My Test Pressing Is Not As Bright

[krisjonzmusik]

Hello-

First time in here and first time mixing for vinyl. Hoping to get some quick advice + thank you in advance.

-I mixed the album to my client's satisfaction. 1" tape stemmed to DAW and mixed at 96/24.
-Mastered at Abbey Road for vinyl.
-Client is using Green Vinyl records in Holland and plastic injection molding pressing.
-I believe their cutter/lacquer maker is in North Carolina (Symcom Stampers).


My first test pressing came back and it seems to have MORE low end. BUT I think this is actually due to a dip in the mid to mid-highs.

There is also faint (really low) signal heard just half a rotation BEFORE the actual song hits of 3 songs. They are fairly strong onsets, so I'm thinking the bass is emitting laterally on the lathe?

Knowing nothing, I'm guessing they hit the lathe too hard. One of the tracks even skipped on first play, but I couldn't repeat it.

Finally, does this have anything to do with plastic injection pre-production rather than trad PVC? If I knew the ultimate format had higher STN ratio, I'd hit it as hard as possible too. I'm theorizing.

Are the lacquers thinner on plastic injection? Because if you look at the edge they are like a sandwich back-to-back.

I'd be grateful for any advice or insights. My clients needs to respond quickly and I'm the audio expert in the room. I know it's a bit of a spray of questions, but I need a crash course in the process and esp. plastic injection.

-Chris
@krisjonzmusik

[misjah]

Hello-

First time in here and first time mixing for vinyl. Hoping to get some quick advice + thank you in advance.

-I mixed the album to my client's satisfaction. 1" tape stemmed to DAW and mixed at 96/24.
-Mastered at Abbey Road for vinyl.
-Client is using Green Vinyl records in Holland and plastic injection molding pressing.
-I believe their cutter/lacquer maker is in North Carolina (Symcom Stampers).


My first test pressing came back and it seems to have MORE low end. BUT I think this is actually due to a dip in the mid to mid-highs.

There is also faint (really low) signal heard just half a rotation BEFORE the actual song hits of 3 songs. They are fairly strong onsets, so I'm thinking the bass is emitting laterally on the lathe?

Knowing nothing, I'm guessing they hit the lathe too hard. One of the tracks even skipped on first play, but I couldn't repeat it.

Finally, does this have anything to do with plastic injection pre-production rather than trad PVC? If I knew the ultimate format had higher STN ratio, I'd hit it as hard as possible too. I'm theorizing.

Are the lacquers thinner on plastic injection? Because if you look at the edge they are like a sandwich back-to-back.

I'd be grateful for any advice or insights. My clients needs to respond quickly and I'm the audio expert in the room. I know it's a bit of a spray of questions, but I need a crash course in the process and esp. plastic injection.

-Chris
@krisjonzmusik

assuming Abbey did an ok job the cut should have been 1:1 and there should be no need for low/mid adjustments....afaik Symcon doesn't cut themselves they just do stampers so probably cut somewhere else. the signal you hear a rotation before is pre-echo caused by close grooves on lacquer. green vinyl records are flat yes no safety edges. lacquers are same. if you have very soft passages in the audio you should have cut it on DMM.....welcome to the world of vinyl

[krisjonzmusik]

Great, thank you for reading and chiming in.

[jjgolden]

Also, It's good to have a calibration disc so you know the frequency response of your playback system/cartridge.
The "Ultimate Analog Test LP" will give you this.

[piaptk]

Also, It's good to have a calibration disc so you know the frequency response of your playback system/cartridge.
The "Ultimate Analog Test LP" will give you this.

THIS!