Does colored vinyl affect sound quality?
Music Industry Survival Guide- Everything you need to know about vinyl.
"There are lots of cosmetic options for your records. Depending on where you're getting your records pressed you can choose between various solid colors, transparent colors, swirls, the marble look or picture discs. It's a commonly held belief that there's a drop in sound quality when you stray away from black vinyl; lighter colors and clears especially... followed by an additional drop off when you go to picture disc. There are two schools of thought on why black vinyl sounds best, one is that it's the purest and contains no color additives. The other school of thought is folks putting an emphasis on the lead content present in most black vinyl. Black vinyl does indeed contain a small amount of lead and it very well may play a part in the sound differenc- es. Admittedly, I don't have much background in terms of picture discs but from what I understand the production process is much different than regular vinyl records and that the compound used is closer to PVC plastic than it is to vinyl. Like most things with records it's just a choice you have to make as to which is more important to you the best sound quality possible or a cooler presentation. Personally, when I'm in the record shop having to decide between the 180 gram version of Velvet Underground with Nico or the version on banana yellow vinyl I go with the colors but many choose otherwise."
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By Jay Millar, Sales & Marketing Manager, United Record Pressing
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SHAPED VINYL RECORDS
"Who says a record has to be round? Tell us what shape vinyl record you want and we?ll tell you what we can do. We can create your ?shape record? in any color combination, traditional black vinyl or as a shaped picture record. We will create a custom die cut just for your project in any shape that you require. Shape records are available in many different sizes. Utilizing clear jackets will showcase your product even more. A shape record is a unique twist and your customers and fans will love adding this product to their collection."
http://www.erikarecords.com/shapedrecords.html
SHAPED PICTURE RECORDS
"Shaped picture records are the Cadillac of the custom record. Erika Records can create a shaped picture vinyl record to fulfill any of your needs. First we press a picture record for you using a shaped slick or large label with picture and the record is die cut to match the shape of your slick and packed in a clear jacket with any type of insert and sticker you require."
http://www.erikarecords.com/shapedpicture.html