Which country/region produced/produces the best vinyl?

[Golucid]

I own vinyl pressed in the following countries:

USA, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, UK, and Japan. So far, I am liking Japanese and German pressings the best.

Who do you believe both past and present produced/produce the best vinyl?

[Whart]

Too many variables to answer that question in such a general way. I can tell you what I think, based on my experience:
Some of the best vinyl compounds for records included the material used by JVC in Japan for the old MoFi, including the UHQRs. I didn't necessarily like how the recordings themselves were mastered, but if you were asking about vinyl for records as "best vinyl" compound-, i.e, the material the record is made from, that would probably get my vote. Does that outweigh other factors? I don't think so.
Where was the record originally mastered? That may tell you where the recording, once pressed, sounds best. My UK copies of old Vertigo Swirls tend to sound better than German, French or other EU copies of the same record. U.S. versions of these recordings sound pretty bad by comparison, and it has nothing to do with the 'vinyl,' per se. Some of the NZ pressings of these records are closer in sound to the original UK pressings than copies made in other countries. It probably has less to do with the vinyl, per se, and more to do with the generation of the tape and the particular mastering.
Japanese masterings, to my ears, tend to sound bright.
Canada was, I think, still using pretty high quality vinyl in the 70's when the U.S. material hit bottom. And some of the masterings were very good. I have a number of good Canadian pressings.
But, I also have albums that were originally released in the 70's in the U.S. on major labels that sound great- thin, very flexible vinyl, not impressive to look and made in an era when quality was going downhill but they nonetheless sound fab.
I think it is record by record, mastering by mastering, particular pressing, particular plant in many cases.
Gnu stuff? I don't buy enough new vinyl to give you more than a superficial view, but I've gotten great records out of Belgium, for example, cut at 45. Quiet, dynamic, kick ass sounding stuff. The current crop of MoFi, the stuff Chad presses in Kansas are very good. But, again, that's a generalization- and I think you are really asking what country makes the best recordings on vinyl, not the 'best vinyl' as a piece of plastic. So, you are back to the same variables- source material, who did the mastering, where it was pressed, what the recording was like to begin with- record by record, my friend.

[tima]

Whart has it right in noting there are too many variables. I agree with much of his commentary.

Nowadays, the different steps involved in making a vinyl record can occur all over the world. The process is not that different from auto manufacturing, where parts come from around the world and are assembled in a particular location. Is your BMW made in South Carolina an American car?

Speakers Corner (a company based in Germany who produces top-quality remasters) may use an outfit such as Masterdisk in New York to cut lacquers while Quality Record Pressings in Kansas makes their metal stampers, and Pallas in Germany does the final manufacturing. Is that a German record?

Both the quality of lacquers and vinyl composition have changed many times over the years. These materials have significant impact on the relative amount of background noise and sporadic ticks and pops.

For example, if the supplier of nitrocellulose acetate to a lacquer manufacturer changes their formula or their filtering process to save money, then the resulting lacquers that include that stuff may become noisy or harder to cut.

Vinyl formulas sound different. The formulation and quality of the vinyl pellets used to mold records have changed frequently over the years. For example, if a company no longer makes vinyl pellets containing lead, an ingredient that serves as a mold release additive, then the record will sound different. Pressing plants may select the vinyl they use based on manufacturing consistency, minimizing rejects, and simple availability, with sound quality not being their first objective.

Across the world, the number of suppliers of vinyl and lacquers are small and their products can vary over time; this impacts all record manufacturers, no matter their country. In modern times, materials composition and availability probably have a bigger impact on vinyl sound quality than the home country of the record label.

I've found that in general - of course there are exceptions - before the era of 'Audiophile Records', that classical music record manufacturers paid the most/best (?) attention to sound quality. A few examples: Philips records made in Holland during the '70's have a consistency of high quality. Lyrita records, which specialized in British classical composers, issued during the '60s and '70's were generally excellent, many of demonstration quality. Mercury Living Presence and RCA Living Stereo 'Shaded Dogs' might not have been as consistent, but there were/are many superb classical releases under their names. Nowadays, Speakers Corner, Impex, and Chad's QRP are among manufacturers I trust.

