Definitive Audiophile pressings

Portland Sheriff said:
Same here. I bought the $15 amazon copy to evaluate that exact question bc I would have gladly sold my Craft One Step if they were close enough to my ears. They weren’t on my system.

The OJC sounds good and, given current vinyl prices, a great deal in that $15-20 price range. If that was the only copy I owned, I‘d be happy. But I felt there was a sufficient difference to keep the One Step. Soundstage and clarity/erosion of cymbals were a couple things I noticed, and I did multiple A/B attempts to verify I wasn’t imagining it. I don’t think I was.
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also it just boils down to whether or not you love the album and need the $99 version. Eastern Sounds is probably one of my top 10 favorite jazz albums. So the difference between the OJC and One Step is something I am happy with. The OJC is also very well done and sounds great and if it's an album I didn't love as much I'd definitely be good with the OJC. It's no slouch.
 
McGlam said:
I was hoping Craft would surprise us with an R.E.M. release. Hell, I like this album but I would rather have a freaking one-step of Travis' The Man Who than another title that's been done to death.
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Has it been done to death though? There's been the OJC that has been the same plates since the late 80s/early 90s and the AP which was long sold out and expensive until Craft let them repress. We're not talking about Somethin Else or Kind of Blue here...

Hope they do REM at some point though but their AAA anniversary pressings have been great too
 
MikeH said:
Has it been done to death though? There's been the OJC that has been the same plates since the late 80s/early 90s and the AP which was long sold out and expensive until Craft let them repress. We're not talking about Somethin Else or Kind of Blue here...
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I guess I consider two audiophile-oriented releases at the same time to be done to death. It's a worthy release, but maybe it could have been the fifth or six One Step that they press instead of the third jazz title in a row.
 
McGlam said:
I guess I consider two audiophile-oriented releases at the same time to be done to death. It's a worthy release, but maybe it could have been the fifth or six One Step that they press instead of the third jazz title in a row.
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It seems worth keeping in mind that the Craft One Step was apparently green lighted long before AP negotiated the rights to repress the Prestige series. And the “series” aspect is important bc AP’s Relaxin’ isn’t a one-off repress of a single album. It wouldn’t make sense for AP to exclude one album in the series just bc another company had also commmited to an audiophile reissue, and it’s entirely possible whoever owns the Prestige rights would not have allowed AP to exclude one from the series repress.
 
Mather said:
I would like to put forth a motion to officially ban all Miles Davis titles from future fancy One Steps/UHQRs. We have enough Miles Davis, there are numerous audiophile pressings of every single Miles Davis album. We do not need any more, do something interesting.
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But you guys keep buying em. They’ll just find a new adjective to drop in front and charge another $50. Why would they ever stop? The audiophile market springs eternal.
 
zdkaiser said:
I'm curious what modern artist you all would like to see audiophile reissues for.

For me, Radiohead would be a good candidate. All their US pressings are basically mediocre or worse.

Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, or other post-rock would fare well as audiophile releases. Though, Mogwai pressings usually sound quite good.
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Guided By Voices would be great.
 
I mean they MoFied Train I think the roster of artists from the last four decades or so is pretty deep for audiophile treatment to where there could be exploration. Radiohead should be a top priority and I don't even like RH that much. Florence and the Machine would probably sound exceptional with the right treatment. I'd think some of the Max Martin or mainstream heavy pop bops could be elevated (I've said it before but the Bellman cut of The E.N.D. by the Black Eyed Peas of all things sounds better than most of my wax) a lot. I'm not sure if Kanye would let anyone touch MBDTF but that is begging for help across the board.

There's also tons of popular indie picks that could use an expert hand. Bon Iver has some rough pressings, The xx isn't bad but could be way better, Gorillaz could be intriguing. And this is just me picking off of the most owned pressings of the 2010s.

I am wondering if the bigger issue is source material (digital? Incinerated?) than taste.
 
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So elephant in the room. Given that these guys are supposedly top mastering engineers with the best gear why can’t they touch modern digital recordings for their sources? What is preventing them from being able to make a great album recorded in the last two decades from the individual tracks and remastering it to sound as best as it possibly can? Is the “tape” argument just a cop out to allow them to keep pressing the same old crap.

Also anyone uses the trash commercial radio friendly MOR likes of train or counting crows as an example of a modern audiophile treatment and I’m tying them to the damn tracks.
 
Joe Mac said:
So elephant in the room. Given that these guys are supposedly top mastering engineers with the best gear why can’t they touch modern digital recordings for their sources? What is preventing them from being able to make a great album recorded in the last two decades from the individual tracks and remastering it to sound as best as it possibly can? Is the “tape” argument just a cop out to allow them to keep pressing the same old crap.

Also anyone uses the trash commercial radio friendly MOR likes of train or counting crows as an example of a modern audiophile treatment and I’m tying them to the damn tracks.
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Speaking of Elephant...it's an all analog recording too!

I assume this will get represed at some point. All analog, mono, only released once in an edition of less than 1,000.

www.discogs.com

The White Stripes - Icky Thump

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2009 Vinyl release of "Icky Thump" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com
 
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