skipping vinyl question

flogen

Couldnt think of a better forum than this, so here goes,

After reading the vinyl player question I figured I'd ask here about this. I recently got three vinyls and gave them a listen. They were all new and recently printed (one was a new release the others were no more than 5 years released and probably printed only a short while ago).
Anyway, two out of the three are really skippy. It's not the stylus or player as my other vinyls (including one of the three) work fine, and as the discs are new I can't see any scratches or dirt on them. They skip in the exact same place when I re-play them so I'm trying to figure if this is an error that occoured when the discs were being manufactured, or is this just a bit of dirt that's gotten jammed in there?
Is it possible that they were "printed" badly and are now defective?

democrates

You've already done the first test, try other vinyl in the player, they worked ok so that makes the player look less culpable.

That said, three different records skipping in the same place is odd, were they cut by the same machine?

In any event, the next test is to try the records in another player which also plays other vinyl ok. If the skips occur again, that points a strong finger at the discs being defective.

As these are all new and recently printed, I'd bring them back to the vendor and have them do the test.

Spocker

It sounds like they were badly pressed, possibly that at the point where it skips (technically called "skating") the groove may no be deep enough.

As democrates said, bring back to point of purchase and ask for a refund/swap.

Good luck!

rabbitinlights

I would take a look at the player again though, Make sure the arm is set up correctly and is not hitting anything either on the player or near it, it just sound very strange that its skating at the same place on different records. Good luck

flogen

rabbitinlights wrote:

I would take a look at the player again though, Make sure the arm is set up correctly and is not hitting anything either on the player or near it, it just sound very strange that its skating at the same place on different records. Good luck

no, it's not that they're skipping at the same place on different records, rather they skip on the two records at the same place on each, as if they were both scratched.

I doubt they were cut by the same machine, how do I check this out?

Spocker

I doubt you could if they are mass produced. If they are, say, different mixes of the same track, they *may* have come off the same machine, but I don't think there's any way of telling for sure.

democrates

no, it's not that they're skipping at the same place on different records, rather they skip on the two records at the same place on each, as if they were both scratched.

I doubt they were cut by the same machine, how do I check this out?

If you think it's worth the effort you could check the labels, search the web for the publishers contact details and contact them to see if they can answer the question.

I take it these records have different songs on them, that they're not identical copies? And are they skipping forward and missing a bit (and if so is it only one skip or a few in quick succession) or skipping back to play the same bit over and over?

Could it be the turntable I wonder. If it's a case that say at about 1 minute into the song they both skip back, it could be something like a bit of grit in the armature movement that interferes with the smooth operation at that point. That is contradicted by the fact that other records play ok through that point.
But then that might be explained if the depth of the groove on the new records is lower than that on the older ones, in which case the force of the groove wall on the needle which moves it towards the centre of the turntable is not enough to overcome the armature's resistance due to dirt or whatever.

If the records have skips, on an old record deck at home we 'solved' skips by putting a two pence piece on the end of the armature with blu-tack. That can't have been good for the needle or the records but it usually forced the needle to stay down in the groove and not jump the wall.

I've even 'fixed' records that skipped back by gently pressing down and towards the centre of the turntable on the armature as it played and thus forcing it forward where it had the back-skip, it then played ok excepting an audible scratch at the point of the original skip. But I'd only try that with a cheap needle, non-rare record, and after having failed to get satisfaction from the supplier. It's only fair to warn that if you try this, if you're not damn careful you can make the problem worse and even add more skips, that's from bitter experience with a prized Deep Purple double-live album which someone had gimped on me, I feel your pain.

I say that just for the sake of possible interest, if it were me I'd be back to the shop for a test on their turntable. You can expect to hear that store policy is that they can't replace vinyl once it has been played, because the customer could have damaged it.

If they won't budge you can ask for the manager/owner and play the good customer with lots of friends who are also good customers card, see if you can get them to test it, and if two records with different songs are skipping at the same place they may give you the benefit of the doubt that your turntable didn't cause the problem and replace them. I guess the other thing they can do for you is play identical records they haven't sold yet and see if they have the same problem, if so they'd have to give you your money back under consumer protection law.

flogen

thankfully they're far from rare albums, so it would be no trouble to get another copy, nor would it bother me too much (more than the cost) if the discs were the problem.

I'll mess around (within reason) and see if I can figure anything out, but I have a feeling it may be a problem with the records themselves, just annoying that it was two out of three.

flogen

just played the first two tracks of one of them now, and if I remember correctly, the first one's skipping pattern has changed, as in it went from a skip or two to nothing, and the second has gotten much worse, so perhaps they just have shallow grooves and a small bit of dust which is causing problems. I'll give them a few plays tomorrow and see if it changes, then I'll know for sure if it's a manufacturing problem or not.
As a matter of interest, I pulled out a copy of Who's Next that hadn't been played in ages (and is at least 30 years old), played it without even checking to see if it needed a wipe, and it's playing without trouble. I don't think it's the player!