Rca victor vinyl7/13/2023 Many of these pop albums sold millions of copies and are inexpensively available through Discogs. (That said, the majority of the imprint’s non-classical releases were treacly instrumental pop.) Within a year, the “Living Stereo” series of LPs would branch out to include breathtakingly recorded albums by Tito Puente, Juan García Esquivel, Eartha Kitt, Perez Prado, Chet Atkins and the Isley Bros. The astounding clarity and precision of stereophonic reproduction begat the idea of “serious listening” as a pastime. RCA Records apparently never fully implemented the use of Dynaflex, as regular thicker vinyl records continued to be manufactured many titles issued by RCA were available in both Dynaflex and heavier vinyl pressings.Īround 1974-75, RCA began to gradually reduce the number of Dynaflex records being manufactured Dynaflex records were quietly discontinued entirely, sometime in the late 1970s.At the time, culture was entering a listening craze. Some critics charged that Dynaflex was nothing more than a ploy devised by RCA to save money by using less vinyl than in traditional, thicker records. While RCA claimed that Dynaflex records were less noisy and less susceptible to warpage and would last longer than conventional vinyl records, some consumers (particularly classical listeners) derisively referred to the new product as 'Dynawarp' because of evidence that Dynaflex records were prone to warp on dealers' shelves, just from the pressure of the shrinkwrap on the album jacket. Some felt that the sound quality actually improved, due to the purer vinyl used, and better processes for removing impurities in the vinyl compounds others felt that Dynaflex pressings were noisier and lacked bass frequencies compared to conventional records, and also had more "rumble" (low frequency noise) than conventional thick pressings. Opinions from record collectors and audiophiles are divided as to Dynaflex's sound quality. This flexibility also gave them theoretically more resiliency in shipping, resulting in fewer returns from retailers due to breakage and cracks. Some were so thin and flexible they could actually be bent nearly in half. RCA's Dynaflex records varied somewhat in thickness, but most literally "flopped" back and forth when held between the hands. Such "reground" vinyl records typically sounded much noisier and scratchier when played than a record made from new or "virgin" vinyl collectors noted that records pressed from "reground" vinyl sometimes had small remnants of paper labels or other materials embedded in them. At the time, as a cost-cutting measure, most industry record pressing plants were using recycled or "reground" vinyl, taking old and unsold records, cutting out the center with the paper labels, then melting the restĭown and reusing the material to make new records. Rather than using the stiff plastic material used by conventional vinyl pressings, Dynaflex records used a softer, pliable formulation that allowed RCA to use less material, saving money and also making the record appear to lie flatter on turntables. An RCA Inner sleeve from c.1970 touts the superiority of Dynaflex records.ĭynaflex is a trademark for a thin, lightweight vinyl LP phonograph record introduced by RCA Records in late 1969.
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