Decca Pressing Plant

monkeydevil · Post by **monkeydevil** » 2009-03-23 11:17

Hi!

The Decca Pressing Plant in the UK stood for serious quality pressings in the 60's. Does anybody know who owns it today?

I would like to manufacture an LP with the same quality as a good classical vinyl. So the Decca Pressing Plant is the first one that comes to mind. Is it active under a different name? Or does anybody have any tips on other quality pressing plants?

For instance, when you google for it, most pressing plants seem to make the laquer from CD. I want to make it from 24 bit 96 khz WAV files. That indicates the quality they present....

Charlie1 · Post by **Charlie1** » 2009-03-23 14:51

Could only find this on Tinternet:

"Decca was itself sold to Polydor in the late 70s and the UK pressing plant at New Malden was closed down. The pressings were then done in Holland."

Source: http://www.hificritic.com/editorial/Foster.aspx

SaltyDog · Post by **SaltyDog** » 2009-03-23 15:22

Very cool link Charlie.

monkeydevil · Post by **monkeydevil** » 2009-03-24 08:41

Thank you Charlie! Great link. Some interesting info there about Decca Matrix numbers etc. Satisfaction for the record collector slash nerd.

Regarding quality LP pressings - does anybody know where Linn manufactures their vinyl? I guess they should be caring for good quality.

Charlie1 · Post by **Charlie1** » 2009-03-24 08:58

monkeydevil wrote:Regarding quality LP pressings - does anybody know where Linn manufactures their vinyl? I guess they should be caring for good quality.

I don't know but I would just add that the current Carol Kidd LP that Linn are producing is noticeably more tuneful than an old copy I have (with blue label.) The new one is also much thicker vinyl with less surface noise - shame it attracts so much dust!

Linn Records might tell you if you email them.

Post by **lejonklou** » 2009-03-24 21:18

Great link, many thanks! Had to read it all, couldn't stop.

Right now I'm rather tempted by this (thanks to monkeydevil for the link):
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... EF:GB:1123

Wolfie · Post by **Wolfie** » 2009-03-25 00:24

New Malden? That's about three miles from my house!

Mick.

jewa · Post by **jewa** » 2009-03-25 10:44

Linn records are pressed in Germany by Pallas.
http://www.pallas-group.de/vinyl-01.php

/jrr

monkeydevil · Post by **monkeydevil** » 2009-03-25 11:18

Thank you jewa!

monkeydevil · Post by **monkeydevil** » 2009-05-07 09:08

thanks for the tip on Pallas Vinyl in Germany! I have made contact with them.

One other thing – what about DMM (Direct Metal Mastering)

DMM
Our standard is Direct Metal Mastering, the newest technology in vinyl manufacturing. The groove is cut directly in copper metal. Transient response is greatly improved. Stampers are plated directly from the DMM Copper Master, eliminating two of the three plating steps required for lacquers. In short, DMM yields better detail resolution and a lower noise ratio. This is especially good for long play albums, or audiophile material.

