HiFi & Music Wojtek on 01 Dec 2006 04:34 pm
Vinyl records: Collecting 101 - part 1
It’s time for another whopper post. This time I’ll try to introduce you to the wonderful world of vinyl record collecting.
As this subject is quite a comprehensive one, it looks like I won’t be able to include every important aspect in a single post. That’s why I’ll divide it to seperate parts, which I’ll be posting in the following days in a consecutive (I hope) manner.
On a side note: consider these series of posts as sets of handful tips or a “beginner’s guide”, dedicated for the most part to people who are new to this topic, but I can’t promise that vinyl veterans won’t find anything interesting for themselves.
The question for today’s part is: “What kinds of vinyl records are there anyway?”
For starters, let’s clasify the numerous instances and parameters of vinyl records:
1. Speed - there are 16,33,45 and 78 RPM (Rotation Per Minute) records
These are the speeds at which a record must be played on your turntable in order to properly listen to the recorded music. 16 and 78 RPM discs are very rare these days as (for the most part) they were made back in the days where vinyl was a ‘yet to be standarized’ format (up to the early 50’s). 16 RPM is the rarest of the bunch, while 78 RPM has a cult status of it’s own as even some modern DJ turntables have the capability of playing these records.
The most popular formats are 33 and 45 RPM discs.
2. Record size - 7,10 or 12 inches
As vinyl records are round, we denote their size through their radius.
7 and 10 inch discs are the sizes most commonly used by the so called “single-play recordings” (SP for short), more commonly known as “singles”.
12 inch discs is the most common size for “long-play recordings” (LP for short).
What does LP and SP mean in practice ? Read on:
3. Music time
This is the classification scheme that ties both the record’s size and playing speed. Why ? Because the amount of music included on a vinyl disc stricly depends on those 2 factors. It’s quite a simple principle: the smaller the size and the higher the RPM speed, the faster the turntable’s needle will ride on the disc’s grooves and the faster it will come to the end of the side.
The vague name of “long-play recording” simpy means that you can play a recording for a “long time” (it became a pretty relative term in comparison to tape and CD time capabilities). LPs can cover up to about 25 minutes of music per side and as vinyl records are double-sided, an LP discs music coverage can amount up to 50 minutes of music, although from my experience most LPs were released with up to 40-45 minutes of music. All LPs are 33 RPM speed records and have the size of 12 inches.
‘Single-play recordings’ on the other hand can’t be classified as easily as LPs are. SP means that a record can be played a “single time”, meaning that it mostly includes up to 2 tracks/songs for each side.
3.1. The most popular size format for SPs is the 7 inch one and most 7 inch records are of 45 RPM speed. These can amount up to approx. 6 minutes of music per side.
The 7 inch records often differ from the other sizes, because of the radius of the record’s center hole. Almost all pre-80’s 7 inch SPs has a hole with a bigger diameter than the turntable’s spindle. In order to play such a record, you need a kind of spindle diameter extender, which you put on the turntable’s spindle prior to putting on a 7 inch record. In most cases it’s just a round piece of plastic or aluminium with the exact diameter of the 7 inch record hole, but with a hole of the diameter of the turntable’s record spindle on the inside of the piece.
Nowadays, most 7 inch records have a regular (turntable spindle sized) hole in their center.
3.2. There are also 12 inch SPs, which are often called “Maxi-SP”. These are mostly used in the case of songs (or a pair of tracks) which exceed the 6 minute limitation of 7 inch records. The play time here can amount up to approx. 12 minutes per side.
3.3. The 10 inch is the least-popular size for SPs. It can be considered as a bridge between the play time capabilities of 7 and 12 inch SPs.
There are also SPs which have a 33 RPM speed, while still preserving the short music time. This is achieved by cutting a slightly wider than regular groove in the disc. Why do they release such singles ? I really don’t know.
4. Record material types
Most vinyl records have a black color, but that doesn’t mean that it’s the only form available.
