How Vinyl Records Are Made | Fluance at Microforum Vinyl Pressing Plant

If you’re here, you are probably like us. You cherish that moment of popping your favorite record down on your turntable. Sitting in a comfy chair and just taking in the music. But do you ever wonder how that plastic vinyl disc transports you to a place of musical bliss? How does the music we love get physically pressed into this wonderful physical medium. We decided to take a little field trip to a nearby record pressing plant to answer just that.
In this video, Noble takes us on a tour of Microforum Vinyl Pressing in Toronto, and shows us how Microforum takes a recording and turns it into a vinyl record. From delivering the source files, to quality control and printing the jackets.
» Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:16 Source files
0:55 Cutting the master
1:27 Galvanics
2:28 Pressing
4:31 Test Pressings
5:38 Quality Control
7:18 Conclusion
Now that you know how they're made, take your favorite record for a spin on a Fluance turntable: www.fluance.com/turntables
And read our article about Microforum and How Records are Made
blog.fluance.com/how-a-vinyl-...
Visit Microforum's website:
microforumvinyl.com
» More Videos from Microforum:
Microforum on 140g vs 180 Vinyl Record Pressings
• Can you tell the diffe...
Microforum on Different types of record masters
• What are the different...
Microforum on the best length for a 33 1/3 rpm record?
• What is the ideal leng...
Microforum on one unique record pressing
• Unique Vinyl Record Pr...
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[@nitro5247]

This is the most thorough video on the subject I have ever seen. Thank you for going into such detail!

[@coolakin]

I wondered how ppl on etsy make a custom one off vinyl record. Now i get it. They’re only doing step one of etching sound directly onto a record

[@darrellcook9830]

Very satisfying to watch. Nothing beats a record.

[@robd1329]

I cant imagine how workers back in the 60s reacted when the Beatles released a new album. I wonder if they ever took a record such as Sgt. Pepper home before it was aired on the radio.

[@xxEzraBxxx]

EMI employees usually got to take a copy home. All the of earliest White Album numbers went to them

[@reubenk7331]

Wow, really great video and explanation! I enjoyed that it went into more detail as well.

[@paulcadby6925]

I never tire watching records getting pressed...wired yeah 👍

[@stephenjerome4135]

An interesting video explaining every step of the vinyl manufacturing process and how it's done. I love vinyl. Would really love to work at one of these places.

[@murraykriner9425]

Thanks for running through with their Marketing Manager the steps of producing these amazing items. Very best wishes.

[@Outrunner85]

Very cool and highly detailed, thanks.

[@frankesposito2182]

Good work !!!

[@jr.rasentertainment4074]

Thank You For Sharing Your Story. Watching All The Way from Vanuatu 😁😃👍🔥🔥🇻🇺🇻🇺🇻🇺

[@collidingforces9589]

I love vinyl records. I wanna work there!

[@mattpowell5394]

If the record is made from a digital source - as shown in the video, then how can your record be a true analogue reproduction? If the record was pressed from a master analogue tape, the processes is analogue from start to finish. However, if you're beginning with a digital master, you might as well as just press it to CD.

[@blackwrits]

While that point is true, with vinyl you still need to master things differently than any other format. Which is a benefit especially post the "loudness war" mastering style that became prominent in the CD era.

[@mattpowell5394]

@@blackwrits Yeah, a lot of CDs produced during that loudness period hurts my ears to listen to.

[@neorubi]

🖤

[@feliperodriguesphd9007]

Hello! Can I use this video for a teaching business case? I'll use it to teach process management to my Operations management students. Please let me know!

[@ptbfrch]

Is the lacquer itself only ever used once and is useless thereafter? Or can it be reused? I wonder since you need a 'negative' of the lacquer in the the press, so you can have a 'positive' again once the record has been pressed, meaning the original 'positive' (the lacquer itself) must be separated from the stamper before it can be used. So it would be physically available, but I am curious if it's ever used more than once. My guess is the answer is 'no' but I've not been able to find evidence thereof. Thanks for a really well made video!

[@visforvinicius]

There's another video on this subject I watched just before this one that says the lacquer gets discarded kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2LGnaOXa8-Zodk

[@robd1329]

What?????

[@MuzikJunky]

Does that plant have a DMM lathe? Peace.

[@tainadelcaribe]

Not me interested on the process of making a vinyl record and then realizing the huge die cutting machine I could replace my small one with. 😂 It’d be too expensive, but the possibility for projects is awesome! I’d just have to find all the money to pay for it, then take a whole room in the house for it and find a way to make even more money to buy the dies I’d need or design them and have someone build them. Easy easy! 😝

[@WindomRettes]

Oh Canada!

[@kenheitmueller69]

What is that cutting setup that uses a technics 1200 as the platter?

[@michaelhorgan9525]

That lathe is a vinyl recorder t560.

[@Fonkemman]

I am more interested on how a master from a mix on tape is pressed to vinyl.

[@coolakin]

This was shown. There is a machine that directly etches the sound onto a record. That record is then plated and used to make copies

[@MrMerab]

S U P E R .......

[@jayson1270]

What happens if you get a limp biscuit?

[@carlrudd1858]

Interesting. Now show us how styrene records are made.

[@1v1editor]

Es

[@spacemissing]

Disappointing. As usual in these videos, The Most Important Step, the lacquer cut, is glossed over. Someone needs to do a half hour or so on nothing but that, explaining how to choose a perfect blank, set the amplitude, adjust the depth of cut, what to look for when examining the groove through the microscope, and all the other critical details.

[@teela-audiophile7864]

I want you to burn a vinyl record of 50 pcs

[@johnsweda2999]

Please don't use digital files if you have to use a digital file put it through a professional reel-to-reel first before cutting

[@mactryx]

Might the DAC process (digital to lathe) do the same thing as capturing to tape?

[@johnsweda2999]

@@mactryx no because you want to eliminate the DAC or dramatically cut down it's effect, you putting an analogue signal onto an analogue tape through an analogue system and then on to lacquer through a valve amplifier ideally with a Class D power supply.

[@mactryx]

@@johnsweda2999 "... if you have to use a digital file put it through a professional reel-to-reel first before cutting" this is what I was responding to. If I understand correctly, there needs to be a conversion from digital to analog. What process would you suggest getting a digital file to analog tape without a DAC?

[@johnsweda2999]

@@mactryx sorry I misunderstood! well yes you would need a DAC high-quality DA converter. You can use a reel-to-reel at mastering stage when making the file as well before it's digitised when it's in the analogue domain. You would run it on one part of the tape not recording it on the hole tape, because you would introduce wow and flutter, recorder halfway across equal sides of the tape, doing this for each parts of a track mainly mid-range vocals 300Hz up to 3.6k. You want high quality 24track refurbished with better modern component to High tolerances, Especially on the output stage to the lathe amplifier

[@MrRom92DAW]

@@johnsweda2999 I’m not going to say you’re stupid, but I will say that you have no idea what you’re talking about whatsoever. At the very least you are misinformed.

[@dafalzonAUS]

Records are such a rip off now $60 or more who are they kidding

[@mcbeatrecords8571]

they're not kidding anybody. it's no joke. since the major record labels tried to kill off vinyl in the 90s the price of pressing records has gone WAY up. And I've paid almost $300.00 for a rare record that I was looking for, so $60.00 for a brand new record isn't crazy especially with today's prices for everything.

[@looneyburgmusic]

"...need 24bit/96khz" Bullshit. 30+ years engineering, 24bit/48khz is more than good enough for vinyl, UNLESS you are cutting a recording of a live orchestra.