Definitive Audiophile pressings

MikeH said:
MMJ kind of started the whole “let’s charge flipper prices on our own products” unless MD or AP has been doing it longer.

They only seem to be doing it on their own pressings (AS’ discogs aside) so at least there’s that. But still frustrating as a consumer. Puts a bad taste in my mouth. It made me stop buying from MMJ directly.
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Yes, that was the whole point of MMJ going direct. Pure greed. They were the first.

I haven't bought directly from Acoustic Sounds for years. This kind of practice is what turns me off. In no other industry based largely around FOMO does the manufacturer act as a flipper so blatantly. Adidas could hold back tons of Yeezy shoes and become a flipper, getting easily twice list, but they don't. When an exotic car manufacturer has sold their run for the year, they are done. They don't mark up the price on the last few, although dealers may be reluctant to bargain much. There are so many similar examples I could go on all day.

And now the big price hike. Everyone screamed when VMP did it, but now with AP it is a shrug.

Not for me. Companies with integrity abound - Speakers Corner, PP, Sam, so many others (sadly, not American ones too often). Put your money where it makes a difference and reflects your values.

Chad is just about money. Fine, no problem, but my values place the music first. Chad has done little to bring great music back into the universe. He churns out the heavy sellers. Safe money makers.

I respect Speakers Corner for bringing fusion era Hancock, Big Joe Turner, LaVern Baker, CTI and many others that Chad wouldn't know of or touch. I respect Sam for bringing a magnificent unearthed live Billy Harper, that would never achieve the margins or sales Chad demands. I respect Pure Pleasure for going to Strata East and Nimbus West - Chad wouldn't know they exist or bother.

I do not respect Chad for regurgitating old plating and hiking the prices on guaranteed sellers.
 
RHANDMJ said:
Yes, that was the whole point of MMJ going direct. Pure greed. They were the first.

I haven't bought directly from Acoustic Sounds for years. This kind of practice is what turns me off. In no other industry based largely around FOMO does the manufacturer act as a flipper so blatantly. Adidas could hold back tons of Yeezy shoes and become a flipper, getting easily twice list, but they don't. When an exotic car manufacturer has sold their run for the year, they are done. They don't mark up the price on the last few, although dealers may be reluctant to bargain much. There are so many similar examples I could go on all day.

And now the big price hike. Everyone screamed when VMP did it, but now with AP it is a shrug.

Not for me. Companies with integrity abound - Speakers Corner, PP, Sam, so many others (sadly, not American ones too often). Put your money where it makes a difference and reflects your values.

Chad is just about money. Fine, no problem, but my values place the music first. Chad has done little to bring great music back into the universe. He churns out the heavy sellers. Safe money makers.

I respect Speakers Corner for bringing fusion era Hancock, Big Joe Turner, LaVern Baker, CTI and many others that Chad wouldn't know of or touch. I respect Sam for bringing a magnificent unearthed live Billy Harper, that would never achieve the margins or sales Chad demands. I respect Pure Pleasure for going to Strata East and Nimbus West - Chad wouldn't know they exist or bother.

I do not respect Chad for regurgitating old plating and hiking the prices on guaranteed sellers.
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The $5 price hikes don’t bother me too much to be honest. I know the price of all materials have gone up. VMP’s hike did because it was such a drastic hike and the quality wasn’t there to justify it. The APs still sound pretty incredible across the board to me. I don’t doubt that those other labels will follow in price hikes soon based on material costs alone. Maybe it will be a smaller price hike though…who knows.

Agree on the other labels putting out more interesting titles though for sure. I really enjoy SC and PP’s curation. Sam Records as well.
 
MikeH said:
The $5 price hikes don’t bother me too much to be honest. I know the price of all materials have gone up. VMP’s hike did because it was such a drastic hike and the quality wasn’t there to justify it. The APs still sound pretty incredible across the board to me. I don’t doubt that those other labels will follow in price hikes soon based on material costs alone. Maybe it will be a smaller price hike though…who knows.

Agree on the other labels putting out more interesting titles though for sure. I really enjoy SC and PP’s curation. Sam Records as well.
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Mike, there is a massive difference between a vertically integrated operation like AP and others who don't control pressing, distribution, and have a retail outlet.
 
