INTEREST CHECK: Pressing a test record LP

(Mods: This thread approved by jude.)

For a while now I've had it on my mind to get a group buy started on turntable test records. Currently the going price for a new test record (HFNRR) is about $45. A complete run for 1000 records, including sleeves and 180g vinyl, is somewhere around $3000 as sampled by several online mastering houses. So doing a group buy would be 10 times cheaper than buying an existing new test record. And there are actually a couple things that can be improved upon compared to the existing test records.

Why would you need a test record?

• Azimuth/overhand/zenith/balance/general alignment
• Measurements such as rumble, background silence, etc
• A consistent and inexpensive set of records to compare against for cleaning treatments, record wear and other experiments

I've researched everything that would be going on with a project like this, and I fully understand that I'm in over my head. (Please don't lecture me on the risks of aligning a cart based on an inaccurate test record.) The more pressing (haha) issue is that for a test record run to be feasible, it needs to be at least 1000 records. Once the logistics are figured out we can start agreeing on the technical problems.

Because of the large volume and low cost of the records, what I'm considering doing is requiring each order to be for at least 10 records at $40, which would cover the pressing costs and quite a bit of shipping. So 100 people would need to buy in for this buy to be feasible. To start things off, I'd buy in for 30 records.

Anybody interested?

I'd expect locked grooves are very problematic to align because the speed of the cutter is never going to be completely perfect - you'll always get a pop of some sort. Better to just, you know, buy a lot of records

No idea who would be used for the pressing. Somebody who is respected, takes this sort of project seriously and cuts the laquer at the same place that the mothers are made. I'll ask my DJ contacts to see if they have any good leads.

Ooh. A lot of good info mbriant, thanks.

I was not expecting this to be a particularly black-tie affair. One- or two-color sleeves and disc labels. Maybe an insert with more info. I was expecting to just host a website with detailed info and discussion. Of course it can get more professional, but that incurs expenses both at pressing/manufacturing time and at production time. It all depends on what people would want.

I wasn't expecting anybody other than myself to handle the basic mastering and artwork, but get agreement from everybody here on all the decisions. But one thing that is not going to be debated is the mastering format. This is hopefully going to be a 100% 24/96 PCM recording all the way to the cutter. Good tape machines are very expensive, good analog oscillators are very expensive, and there's no need to go through that trouble when I can just program up all the artificial signals from scratch. This represents a big cost savings compared to what could be done 20 years ago. And I'd put the FLACs up on a website so that everybody can directly compare what the original signals were supposed to be compared to what's actually on the disc.

While there may be more rough corners around the edges with this record compared to a currently-sold one, there isn't any reason why the signals themselves could not be as good or better quality than those already available.

I think that real-world music selections are harder to get right than they are worth, and other test records are always going to be perceived as better in this regard than anything on this one. And it causes huge headaches with copyrights & licensing, getting high-res or analog sources, etc.

Of course I have my crazy ideas on what should and shouldn't be on the record, but I'm keeping those to myself for now. Whatever is going to be done here will be by consensus.

Keep those replies coming if you're interested!

I've learned a hell of a lot more about LP playback analysis. Enough to know that I should probably shut my mouth and keep thinking about the problem

There's a sister (well subsequent) thread here:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f51/in...ord-lp-174298/

Clearly, there's enough interest at this price point. The responses I got indicated that we would probably be able to break even. But when I realized the scope of the project - for it to be a group buy, I'd be essentially donating several hundred hours of my time to design the record and provide analysis tools - well, I just haven't had that kind of time to spare. (Or money, for that matter.)

Still, if people are interested enough to actually help put this together, you can bet I'll be in the thick of it.

Also look at my response to a very recent AA thread about test records... a lot of people are interested in this, but even most think test records are bunk. Quite unfortunate.

Vinyl Asylum - My two cents (LONG) - Axon - August 02, 2008 at 19:17:19

For the final test record, no. To test out individual questions, yes. Basically, the temptation to bite off way more than I can chew is really tempting here.

Discussions about test records in the literature make generous use of laquers.