Do Coloured Records Sound Worse?

[@Gabriel_Bessette]

I was recently helping a friend with some critical listening on a Vinyl release he was doing. The test presses he was provided all played flawlessly on a variety of systems (ranging from a consumer low end turntable, to a decent Rega RP40). When he received the actual pressing, which he selected clear vinyl for, a large portion of the records all exhibited skipping on a number of the same songs. The problems were worse on the low end turntable but they were still present on the RP40. What are the chances some other parameter changed between the test pressing and the clear vinyl pressing beside the colour of the vinyl?

[@raretonemastering]

Mmm, this sounds like a pressing issue rather than a colour issue. Sometimes the presses don't get hot enough or have various other malfunctions so the grooves don't get pressed as accurately as they should. Did he get the problem sorted by the pressing plant?

[@Gabriel_Bessette]

@@raretonemastering Not really, I believe he was sort of forced to accept the order as is. Luckily is was a small run, and not all records exhibited the problem. Needless to say, he won't be using that particular plant again.

[@raretonemastering]

@@Gabriel_Bessette That's a shame and yes, that plant should definitely be avoided!