Vinyl Record Pressing

Vinyl records are pressed in a three stage process which starts with cutting a lacquer or DMM from which stampers are made to actually press the record. Find our more in our article on How are Vinyl Records Made.

Your audio masters for vinyl pressing can be supplied as zipped WAV files via our ftp upload site (contact us for details), by wetransfer, dropbox or via CD-R/retail-ready CD—along with a full tracklist, timings and side splits.

The standard bit rate to press vinyl is 24 bit/44.1KHz. The master should be fully edited and as you want it to sound, with all tracks in the correct order and with your desired gaps between each track.

A complete track list should be supplied with every record pressing master. The list should contain the names of all the tracks, each track’s duration and the side splits for correct separation into side A and side B. These are mandatory requirements.

The quality of vinyl audio is directly affected by the distance between the record grooves and therefore the playing time of the record. Exceeding the maximum recommended playing lengths below can compromise the audio quality of the record, with bass heavy recordings particularly problematic.

At 33 rpm:

• 12" - 19 mins per side
• 10" - 14 mins per side

At 45 rpm:

• 7" - 5 mins per side
• 10" - 10 mins per side
• 12" - 15 mins per side

When pressing vinyl with hidden tracks or any unusual features this should be clearly communicated to us at the ordering stage. Provide the track number, name, time and details of your special requirements. Examples include long gaps between tracks, very quiet passages or deliberate use of electronic buzz or distortion etc.

Once your vinyl record masters and order are received, we cut the audio to either lacquer or direct to copper plates (DMM) depending on various factors. Both lacquers and DMMs are created on a special lathe which looks like a large record player and works rather like a record player's phonograph pick-up in reverse, where the audio is converted to mechanical motion. The cutting stylus, mounted in the head, cuts a precise spiral groove across the plate spinning at an exact speed of 331/3 or 45rpm, and vibrates to transfer the recording. Once the cut has taken place, lacquers are processed, firstly to a negative using nickel and an electroplating process, then again to create a positive. These are then plated once more to form the stampers (negatives again), which are then used to press the final records. DMM Coppers are processed directly to stampers.

TPs are supplied for you to check that the A and B sides are correct and the music is in the right order. It is too late to change levels and EQ at this stage. Breed Media is unable to further your order until you have approved your test pressings.

Your records are hand-packed, but on oassion some vinyl record pressing plants pack directly into a ‘bag' (a sleeve without a spine). Therefore, most record manufacturing runs will include a hand-packing charge. Stickers and inserts are normally hand-packed too. We require an accurate description of the required sticker position. You should always consider where any shop placed pricing stickers may appear (usually top right). Hand-packing is charged per movement.

Colour vinyl record pressing is undertaken using different material to solid black vinyl which crucially doesn't contain graphite. As a result the quality the quality of sound may vary, in particular, higher noise levels and isolated static sounds (clicks) may appear in the lead-in and run-out grooves, in the track crossovers and at any quiet points of the recording. For more information see our Coloured Vinyl Page