4.1. Record companies sometimes release a limited batch of so called ‘”color vinyl” records.
These records can be purple, yellow, white, blue, grey, red, etc., a combination of colors or even transparent!
Here’s an example of a color vinyl Maxi-SP:
Sound-wise, there should be no difference between color and regular vinyl recordings, although some people say that color vinyl is worse, because it’s often more prone to physical damage. Some also say that regular vinyl sounds better than color, but I’m not aware of any clear or scientific proof of these facts.
Nowadays, many DJs release their works on color vinyl and in most cases it’s not just a “limited series” anymore.
4.2. There are also vinyl records in the form of so called “picture discs”.
Picture discs simply include a picture or some form of art on it’s sides instead of the regular black color and because of that, such records often have a transparent cover (instead of a regular one) or are simply sold in a transparent record sleeve, without a cover. Most picture discs were very rare and limited releases, but they’re becoming increasingly popular nowadays.
Here’s an example of a picture disc album released by Depeche Mode:
5. Record mass
The mass of vinyl records is also an important factor. Most SPs have roughly the same mass.
Most LPs weigh about 120 gramms, but some audiophile-class releases (or re-releases) are often cut on heavier vinyl, ranging from a weight of 150 up to 200 gramms! Why is this so significant ? Because the more does a record weigh, the more volume it has, thus the grooves are deeper and are much less prone to physical damage. Also,thanks to the deeper grooves, heavier vinyl records often sound better than regular vinyl cuts.
This concludes today’s part of the post series. The next one will cover tips on buying vinyl records. Stay tuned!
PS: I apologize to everyone for not making it this time with my “post per 3 days minimum” disciplinary obligation, but I’ve had a tough week and I simply didn’t have enough spare time to write a new post. I’ll try to make it up to you by having my next post tomorrow.
UPDATE:
I’ve posted the 2nd part. You can find it by clicking here.
on 23 Dec 2006 at 12:14 am 1.Caleb said …
Thanks for these articles! As someone who is new to vinyl, it’s been surprisingly hard to locate simple faq’s that spell out the basics of listening to music on a turntable.
Thanks!
on 28 Dec 2006 at 10:56 pm 2.Wojtek said …
The hardships of finding any simple-told article about this subject was the main influence behind me writing these articles on vinyl records. My guess is that most record collectors out there are guys and gals who lived when vinyl was the main music medium or their parents had some knowledge so most of them think that knowing about vinyl records is elementary grade knowledge…
I’m glad that you found my articles helpful Caleb.
on 17 Feb 2007 at 10:25 am 3.Piotr said …
Hi,
I would like to address a couple of points above.
Firstly, the major difference between black and coloured wax is that the additive used in black vinyl (graphite) is harder and more resistant to wear than materials used in coloured wax. This usually accounts for why a lot of coloured vinyl is thought to sound worse. Furthermore, high-end pressing plants like RTI seem to no longer press coloured records, at least in North America.
Also, the weight of the vinyl has nothing to do with groove depth. No idea where this myth comes from, but records are pressed from the same stamper with the same depth of groove. Whether you stamp into 140 grams of vinyl goo, 180 grams or 220 grams, the grooves in the stamper remain the same depth. Imagine making wax seal - whether you use a huge glob of wax or a tiny one, the depth of the impression remains the same because the stamp you use is the same one.
The only (and dubious at that) benefit to heavy vinyl besides aesthetics is that some claim a heavier disc is steadier and less prone to vibration, but that doesn’t really have much consensus as scientifically valid amongst most vinyl types. Furthermore, at heavy weights like 220g have often had quality control issues. Ever try to stuff too much into a sandwich and then try to smush it down?
Cheers,
Piotr
on 25 Feb 2007 at 8:28 pm 4.Wojtek said …
Thanks for your remarks Piotr.
According to the facts that you presented on the subject of why does colored vinyl sound worse, one can assume that it’s the same story with picture discs. That’s useful info.
As for the record weight, from my experience most heavy pressings (180g-200g) are not as thin as the regular pressings. Probably that’s why most people think that such records have deeper grooves. Thanks for clearing that up.
on 06 Mar 2007 at 3:26 am 5.Dave said …
Detailed information - nice round-up.
