-
Coloured albums are a problem because the material has to be cut quieter
..interesting!
Can you recommend some further reading on this?
I googled around a bit but haven't found some serious info on the subject.
Ta!
salad-
I mean any album had to be cut quieter than an EP which generally contains less material.
However there are lots of exceptions. So my comparison was coloured EP's (12" records) especially dance genres are cut loud enough to overwhelm any surface noise where albums pressed in the amp or similar coloured vinyl are possibly trying to squeeze a bit more onto the disc because they are longer.
Caveat is that EP's can be nearly as long each side as the ideal maximum length per side which I think is around 24 minutes. You could cut very quiet passages longer than this because the grooves need less space.
Also bear in mind that 45rpm reduces surface noise vs 33rpm
Airhead
I've probably heard 30 this year and none of them are as good as something from Speakers Corner. They often have tiny quantities of black in them which can be noisy for some reason. Generally pressing is not from the 'higher quality' places like Optimal although they can be.
Taylor Swift - Lover is probably one of the best in Pink and Blue.
As a comparison maybe 20% of black disks seem to have noticeably noisy pressings and 80% of coloured ones. Most 12" are cut too loud for it to be a problem anyway. Coloured albums are a problem because the material has to be cut quieter and the noise floor becomes a factor.
Realised I should have added that black records are bad enough for noise and quality problems. I have received £100 one-step jazz pressings with a chunk of something stuck to it. The most consistent label I've been buying has been Speakers Corner.