Definitive Audiophile pressings

Turbo said:
Which Specials is that? Their first? Also which Stranglers? Inquiring minds want to know... ;)



When I started digging again during the late 90's and early 2000's, there were tons of reggae reissues around. That and Blaxploitation soundstracks. I guess it was riding on the popularity of drum & bass, downtempo and trip-hop. The reissues weren't that great, but a few here and there were keepers for me. Like Horace Andy and some Burning Spear I still hold from those days. There were lots of originals to be had too. Still have a soft spot for a Black Uhuru Red I picked up then. Anyway, yeah, we're due for another round. It's been a while.
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They remastered the first two Specials records and they both sound fantastic.
 
Turbo said:
Which Specials is that? Their first? Also which Stranglers? Inquiring minds want to know... ;)



When I started digging again during the late 90's and early 2000's, there were tons of reggae reissues around. That and Blaxploitation soundstracks. I guess it was riding on the popularity of drum & bass, downtempo and trip-hop. The reissues weren't that great, but a few here and there were keepers for me. Like Horace Andy and some Burning Spear I still hold from those days. There were lots of originals to be had too. Still have a soft spot for a Black Uhuru Red I picked up then. Anyway, yeah, we're due for another round. It's been a while.
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www.discogs.com

Specials - Specials

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2019 Vinyl release of "Specials" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com

www.discogs.com

The Stranglers - Peaches: The Very Best Of The Stranglers

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2020 Vinyl release of "Peaches: The Very Best Of The Stranglers" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com
 
bdm105 said:
Received my MoFi Silent Way. Do you email in about seem splits like this?
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This is what they'll say:

"We can offer you a 10% discount for the damage."

So, what it comes down to is whether your time is worth the $3.99 refund?

The only way to avoid splits with MoFi is to ask them to open the records and ship outside the jacket. Otherwise, you'll get a split about 80% of the time because they dont know how to properly package the products they are selling. And then they just throw the disc in the flimsy plastic outersleeve and it slides around in transit and you just pray that it doesnt get all scuffed up.
 
bdm105 said:
Received my MoFi Silent Way. Do you email in about seem splits like this?
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Man, that’s a bummer. I think @MikeH had previously noted that if you ask, MD will ship outside the jacket but you have to remember to put a note in to request it. I can confirm, I remembered to include a note and it was shipped outside the jacket.

Seems like that are being asshats about replacement jackets too. Hopefully they will take care of ya.
 
zdkaiser said:
This is what they'll say:

"We can offer you a 10% discount for the damage."

So, what it comes down to is whether your time is worth the $3.99 refund?

The only way to avoid splits with MoFi is to ask them to open the records and ship outside the jacket. Otherwise, you'll get a split about 80% of the time because they dont know how to properly package the products they are selling. And then they just throw the disc in the flimsy plastic outersleeve and it slides around in transit and you just pray that it doesnt get all scuffed up.
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TenderLovingKiller® said:
Man, that’s a bummer. I think @MikeH had previously noted that if you ask, MD will ship outside the jacket but you have to remember to put a note in to request it. I can confirm, I remembered to include a note and it was shipped outside the jacket.

Seems like that are being asshats about replacement jackets too. Hopefully they will take care of ya.
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Sigh, why do I like this hobby?
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
Man, that’s a bummer. I think @MikeH had previously noted that if you ask, MD will ship outside the jacket but you have to remember to put a note in to request it. I can confirm, I remembered to include a note and it was shipped outside the jacket.

Seems like that are being asshats about replacement jackets too. Hopefully they will take care of ya.
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Well, I did just that for IaSW and SoS, but they still shipped both records sealed. Fortunately no seam split though.
 
MikeH said:
listened to this last night. great listen (i'm biased of course).

i do always forget that KG and Joe tend to prefer stereo in many cases (outside of Blue Train) which seems weird since I like mono better in many cases for some of the early 50s and 60s BN titles.

also not shocked that GZ is his least favorite european plant. other interesting tidbits:

*KG just recut 4 of the jazz dispensary titles. He seems to imply they are the VMP ones and there was something wrong with the mother so he recut them 2 weeks ago? He does tend to get mixed up with titles a lot though so will be interesting to see why he recut them and which ones he did. JD apparently said the older top shelf titles are being repressed in the next few months.

