Definitive Audiophile pressings

[Portland Sheriff]

This is one of my all time favorite arguments for low cost quality pressings, and I'm sure there are a lot more

For sure 100% digital, cut at Sterling pressed at Pallas and sounds amazing. Can still be had for $20ish retail.

St. Vincent - MassEducation

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2018 Vinyl release of "MassEducation" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

Do you also have Masseduction (the original)? I've not pulled the trigger on that b/c of the inconsistent praises/complaints on Discogs and involvement of GZ, pressing some and mastering others that were pressed at Memphis Record Pressing.

 

[Joe Mac]

Agree, but the thing is, there is and will continue to be a huge gap in music recorded between around 1982 or so and the late 90's, as most were recorded 16/44 or 16/48, and it is tough to get much 'audiophile' out of those, or at least to convince buyers that they can be made to sound audiophile.

In my opinion, this period will one day be considered a 'lost' period when they fall into the gap between hi-res digital and audiophile vinyl.

That not entirely true. The huge cost of the equipment and questionable sound of early PCM recording equipment meant that outside the biggest studios with the deepest pockets, and likely major label backing, tape was still being used pretty widely In studio until the mid 90s. That’s not to say that there wasn’t more use made of advances in digital technology on the mixing, editing and mastering side.

Also that’s a falacy in that we’ve all heard good vinyl pressings from digital sources, or sources with some digital in the chain and there are pretty rabid fan bases for those acts, they could act as a “gateway drug” for the likes of MoFi or AP.

I think the issue is an A&R staff entirely comprised of middle class white men over 60.

 

[AnthonyI]

Do you also have Masseduction (the original)? I've not pulled the trigger on that b/c of the inconsistent praises/complaints on Discogs and involvement of GZ, pressing some and mastering others that were pressed at Memphis Record Pressing.

I have this pressing and although it's been a while since I've listened to it I don't recall any issues..........I usually notate it

St. Vincent - Masseduction

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2017 Vinyl release of "Masseduction" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

...........I can give it a spin tonight and report back if you like.

 

[MikeH]

I did say that Chad sources only from tape - but never said "master tapes"!

A copy tape can often sound better than a well used original master - second gen tape only, though.

But I do not agree on curation. If Impulse originally only focused on what would be 'sellers', we probably would not have many of the titles they did originally and the genre would be much the less for it. Good curation takes two things - knowledge of the music and courage. I do care if the person curating has those. If he doesn't, we get another Oscar Peterson - We Get Requests and another Getz/Gilberto, which will sell very well to those who are new to the genre or record collecting, or those who are seeking the sonic holy grail.

But part of curation is having the knowledge of the music to understand where curation has an opportunity to expose an overlooked classic, or a cornerstone record that needs to be brought in front of the record buying public again. It should be a mix of the warhorses and the overlooked that should be classics.

The Japanese get this in what they reissue. They have the deep knowledge and courage.

I would much rather see Ptah The El Daoud that another run at Ballads. Or Jimmy Smith's Bluesmith instead of another crack at Blues & The Abstract Truth. Hell, I would pay real money for an UHQR of Coltrane's Transition, and would buy in an instant an audiophile pressing of Miles' complete Plugged Nickel.

Not what is being offered these days, although I did enjoy the Nina Smone AP/Verve recently.

For the first part--yea. I was just clarifying for @mitchwagz . Didn't mean to imply you (or he) only thought OG masters are the best. I know you raved about that Santana Lotus pressing that was remastered from a digital source. Just clarifying that Chad did say in the video, they do not exclusively use original masters in the series so if an album's OG master isn't available, it doesn't mean a title will be excluded. I know there has been a ton of confusion about the ALS sources.

As for the other stuff--sure. But you are not the type of person this series is being marketed to at all. It's not shocking that AS is choosing the titles they are for this series. And I don't think the titles are being chosen because "Chad doesn't know jazz". It's because the curation is being done to sell records, not unearth some lesser known titles for people. Again, it's a huge label asking a big record producer to reissue and sell records for them. They want to sell out thousands and thousands of copies. It's for the masses. I'm not expecting this series to press only lesser known titles. Maybe they will start pressing lesser known titles once the series gets its legs more since the series as a whole seems to be a home run in terms of success. Ptah is definitely not a title that I think AS would sell out of tens of thousands of copies of. Hell, I don't even think that Craft would sell 1,000 copies of a One Step of Transition very quickly at all. They definitely wouldn't sell it out in 2 hours or so like they did with Lush Life.

 

[Selaws]

I did say that Chad sources only from tape - but never said "master tapes"!

