Sony to start pressing records again after almost 30 years

[JeffCarney]

Sony Music will resume pressing records for the first time in almost thirty years, when it opens a new plant in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture in March 2018.

https://thevinylfactory.com/news/son...records-japan/

[Steve F.]

Sony Music will resume pressing records for the first time in almost thirty years, when it opens a new plant in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture in March 2018.

That may also be the 1st vinyl plant to reopen in Japan; last I looked (which was a couple of years ago) there were NO vinyl plants in Japan....

[Jerjo]

I like that they had to bring back old engineers to show the youngsters how to do they made records.

It might get interesting if someone at Sony decides to do high quality reissues of stuff in their back catalog.

[Mister Triscuits]

to show the youngsters how to do they made records.

That looks like it was translated from the Japanese.

[Jerjo]

I minored in Japanglish, thank you!

[dropforge]

That looks like it was translated from the Japanese.

[JeffCarney]

That may also be the 1st vinyl plant to reopen in Japan; last I looked (which was a couple of years ago) there were NO vinyl plants in Japan....

I think JVC still has the ability to cut a limited amount of vinyl. Ken and I had this conversation not long ago and while most of the Japanese reissue vinyl seems to be pressed outside Japan, there are a few recent reissues which state that they are pressed there

Anyway ... not certain but even if Victor can do it, most of the vinyl coming out of Japan these days is definitely cut elsewhere. So either they have very little or no capability to keep up with demand "in house," hence this move by Sony Japan.

[moecurlythanu]

Kids these days.

[JKL2000]

"Realistic Cassette Plant To Resume Production"

[JJ88]

^I just don't get repeated asinine comments like that. No doubt the other one will be along to sneer as well.

[rcarlberg]

It might get interesting if someone at Sony decides to do high quality reissues of stuff in their back catalog.

Unless I'm very much mistaken, I think I've already seen a lot of high quality vinyl reissues of old 1950s-60s Blue Note and Rudy Van Gelder jazz.

[Edit: Here I am! Just as predicted!]

[rcarlberg]

^I just don't get repeated asinine comments like that.

Realistic Cassette Plant to Resume Production

There. I repeated it for you so your statement could be true.

[LASERCD]

Unless I'm very much mistaken, I think I've already seen a lot of high quality vinyl reissues of old 1950s-60s Blue Note and Rudy Van Gelder jazz.

[Edit: Here I am! Just as predicted!]

Yes but they are pressed outside Japan.

[Jubal]

Pictures here:
https://thevinylfactory.com/news/son...cutting-lathe/
Looks like a hospital lab.

[JJ88]

Realistic Cassette Plant to Resume Production

There. I repeated it for you so your statement could be true.

Good boy!

[Trane]

"Realistic Cassette Plant To Resume Production"

HMS to press 78 RPM next year

and Edison ready to make cylinders before the turn of the decade

[moecurlythanu]

And so the Three Amigos ride again!

3 Amigos.jpg

[Fracktured]

Hope they don't muck it up. Sony has been known to do such things. It's got my interest at least.


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[JKL2000]

^I just don't get repeated asinine comments like that. No doubt the other one will be along to sneer as well.

Any joke you don't get is asinine? Trane got it at least.

[rcarlberg]

I guess the money folks at Sony have concluded that this vinyl revival is here to stay, not just a passing fad. Forty pressing plants worldwide is not enough to fulfill the growing sales of LPs, especially since the process is considerably slower and more labor-intensive than creating CDs. This is what happens when $35-40 LP reissues fly off the shelves: everybody wants in on the action.

Back in the day it cost about a buck to press an album (in quantity) but I'm sure petroleum costs are a lot higher now, and the machinery involved is very expensive to maintain. Even if a dozen new plants come online the costs probably won't come down much.

[rcarlberg]

Pictures here:
https://thevinylfactory.com/news/son...cutting-lathe/
Looks like a hospital lab.

The industry standard Neumann VMS70 lathe joins the studio’s 12-strong mastering suite and will allow Sony to cut its own lacquers and master discs on site.

It has been installed on the same floor as its recording studio, to open the possibility of cutting lacquers from live recordings in real time – a process popularised recently by Jack White’s Third Man Records among others.

Direct-To-Disc recordings were big back in the mid-to-late 1970s. They still sound great today.

Maybe, if they get popular again.... maybe... the minimal processing, the explosive live sound, the extreme dynamic range -- these will lead listeners to discover (just like happened back then) the wonders of digital recording!

[Trane]

Back in the day it cost about a buck to press an album (in quantity) but I'm sure petroleum costs are a lot higher now, and the machinery involved is very expensive to maintain. Even if a dozen new plants come online the costs probably won't come down much.

You'd figure that modern technology might have found a better material, harder and less prone to static, to scratching, to warping and accumulate dust... But vinyl maniacs/purists might object to that.

Direct-To-Disc recordings were big back in the mid-to-late 1970s. They still sound great today.

Don't know if they were popular, as I only know FM's Direct-to-disc album... and yes, the CD reissue sounds fantastic.

[Trane]

Any joke you don't get is asinine? Trane got it at least.

I'm not sure I want to thank you for this !!

Back in the day it cost about a buck to press an album (in quantity) but I'm sure petroleum costs are a lot higher now, and the machinery involved is very expensive to maintain. Even if a dozen new plants come online the costs probably won't come down much.

You'd think that modern industry would've fpound a replacement material, that is more stable and sturdy, less prone to static, dust accumulation, scratches and warping

Oh wait, vinyl purists may object to that as well.

Direct-To-Disc recordings were big back in the mid-to-late 1970s. They still sound great today!

Not sure they were ppular... on the FM Direct-to-disc comes to mind... and yes, the CD reissue sounds mega-fine.

[JJ88]

Any joke you don't get is asinine? Trane got it at least.

I personally prefer CDs by some way...but I don't understand the repeated need for these kind of sarcastic comments. I always thought cassette was the crappiest of the big three mediums (CD/cassette/record) of yesteryear, and I feel any revival of that format is purely down to bone-headed hipster irony. There's a lot more to like about records, when everything is right.

It's a niche (albeit a rapidly developing one), certainly, but it's a small level of cheer for a beleaguered, battered music industry.

I refuse to use that 'v' word though, they were always 'records' for me and they will remain thus.

[progmatist]

"Realistic Cassette Plant To Resume Production"

Joking aside, believe it or not, K-Mart store brand cassette tapes were of phenomenal quality.