Is the return of Vinyl just a con to get you to part with your money?

[anon71769209]

You’re exactly right, it was Flood.

[Soulnet]

Until something like 2000, something like 50% of mastering in Australia was done with one desk (pitured below).

Do you know Don Bartley @Soulnet (or are you he)? “Mastering by Don Bartley at 301” was a standard line on Australian releases through the 80’s and 90’s. “Mastered by Ross Cockle at Sing Sing” was another common one later on into the 00’s.

A mate and I had Ross Cockle master a couple of tracks we’d done on an 8-track Portastudio around 2003-4. Whatever fairy-dust he sprinkled on them in the couple of hours we were at Sing Sing had those things purring like a pussycat! The original and mastered versions are like chalk and cheese.

I’m none of the names you’ve mentioned. In the music industry i’m a nobody

Gosh it was so long ago I can’t remember who was there on the days I was there.

Sing Sing and 301 were famous in Australia cause they were the only two (at the time) that had SSL and Neve mixers.

I tend to remember the stories about certain people and what was described as a winter wonderland more than anything else!

[mrjez]

I just remembered the time I found You Am I’s Snake Tide 12” in a record store here in Osaka in around 2004 for the equivalent of about $4, then flipped it on eBay for $300. Good times.

[crumbs]

When you say it like that it is pretty silly that these problems are rampant. Main reasons I suspect are:

• Like most big industries that die…The people that know how to operate the machinery die with it.
• Many large companies and music labels melted down their record plants as vinyl was deemed redundant.
• Theres a major boom in Vinyl sales without the machinery or the knowledge to keep up with it. Quality reduction is a given. Jobs are pushed through in a hurry and big companies again control the market.
• The equipment that did survive is old, extremely expensive and time consuming to run. And again, only a handful of people can repair them.
• Pressing a record takes forever and has many steps. If one person ■■■■■ up this step then the whole press has an issue.
• Last I read there was only 2 or 3 places in the world that was producing lacquers. Which is terrible for business and standards to be kept.

It’s about big business. The record companies are enjoying the boom to a degree, hogging the plants and putting out inferior pressings of their old catalogs. The irony is that the music that always had a traditional link to vinyl (Hip Hop/Electronic music/Punk/Indy), which kept the surviving plants open are now being shafted with 6 month + waits for their album to be ready…which is another factor in why I enjoy the streaming/bandcamp/spotify platforms allot. Whatever the cheapest and easily accessible way to listen to music will win. That used to be Vinyl…but maybe things will improve?