Suppliers of Lacquer/DMM disks

Topics regarding professional record cutting.

Moderators: piaptk, tragwag, Steve E., Aussie0zborn

Post Reply
User avatar
jesusfwrl
Posts: 365
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 2:24 pm
Location: Earth
Contact:

Suppliers of Lacquer/DMM disks

Post: # 39533Unread post jesusfwrl
Fri Jan 08, 2016 7:54 am

I am trying to figure out what the options are on a global scale for buying lacquer disks and DMM-style copper disks.

It seems like with Apollo, most people buy directly from them.

MDC also has a distributor or three but in the USA one just points me to the other and I haven't managed to find out who is actually supplying them.

As for DMM disks it appears that nobody is supplying them to the general public.

Lacquer suppliers only sell boxes of 25, at prices that seem rather extreme. None of them has a public price list and some of the prices I was given are more expensive than what some people charge for the lacquer plus their time and effort cutting it. I assume that as is customary for recording media, the price of lacquer in the USA is probably cheaper than in Europe.
Where do you guys and gals buy from?
What quantities do you buy?
I would be interested in also being able to buy smaller quantities, such as a box of 10.

Any and all suggestion welcome.
~~~ Precision Mechanical Engineering, Analog Disk Mastering ~~~
Agnew Analog Reference Instruments: http://www.agnewanalog.com

User avatar
concretecowboy71
Posts: 569
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:13 am
Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Contact:

Re: Suppliers of Lacquer/DMM disks

Post: # 39542Unread post concretecowboy71
Fri Jan 08, 2016 1:21 pm

Apollo and MDC are the only two I know of in America. MDC is a pain in the ass for the quantities I need to purchase but I heard they were supposed to expand their US presence. What are you trying to do where you feel like the prices are extreme. If you have a business, part of your business plan should be factoring in cost of materials up front. Apollo charges more for splitting a box, so the less you buy, the more it costs.

I tend to buy 75-100 discs all at once. But we cut all day everyday.
Cutting Masters in Bristol,Virginia, USA
Well Made Music / Gotta Groove Records

User avatar
GeorgeZ
Posts: 103
Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2009 10:18 am
Location: near Prague
Contact:

Re: Suppliers of Lacquer/DMM disks

Post: # 39543Unread post GeorgeZ
Fri Jan 08, 2016 1:45 pm

We bought a batch of "long life" copper blanks for DMM cutting from MMP several years ago:

MMP Master Media Production GmbH
www.master-media.net/

Results of our tests were very good - it was possible to cut to their copper blanks even after several months.
But I have no information whether they still offer DMM blanks to other studios or not. At least their new web page has no info about that (there was a note at the older one that they did it).
Jiri Zita
Premastering manager
GZ Vinyl / GZ Media Lodenice
Czech Republic

User avatar
jesusfwrl
Posts: 365
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 2:24 pm
Location: Earth
Contact:

Re: Suppliers of Lacquer/DMM disks

Post: # 39544Unread post jesusfwrl
Fri Jan 08, 2016 2:15 pm

Thanks for the tip, George.
I will get in touch with Master Media and find out if they still offer DMM blanks.
I guess in a pressing plant setting DMM blanks can also be recycled, right?

Concretecowboy, I do run a business but I offer specialist services not limited to disk cutting. I would probably cut 25 sides in six month or so, but this is not necessarily always the case. I specialise in cutting from tape entirely in the analog domain as well as also offering several other services. While I understand that it might be questionable if it is worth cutting masters as a business if it is not going to be a high volume cutting studio, I would like to be able to offer it as an option for the relatively limited audience who would require this kind of service.
My concern is not the price alone, as I could keep my rates for cutting high enough to cover my costs, and people would still be willing to pay it. My concern is more that I do not want to throw away lacquers because they are getting too old. I would rather buy a pack of 10 if possible, even if it is more expensive. I didn't know that Apollo is willing to split boxes. All indications I got so far were to the contrary. I'll have to get back to them about this.

How long do you think lacquers can be kept before they become unusable?

I do have some experience cutting lacquer. But up to now, it was lacquer supplied by others. I mostly cut PVC. When I first started I got a batch of fairly old lacquer, which I could still cut, but it was quite noisy. Good to learn with but not something I'd like to use as a master.
~~~ Precision Mechanical Engineering, Analog Disk Mastering ~~~
Agnew Analog Reference Instruments: http://www.agnewanalog.com

User avatar
alesfer
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Feb 09, 2020 10:36 am

Re: Suppliers of Lacquer/DMM disks

Post: # 55102Unread post alesfer
Thu Feb 20, 2020 6:20 am

Hi,

I have the possibility to modify my self-built lathe and I am looking for 4-5 dmm copper blanks to carry out some tests.
I have asked many plants in Europe and nobody is willing to sell them.
Can anyone help me on this?

Regards

User avatar
markrob
Posts: 1623
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:14 am
Location: Philadelphia Area

Re: Suppliers of Lacquer/DMM disks

Post: # 55108Unread post markrob
Thu Feb 20, 2020 1:43 pm

Hi,

I don't know if this would work for you, but have you considered using copper clad printed circuit board material to play with first? You can get double sided or single sided material with 1 or 2 oz. copper. 1 oz copper is about 1.4 mils thick and 2 oz copper is 2.8 mils thick. You can get thicker, but its not so common. 2.8 mils might be just thick enough to experiment with.

Mark


User avatar
alesfer
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Feb 09, 2020 10:36 am

Re: Suppliers of Lacquer/DMM disks

Post: # 55186Unread post alesfer
Sun Mar 01, 2020 11:33 am

Thanks guys!

Post Reply