*i'd have to re-listen to some, but seemed to say that copy tape is not always better than digital high-res source from the master tape. people seem to forget that copy tape does introduce degradation but there's always the AAA or bust camp.

*he mastered 400+ LPs in 2022.

*think he also cut the OG of Joni Mitchell - Hissing of Summer Lawns? @Joe Mac --our worlds are colliding
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Oddly enough I was listening to The Real McCoy last night and thinking why is the piano so much lower. The cymbals are crazy out front. KGs story in the podcast explains it very well.

That's a fun listen.
 
Jbraswell said:
Oddly enough I was listening to The Real McCoy last night and thinking why is the piano so much lower. The cymbals are crazy out front. KGs story in the podcast explains it very well.

That's a fun listen.
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yea --really enjoyed the podcast. i have heard a few Caropop episodes now and really enjoy it. doesn't feel pretentious and he gets some great guests. one of the better podcasts/youtube shows about records and the people who help make them.

also the real mccoy rules. great record.
 
zdkaiser said:
I received a record today with a large split on the top, granted it wasnt a MoFi.

I sighed as well and then decided I'm giving up on caring. This stupid hobby has drained me. The countless replacements and emails to customer service.
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I go through peaks and valley with caring. Sometimes, if it was a cheap record, like my recent MOV copy of Mingus Ah Um, that I got from Deep Discount via Walmart for $14 that was deliver with a nice 2” split across the top, I am likely just gonna use a Sharpie and color over the white so the split isn’t as noticeable and move on.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
Man, that’s a bummer. I think @MikeH had previously noted that if you ask, MD will ship outside the jacket but you have to remember to put a note in to request it. I can confirm, I remembered to include a note and it was shipped outside the jacket.

Seems like that are being asshats about replacement jackets too. Hopefully they will take care of ya.
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yea with both MD and MoFi (and some local shops too), you can note to open and ship the record behind the jacket. they seem happy to do so but it takes a little longer usually to get a shipment. fine with me though. haven't had any seam split issues with them since.

I forgot to ask for that when i ordered American Beauty and of course it had a fat top seam split. MD sent me a return label and shipped me a new copy when they received it back, which is a reasonable thing IMO. many companies used to let you keep the damaged copy and mail a new one but so many people took advantage of that.

MD/MoFi are the absolute worst though if you didn't buy anything from them directly. Happened to me with some stuff I bought at other shops that were sold out. They told me my only course of action was to return it to the store and try to get a new copy there (despite the fact that the ones I bought were long sold out). They don't stand by their product at all. I get that seam splits can happen but the amount of seam splits with moFi compared to ANY other company is astronomical.

and the offer for damaged jacket has changed drastically based on whoever you get at CS. I had a copy of the Pearl regular MoFi 45 with a seam split that I bought from MD. It was sold out and they gave me $15 back in credit awhile back haha. I happily took it. but offering a few bucks is insulting.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
I go through peaks and valley with caring. Sometimes, if it was a cheap record, like my recent MOV copy of Mingus Ah Um, that I got from Deep Discount via Walmart for $14 that was deliver with a nice 2” split across the top, I am likely just gonna use a Sharpie and color over the white so the split isn’t as noticeable and move on.
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and the retailer matters to me. if it's a small record shop i ordered from (and they seemed to at least attempt to pack it well), i let it slide. if it's amazon and they shipped it in a soft bag, then I'll be more diligent about getting a replacement.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
I go through peaks and valley with caring. Sometimes, if it was a cheap record, like my recent MOV copy of Mingus Ah Um, that I got from Deep Discount via Walmart for $14 that was deliver with a nice 2” split across the top, I am likely just gonna use a Sharpie and color over the white so the split isn’t as noticeable and move on.
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When it's Amazon, I don't think twice and send it back. I like to order "iffy" pressings from them for that reason (GZ pressings for example). Takes some of the risk away. Hopefully they continue with their relatively easy return/exchange policy with damaged records.
 
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