For more photos, less functional detail, more emphasis on design, please see my blog
“Record Players and LP Savers”
Latest series on tone arm styles. Also - influences of 1940s automobile design on record player cases.
Google blog search for it by name, or see
dschmidt14.wordpress.com.
Keep up the blogging.
-Dave
on 26 Mar 2007 at 3:43 am 6.Frank S said …
Thanks for posting this.I am an experienced collector of rare and hard to find records.I have been collecting all of my life.I have lots of vinyl record albums and numerous 45’s and some 78’s.
By the way,most foreign 45 r.p.m. singles were vinyl pressings.But in the USA,the vast majority of them were pressed on plastic.How to tell is quite simple.
A plastic record has light showing through when held up to a light.It usually had a red tint but there were times that they were clear.Over time with each successive play,the record would start hissing and a white powdery film would appear on the surface of the record.This film can not be cleared off with a simple record cleaner.Most labels pressed their singles on this because it was a way of saving money.The labels that did this in the USA were the CBS family of labels,A&M,Bell,Casblanca,Polydor,Mercury,ABC Records,Arista,Sceptor,Eric,Philips(when they were in the USA)& Warner Brothers.Though they did at times press their singles on vinyl,this was extremely rare.
The labels that pressed on vinyl in the USA were the Atlantic family of labels,Motown,MCA,Capitol,RCA pressed most of their singles on vinyl until the 1980’s when they switched to plastic for their singles until the late 1980’s when they reverted back to vinyl.The vast majority of these singles,when held up to the light,would not have light shown through.The first four labels at times did use plastic,but it was used strictly for promotional reasons.I happen to have a couple of promotional Capitol singles and they are plastic.
I only share this because there are not too many web sources out there that have this information proving it.If there is anybody who can find one and share,please do so.Thanks.
I just thought that I would pass this along and share.
on 01 Jul 2007 at 11:35 am 7.Wojtek said …
Thanks Dave. I’ve seen your blog. You have a great selection of album covers. I also loved the vintage record player design posts. Keep up the good work.
on 01 Jul 2007 at 11:41 am 8.Wojtek said …
Thanks for sharing this great info Frank. I seriously didn’t know that. I have some 45 rpm singles, which were printed in the U.S., but they’re all Atlantic or Motown, so I guess that I was lucky :). On the other hand, I’d love to have a plastic single for my collection, gotta look into it some day.
Here in Poland, we also had singles released on plastic. Technically the proper term for them is “flexidisc” I think. They were sold by the Polish Mail as “Musical Postcards”. There was always a selection of local and foreign hit songs available and one could stitch a message on them with a marker and then the post office would send it. Problem was that the material used was really cheap so the discs degraded quite quickly. I think that such singles were also popular in Russia and the other Eastern block countries back in the day.
on 29 Nov 2007 at 9:00 pm 9.Carolyn said …
I am a very new collector of vinyl records, and recently was given a collection of colored records, red, yellow, green, etc. with oriental writing on the label. They seem to be in perfect condition with very good covers. I have been searching for some information about these, and was happy to come across your article. How can I determine the worth of this collection?
on 29 Nov 2007 at 9:29 pm 10.Wojtek said …
Sounds very interesting Carolyn. I may be able to help you evaluate these records, but for that I’d need some more information about them.
I’ll send you an e-mail so we can discuss things in more detail.
on 24 Jan 2008 at 10:47 am 11.ramon cervantes said …
thanks for your series. great info. i am just starting my collection of vinyl lps so every little bit helps. some of this stuff i knew. some i didn’t. it was a great review and a great learning tool to begin with. looking forward to more of your series.
on 02 Mar 2008 at 2:12 pm 12.Wojtek said …
Thanks Ramon. I’m glad that my posts have helped you with information somewhat. Yeah, I’ve been pretty busy lately with college (as one can see by the post frequency, or rather lack thereof). Good luck with your collection :).