IMO/standard caveats, etc.

[AlienViolet]

Past ==> England (Gale) & German (DG)

Present ==> Japanese and MoFi from USA

[Whart]

Originally Posted by tima

Whart has it right in noting there are too many variables. I agree with much of his commentary.

Nowadays, the different steps involved in making a vinyl record can occur all over the world. The process is not that different from auto manufacturing, where parts come from around the world and are assembled in a particular location. Is your BMW made in South Carolina an American car?

Speakers Corner (a company based in Germany who produces top-quality remasters) may use an outfit such as Masterdisk in New York to cut lacquers while Quality Record Pressings in Kansas makes their metal stampers, and Pallas in Germany does the final manufacturing. Is that a German record?

Both the quality of lacquers and vinyl composition have changed many times over the years. These materials have significant impact on the relative amount of background noise and sporadic ticks and pops.

For example, if the supplier of nitrocellulose acetate to a lacquer manufacturer changes their formula or their filtering process to save money, then the resulting lacquers that include that stuff may become noisy or harder to cut.

Vinyl formulas sound different. The formulation and quality of the vinyl pellets used to mold records have changed frequently over the years. For example, if a company no longer makes vinyl pellets containing lead, an ingredient that serves as a mold release additive, then the record will sound different. Pressing plants may select the vinyl they use based on manufacturing consistency, minimizing rejects, and simple availability, with sound quality not being their first objective.

Across the world, the number of suppliers of vinyl and lacquers are small and their products can vary over time; this impacts all record manufacturers, no matter their country. In modern times, materials composition and availability probably have a bigger impact on vinyl sound quality than the home country of the record label.

I've found that in general - of course there are exceptions - before the era of 'Audiophile Records', that classical music record manufacturers paid the most/best (?) attention to sound quality. A few examples: Philips records made in Holland during the '70's have a consistency of high quality. Lyrita records, which specialized in British classical composers, issued during the '60s and '70's were generally excellent, many of demonstration quality. Mercury Living Presence and RCA Living Stereo 'Shaded Dogs' might not have been as consistent, but there were/are many superb classical releases under their names. Nowadays, Speakers Corner, Impex, and Chad's QRP are among manufacturers I trust.

IMO/standard caveats, etc.

Tima: good point about globalization.
Some of the Lyritas are superb- both the Deccas and the Nimbus pressings. I bought quite a few back in the day, and unlike a lot of the 'audiophile' oriented stuff, I actually like some of the music. Can't remember the last time I played the famous Arnold "Scottish...Dances" but the Elizabeth MacConchey (sp?) symphony, the harpsichord and string record, and few others are terrific. There was also an immediacy to the mastering on some of these records- the UK records in the late 60's-70's were very good, even the psych stuff (I became a big Vertigo Swirl fan in the last couple years, Philips mastered for the most part, and they are extremely good records, sonically). The music is all over the place, from obscure prog to some pretty bizarre stuff that is highly collectible, but not everyone's teacup. Most of my shaded dogs are noisy, the Mercurys always sounded a little strident, but as my system has gotten better, both sound better too.

[blames]

I think first of all we need to differentiate between styles as well since not all labels produce all kinds of music. From what I have seen so far:

Japanese - Atlantic, EMI, Harvest, Denon releases are exceptionally good and most releases (Priced 2.000 Yen and above) are better than their European or US counterparts. Main reasons are pressing quality, perfect centering, cover quality (Prevents records getting damaged), PVC for record sleeves inside. Paper is mainly acidic unless special qualities are used and putting the record in a paper sleeve will eventually may leave residue or ultimately damage the record. Japanese mainly used plastic sleeves which are much safer in his sense.

Arion and Ocora labels are the best presses in World music with old Folkways releases following closely. Lyrichord and Nonesuch are also ok, but not near the first two. Even though a small label, Inuit also had very good presses.

In classical music, Decca and DGG have generally been exceptional. Old DGG releases are awesome. I still have some prestine condition releases from pre-60s era.

Today, Pallas is printing many of the high quality releases in Germany and USA. However when I last spoke to one of their workers, they were exceptionally overbooked. Also the owner of VOD told me the same and he only works with Pallas.