Where do you press your vinyl?

Professor · Post by **Professor** » Sun May 06, 2007 11:16 pm

I have a group that is looking to do a 7" single release, maybe just 200-300 discs and the company they have been looking at hasn't been back in touch with me or them about how to send in the material etc. I know some of you out there have pressed vinyl on recent projects and I need to know who you are using, and how they have been in terms of quality, price, and responsiveness.
Also while we're at it, what format did you send them for your masters, and did you pre-master yourself, go through a separate ME, or send their ME the mixes straight off the board.

Thanks.

-Jeremy

Cellotron · Post by **Cellotron** » Sun May 06, 2007 11:32 pm

A very good listing of actual currently in business North American pressing plants (that are not just brokers) can be found at
http://www.aardvarkmastering.com/pressing.htm

In Europe there is
GZ in Czech Republic - http://www.gzvinyl.cz/
Portal Space Records in England - http://www.portalspacerecords.com
Orlake Records in England - http://www.orlakerecords.co.uk
Optimal Media in Germany - http://www.optimal-online.de/
The Vinyl Factory in Australia - http://www.vinylfactory.com.au
(and also one in France I forget the name of, and maybe some others that I'm not aware of)

As far as formats - to me if you want the very best results you should work with a vinyl mastering studio directly and have them send lacquer masters to the pressing plant of your choice after you have approved a reference acetate that they've made. The best cutting studios will be able to transfer directly from 1/4", 1/2", 24bit digital audio files, CD-R, or DAT.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

markmeat · Post by **markmeat** » Mon May 07, 2007 10:39 am

Pirates Press just did our 7" and it's great... quick turnaround, very good communication, fairly inexpensive for vinyl.

www.piratespress.com I believe.

MEAT

jonnymo · Post by **jonnymo** » Mon May 07, 2007 11:40 am

I usually go through United Record Pressing (www.urpressing.com)...got a fun lesson in mastering for vinyl when I got my first master back from them and all the esses were distorted to crap and I went over their 6-minute time limit per side which resulted in severe distortion.

Of course, if I'd followed their tips for mastering page, I wouldn't have totally blown money (for them to make a second master):
http://www.urpressing.com/tips.html
Do other houses have tips pages like this one?

chris ryan · Post by **chris ryan** » Mon May 07, 2007 11:45 am

do your mastering at aardvark and press at united or bill smith. mostly just don't get the pressing plant to master your record.

Cellotron · Post by **Cellotron** » Mon May 07, 2007 12:53 pm

markmeat wrote:Pirates Press just did our 7" and it's great... quick turnaround, very good communication, fairly inexpensive for vinyl.

www.piratespress.com I believe.

MEAT

It should be noted that Pirate Press is a broker primarily sending their vinyl orders to GZ in Czech.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

markmeat · Post by **markmeat** » Mon May 07, 2007 12:56 pm

It's true... they just do the print work, but the vinyl was excellent and the print was awesome...

Cellotron · Post by **Cellotron** » Mon May 07, 2007 1:02 pm

jonnymo wrote: Of course, if I'd followed their tips for mastering page, I wouldn't have totally blown money (for them to make a second master):
http://www.urpressing.com/tips.html
Do other houses have tips pages like this one?

RTI has good info at
http://www.recordtech.com/prodsounds.htm
http://www.recordtech.com/atmweb/times.htm
http://www.recordtech.com/Source_matl.htm
http://www.recordtech.com/faq.htm

Best regards,
Steve Berson

Professor · Post by **Professor** » Mon May 07, 2007 4:12 pm

Thanks guys, looks like I have some additional reading to do tonight, and maybe some more calls and e-mails.
I had read most of the tips page at URPressing and enjoyed how much they were promoting the medium while also learning a little more about the format.. And they e-mailed me back too, letting me know that CDR and DAT were kinda the standard, though I'll probably ask about sending 24-bit files.
So I'll do some more poking around at the sites listed above and talk to the band more tomorrow.

And thank to you all for your help.

-Jeremy

djimbe · Post by **djimbe** » Wed May 09, 2007 9:56 am

Mr. Bob Weston has recently opened his new mastering facility, largely based around masting for LP and vinyl cutting:

http://www.chicagomasteringservice.com/

I've always found him to be a helpful and responsive guy. He could help with information and contacts in this area...

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