Coloured vinyl

[TIU]

Is there any evidence that coloured or patterned vinyl is inferior to black vinyl?

https://blog.discogs.com/en/true-colors-black-or-colored-vinyl/

 

[Jules_S]

I don't have any hard evidence, no, only personal experience. Back in the 90's and early 00's I used to dread any album that was released on coloured vinyl, they always seemed to be noisy and low-fi sounding. I only bought coloured stuff if it was a collectible or there was no other choice.

Fast forward to now, and so many albums are being pressed only on coloured vinyl it seems, but to my surprise pretty much all of the ones I've bought have sounded excellent (making allowances for the actual production itself). I'm not aware of any increase in surface noise over normal black vinyl, and generally I've found few issues with warping or mis-pressing.

The only records I still try to avoid as they do seem to suffer poor quality, is picture discs. Why that should be I don't know but the ones I've bought all seem to have unacceptable levels of background noise. Maybe it's do do with the composition of the transparent layer?

EDIT: Oh my goodness - I wrote that post before reading the article, and have just had my words repeated back to me! Spooky. At least I know my findings are on-par with other opinions!

 

[RecordProd]

I’ve got loads of coloured vinyl, no difference to speak of. Picture discs are another thing entirely

 

[Speedracer]

As I understand it the industry standard for vinyl specifically for pressing records is in fact clear, so a black record is a coloured vinyl just as pink, green & splatter patterns are.
I agree than they were more noisy at one time but that is pretty much eradicated now, the last LP I bought was green & it is perfectly quiet in terms of noise floor & surface noise.

 

[TIU]

There are many picture discs released for RSDs - I never fancy any of them.

 

[Nothingface]

I agree than they were more noisy at one time but that is pretty much eradicated now

No it isn't! I've had a few coloured vinyl releases that have been a bit noisy - pops/clicks.

 

[Warszawa]

I have loads. They sound the same.
In fact I have a couple that are half black/half coloured and the sound quality doesn’t alternate every second.

 

[Mightyquin]

I don't have any hard evidence, no, only personal experience. Back in the 90's and early 00's I used to dread any album that was released on coloured vinyl, they always seemed to be noisy and low-fi sounding. I only bought coloured stuff if it was a collectible or there was no other choice.

Fast forward to now, and so many albums are being pressed only on coloured vinyl it seems, but to my surprise pretty much all of the ones I've bought have sounded excellent (making allowances for the actual production itself). I'm not aware of any increase in surface noise over normal black vinyl, and generally I've found few issues with warping or mis-pressing.

The only records I still try to avoid as they do seem to suffer poor quality, is picture discs. Why that should be I don't know but the ones I've bought all seem to have unacceptable levels of background noise. Maybe it's do do with the composition of the transparent layer?

EDIT: Oh my goodness - I wrote that post before reading the article, and have just had my words repeated back to me! Spooky. At least I know my findings are on-par with other opinions!

This is exactly what I would have said - from my experience. I used to find that coloured vinyl sounded inferior and would often feel lighter/flimsy compared to a normal black copy. The first coloured vinyl I bought which sounded as good as black was Nirvana Unplugged (white vinyl). I bought a few RSD editions which are all coloured vinyl and they've all been great quality.

 

[tkimages]

In the 57 years that I've been buying albums, I've only had one on coloured vinyl. It was H.O.P.P.Y by Hapshash and the Coloured Coat Featuring the Heavy Metal Kids, on red vinyl, bought in 1967. I can't comment on how noisy it was as in 1967 my record playing equipment was an adapted radiogram, the album was subsequently used heavily and by the time I had some decent equipment, it was totally worn out. Mind you it did sell for a decent amount a few years ago at auction. I've only had two picture discs, Curved Air's Airconditioning and Bowie's Pin Ups, both sounded very good.

 

[Speedracer]

No it isn't! I've had a few coloured vinyl releases that have been a bit noisy - pops/clicks.

Well obviously I can't speak for every single release, but the ones I have bought have been great. I suspect the pops & clicks you have experienced are nothing to do with what colour the records are & more to do with how they were handled prior to dispatch. I recently bought a copy of Over the Rhine's Drunkard's Prayer, new & sealed with shrinkwrap, & despite this the cover had a big chunk taken out of it & someone had used a black felt pen to try & hide the damage.

 

[Speedracer]

No it isn't! I've had a few coloured vinyl releases that have been a bit noisy - pops/clicks.

Well obviously I can't speak for every single release, but the ones I have bought have been great. I suspect the pops & clicks you have experienced are nothing to do with what colour the records are & more to do with how they were handled prior to dispatch. I recently bought a copy of Over the Rhine's Drunkard's Prayer, new & sealed with shrinkwrap, & despite this the cover had a big chunk taken out of it & someone had used a black felt pen to try & hide the damage.

 

[bigrod]

Natural PVC is clear and quite flexible ,, It requires a pigment to give it rigidity .. originally this was carbon black
Carbon black is made from the incomplete combustion of of fuel oil at about 1200C “In essence soot is produced “
It is very environmentally unfriendly ..

Most other pigments are made through precipitation but are more expensive..
The early coloured pigments were very unstable “remember red cars going orange” hence black was adopted.. ..recent developments in the last 30 years In the production of high opacity pigment chemistry used across all industries has brought the costs down ..
The pigments used in coloured vinyl
are exactly the same as I use to make paint ..

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

The early coloured pigments were very unstable “remember red cars going orange” hence black was adopted.. ..recent developments in the last 30 years In the production of high opacity pigment chemistry used across all industries has brought the costs down ..
The pigments used in coloured vinyl
are exactly the same as I use to make paint ..

probably for the same reason 1950s/60s Gibson guitars never stayed the same colour

 

[bigrod]

Natural PVC is clear and quite flexible ,, It requires a pigment to give it rigidity .. originally this was carbon black
Carbon black is made from the incomplete combustion of of fuel oil at about 1200C “In essence soot is produced “
It is very environmentally unfriendly ..

Most other pigments are made through precipitation but are more expensive..
The early coloured pigments were very unstable “remember red cars going orange” hence black was adopted.. ..recent developments in the last 30 years In the production of high opacity pigment chemistry used across all industries has brought the costs down ..
The pigments used in coloured vinyl
are exactly the same as I use to make paint ..

Whichever pigment is used it will not be detected by a stylus as they are “ground” to <5 microns and won’t protrude above the vinyl surface ..
Any surface noise will be down to the quality of manufacture of the vinyl and the pressing ..

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

probably for the same reason 1950s/60s Gibson guitars never stayed the same colour

NTSC

 

[Nothingface]

Well obviously I can't speak for every single release, but the ones I have bought have been great. I suspect the pops & clicks you have experienced are nothing to do with what colour the records are & more to do with how they were handled prior to dispatch. I recently bought a copy of Over the Rhine's Drunkard's Prayer, new & sealed with shrinkwrap, & despite this the cover had a big chunk taken out of it & someone had used a black felt pen to try & hide the damage.

Maybe contamination during pressing could be a reason...

 

[TIU]

NTSC

A video system or is there an urban dictionary definition? 'Not the sharpest colours'?

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

A video system or is there an urban dictionary definition? 'Not the sharpest colours'?

That, or Never The Same Colour

 

[DUVET]

In my experience a solid colour vinyl compared to translucent vinyl has a better SQ. As to clear vinyl I am not a fan. The pressings can be noisy . Thank god the latest Porcupine Tree 3 lp clear version on CC is excellent .