The vinyl record resurgence has been fun, but I've been mystified by one development, and that's the obsession with 180-gram new pressings. Seriously, why do we need to use that much vinyl? Isn't vinyl made from petrochemicals, which are supposedly environmentally unfriendly, and increasingly scarce?
We're told that heavy vinyl sounds better. Theoretically
that extra mass provides more resistance to the stylus following those wildly
modulating grooves, and the extra angular momentum smooths out wow & flutter
and damps out noise.
Um, no. First, the stylus is a very low mass object, and it
doesn’t require that much force to accelerate it, even at the highest audio
frequencies. The intrinsic shape and stiffness of the vinyl ought to be more
than enough to guide the stylus through it’s gyrating journey.
As far as wow & flutter are concerned, unless the record
player has a very flimsy turntable, a heavier record isn’t going to make a significant
contribution to the overall angular momentum. Frankly, if someone is listening with
such flimsy equipment, they’re probably not concerned that much with sound
quality anyway. If you need more support and inertia, a more effective solution
would be to buy a high-density turntable mat once and for all.
In fact, a record doesn’t need to be much thicker than about
twice the maximum groove depth, to play back correctly. Maybe some additional
stiffness would help with handling, but that’s about it.
I’ve also heard superstitious claims about warpage, but I
have heard conflicting claims about whether thicker or thinner vinyl are more prone
to it. I have hundreds of records, and warpage simply hasn’t been an issue. Excessive
heat is the worst culprit. Store in a cool dry place, and you’ll be fine.
I have some RCA Dynaflex records from back in the ‘70s that
sounded fantastic and still do. Dynaflex records were lighter and more flexible
than most. RCA was criticized at the time for cheaping out on the vinyl, but I
thought it was brilliant. That was in the middle of the oil crisis, and it
seemed like a good way to economize on raw materials, without having to raise
the price of the music. Other record labels used recycled vinyl, which sounded like
Rice Krispies in milk. Snap, Crackle, Pop.
I think we should re-introduce Dynaflex.
