Best Ever Albums

Re: Do you have any Dynaflex vinyl records?

Jimmy Dread — Thu, 17 May 2018 16:38:39 GMT

Author: Jimmy Dread

Posted: 05/17/2018 20:38

bobbyb5 wrote:

I read a little bit about it. RCA came out with Dynaflex in the early 70s because evidently there were a lot of complaints that RCA albums sounded pretty crappy. It was just a different formula of vinyl that was less dense and supposedly more durable and less breakable.

That's not what I've heard. It was because of the early 70s spike in oil prices, so the work-round was to produce cheaper records that were marketed by RCA as 'sounding better' whereas in actual fact were just flimsy out of necessity. As plastic prices skyrocketed and labels increasingly used recycled vinyl to save money, 'Dynaflex' meant that virgin vinyl could still be used, so I guess from a sound reproduction quality a thin slab of fresh wax is always going to sound better than a thick wedge of stuff with bits of old label in it.

I've had a Canadian Ziggy in the past which I've now sold and Dynaflex didn't make a great deal of difference either way to my ears - supposedly heavier records reduce surface noise, but that's not my experience as it's how the record's cared for and how it's been mastered/pressed/handled at the plant that makes the most difference.

Re: Do you have any Dynaflex vinyl records?

bobbyb5 — Thu, 17 May 2018 06:09:03 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 05/17/2018 10:09

I read a little bit about it. RCA came out with Dynaflex in the early 70s because evidently there were a lot of complaints that RCA albums sounded pretty crappy. It was just a different formula of vinyl that was less dense and supposedly more durable and less breakable. Only some RCA record plants manufactured them, so albums were still produced with the old vinyl too. This is why some people would have a David Bowie album, for instance, on regular vinyl and some had it on Dynaflex. I guess it depended on where you lived and which kind got shipped to your town. It wasn't like you had a choice.
I thought of one more that I have too; The Man Who Sold the World. The one with the black and white cover.

Do you have any Dynaflex vinyl records?

bobbyb5 — Thu, 17 May 2018 03:48:00 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 05/17/2018 07:48

Did you ever come across any Dynaflex records when you were buying vinyl albums? I forget the reason why Dynaflex was supposed to be superior to regular vinyl albums, but in the seventies some certain artists and labels issued certain albums on Dynaflex. I never noticed any difference in sound. You can only notice that they're more flexible and slightly thinner than regular vinyl. I guess it never took off because I never heard of any album after the 70s being made of Dynaflex. And the only two that I own are on RCA, with the orange label. So I don't know if any other major labels did it. These are the two that I own.

David Bowie....Low
Harry Nilsson... Nilsson Schmilsson