Hollow Knight (Original Soundtrack) - Christopher Larkin (2xLP Vinyl Record)

Hello from Czechia.

Still not come 😞

Jan

Plays great on a turntable, looks amazing, no problems. Shipping was a little slow but not really a problem.

Great quality picturedisk. Beautiful looking

While I appreciate a nice graphic print on LPs, I just prefer the plain black vinyl in almost every instance. I rarely had issues with graphic layers being the cause of shoddy playback, in this instance it is. Materia store's support staff response is pretty sub par, and you could say blame-shifting, and indifferent with regards to my refund or re...Read MoreRead more about While I appreciate a nice graphic

placement request.


I ordered two copies, one for myself and one to be gifted. Didn't have a chance to unbox the records for a week or so. I opened one of the copies a few days back to wet clean on a VPI RCM as per usual. As soon as the record was pulled out of the paper sleeve I was greeted with a pimply record littered with air bubbles of various sizes on both sides and discs, I thought nothing of it and just cleaned it and started playing it.
My god, what a horrendous pressing! Whooshing, heavy pops and crackles, and the occasional loud thud. I couldn't believe an LP in this condition would pass a basic QC check. I played the second side and observed the stylus to see where this loud thudding is coming from, could it be incorrect set-up on my part (low VTF, VTA, Antiskate), nope, it happened only when the stylus played over these air bubbles, the visible ones and some barely visible ones in the grooves. I did some online research on what looked like air bubbles to me, and it seems that this issue usually involves LPs with a graphic print layer or older records with a sandwich-type construction (Vinyl + cardboard core), and is most definitely a sign of a very poor pressing. The main contributing causes being a worn mother plate that long needed replacing or a worn stamper that hasn't been sanded at regular intervals. Another likely contributing factor would be air leaking in between the print layer and the naked vinyl surface, as a result of surface imperfections, dust, or debris preventing the print layer adhering properly to the vinyl surface. the folks on Audiogon explained it as being similar to when installing a screen protector with a dust particle being trapped and installing the protector over it would lead to an air bubble, a simple explanation that made sense.

Any way, I opened the second the copy that was meant as a gift, and wouldn't you know, the the other copy is pristine, none of the bubbles, noise, pops, or crackles present in the first copy, so it's a specific issue with one copy. Don't get me wrong, the second copy looks pristine but sound quality is pretty mediocre, I suspect it's mostly to do with the graphic layer and pressing quality.

Long story short, I contacted the fine folks at Materia store, to tell them about the sub par copy I received, and two days later I go a response that's pretty much summed up as: " We stand behind our product's quality, and it is unlikely a manufacturing error, rather likely an issue with playback, or your set-up, and unfortunately due to the many different brands of Turntables/Arms, and the many variables in TT setting up, we can't offer assistance", also please send us a picture of your set-up.

I was a bit annoyed at their response and their apathy, actually it was more blame-shifting. I was expecting "Hey our bad, we apologize for sending you a dud and defective copy, we'll send you a replacement copy or offer a refund.

I assume they thought they could dismiss me being new to this and owning (no offense) a Crosley or U-Orbit turntable. Due to that, I would chalk up these flaws as being inherent to vinyl playback, and par for the course. I sent them a photo of my set-up and listed the components, as well photos of the flawed LP, and...radio silence, no reply back from them, no replacement copy sent, or refund, nothing. That was five days ago. That's pretty awful CS if you ask me, and unacceptable. I wouldn't care to purchase from these guys again to be honest. Buyer beware!

P.S. I attached photos of the defective LP, the lighter side is by far worse than the side 2, but the bubbles aren't as visible. Also a photo of my Turntable, arm, and cartridge. Just for reference, my cartridge and tonearm was accurately set-up with a Dr. Feickert NG protractor, and Analog Magik calibration LP and software w/ Art Phono USB Plus. Read LessRead less about While I appreciate a nice graphic