Erasure 1989 Wild DMM USA LP Acetate Set Depeche Mode

This is a set of 2 1-sided DMM (Direct Metal Mastering) acetates for the 1989 LP "Wild" by the group Erasure. This set of special DMM acetates was mastered on August 22, 1989.

DMM acetates were manufactured for only a brief period of time between the late 1980s and the early 1990s. They were part of the process of creating DMM (Direct Metal Mastering) record albums and were quickly supplanted by the domination of compact disks over records during this same time period. Copper acetates of this time were cut in extremely limited quanities of usually no more than five for a given project. Each DMM acetate was carried in a special cardboard container because these disks would slice an ordinary record or acetate jacket to pieces. The production cost of one copper acetate was in the neighborhood of four to five hundred dollars each in United States currency. The copper content in each disk was a intregal part of the cost of these acetates.

DMM copper acetates are very heavy in weight as well as in cost. A copper acetate is probably at least five times heavier than an ordinary acetate. This is why shipping for this item will be more expensive.

The condition of these acetates is very good to very good plus. There are some surface marks and some surface noise when the acetates are played. There are variations of color on the surface of the acetates that are due primarily to the oxidizing of the surface of the copper acetates. The unused disks were to be kept at 0 degrees Farenheight prior to being cut probably to inhibit oxidization of the disks.  

These disks are far rarer than ordinary acetates. These should be of great interest for the advanced Erasure or Depeche Mode collector. Contact me for more information on ultimate rare Erasure items.

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Someone suggested I post an article I wrote a long time ago on exactly what  acetates are so here it is.

What is an acetate?

by Christopher Chatman

"MANY TIMES I’VE BEEN ASKED ‘WHAT ARE ACETATES AND TEST PRESSINGS?’ FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY ‘WHY DO THEY COST SO MUCH?’. RECORD COLLECTORS ARE CONTINUALLY IN SEARCH OF THE ‘RAREST RECORDS’, THE ‘BEST PRESSINGS’. THIS HAS MUCH TO DO WITH THE DEMAND OF PROMOTIONAL RECORDS: THEY ARE USUALLY MUCH RARER THAN THE STOCK COPIES AND, BECAUSE, OF THEIR LIMITED PRESS RUNS, BETTER SOUNDING. HOWEVER, PROMOTIONAL COPIES - AND EVEN TEST PRESSINGS - PALE IN COMPARISON TO ACETATES, BOTH IN TERMS OF SOUND QUALITY AND PARTICULARLY IN RARETY.

ACETATES (a.k.a reference lacquers, reference discs and masters) ARE THE FIRST STEP IN THE TRANSFER OF MUSIC FROM AN ELECTRONIC SIGNAL TO THE ACTUAL PRESSED RECORD. THEY ALLOW THE MUSICIANS AND PRODUCERS TO HEAR WHAT THE FINISHED RECORD WILL SOUND LIKE WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE TIME AND EXPENSE OF THE PLATING AND PRESSING. AFTER ALL, THEY MAY DECIDE THAT THEY DON’T LIKE A PARTICULAR VERSION OF A SONG AND CHANGE IT OR NOT RELEASE IT AT ALL. ACETATES ARE USUALLY BLACK 7" AND 12" IN DIAMETER. WHILE MOST OF RECORDS ARE MADE OF VINYL, ACETATES ARE MADE OUT OF ALUMINIUM COATED WITH CELLULOSE ACETATE. THUS, WHILE THEY LOOK LIKE RECORDS, THEY WEIGH APPROXIMATELY FIVE TIMES AS MUCH. THE CELLULOSE ACETATE FOR THESE LACQUERS IS MADE AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL OF QUALITY CONTROL. ACETATES ARE VERY EXPENSIVE TO MANUFACTURE, THEREFORE RECORD COMPANIES NORMALLY MAKE ONLY FIVE COPIES OF ANY ONE RECORD. RECENTLY, WITH THE SHARP REDUCTION OF VINYL RECORDS, THE NUMBER OF ACETATES MADE HAS DROPPED DRAMATICALLY. AFTER A RECORDING HAS BEEN TAPED, EDITED AND EQUALIZED, AN UNCUT ACETATE, OR ‘BLANK’, IS SENT TO THE MASTERING LAB WHERE IT IS PLACED ON THE TURNTABLE OF AN ELECTRONIC LATHE SYSTEM. THE MASTER TAPE IS PLAYED THROUGH A LATHE SYSTEM AND ELECTRONICALLY TRANSMITTED TO THE CUTTING NEEDLE SO THAT THE MUSIC LITTERALLY CUTS MICROSCOPIC WIGGLES ANALOGOUS TO THE SOUND WAVES THAT THEY REPRESENT DIRECTLY INTO THE ACETATE COATING. BECAUSE OF THIS DIRECT CUTTING FROM THE MASTER TAPE AND THE HIGH QUALITY OF THE CELLULOSE, THE SOUND IS SUBSTANTIALLY BETTER THAN A RECORD. AN ACETATE WHICH HAS RECEIVED APPROVAL IS CALLED A MASTER LACQUER.

