Injection Molded Records Are Here!
listen and compare the same title pressed two ways
(There's NEW AUDIO attached to the video below). The German company Sonopress last year announced that it was developing an injection molded vinyl record production process, calling the resulting record an "EcoRecord".
The environmentally friendly process is similar to how optical media like laserdiscs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs are manufactured (Sonopress developed 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray technology).
With optical disc popularity giving way to streaming its both ironic and sensible for the company to re-imagine its technology in service of vinyl— the sole disc growth market. This year Sonopress rolled out EcoRecords, with an order from Warner Music Group for a Liam Gallagher and John Squire release.
Numerous orders have rolled in for EcoRecords, which are pressed using recylable PET (polyethylene terephthalate) instead of PVC. I got ahold of a Kylie Minogue record pressed both hydraulically and injection molded. It's hardly the kind of music that will allow you to really hear any major sonic differences, but minor ones are interesting. No guessing games here: the first one is hydraulic, the second is injection molded.