A copy tape can often sound better than a well used original master - second gen tape only, though.

But I do not agree on curation. If Impulse originally only focused on what would be 'sellers', we probably would not have many of the titles they did originally and the genre would be much the less for it. Good curation takes two things - knowledge of the music and courage. I do care if the person curating has those. If he doesn't, we get another Oscar Peterson - We Get Requests and another Getz/Gilberto, which will sell very well to those who are new to the genre or record collecting, or those who are seeking the sonic holy grail.

But part of curation is having the knowledge of the music to understand where curation has an opportunity to expose an overlooked classic, or a cornerstone record that needs to be brought in front of the record buying public again. It should be a mix of the warhorses and the overlooked that should be classics.

The Japanese get this in what they reissue. They have the deep knowledge and courage.

I would much rather see Ptah The El Daoud that another run at Ballads. Or Jimmy Smith's Bluesmith instead of another crack at Blues & The Abstract Truth. Hell, I would pay real money for an UHQR of Coltrane's Transition, and would buy in an instant an audiophile pressing of Miles' complete Plugged Nickel.

Not what is being offered these days, although I did enjoy the Nina Smone AP/Verve recently.

I think what Blue Note is doing with their Tone Poets at the moment is a good example of curation done right. Big named releases which they know they will sell lots of (such as Chet Baker - Chet Baker Sings) and more adventurous releases (such as Andrew Hill - Black Fire).

I think the AP series is currently more on the 'stuff we can sell' side, but the fact that they are selling them shows that its a good business model for them. At the end of the day its a business looking to make the most money, so it makes sense for the releases that have no limit to be those which they can sell the most units.

 

[MikeH]

I think what Blue Note is doing with their Tone Poets at the moment is a good example of curation done right. Big named releases which they know they will sell lots of (such as Chet Baker - Chet Baker Sings) and more adventurous releases (such as Andrew Hill - Black Fire).

I think the AP series is currently more on the 'stuff we can sell' side, but the fact that they are selling them shows that its a good business model for them. At the end of the day its a business looking to make the most money, so it makes sense for the releases that have no limit to be those which they can sell the most units.

Right and I hope that's where the AS series eventually goes and has started to already. Is Peggy Lee - Black Coffee a hugely in-demand title? What about George Russell NY, NY?

 

[Selaws]

Right and I hope that's where the AS series eventually goes and has started to already. Is Peggy Lee - Black Coffee a hugely in-demand title? What about George Russell NY, NY?

I was going to add that in my point actually. Its fair to say they have played it safe to date (the opposite of Tone Poets really as the Chick Corea and Sam Rivers was quite unexpected) but those last 2 are certainly more down the route I personally would prefer them to go.

 

[mdmost]

I really could've gone through my day not knowing there's another "definitive" version of Kind Of Blue coming out. And like a sucker, I may be in for it if I can sell some other stuff first.

I should add, like What's Going On?, KOB is one album I have no problem spending $100-$125 on as I did both with MOFI. Desert island albums and all.

 

[MikeH]

I was going to add that in my point actually. Its fair to say they have played it safe to date (the opposite of Tone Poets really as the Chick Corea and Sam Rivers was quite unexpected) but those last 2 are certainly more down the route I personally would prefer them to go.

If them re-pressing some more popular titles like Getz Gilberto allows them to start pressing some more interesting titles, I'm all for it. I also don't mind some of the more "popular" titles being in this series because I quite frankly could use some better, cleaner pressings of some. I wasn't really around for the Classic Records or other earlier audiophile quality pressings so I am missing a bunch of titles and love being able to get a $20-$25 copy that's solid.

 

[Mather]

If them re-pressing some more popular titles like Getz Gilberto allows them to start pressing some more interesting titles, I'm all for it. I also don't mind some of the more "popular" titles being in this series because I quite frankly could use some better, cleaner pressings of some. I wasn't really around for the Classic Records or other earlier audiophile quality pressings so I am missing a bunch of titles and love being able to get a $20-$25 copy that's solid.

Yes, as much as I'd like to see other more rare stuff get the AAA treatment (or something thereabouts) I'm thoroughly enjoying being able to snap up all these more staple classics in audiophile form for reasonable prices. It's fantastic. But I do feel for long time collectors who just roll their eyes at the umpteenth re release of the same titles over and over again when they already own incredible copies of them all, and have for years...

 

[MikeH]

Yes, as much as I'd like to see other more rare stuff get the AAA treatment (or something thereabouts) I'm thoroughly enjoying being able to snap up all these more staple classics in audiophile form for reasonable prices. It's fantastic. But I do feel for long time collectors who just roll their eyes at the umpteenth re release of the same titles over and over again when they already own incredible copies of them all, and have for years...

