is it true that picture discs sound worse?

i read somewhere (the wikipedia, i think) that picture discs are noisier and hissier because of the picture layer. Is this so?
thanx!

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Originally Posted by Kaboom

i read somewhere (the wikipedia, i think) that picture discs are noisier and hissier because of the picture layer. Is this so?
thanx!

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I have two picture discs.
The first: Marilyn Manson 10 inch 45 rpm "This is New S^%T" it sounds great.
The second: Metallica "Ride the Lightning" 12 inch 33 rpm it looks really cool but sounds like S^%T.
There is no depth to the music at all and it very noisy. I hate it.
I guess it all depends on who presses them.

I had a Bob Welch "French Kiss" picture disc at one time and it played horribly from the get-go.I remember being told it was due to the clear vinyl not having the sound qualities of black vinyl. They're better for framing rather than playing.

Yup, very true. The picture discs I heard back in the day were uniformly inferior to the black vinyl versions. They were noisier and the overall sound quality was a big step down. They're primarily collectibles for the images, not because they sound great.