Which Vinyl Colors Sound Best?

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

The RIAA recently shared that 60% of all records sold last year were pressed on colored vinyl. And, an artist recently asked me this related question: Does black vinyl actually sound better than colored vinyl?

If you’re a vinyl enthusiast, you know most record collectors think it does. But is it true?

Let’s do the deep dive. I’ll explain the visual and sonic differences between vinyl colors, and I will rank all vinyl types and colors from best to worst.

Table of Contents:
• The start of the vinyl pressing process
• How black vinyl records are made
• Does colored vinyl sound worse?
• Ranking vinyl variants
• What’s the best vinyl color option for artists?

The start of the vinyl pressing process

Traditional vinyl records are pressed from polyvinyl chloride (commonly known as PVC). You may be surprised to know that PVC is not black in it’s natural state. It starts out translucent.

If you’ve ever seen a clear vinyl record, that’s actually very close to what raw vinyl looks like before anything gets added to it.

How black vinyl records are made

Unlike colored records, where color is added to the PVC, black vinyl isn’t just vinyl that’s been colored black. Black records get their color from something called carbon black.

Carbon black is a very fine carbon powder created from petroleum products. It was originally added to vinyl compounds to color records black, but manufacturers quickly discovered it had some other benefits too.

Turns out, carbon black strengthens the vinyl compound, it helps reduce static, and it improves durability. Historically, it has helped manufacturers produce very consistent pressings. That’s why black vinyl became the industry standard.

For decades, black vinyl had a reputation among audiophiles as the best-sounding format available. But does that mean colored vinyl sounds worse? The answer is yes… and no.

Does colored vinyl sound worse?

For a long time, during vinyl’s early decades, colored vinyl actually did sound worse. If you talked to serious audiophiles in the ‘70s, ‘80s, or even the ‘90s, many would tell you to avoid colored records altogether.

The reason was that the pigments used in colored vinyl weren’t always consistent. Some compounds introduced more surface noise. Visual and audio quality control back in the day wasn’t what it is today, and black records are just easier to visually check. So, back then, the reputation was largely deserved.

But today’s vinyl industry is very different. The vinyl compounds are of a higher quality and purity, and the whole vinyl industry is all about making a quality record. And the result is that a modern, well-made colored vinyl record can sound extremely close to a black vinyl record.

Ranking vinyl variants

Let’s discuss which vinyl variants sound best, and which sound worst. Instead of ranking every individual color, I think it’s more useful to think about vinyl quality in tiers. Remember that we’re talking about general tendencies here. A great pressing in one category can outperform a poor pressing in just about any other category.

Broadly speaking, here’s how I’d break it down.

Tier 1: audiophile grade

At the top sits black vinyl.

Black vinyl is still the gold standard. It’s the most proven formulation, the most consistent, and the lowest-risk choice if your primary goal is extracting every last bit of performance from a record. If you’re pressing an audiophile jazz album and every tiny sonic detail matters, black vinyl is still your safest choice.

Tier 2: virtually identical for most listeners

This tier includes clear vinyl, solid-color vinyl, and translucent vinyl — also called transparent by some plants — meaning, you can see through it. You can clearly see the difference between translucent and solid colors.

This tier of clear and colored vinyl actually represents the vast majority of records being pressed today.

If we’re being technical, there may be tiny audio differences between various formulations. But I’m not going out on a limb when I say that a well-pressed colored vinyl record will almost certainly sound better than a poorly pressed black one.

Today, the quality of the mastering engineer, the source audio, and the pressing plant matter far more than whether your record is red or black.

Now, let me be clear: If sound quality is your only objective, black vinyl still wins. But the difference is a lot smaller than many people think. When you add the visual sizzle of colored vinyl to the fact that those records sound really good nowadays, you can see how we end up with so much colored vinyl on the market today.

Tier 3: looks great, slightly more variable

This is where we find marble vinyl, splatter vinyl (which can have a solid base or a clear base), swirl effects, and metallic finishes.

These records can still sound excellent, but now we’re starting to mix multiple compounds together within the same record. And since the manufacturing process becomes more complicated, consistency sometimes becomes a little harder to achieve.

If there are any sonic differences at all, they’re usually very small, but they are a bit more likely to exist than with a standard solid-color pressing. By the way, metallics look amazing, but the additives needed tend to add a bit more surface noise.

Tier 4: collectability first

Here, we get to glow-in-the-dark vinyl and picture discs.

These are the formats most likely to involve some compromise in sound quality. Glow-in-the-dark records use phosphorescent additives that can increase surface noise.

Picture discs are built differently from conventional records because there is printed artwork embedded into the record, and the pressed surface — at least on one side — is actually a plastic laminate. The result is a record that looks amazing but requires some sonic compromises in the manufacturing process.

Now to be fair, both of these formats have also improved dramatically over the years. But if your primary goal is sound quality, these would not be my first choice.

What’s the best vinyl color option for artists?

Now you may be wondering: What should you do if you’re considered putting your music on wax?

Well, it depends on your goals. If you’re making a record specifically for audiophiles, I’d probably recommend black vinyl. But if you’re an independent artist selling records at shows, the differences in audio quality between black and colored records, or effects like splatter or marble, are inaudible to the average fan.

The market has shown that fans love colored vinyl. They love limited edition LPs. They love variants. They love things that feel special and collectible.

And the reality is, the sales boost you get from a beautiful colored vinyl edition will probably matter a lot more than any tiny sound quality difference most fans will never hear.

So, being the pragmatist that I am, I’d say this: Don’t let theoretical audio perfection get in the way of making something your fans will be truly excited to buy, and which will still sound amazing.

Put out the vinyl record that excites you the most and will get the greatest response from your fans.

You can watch the original version of this blog as part of our Indie Music Minute series on the Disc Makers YouTube Channel.