RCA Dynaflex vinyl - really that bad?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Driver 8, May 2, 2007.

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  1. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Senior Member Thread Starter

    I always assumed that RCA's Dynaflex vinyl was a cheap, cost-cutting measure that led to cheap-sounding records. Maybe it was a cost-cutting measure, but I've recently been listening to Dynaflex pressings of Lou Reed's Transformer and Berlin and David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust that sound pretty good. The Bowie album trounces my CD copy of the same, thin vinyl or no thin vinyl. Other thoughts on this subject?
     
  2. bangsezmax

    bangsezmax Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, NC, USA
    It's generally accepted in record-collecting circles that Dynaflex records sound way better than they have any right to. Obviously they used decent vinyl and had a cutter who knew what they were doing.

    It's also generally accepted that Dynagroove records are an abomination. With RCA (for decades the king-daddy of labels), you win some , you lose some.
     
    TheeGory likes this.
  3. Richard Feirstein

    Richard Feirstein New Member

    Location:
    Albany, NY
    I never had a problem with a Dynaflex record. But since I had a decent cartridge properly mounted in a correctly setup arm I didn't want a record mastered to counter the defects introduced by poorly setup players. But Dynagroove apparently was a moving target and not all records with that label sounded bad on my system.

    Richard.
     
  4. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    What was wrong with them? I've heard some Paul Desmond ones that sound great.
     
  5. bangsezmax

    bangsezmax Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, NC, USA
  6. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Senior Member Thread Starter

    What was the "technology" of Dynagroove?
     
  7. bangsezmax

    bangsezmax Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, NC, USA
    I'll dig up a link. It was essentially a compression and EQ algorithm designed to make records sound "better" when played on cheap ceramic carts. Think of it as the MP3 of its age.
     
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  8. bangsezmax

    bangsezmax Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, NC, USA
  9. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    I always heard they were crap too, but I pulled out a Dynaflex copy of David Bowie's "Low" and it sounded amazing.
     
  10. Jeff H.

    Jeff H. Senior Member

    Location:
    Northern, OR
    I've found the Dynaflex vinyl to be hit and miss. Most of the RCA label albums pressed on that kind of vinyl sound decent, at least the few I have.

    The noisy ones I've come across are mostly Motown LP's that were pressed for them by RCA. Copies of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", and "Maybe Tomorrow" and "Greatest Hits" by the Jackson 5 I previously owned were quite noisy in between tracks.

    But Dynaflex vinyl isn't all bad. How can you hate a record so thin you can read a newspaper through it??!!?:D
     
  11. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Senior Member Thread Starter

    Like I said, my Dynaflex copy of Ziggy Stardust sounds amazing.
     
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  12. Leppo

    Leppo Forum Librarian

  13. monewe

    monewe Forum Resident

    Location:
    SCOTLAND
    Think the only disc I had on Dynaflex was the Guess Who album with American Woman on it.
     
  14. -Ben

    -Ben Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington DC Area
    I can't say for sure, but I tend to agree with Stereophile that Dynagroove RCA LPs was a bad idea.

    As for Dynaflex albums, as it is the case with any records, some sound great, some OK, some are nasty.

    I find many of them ARE warped to some extent. Many are noisy. Some, like the latest Dynaflex I bought (Nilsson Pandemonium Shadow Show) has a bad distortion (even though the record looks mint) through-out the second half of side one. Side two sounds fine. I dislike Dynaflex. The UK non-Dynaflex versions sound better most of the time. Specially Bowie.
     
    John Buchanan likes this.
  15. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Senior Member Thread Starter

    If that's the case, I'm going to have to seek out some UK Bowie pressings, because the U.S. Dynaflex sounds pretty good in its own right.
     
  16. -Ben

    -Ben Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington DC Area
    To be honest, the fact that UK RCA Bowie vinyl sounds better may be in part because UK RCA used the original masters. There are exceptions....Scary Monsters US may have been originally cut by STERLING in NY and thus the US sounds better. Dynaflex or not.
     
  17. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Senior Member Thread Starter

    Weren't Young Americans and Station to Station recorded in the U.S. as well?
     
  18. John

    John Senior Member

    Location:
    Northeast
    My only experience is my Orange label Best of Guess Who, and it is quite good, with quiet vinyl too.
     
  19. Eli

    Eli Party Coordinator

    Location:
    Isle of Lucy
    I accidentally cracked one while cleaning it years ago. I must not have been as gentle as I needed to be, and it flopped too far in one direction. It was a Skeeter Davis LP, IIRC.
     
  20. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    I have a Dynaflex "Man Who Sold The World", and John Denver's "Back Home Again", and they both sound pretty average to me...not great, not horrible either. Neither is warped at all.
     
  21. xman

    xman Active Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    When I was in High School in the early '70s I worked at a record store. I believe Dynaflex came out in 1971. Most records returned that I recall were the Dynaflex (Jose Feliciano, Bowie, Main Ingredients, Guess Who and Nillson to name a few) albums. If the shrink was too tight that meant a warped record positively. Many people in that era had console stereos. Since Dynaflex were so thin with a thick leading edge most cartridges (consoles) just slid down to maybe a minute into the first track. To avoid this you had to manually set the stylus on your own and not use the auto function. Anywho, I thought that sonically they were beautiful sounding and the best thing since cherry cola. I have quite a few. If you were lucky enough to buy the first pressings of those releases you were treated to sonic delights. My original Ziggy Stardust must have at leased 50 or so plays and it still sounds great. :righton:
    ______________________
    Stay Crunchy Even In Milk
     
  22. signothetimes53

    signothetimes53 Senior Member

    I remember my copy of Jefferson Airplane "Volunteers" had a ridiculous warp, courtesy of Dynaflex.

    I dunno why it played okay on my cheapo changer, but it did. But the warp was so extreme that when the changer dropped the next album on top, you could see daylight between the two records!

    :help:
     
  23. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey
    Not all records that say Dynaflex on the label are actual Dynaflex pressings. I think they left it on the labels for years after they stopped making those stupid ultra thin/floppy pressings. The others are average/typical pressings of the era in weight.

    I don't think all Dynagroove labeled records actually have the distortion added. I think it was a kind of on and off thing, where some albums were mastered with it, and others without.
     
  24. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I've had many Dynaflex's over the years. I have probably a dozen or more now. I've never noticed any more tendency towards warping than any other vinyl which is properly stored.

    As far as the sound - well frankly in those cases where Dynaflex's are 'later' releases of those earlier 'thick' RCA pressings (which often have a 'grainy' sound) they're almost always nice 'n quiet. For example: The Youngbloods. And The Guess Who (if you're sticking to US pressings). So I like Dynaflexes.

    I was about to start a separate 'fun' thread on this - I actually broke my first record the other day. It was a Dynaflex -2S pressing of The Youngblood's 'Elephant Mountain.' (Great 1969 folk psych album b/t/w) It happened to be a particularly thin pressing but it was minty and from a 1.00 bin. So I had cleaned it and was using my soft 100% cotton terry cloth towel to dry the water off. I had to be gentle as the record flexed pretty easily. Anyway I heard this little crack sound. I examined the record and noticed the first track had a little crack in it from the pressure I must've applied with my cupped hand. It wasn't much pressure but obviously enough. I figure the LP must have had a little defect there. Maybe not. So in the trash it went. *snif*
     
  25. Great topic! I've been picking up quite a bit of Elvis Presley vinyl lately but have shied away from original pressings of his 70's LP's because they're on Dynaflex. I'll have to get some and compare them to 80's non-Dynaflex pressings to see which sound superior.
     
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