Cheap vinyl record pressing9/23/2023 ![]() Pellets of polyvinyl chloride will be loaded into a hopped on the record press and melted and formed into what are commonly referred to as ‘biscuits’ of polyvinyl chloride, which are essentially just blobs of the substance that bear the resemblance of hockey pucks. Though the calculation of vinyl pressing prices has to include all of the aforementioned and upcoming processes, this is where the actual pressing of the disc begins at least. Thus, the father disc is electroplated itself and split apart so that a mother disc is made with all of the original grooves. The latter disc is referred to as the ‘father’ disc, and is the most utilised when it is called upon to stamp its impression into the hot polyvinyl chloride wax.Īt this stage, the master disc will be checked for errors, by the artist and producer as well as the mastering engineer, though this obviously cannot be done with the father disc. This electroplated disc is then pulled apart, leaving you with two discs that ought to be mirror images of one another: the original master disc with grooves and the polar opposite with ridges instead of grooves. Once the latter has been carefully washed and rid of as much dust as possible, the master disc is sprayed with silver, after which it is submerged in a bath of nickel and then electroplated, with the intention of causing the nickel to fill in the grooves created in the lathing process. Step 3: Creating More Discsįrom the master disc, another disc is produced, which is commonly referred to as the ‘stamper disc’, created directly after the master disc and before the calculation of vinyl pressing prices. Yes, the original gaps created between these songs, the very physical and visual gaps on a record are created by hand, with precise hand and eye coordination on the part of the engineer. The main task for the engineer involved is to make sure that there are adequate separate spaces created between the songs, as this is not something machine will do automatically. The cutting process will be performed in real time, the real source audio imbibed physically and at a great temperature into this master disc. The mastered audio will be sent through a cutting lathe, which at base performs the opposite of a turntable needle, turning the vibrations of the sources into the grooves of the master disc where a normal needle would simply surf the already cut grooves and reproduce the sound imbibed within. Once the mastering engineer is satisfied, the recording will be sent off so that a master disc can be created, an aluminum plate coated in a thick layer of lacquer from which all other records in this line will be printed and produced. Similarly, the shape of the disc, the fact that the grooves nearer the middle of the disc are smaller, means an inherent dip in fidelity towards the centre, all of which must be considered by all involved. For example, the frequency spectrum is significantly reduced on a vinyl record, for any extreme frequencies will tend to send the needle on the turntable flying all over the place. The vinyl record is a very different format, inherently physical and prone to several specificities that will have a crippling effect on the overall sound if not adhered to. ![]() When the artist and producer are happy with the sounds they have recorded and produced, then the release is sent to a mastering engineer who prepares it to be pressed onto vinyl. There are various minutiae that one has to be aware of even in the process of making sure the music is ready to be sent off to a record-pressing plant. In order to under vinyl pressing prices in any way, which themselves can vary considerably from release to release, then we must first understand at least somewhat the process of producing a record and what makes a record pressing factory tick, asking ourselves ‘ how are vinyl records made?’ Step 1: Mastering the Music for Vinyl Aspect Average cost Cost per 100 record run Cutting of Lacquer per side $190 $380 Electroplating per side $170 $340 Center lables per side $0.05 $5 Per inner sleeve $0.15 $15 Per jacket $0.75 $75 Establishing pressing $190 $190 Test Pressing run of 5 $65 $65 140g black vinyl record per disc $1.55 $155 Total for pressing of 100 records $1225 Pressing a Record: A Walk Through the Plant So, here today, we will be elucidating for you the in’s and out’s of the pressing process, so that you might better understand the work that goes and the vinyl pressing prices that come as a result. ![]() It is not hard to see why, when lost in our favorite albums as heard being spun on our stereo system, we might begin to wonder upon the vinyl pressing prices, about the costs underlying our beloved collection, as well as those who might be shafted and short changed in the process. ![]()
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