Yea it is, and always will, be a balance. The major market for these titles are the people who don't own all the Classics Records pressings of every title. Just hoping they will do some other lesser known titles while using the bigger names to draw people in.

 

[JohnnyCashFan]

Not sure to post this here, in the Jazz thread or in it's own thread, lets see how this goes...

Is there a current or recent respectable Miles Kind Of Blue pressing that is on the affordable side or would you wait for the Acoustic Sounds one just announced ?

 

[JohnnyCashFan]

Agreed, and as @Joe Mac has mentioned before, yes, do we really need to keep going back the same well...............apparently yes, because it makes money.

and that gives access to newcomers to the vinyl must haves like me without the hundreds of dollar or crappy-mediocre pressing route.

 

[MikeH]

Not sure to post this here, in the Jazz thread or in it's own thread, lets see how this goes...

Ia there a current or recent respectable Miles Kind Of Blue pressing that is on the affordable side or would you wait for the Acoustic Sounds one just announced ?

Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2013 Vinyl release of "Kind Of Blue" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

I believe a bunch of people like this one! Sorta depends on if you want to pay $100 for the UHQR or not. The MoFi is good but goes in and out of stock a ton. You just missed the yearly repress of it.

 

[Andy]

Completely different topic. But when I heard the Rolling Stones half speed masters were all pretty shit, I started to look at an OG Sticky Fingers. I've ended up buying a truly strange release from discogs. US labels, shitty cover & UK run out groove markings. Are there any Rolling Stones experts on the forum?

I ordered this:

The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the Vinyl release of "Sticky Fingers" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

I'ts an odd pressing, It has a non zipp cover, the photo looks very poor (looks like it could be a bootleg), but it has made in the UK on the rear. The label is a US style label with the US 'PR' item code.

Side one has the early UK code hand etched in the runout 'COC 59100-A' it also has 'KEV' in the runout.
Side two has the early UK run out details, 'COC 59100-B3' stamped on the run out & 'T.M.L. ROLLING STONES RECORDS'

Can anyone identify it?

 

[RHANDMJ]

Right and I hope that's where the AS series eventually goes and has started to already. Is Peggy Lee - Black Coffee a hugely in-demand title? What about George Russell NY, NY?

They aren't, but they are both pretty safe titles to attract some of that 65+ conservative listening white guy type. For me , not to disrespect anyone into those, Peggy Lee is a snooze (Pure Please did an excellent Peggy Lee Capitol title years back) and the George Russell I tried to get into, but it is pretty dated.

Do none of these so-called experts know that there was great jazz in the 70's?

The Japanese do. They did awesome AAA reissues of Stan Getz - Sweet Rain (masterpiece) and Archie Shepp - Attica Blues (masterpiece) 15 years ago.

 

[JohnnyCashFan]

Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2013 Vinyl release of "Kind Of Blue" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

I believe a bunch of people like this one! Sorta depends on if you want to pay $100 for the UHQR or not. The MoFi is good but goes in and out of stock a ton. You just missed the yearly repress of it.

Tx, I prefer a stereo copy myself and am way too lazy for 45 flips. I might try and be patient for the AS version coming or watch the local shops.

 

[Andy]

Tx, I prefer a stereo copy myself. I might try and be patient for the AS version coming or watch the local shops.

The mono is pretty great

 

[RHANDMJ]

Yes, as much as I'd like to see other more rare stuff get the AAA treatment (or something thereabouts) I'm thoroughly enjoying being able to snap up all these more staple classics in audiophile form for reasonable prices. It's fantastic. But I do feel for long time collectors who just roll their eyes at the umpteenth re release of the same titles over and over again when they already own incredible copies of them all, and have for years...

Exactly right. I've been in for over 15 years. MOFI was exciting then, but dead boring now. AP was aways boring, but the Prestige AAA sries was interesting, and I forgive them everything for doing Masterpieces by Ellington.

But for a long time collector, these audiophile labels are just covering well beaten turf. They are aimed at people newer to vinyl and obsessive audiophiles, though, not to me, which I understand.

Doesn't hurt to get me two cents in though.

There's plenty of great stuff to keep me interested. Just very few out of the U.S. - and for a range of reasons i don't see that changing.

 

[RobbieBobby]

the George Russell I tried to get into, but it is pretty dated.

What about the George Russell is dated? Its a great composition with John Coltrane and Bill Evans in the orchestra. It sounds amazing and it was very influential.