Modern vinyl pressing QC

So I've been in the vinyl revival scene for a while now, but only got into new records more recently. Of the dozen or so new pressings I've purchased in the in the last few years, I'm lucky to have 50% playable rate. And by that, only 1 or 2 skips per side. I only have 1 new record that plays clean beginning to end. The other half of my collection is entirely unplayable. Either so warped you can hear the wave in it or skipping literally every 10 seconds. 
 

This is a far cry from my vintage pieces. I know "survivor bias" is a factor on the old stuff, but this is rather frustrating. As a bonus, I even have a mis-press. I have Garth Brooks In Pieces with the B side from The Chase. 
 

So, is new QC really this bad, or has it always been the case, but the bad ones just didn't survive?

In reply to Brian(formerly neon4891) :

Skipping on new records is most likely an issue with your equipment. Most likely a poor quality stylus with a misbalanced tone arm. What kind of turntable do you have? What cartridge do you have on it?

My experience does not mirror your own. Although most of my records are used, I've gotten over 2 dozen new. Only one has had significant issues. A copy of "Back at the Chicken Shack" that was noticeably dished and wavy. I think had off-centered, too. It still played without any skipping, but was not up to my standards. I returned it to Amazon with zero hassle.

I've heard that QC is not as good as it was when vinyl pressing was more common. I gather it is HIGHLY dependent on the outfit doing the pressing. Certain companies being known for better QC than others. I frequently check Discogs before ordering something to see reviews of how good of a pressing it is.

On the whole, I would say modern vinyl pressing is not *consistently* of the quality from the 70's, but the best modern pressings of today are better than the best pressings from the 70's.

A new record should not skip. Period. Worst I would expect is crunchy surface noise on the first playthrough if you haven't cleaned it in advance.

I'm currently on a new victrola suitcase player. Maybe 10-15 hours in. Manual recommends replacing the needle every 50 hours.  It is a vast improvement over my late '00s crosley all in 1. I really don't want to go down the audiophile gear rabbit hole. 

My experiences are similar to Beer Barons. No issues for me. I agree, I'd look into your tonearm being correctly balanced.

In reply to Brian(formerly neon4891) :

I would try to play those records that skip on a different turntable. My guess is that they're skipping because it is a cheap turntable with a cheap, light tonearm. Also, if it has built in speakers, those can cause the record to skip as well. In an ideal-lets-get-crazy-with-this world, the record player is on isolated concrete in a different room than the speakers. 

You can get a quality turntable without going down the audiophile hole. I'd probably budget $200 to $300 to get into a good setup if it does turn out to be the turntable that is the issue.

Brian(formerly neon4891) said:

I'm currently on a new victrola suitcase player.

This is your problem. It may be better than a Crosley all-in-one, but still not very good. I understand not wanting to shell out the $$$ for audiophile quality, but there is a WIDE range in quality, and you can see BIG upgrades for not much money.

Car analogy... the stock cartridge on that Victrola is like the utlra cheap tires that a budget used car lot puts on a car. They may have plenty of miles of life in them, but they're going to offer terrible ride quality, horrible handling, and be stupid noisy until you replace them.

If you can find a replacement, upgrade cartridge that fits your player, that will likely show immediate improvements over the stock one. That's the $30 upgrade. It won't really be "good", but you'll have at least a budget brand from Tire Rack.

If you want a better turn table, you don't need to spend $300+ on an audiophile setup. You can get massive upgrades spending $100-$200 new, or hunting around for a used table and maybe installing a new $50 cartridge.

Skateboard analogy: a cheap Crosley is like a cheap Walmart Skateboard. A cheap Victrola is like a cheap Target skateboard. You don't need to spend $170+ to hand build exactly all the components a la carte, but you'll see a massive improvement on a $90 complete over that $40 board.

I am just getting started in vinyl, and I have just a few new records and a bunch of old ones. One of the old ones has a visible large wave, and everything plays very well other than one skip on one record. It's not even the one with the big wave.

mtn said:

You can get a quality turntable without going down the audiophile hole. I'd probably budget $200 to $300 to get into a good setup if it does turn out to be the turntable that is the issue.

I think you can get "decent" for $100-$200. $200 - $350 seems to be the "sweet spot" for value, with a bit of research. $400+ and some research for "very nice". $170 - $250 seems to be a mini segment with some very solid options.

The cheap tonearms tend to usually be over *heavy* not light (like 5-8 grams, as opposed the the ~2), but without tracking balancing, very flimsy-flexy tonearms, and notoriously crap stylii that don't like to track.

Brian(formerly neon4891) said:

I'm currently on a new victrola suitcase player.

I find that this is an interesting sentence to read in the year 2022.  While I was an enthusiastic audiophile 30 years ago, I am pretty much out of touch with current audio equipment.  When I read "Victrola suitcase player," my mind pictured this:

I buy a lot of vinyl, and I don't know that I've had any real notable issues.  I think it usually comes down to the mastering, and the lost art of mastering for vinyl.

I did just do a run of 200 records via Atomic Disc and I couldn't be happier, should anyone be looking to put out some vinyl as well as listen to it.

I also buy new vinyl all the time. While I do get a dud every once in a while, it's usually a noisy pressing from bad mastering or a warped disc. I was getting skipping sometimes, but after I dialed in the tone arm and gave everything (including the records) a good cleaning, that went away almost entirely. I'm running an 80's Gemini DJQ 1200 turntable with a Stanton cart which I scored for $20 on Craigslist years ago. It's like the 1st Cummins Diesel Ram of turntables; a workhorse that cannot be killed even though it's rough around the edges. 

I also join others in suggesting a new turntable. Most of the Crosleys, Victrolas, IONs, etc. all use the same turntable insert that you can buy from AliExpress for like $8. Keep an eye on Craigslist, FB Marketplace, and the local thrift stores for another one on the cheap. If you have the cash, Walmart and Best Buy sell Audio Technica tables that are worlds better than those. 

I figure I'm going to upgrade to an AT turn table before too long. Thanks for the input.