 AFTER A LACQUER HAS BEEN CUT IT IS SENT TO A FACTORY TO BE ELECTROPLATED WITH NICKEL. A LABEL FROM ETHER THE MASTERING LAB OR THE RECORD COMPANY IS USUALLY GLUED TO THE DISC; REFERENCE DISCS MAY HAVE NO LABEL AT ALL AND MASTER LACQUER RARELY DO. ALTHOUGH ACETATES ARE NORMALLY PACKAGED IN PLAIN WHITE SLEEVES, IN RECENT YEARS MANY ARE SHIPPED IN SPECIAL BOXES WITH COVERS; THIS EXTRA PACKAGING TENDS TO ENHANCE THE DESIRABILITY OF THE ACETATE. AFTER THE MUSIC ON A REFERENCE DISC HAS BEEEN REVIEWED AND THE RECORD PRESSED, THE ACETATE IS THEN DISCARDED.

ACETATES SHOULD BE TREATED EVEN MORE CAREFULLY THAN RECORDS. DUE TO THE BRITTLENESS OF THE CELLULOSE, THE ACTION OF PLAYING AN ACETATE WITH A PHONOGRPAH NEEDLE IS QUITE DAMAGING TO THE DISC’S SURFACE. AFTER FIVE PLAYS, THE NEEDLE BEGINS TO CUT AWAY THE FINER MICROSCOPIC GROOVES WHICH PRODUCE THE HIGH FREQUENCIES. IT IS THEREFORE ADVISABLE TO PLAY AN ACETTATE ONCE, RECORD IT ON TAPE, AND THEN CAREFULLY STORE IT AWAY. ALSO, ACETATES CHIP EASILY; HANDLE WITH CARE. THE NICKEL PLATING IS THEN PEELED AWAY, WHICH RESULTS IN A NEGATIVE METAL PRINT OF THE LACQUER COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS A ‘MOTHER’.

THE FIRST PRESSINGS TO BE RUN OFF THE MOTHER ARE TEST PRESSINGS; THE FINAL STOP BEFORE THE RECORD IS ACTUALLY MANUFATURED FOR MASS CONSUMPTION. TEST PRESSINGS ARE VINYL FACSIMILES OF THE ACTUAL ALBUM; THAT IS, THEY ARE 12" RECORDS PRESSED IN EXTREMELY LIMITED RUNS, USUALLY AT A PLANT THAT SPECIALIZES IN TEST PRESSINGS. IT IS NOT FEASIBLE FOR THE LARGE COMPANIES TO TURN THEIR ENORMOUS MACHINES TO PRINT A HANDFUL OF RECORDS.THESE RECORDS ALLOW THE PEOPLE INVOLVED TO ACTUALLY HEAR WHAT THE RECORD WILL SOUND LIKE AS AN LP. THEY MAY HAVE SPECIAL LABELS OR THEY MAY BE BLANK. TEST PRESSINGS ARE CHECKED FOR SOUND QUALITY AND TECHNICAL DEFECTS; IF THEY ARE SATISFACTORY, THEN THE PROMOTIONAL COPIES ARE PRESSED, GENERALLY FOR DISTRIBUTION TO RADIO STATIONS. FINALLY, THE COMMERCIAL, OR STOCK, COPIES ARE PRESSED FOR SALE IN YOUR FAVORITE ENDANGERED RECORD STORE.

A RECENT VARIATION OF THE USUAL TYPE OF ACETATE IS THE DIRECT METAL MASTER, OR DMM. INSTEAD OF BEING MADE OF ALUMINIM COATED WITH CELLULOSE ACETATE, THEY ARE MADE OF STAINLESS STEEL COATED WITH POLISHED COPPER. THE SIGNAL FROM THE MASTER TAPE IS CUT DIRECTLY INTO THE COPPER. THIS TECHNOLOGY, DESIGNED TO IMPROVE THE SOUND QUALITY OF RECORDS, WAS DESIGNED JUST AS THE DOMINANCE OF COMPACT DISC WAS FORCING RECORDS INTO RELATIVE OBSCURITY. THIS, COMBINED WITH THE FACT THAT DMM IS VERY EXPENSIVE TO CONVERT HAS RESULTED IN FEW MASTERING LABS INVESTING IN THIS NEW METHOD. THEREFORE, DMMM ACETATES ARE VERY RARE AND, BECAUSE OF THEIR BEAUTY, HIGHLY PRIZED BY COLLECTORS."

(by CHRISTOPHER CHATMAN)

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