM cut with the personalized attention that you can often get with lacquer, but that has nothing to do with the technology.
Believe me, there are others that are far more knowledgeable but I’m still learning as I go along and I plan on still showing what I know and what I learn about for the future. Thank you so much!
I’ve found a few other channels where they get into the nuances of pressings and companies (audio dialogue, Poetry on Wax, Baruka.) I love Baruka, but the others are sometimes hard to watch due to production issues or videos that go over an hour and were, at the time at least, a little out of my wheelhouse. They were condensed. You present this knowledge in a very digestible way. You’re making your way into my top 5 VC channels. Thanks for responding! I left a comment in another video where I rib u a little for never responding to any of my comments.
The Vinyl Truffle I always try to make my content concise yet full of the information I aim to cover. The videos that do exceed long lengths are the big bi-monthly hauls. So glad to be highly considered from a fellow VC member. Thank you so much!
If you read their website, Record Industry is a part owner in Music On Vinyl. The "Metallipress" is Metallica's record press which is installed at Pallas (pronounced "palace"). BTW... they're "record pressing plants"..
Awesome Video man I feel like I’ve learned so much! I’ve never really thought of which plant my records were pressed at until now. I have John Mayall Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton and that is a RTI press and it sounds pretty good. I also have 4 of the Hendrix Reissues and they did so so so good on them they sound so good!
So glad that this video was of good use for you MM! Plants can also be an indicator on how a quiet a pressing can be as well and that Bluesbreakers pressing you have surely does sound great having come from RTI. The top 2 are tough contenders for my favorite plants.
Lovely video.. Any chance you could do a video on how to start a small vinyl pressing plant.. what we mainly see is all these large companies and one could easily forget that we all start small..
Even though small plants may start small with just one press, the investment to support even just a single press is massive. At the least they need a constant, consistent supply of significant amounts steam and cold water at just the right temperatures, regardless of what time of year it is. This requires big, expensive boilers and chillers, with perfect temperature control. They need an oven to bake the center labels. They need a supply of vinyl pellets, which I think comes from one of about three companies in the world, who probably don’t sell in small quantities. And of course besides the press itself is the extruder which transforms pellets into a puck of just the right size and at just the right temperature. If they don’t outsource their cutting, they need an expensive, very rare lathe (which I don’t know if anyone manufacture any more, so there is a finite supply and it may need to be refurbished, if they can even find one) and other mastering equipment, and a supply of very rare blank lacquers, and a lot of expertise to do the job right. (Unless someone else has started doing it, ever since the Apollo fire I think there is literally just one Japanese guy who makes all the blank lacquers for the entire world.) If they don’t outsource their electroplating, they need to set up a full galvanics operation, which is quite difficult and tricky to get right, uses very toxic chemicals and must meet stringent environmental regulations. If they don’t outsource their printing, they need to stand up a full printing plant besides the record pressing itself, including folding, cutting, stamping, various finishes, etc. Also don’t forget sleeving, shrink wrapping, and quality control departments (the latter of which also requires specialized equipment to inspect the records, if they want to do more than just look at it and throw it on a turntable, ie inspect the grooves with a microscope). I would say if they outsource everything possible, ie just press records from supplied stampers, and bulk ship them on spindles for sleeving elsewhere, just getting the temperature controlled boilers and water chillers in a building with sufficient water and gas supply lines is going to be a big deal.
@@TheRecordSpinner When I went into the 3rd Man Store a few years ago in Nashville they said you have to be signed to their Label to get anything pressed. Maybe that has changed now ?
Absolutely, one of the rare few, if not only, manual plants out there. Something about a pressing that was handled by hand just gives off a vibe of better QC
It surely is an idea but I’m not big on bashing names here on the channel. But it will be said that I think United is probably the worst plant. So many QC issues, mispressed labels (even off center). All kinds of vinyl havoc.
In my experience, the American pressings of those reissues are a bit problematic. They were done at Rainbo and United, the later being possibly the worst pressing plant in the country. However, the EU pressings were done at Optimal and from what I have, those are decent.
As an artist just about to press my first album, I am trying to make sure I get a good product for my fans. The only thing I hear people say is "Just don't go to United" Does anyone here have a recommendation? This video seems to be more about re-issues from record labels with huge budgets. What about an independent like me? Thanks
I have this question too, especially with the various start-up plants, including very small ones. How are Gotta Groove, Furnace, Intakt, DeepGrooves, Cascade, etc.? The smaller ones probably wouldn’t be used by big labels, so might not show up much for common pressings of familiar music, so probably don’t get reviewed much either pro or con.
RTI is notorious for dish warped records. I don't hold them in high regard, anymore. QRP is superior, but they have had dish warp issues at times, too.
This is why I ask the place I get my records pressed to not put ANY notation on the pressing plate. So people can go crazy and never find out if it’s from a good pressing plant or not.
I think it's appalling that the company that actually presses the product doesn't identity itself to the buyer !!! I mean think about it? you buy a product and you can't even be sure where it was made??..does this make any logical sense?? In fact, only a shabby non-quality company wouldn't want their name represented. If I have a quality company I would be PROUD to put my name on the record!!...NO???