From wiki:
Direct Metal Mastering (or DMM for short) was/is an analogue audio disc mastering technique jointly developed by two German companies, Telefunken-Decca (TelDec) and Georg Neumann GmbH, towards the end of the 20th century. Neumann was responsible for manufacturing the actual DMM cutting equipment as part of their VMS80 series lathes. Unlike conventional disc mastering, where the mechanical audio modulation is cut onto a lacquer-coated aluminum disc, DMM cuts straight into metal (copper), utilizing a high frequency carrier system and specialized styli.
The advantages of DMM (hard surface material) over acetate lacquer cutting (soft surface material) are both sonic and practical: because of the rigidity of the master disc medium, no groove wall bounce-back effects take place after the cutting has been completed. This preserves the original modulation details in the groove walls much better, especially those involved with sudden fast attacks (transients). The improved transient response, as well as the more linear phase response of DMM improve the overall stability and depth-of-field in the stereo image. In addition, disturbing adjacent groove print-through sounds (groove echoes) are reduced in DMM. Also, there is no need to rush the finalized master disc directly into a refrigerator for groove preservation, as in conventional lacquer disc cutting.
DMM also has/had some drawbacks, the increased complexity and cost of the cutting hardware being the most obvious. This is counterbalanced to a degree by simpler matrix processing (the original master disc can even be directly matrixed into stamper plates, if the required amount of vinyl pressings is not very large).
Alongside mechanical audio recording and vinyl LP pressing in general, DMM in now more or less a thing of the past (certainly not in the mainstream of the sound recording industry any longer). The original inventor of the DMM method (Neumann) has completely stopped making cutting lathes and neither do they have any spare parts left for existing systems. However, present-day commercial lathes are being kept operational by independent service consultants, as well as cutting room service departments themselves, often by custom manufacturing missing or broken components.
Direct Metal Mastering is a vinyl record manufacturing technology by TELDEC. Records manufactured with this technology are often marked by a "DMM" logo on the outer record sleeve.
The cutting lathe for DMM engraves the audio signal directly onto a copper-plated master disc, instead of engraving the groove into a lacquer-coated aluminum disc. Examination of early DMM discs revealed what appeaered to be a high frequency modulation in the groove, thought to be caused by the use of an ultrasonic carrier tone. In fact, there was no carrier tone and the modulation was simply caused by the vibration (squeal) of the cutter head as it was dragged through the copper disc.
The Direct Metal Mastering technology addresses the lacquer mastering technology's issue of pre-echoes during record play, caused by the dutting styles unintentionally transferring some of the subsequent groove wall's impulse signal into the previous groove wall. In particular, a quiet passage followed by a loud sound often clearly revealed a faint pre-echo of the loud sound occurring 1.8 seconds ahead of time (the duration of one revolution at 33 rpm). This problem could also appear as post-echo, 1.8 seconds after a peak in volume.
Another improvement is noise reduction. The lacquer mastering method bears a higher risk of adding unwanted random noise to the recording, caused by the enclosure of small dust particles when spraying the silvering on the lacquer master, which is the necessary first step of the electroplating process for reproduction of the master disc. As the DMM master disc is already made of metal (copper), this step is not required, and its faults are avoided.

I have been in contact with a vinyl manufacturer in the UK (Breed Media). I like the communication with them, wich is very important in business relations. But I don’t know what I will be getting! They manufacture DMM vinyl. My big issue is – is it musical? Is it better, worse or as good as traditional vinyl made from a lacquer?

I searched the net and found this old discussion over at Steve Hoffman’s. http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showt ... hlight=DMM
He seem to be some kind of audiophile guru in some camps. Personally I think that some of his mastering work that I have heard is among the least musical mastering ever… It sounds both out of tune and out of rhythm. But this guy says that he thinks that DMM is “not as musical as traditional vinyl”. Needless to say, I don’t trust this person’s point of view a tiny bit after hearing his non-musical mastering work!

You guys on the other hand I trust! So, has anybody any views on the pro’s and con’s of DMM?

I hope it is good, because it is more cost effective and I like this company I mentioned.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showt ... hlight=DMM

Charlie1 · Post by **Charlie1** » 2009-05-07 09:30

monkeydevil wrote:I searched the net and found this old discussion over at Steve Hoffman’s. http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showt ... hlight=DMM
He seem to be some kind of audiophile guru in some camps. Personally I think that some of his mastering work that I have heard is among the least musical mastering ever… It sounds both out of tune and out of rhythm.

:D :D :D
I'm so glad you said that! I bought 'Sweet Baby James' and 'Blue' that he recently remastered for WB Rhino and despite the clearer sound just thought they really lacked vitality and musicality. My re-issue Blue communicates the music much better I find and so does my slightly warn green label 'Sweet Baby James'.

I even sent the James Taylor LP to ThomasOK cos I was so surprised after all I'd read including his own website. He found the a similar result.

However, this could well be down to Hoffman's mastering techniques and use of valve amps, so perhaps the manufacturing is very good. I know that he tries to get the vocals right (or what he thinks is right) and then let the rest fall into place. Whatever - I'm not buying any more of his LPs.

monkeydevil · Post by **monkeydevil** » 2009-05-07 10:07

:D OK, then it is probably nothing wrong with our ears! I wonder what all the fuzz is about with this guy?

Anyway, he thinks DMM is NOT so musical due to the fact that one has cut the metals with very high volume output. This seems maybe reasonable? But the fact remains that I don't trust this persons opinion!

Would be great to hear what you people might think about the DMM vinyls in terms of musicality?

jewa · Post by **jewa** » 2009-05-07 13:03

DMM is not very good, trust me. :D

monkeydevil · Post by **monkeydevil** » 2009-05-07 13:11

jewa wrote:DMM is not very good, trust me. :D

OK, please elaborate!