In thinking about it, I don't have strong objection to the $5 hike. I mean it's a bummer, but I hope in some way he's passing that on to workers in health care or artists when he does the house label blues -- or it simply reflects supply chain, etc. At a pactical level, I've no idea if he's is crushing it financially or just doing very well. In the end, I'll look at a title, make a judgement call, and probably wait for a sale.

My "ewww, that makes me less excited to do business with you" is the sharp increases on last few copies, opportunistic hikes that is gaming the market. That's corrosive to the hobby.

My guess (hope) is that we'll see a market correction -- or that this is essentially a way for AS to go back to offering the 20% off discounts and still keep margins where they want -- or whatever.

But, hey... Speaker's Corner 👀
 
On other notes, the streaming version of the 50th anniversary ed of David Crosby's "if I could only remember" -- sounds really great.

Does anyone know anything about the vinyl remastering?
 
HuddieLedbetter said:
On other notes, the streaming version of the 50th anniversary ed of David Crosby's "if I could only remember" -- sounds really great.

Does anyone know anything about the vinyl remastering?
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Vinyl is AAA remastered by Chris Bellman. Digital is a completely different remaster done just for digital. But the vinyl got pushed back to 10/29. Waiting for reviews to decide if I want to grab it or the AAA Classic records one from a few years ago by Bernie Grundman
 
Agaetisbyrjun22 said:
Vinyl is AAA remastered by Chris Bellman. Digital is a completely different remaster done just for digital. But the vinyl got pushed back to 10/29. Waiting for reviews to decide if I want to grab it or the AAA Classic records one from a few years ago by Bernie Grundman
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The MoFi supervinyl is also supposedly imminent.

Is the new one the same as this Rhino reissue?
www.discogs.com

David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2010 Vinyl release of "If I Could Only Remember My Name" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com

Also AAA and CB
 
MikeH said:
The MoFi supervinyl is also supposedly imminent.

Is the new one the same as this Rhino reissue?
www.discogs.com

David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2010 Vinyl release of "If I Could Only Remember My Name" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com

Also AAA and CB
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According to someone who worked on it who was posting on the Steve Hoffman boards its new

forums.stevehoffman.tv

David Crosby - If I could only remember my name 50th anniversary reissue - released 10/15/21 *

I only knew her from her sole major label release, on Elektra, in 1978. It was architypical Elektra material. Didn't sell at all, and promos were...
forums.stevehoffman.tv forums.stevehoffman.tv
 
MikeH said:
MMJ kind of started the whole “let’s charge flipper prices on our own products” unless MD or AP has been doing it longer.

They only seem to be doing it on their own pressings (AS’ discogs aside) so at least there’s that. But still frustrating as a consumer. Puts a bad taste in my mouth. It made me stop buying from MMJ directly.
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Just catching up on these and there's one example of this happening around 10 years ago that stands out for me.

Chopped Herring Records was/is a 1 man operation that releases obscure and underground rap/hip-hop albums. For the most part their releases tapped into a very slim market, but there are a few times they have struck gold with certain releases. Rather than release all the records at once, the guy that runs it would list an incredibly small percentage of what he had in order to create FOMO, whilst deliberately quoting an incorrect number on his site. He would then spread the rest out as "oh I found some more" with a price that was literally up to 10 times the original price. He still does this today, 'releasing' handfuls of records that he originally released a decade ago that now demands crazy prices on the resale market.

The key examples here would be Action Bronson's 'Dr. Lecter' and 'Blue Chips'. He sold the first few for less than £15. A few months later they were on his site for £50+ and so on. Some have sold for upwards of £450. Its mad.
 
Oh lord, I have started a new "life project": Purchase of one MoFi or other analogue pressing each month, to coincide with payday...

In Norwegian we have the term "lønningspils" (payday beer), my equivalent will be "lønnings-MoFi".

For full disclosure, first month is now and I bought two, because one was actually discounted:

Marshall Crenshaw - S/T
Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom

Will check this thread and from now on follow it a bit closer :cool:
 
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Russ I said:
I have 9 on the way. :rolleyes: Focused mostly on jazz this time around.

View attachment 115167
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Killer stuff here, the Jutta Hipp and Art Pepper are 2 which I particularly enjoy.

I was after a first press of the Art Pepper Tempo for years and lucked out on a first UK press a few months ago, great stuff. I feel like a lot of Pepper's music is overlooked and underappreciated. Not really sure why because some of his albums are really top tier stuff.
 
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