https://consequenceofsound.net/2018...-real-thing-and-could-be-in-stores-next-year/
So, this looks promising, though the claims might be a tad iffy.
Using a laser to directly etch ceramic masters to press vinyl LPs, this company claims to produce more consistent disks, achieve longer playing times, and get more amplitude into the LPs we buy. I am not sure what is meant by "more amplitude", but it seems that could be utilized to reduce noise and get more silence between tracks and in the music... maybe. We tend to track a bit heavier than in my youth where a good Telarc pressing of the 1812 Overture would shoot the needle clear out of the grove when it came across the canon blasts, so maybe this will work.
But the consistent pressings (I've experienced firsthand the difference between two identical LPs pressed on the same stamper, one early in the run and one at the end of the run, and it was obvious the latter pressing suffered in direct comparison to the prior pressing. That is a huge improvement. Longer playing times are nice if you want to get the full 80 minutes from a CD into an LP, but I don't consider that critical.
We'll see.
So, this looks promising, though the claims might be a tad iffy.
Using a laser to directly etch ceramic masters to press vinyl LPs, this company claims to produce more consistent disks, achieve longer playing times, and get more amplitude into the LPs we buy. I am not sure what is meant by "more amplitude", but it seems that could be utilized to reduce noise and get more silence between tracks and in the music... maybe. We tend to track a bit heavier than in my youth where a good Telarc pressing of the 1812 Overture would shoot the needle clear out of the grove when it came across the canon blasts, so maybe this will work.
But the consistent pressings (I've experienced firsthand the difference between two identical LPs pressed on the same stamper, one early in the run and one at the end of the run, and it was obvious the latter pressing suffered in direct comparison to the prior pressing. That is a huge improvement. Longer playing times are nice if you want to get the full 80 minutes from a CD into an LP, but I don't consider that critical.
We'll see.