HiFiMan
Active Member
Well, lots of opinions, theories, and experiences ........... so here's mine. There is no such thing as an absolutely quiet LP, period. WOW, that's a bold statement! By absolutely quiet, I mean that quite literally, no background noise whatsoever (as in CD quiet). Some pressings do come very close to CD quiet, but in my experience, very few (new or old). And yes, GOS, I know EXACTLY the sound you're talking about between tracks; although I refer to it as a variable swooshing sound. Minus the usual ticks and pops, I still find it quite annoying. Especially when it's present on a modern day pressing that's touted as an audiophile recording (aren't they all). It stands to reason it's there during music too, you just can't hear it over the music. Definitely something to do with the manufacturing process. Here's my experience that served to weed out ANY other possible variable, squarely pointing to the LP itself. I purchased a new issue LP, some time ago, that played as close to CD quiet as I have EVER heard. I had to really listen hard to distinguish it from the CD version which I also have (I'm talking quietness here, not anything else). I was so impressed with how quiet it was, I thought of two thing. 1) What an example LP to play for friends, just to let them experience how quiet a good pressing can be. 2) I'm going to purchase another copy just to have it on hand in case my first copy ever begins to get noisy from play. When the second copy arrived, I couldn't wait to give it a spin. Unfortunately, it was a disappointing experience; it wasn't as quiet as the first copy; very close, but still noticeably noisier. Put the first copy on again and blissful quietness again! I've A/B'd them several times with the same results. All testing done on the same TT setup, by the way. Conclusion .................... I got VERY, VERY lucky with the first copy!
As a side note; I have a few DBX encoded LPs that are REMARKABLY quiet! Why the industry never adopted this technology for the long haul is beyond my comprehension. Why modern recordings don't utilize the technology is even more absurd. They could sound so much better! It can't cost that much to encode them, and decoders (vintage) are a dime a dozen. Just baffles me! If someone has an explanation for that, please speak up.
As a side note; I have a few DBX encoded LPs that are REMARKABLY quiet! Why the industry never adopted this technology for the long haul is beyond my comprehension. Why modern recordings don't utilize the technology is even more absurd. They could sound so much better! It can't cost that much to encode them, and decoders (vintage) are a dime a dozen. Just baffles me! If someone has an explanation for that, please speak up.