Definitive Audiophile pressings

Joe Mac said:
Well their shipping, to here at least, rewards larger parcels. I find it miles better value to save up and do one big order a year (last one I did was March 2022) as opposed to 3 or 4 smaller ones with 3 or 4 records in them.
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Portland Sheriff said:
I agree w this, generally, but I usually try to have an “anchor” for each RCJP purchase — at least one item that’s the biggest catch to justify the shipping to begin with. I aggregate items in my cart and wish list for this purpose.

However, I’ve twice in the last year or so had one of those “anchors” bought out from under me, so I no longer wait as long or bundle as much as I’d like.
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Yeah, this is definitely a good strategy, and I do my best to wait until I've accumulated enough of what I want, but both because, as @Portland Sheriff noted, items often disappear from the cart, and I'm okay with ~$20 shipping for 3-4 items rather than spending a couple hundred to reduce the per-record shipping cost, I typically go with smaller orders. It's definitely a balancing act. Looking back over my more than 20 orders, looks like 4 titles is my most common; I've ordered as many as 9 and as few as 2.
 
So I sent an email to Warner Music Canada about my dinged up Cars Rhino High-Fidelity and to my surprise they're sending me a free replacement! I know the US store has been ghosting all emails but I recommend those that aren't happy with their jacket email the Canadian site?
 
Mather said:
I've got the JP OG Bookends and it's stellar. I expect a report back on this stuff.
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Will do! I remember you saying that about Bookends, kinda inspired this move for the ones I didn’t have. Happy with my RKS MOV one of that and Bridge.

The only non JP one is the McCartney Unplugged but that’s a bit of a unicorn so I was always going to get a copy of that I saw for a reasonable price.
 
Portland Sheriff said:
i went on a bit of a Japan buying spree during the most recent blip of favorable USD/yen exchange rate (it’s now shifted the other way about 7%). The last batches, just in time given the exchange rate shift, are 3 from Record City yesterday. And CD Japan had a points promotion a couple weeks ago, and I already had a bunch of points w/ them, so I took advantage of that to pick up the 33rpm single-disc Kohsuke Mine that was previously reissued on 2x45rpm and also the mono “Jazz Analog Premium Collection” cuts of Coltrane Jazz and Coltrane’s Sound, which I’m sure are digitally sourced but I’m also confident will sound fantastic regardless. Those are on the way.

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Picked up an original french press of Footloose last month at a store in NYC and went in blind. Pretty solid album, particularly in love with the melancholy song on Side B. Not the greatest recorded thing though, my records super clean but not much sounds very clear.
 
I read recently that Kevin Gray has upgraded his mastering suite.

He’s doing work for Craft and I didn’t have a copy of Bill Evans Trio “Waltz for Debby.” The reviews are solid so I bought it.

Holy crap what a great sounding record! The music is killer too.

I’ve already preordered the Craft/KG “Sunday at the Village Vanguard”. I’ll be interested in reading the inevitable comparison between it and the MoFi One Step.

Given what I’m hearing here, I think there just may be some pissed off MoFi owners.
 
HiFi Guy said:
I read recently that Kevin Gray has upgraded his mastering suite.

He’s doing work for Craft and I didn’t have a copy of Bill Evans Trio “Waltz for Debby.” The reviews are solid so I bought it.

Holy crap what a great sounding record! The music is killer too.

I’ve already preordered the Craft/KG “Sunday at the Village Vanguard”. I’ll be interested in reading the inevitable comparison between it and the MoFi One Step.

Given what I’m hearing here, I think there just may be some pissed off MoFi owners.
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I don't think he has upgraded the solid state mastering console since 2014.
Most of his recent hardware investment is with his new recording studio and tube console.
The first of his new label is Kirsten Edkins.
It's really a nice album to check out.
 
HiFi Guy said:
I read recently that Kevin Gray has upgraded his mastering suite.

He’s doing work for Craft and I didn’t have a copy of Bill Evans Trio “Waltz for Debby.” The reviews are solid so I bought it.

Holy crap what a great sounding record! The music is killer too.

I’ve already preordered the Craft/KG “Sunday at the Village Vanguard”. I’ll be interested in reading the inevitable comparison between it and the MoFi One Step.

Given what I’m hearing here, I think there just may be some pissed off MoFi owners.
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I won't be pissed off. I'd like to do a shoot out myself. It is the one one step that was AAA. It is one of my reference records. If the Craft is better/same, good deal. I don't regret any of my "audiophile" purchases, but then I'm not a golden ear who felt robbed by DIGITAL. But you all knew this already. Just like I don't feel like a chump for having a one step Folk Singer, it's a great sounding record that I am happy to own.
 
Lee Newman said:
All my Bill Evans besides the Portrait from the last OJC run are great sounding records. My understanding is Portrait is kind of FUBARed, but I might be convinced to upgrade to the new series if they do it and the quality continues. The Miles OJC sounds steller too. The Coltrane/Monk was just alright.
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Something is sideways on the Monk/Coltrane OJC. I think the source tapes are wrong. The 70s twofer sounds really good and it's all mono. No mix of mono and stereo tracks like the 2023. Craft should have skipped this title IMO. But the Monk solo is nice and wasn't on the twofer.
 
Jbraswell said:
Something is sideways on the Monk/Coltrane OJC. I think the source tapes are wrong. The 70s twofer sounds really good and it's all mono. No mix of mono and stereo tracks like the 2023. Craft should have skipped this title IMO. But the Monk solo is nice and wasn't on the twofer.
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I mean it’s Monk and Coltrane. From a $$$ standpoint, it makes sense. It doesn’t sound awful, just not as good as the Miles (haven’t listened to the Evans yet)
 
spilledleche said:
i'm working today and have no meetings, so it's a great day to discogs shuffle and land on some stuff I haven't listened to in awhile. I've had this original pressing of the White Stripes' Icky Thump since release day in 2007 and probably added it to my discogs 8-9 years ago and hadn't looked at the pressing information in maybe ever, but it's a great little find. It's a Kevin Gray/Steve Hoffman job from AcousTech, pressed at RTI, which I don't think much of anything Jack White related was at this time, has some hype about it being "the first time in recording history that a vinyl master was cut in analog straight from a 1" master mix" and sounds like the band, Meg's bass drum in particular, is sitting in my office.

The Vault 1 mono is the super rare one and they did a nice job on Icky Thump X from what I remember, but to my ears, this is one of the best records I've heard in a really long time. A nice revelation that's just been sitting on my shelves for 16 years.

www.discogs.com

The White Stripes - Icky Thump

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2007 Vinyl release of "Icky Thump" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com
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I picked this up after reading this - indeed it's a killer cut. I only have have Vault X version and the SH/KG is the clear winner. Bass drum on the title track will shake the room. Thanks for the heads up that this exists.

Cool story from Steve regarding cutting this one:HERE
 
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