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Vinyl Limitations:

Vinyl records have built-in limits based on how the needle follows the grooves—like trying to squeeze too much into a small space. Longer sides mean cramming more music, which can hurt sound quality. Here's the easy breakdown:

• Time per Side: You can fit about 10 minutes easily, even with lots of bass. Up to 30 minutes is possible on a standard 12-inch record at 33⅓ RPM, but it squeezes the grooves super tight, making playback skippy or uneven. Stick to 15–20 minutes per side for the best, cleanest sound—anything over 22–25 minutes usually loses some sparkle.

• Distortion (That Fuzzy or Harsh Sound): On longer sides, the grooves get narrower near the center (by the label), so the needle wobbles more. Heavy bass makes it worse by "pushing" the groove too far side-to-side, causing skips, buzz, or weird echoes when cutting the master disc or playing it back.

• Fidelity (Overall Clarity and Warmth): Cramming in more time means cutting bass a bit (to fit everything), blending left/right channels in the lows (making it less "wide" and immersive), and softening highs to avoid damaging the cutting machine. Result? Bass feels muddy, highs get dull, and the whole thing sounds flatter—losing that cozy vinyl vibe we love.

You could jam 30 minutes on a side, but it'll almost always mean quieter volume, less stereo "space," or weaker bass.

Easy Tips For You:

Don't worry—we handle the tricky stuff! Just follow these to make cutting the master disc (lacquer) and pressing records smoother:

• Keep Sides Short: Aim for 20 minutes or less per side. Put your bassiest songs at the start (outer edge) so grooves have more room to breathe and sound fuller.

• Avoid 33⅓ RPM 7”s. Due to the inherent physical limitations of the format, you will always be left with shallow grooves, high distortion, and thin, low-fidelity results.

• Ease Up on Deep Bass: In your mix, don't crank the super-low rumbles (below 100 Hz). If it feels too boomy, gently tone them down with basic EQ—this gives us space to adjust without distortion.

• Leave Room to Play: Send us "raw" stereo files (WAV or AIFF, no extra effects like loudness boosters on the whole mix). Keep the loudest peaks at -6 dB or quieter (think of it as leaving "air" above the volume line) so we can shape it perfectly for vinyl without clipping.

• Share the Details Early: Tell us track lengths, order, and any bass-heavy spots right away. This lets us test for groove "wiggle" issues before cutting, saving time and money.

• Skip the DIY Vinyl Fixes: Don't add special effects yourself for records—just send clean mixes. We'll add the right tweaks (like taming highs or centering bass) to get crisp cuts and fewer bad pressings.

These tweaks mean smoother production, fewer do-overs at the factory, and records that sound amazing on your turntable

Song Sequencing: 

All vinyl records will sound quieter, thinner, and more distorted as they approach the center label. The reason is that the length of the groove at the outer edge of an LP is 37.7", whereas the length of the groove at the inner edge is 12.7". That is 1/3 the length to transmit the same sonic information.

For a 7" EP the length of the grooves to transmit this information is even shorter, which is why shorter side lengths and 45rpm are strongly recommended. The faster rpm rate means that the information etched into the record's grooves will be less compressed into the short circumference length, although the trade-off is that it shortens the amount of time possible. If you wrap a piece of string around the outside of a record you will have a longer length than if you wrap a piece around the center label. You can equate longer length with "high resolution", and shorter length with "low resolution".

To keep the calculus very simple - the longer your side times are, the quieter, thinner, and more distorted your record will sound.

The proper way to sequence a record is to place louder, more dense songs as the first songs, and quieter, more dynamic songs as the last songs on each side. This is why most rock records end with a ballad.