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Old 18th Mar 2018, 6:44 pm   #1
Martin Bush
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Default Record playing too fast

Hi all

Is it possible for a record to be pressed so that it plays too fast?

I earlier put on a copy of Thriller that is been given. I have it on LP and CD already with this copy being intended to replace my existing one which skips. Anyway, to my ears it seemed to be playing slightly fast - is that possible?

I've now got another LP on that I know and that's fine.

Martin
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Old 18th Mar 2018, 6:49 pm   #2
Craig Sawyers
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

If the cutting lathe used for that pressing was running fast - sure.
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Old 18th Mar 2018, 6:53 pm   #3
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

That's what I thought. Odd that such a big seller would suffer from it though... Or that my ears would go selectively off key!

Anyway, both discs skip so I'm looking for another one.
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Old 18th Mar 2018, 7:50 pm   #4
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

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Originally Posted by Craig Sawyers View Post
If the cutting lathe used for that pressing was running fast - sure.
Running slow maybe?

Martin
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Old 18th Mar 2018, 8:58 pm   #5
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

one easy way to find out.
Use a stopwatch, time the CD and the version you reckon is correct, then compare to the one that runs fast.
A slow running lathe would give a fast replay.

Now a curved ball............ how much have you spent on used copies of this LP?
If you like it and play it a bit then consider buying a new pressing.
I see one vendor, Diverse vinyl, have the remastered version on 180g vinyl for £19 online. That's a reliable vendor with a no quibble returns service and can be found at many shows as well as online, how many beat up worn out records would you have bought before you hit that figure?
You may cringe at the price but these days I would rather save up for a new pressing on quiet vinyl instead of going through multiple kn*ckered used ones. and this is a record that is likely to have been played to death and kicked around a teenage bedroom.
Now here's a thing, back in 1982 that album would have cost you around a fiver tops. That would have bought you roughly 7 and a half pints of pub bitter, today the same amount of beer would set you back around £26 give or take, at my locals price of £3.50. A crude analogy but one that I hope puts a bit of perspective on things.

Andy.
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Old 18th Mar 2018, 10:21 pm   #6
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

Very good point. I don't recall what I paid - the second disc was free from the same seller as I spotted it and told him about the fault in the other one. Won't have been much overall but I am prone to chasing the illusive perfect disc and ending up with various versions, none of which are right!

The free one is the 'fast' one. It's also slightly warped. You get the picture
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Old 18th Mar 2018, 10:40 pm   #7
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Oh I get it alright!

I eventually stumbled across a "mint" copy of "Moving Waves" by Focus recently and when I count the cost of the 2 previous copies its sobering. For all it was a No1 Album in the day, original pressings are expensive and always have been. And most of them are hammered to death.
I should have just got the CD but it was one of those teenage moments that has stuck in my memory.

Strangely I find Moody Blues LPs also tend to be fairly well worn out in the used shops. And there's a band whose first 7 albums I would hoover up if there was a boxed set repressing done.

A.
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Old 18th Mar 2018, 10:42 pm   #8
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

It's fairly well known that certain radio stations deliberately played records slightly fast for psychological effect. Is it at all possible that special releases of popular records were made for similar reasons? Unlikely, I know, but it seems almost unthinkable that an accidental 'fast' version would have passed QC.
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Old 18th Mar 2018, 10:50 pm   #9
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

If your LPs are "skipping", then best to examine the stylus....
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Old 19th Mar 2018, 12:09 am   #10
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

Thanks Edward. The stylus is new and I've had the same records skip in the same places on different players - sometimes I can see why and other times not. Weirdly I find 45s can be far more battered and even dirty and play without jumping (no, I'm not in the habit of playing dirty records).

On the subject of speed I guess it's just one of those things. I will perhaps give the disc another spin and see whether it was just my ears, brain or blood pressure this afternoon!
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Old 19th Mar 2018, 12:26 am   #11
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

Might be worth the old stopwatch experiment Martin?
Again, not knowing what deck you use and how it derives its motor speed, you may have very pitch sensitive hearing and perhaps the local mains frequency dropped causing a synchronous motor to slow?

Andy.
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Old 19th Mar 2018, 12:34 am   #12
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

I have an Astrud Gilberto LP that was pressed, at a guess, 10% fast. That's about how much I had to slow it by on my DD Technics when compared to the CD!
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Old 19th Mar 2018, 12:42 am   #13
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

I did wonder about the mains and also whether Thriller accentuates any inaccuracies due to Jackson's voice and the other elements being so ingrained in anyone like me who has heard the tracks hundreds of times. Anything slightly off and you notice it.

I'm not even his biggest fan, but I did grow up in the 80s...

I may have a go with the stopwatch, but then I'd have to find my CD. I've not been interested in CDs, of the whereabouts of most of mine, for a long time since I started playing LPs again!
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Old 19th Mar 2018, 12:46 am   #14
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

Just compare the same track on both albums?

A.
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Old 19th Mar 2018, 9:48 am   #15
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

Could it be possible that the record has shrunk slightly?

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Old 19th Mar 2018, 9:58 am   #16
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hartley118 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig Sawyers View Post
If the cutting lathe used for that pressing was running fast - sure.
Running slow maybe?

Martin
Er - yup, your're quite right
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Old 19th Mar 2018, 10:26 am   #17
Edward Huggins
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Bush View Post
Thanks Edward. The stylus is new and I've had the same records skip in the same places on different players - sometimes I can see why and other times not. Weirdly I find 45s can be far more battered and even dirty and play without jumping (no, I'm not in the habit of playing dirty records).
45's have much coarser grooves than LPs and even very worn ones do not suffer from as much groove wall collapse.
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Old 19th Mar 2018, 11:44 am   #18
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

Just trust your ears! If you find it distracting that’s it, just don’t play it.
Cheers
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Old 19th Mar 2018, 11:53 am   #19
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

Shouldn't the first thing to do be to print out a strobe disc and check whether the turntable is running at the correct speed?
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Old 19th Mar 2018, 11:56 am   #20
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Default Re: Record playing too fast

With regard to skipping, If the record is clean, then I would start by checking that the turntable is level and that the tracing weight is set towards the upper end of the manufacturer's recommended tracking weight.
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