Definitive Audiophile pressings

LOL! Definitely gonna agree to disagree with you on this but you do you bro. I am sure VMP would love for more people to share this POV. Enjoy your super broad definition of “Audiophile”.
Hah! My definition of 'audiophile' is right beside my definition of 'loser'. I do enjoy MY definition - if it well remastered by a competent mastering engineer AAA it is 'audiophile' enough for me. In fact, the majority of VMP Classic remasterings in the past few years vastly exceed Chad Kassem's weak recycling of older lacquers/remasters, as one example.

Not trying to convince anyone of anything here (can't do that anyways, true audiophiles can be very entrenched in their views), just offering my alternative POV.

BTW, I'm not your 'bro'.
 
Hah! My definition of 'audiophile' is right beside my definition of 'loser'. I do enjoy MY definition - if it well remastered by a competent mastering engineer AAA it is 'audiophile' enough for me. In fact, the majority of VMP Classic remasterings in the past few years vastly exceed Chad Kassem's weak recycling of older lacquers/remasters, as one example.

Not trying to convince anyone of anything here (can't do that anyways, true audiophiles can be very entrenched in their views), just offering my alternative POV.

BTW, I'm not your 'bro'.
If you are happy with their VMP and their releases, that’s great, continue enjoying their product, but to call them an “audiophile label” is just factually incorrect. Yes, they do have some audiophile releases, and I forgot about the Classics line, to be fair. But have you heard their pressing of The Boatman’s Call? Set Yourself On Fire? Grace? As I said, many if not most of their releases are simply different variants of the same pressings available elsewhere for less money.
 
Fun Fact: I’ve been able to sing “Loser” word-for-word since 6th grade. It was actually the last song I performed at Karaoke Night in the before times. My SO has me beat though; she killed “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” without fucking up. Quite a feat to behold.
 
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I didn't get the VMP Jazz Dispensary Idris Muhammad but was wondering if you guys know of a wider press?

Is this a bootleg by the way?


That's not a bootleg. It's on the BGP (a UK) label, they did some excellent comps in the early the noughties. I'm not sure what sources they have used but are generally well pressed, good sounding vinyl. Definitely better than a bootleg, but It won't match the Jazz Dispensary quality though, they are proper audiophile pressings.

Edit - just googled, I knew there were part of ACE records, but didn't realise it was initially run by Giles Peterson



edit 2 - Apparently that particular album is a DMM mastering from digital, done way back in 1993
 
Opened it up, cleaned and had my first playthrough.

Firstly I do have the Coltrane One-Step to compare it to in terms of quality and I have to say that the copy of the Coltrane I received is better than the Lateef. The Yusef's jacket has these small abrasions/scratches peppered on front of mine (looks like dust in the photo) and there's a small dent to the side. The record is slightly warped which isn't good considering this is meant to be a premium item.

On to the music. The warp isn't significant enough to affect play so I'm not overly worried about that (other than the fact that it's not a cheap set and therefore should be flat). It might benefit from a second clean but there is definitely a few ticks to the first track that appears off and on for the first 30 seconds. Not significant but offputting when not expected.

The sound itself really is fantastic though, I can't fault it at all. Sounds insanely good and certainly an upgrade from the VMP pressing (which I was happy with, to be honest). It's one that I can see myself playing a lot and it helps that it's a blinding session as well.

I have emailed Craft about the issues but last time they made it clear that there were no replacements to be had.

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Got mine today. Emailed them yesterday & they sent a shipping note late last night.

Packaging seemed to be better for me than last time. It was in a jiffy / soft plastic outer, the cardboard box was the same, but they had plastic covers over each corner of the box that seem to have kept it secure.

It all looks good, box, sleeve and looks flat. Still yet to give it a spin


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Much better than the one I got from Amazon this morning in nothing but a paper envelope, obviously all corners are knackered.

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