This is one of the questions that most often comes to the ears of our teams when launching your project with us, and rightly so! The delicate step of choosing the engraving technique will be decisive in the sound rendition of your vinyl.

There are two distinct engraving methods for vinyl records: DMM (Direct Metal Mastering) and Lacquer.

DMM is the fastest and cheapest method: developed in the 80s, it is performed on copper discs and tends to be the most faithful to the original mastering. There is little risk of sound distortion, but on the other hand it tends to offer less gain power and the grooves, which are not deeply engraved, reduce the life expectancy of the plates.

Engraving on lacquers, with resin, is more traditional: using a heated chisel on, it makes it possible to engrave deeper grooves in the matrix covered with a film of cellulose lacquer. It provides a rendering that could be described as warmer, richer and with more power. Many artists prefer it to DMM for this reason, although it takes longer to perform and is therefore more expensive.

Most of our partner factories allow you to press your vinyl with both Lacquer and DMM: it's up to you, depending on the final result you want (and your budget!) to make your choice now!