Definitive Audiophile pressings

Joe Mac said:
I’m not buying that when more than one person, including someone who got openly mocked on here despite having better speakers than any of us are likely to ever hear, with a decent system is saying distortion that it’s down to people on an all in ones buying a €100 jazz record and complaining about the same distortion.
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I was mostly teasing about the name of the speakers on that one haha.

But that's also the guy who said his tracking force was set really high and he had forgotten to change it back before listening. I think he went back and edited some of his comments too. I couldn't really bother to keep track since the threads there get really insufferable as we all know.

There are likely to be pressing issues with most albums these days, no matter where they are from or how much they cost. As long as they give out replacements and the whole batch isn't a mess, then I think it's kinda the risk/reward with buying albums on vinyl. It's also why having some sort of cleaning system is also one of the better investments you can have.
 
Joe Mac said:
I’m not buying that when more than one person, including someone who got openly mocked on here despite having better speakers than any of us are likely to ever hear, with a decent system is saying distortion that it’s down to people on an all in ones buying a €100 jazz record and complaining about the same distortion.
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Hmm I wasn't aware of the situation on here to be honest (unless I skimmed over it) and my point was always regarding the cleaning. I'm also not saying that there could be a fundamental issue with the record itself, which of course a better system would make more apparent. In this case there might well be an issue with it, I haven't got it yet so I can't comment, but I do know that the other 2 sound fine to me with others saying there is an issue with the pressing. Not that my opinion has any more weight than someone else, my system is far from being high level but I would imagine I would hear pressing issues unless they were incredibly subtle.

I did agree with what I thought @Jbraswell was saying though simply because of some things I have been seeing on Facebook pages. You would be surprised at how many people buy mega-expensive records with starter systems, I think the collectibility and FOMO aspect plays into that a lot.

Even the cleaning aspect plays a part as well. I will screenshot it if I see it again but one person in one of the larger groups complained of a lot of static on the record. He got a second copy and.....same static. Turns out it might be down to the solution he was using to clean (which I wouldnt have ever considered!).
 
MikeH said:
Swung a trade for the Muddy Waters one step and got it yesterday. Don’t have the AP to compare it to, but what an impressive sounding record. Really does sound like Muddy is in your living room.
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Any chance you could post a picture of the Muddy One-Step discs? Is there as much unused vinyl per side as the AP pressing? No images of the records themselves on Discogs.
 
Selaws said:
Hmm I wasn't aware of the situation on here to be honest (unless I skimmed over it) and my point was always regarding the cleaning. I'm also not saying that there could be a fundamental issue with the record itself, which of course a better system would make more apparent. In this case there might well be an issue with it, I haven't got it yet so I can't comment, but I do know that the other 2 sound fine to me with others saying there is an issue with the pressing. Not that my opinion has any more weight than someone else, my system is far from being high level but I would imagine I would hear pressing issues unless they were incredibly subtle.

I did agree with what I thought @Jbraswell was saying though simply because of some things I have been seeing on Facebook pages. You would be surprised at how many people buy mega-expensive records with starter systems, I think the collectibility and FOMO aspect plays into that a lot.

Even the cleaning aspect plays a part as well. I will screenshot it if I see it again but one person in one of the larger groups complained of a lot of static on the record. He got a second copy and.....same static. Turns out it might be down to the solution he was using to clean (which I wouldnt have ever considered!).
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Yeah cleaning is definitely an issue but my experience with the Crossley brigade has always been the ultra rare coloured presses that sound fine to them but are crackly messes to me and them defending them to the hilt on cogs. Dead Oceans in general and the likes of Phoebe Bridgers in particular lol.
 
I think everyone also has to take into account that there can be pressing issues that only affect some of the line. So it might not be down to one person being right and one person being wrong.

I just picked up the newest XL Kid A repress which has almost universal scorn due to numerous pressing issues, and my copy is literally almost perfect. But I absolutely know for sure that I got lucky this time and that those other copies are likely a dog's breakfast. Maybe some of the run has distortion due to a different stamper, or the later presses got a dirty stamper that the earlier ones didn't... Who knows.
As for how a mono switch would fix the distortion, I suppose if it's only taking one channel that the distortion could be present on the other channel that's being cancelled out and that's accidentally solving the issue?
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah cleaning is definitely an issue but my experience with the Crossley brigade has always been the ultra rare coloured presses that sound fine to them but are crackly messes to me and them defending them to the hilt on cogs. Dead Oceans in general and the likes of Phoebe Bridgers in particular lol.
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Oh god I managed to wash that Phoebe Bridgers issue out of my head until you reminded me of it. Such a shame as well because the package for Punisher was fantastic!

Holy Hell! I just re-checked the price its going for.....

Screenshot 2022-05-09 at 16.52.06.png
 
Selaws said:
Oh god I managed to wash that Phoebe Bridgers issue out of my head until you reminded me of it. Such a shame as well because the package for Punisher was fantastic!

Holy Hell! I just re-checked the price its going for.....

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The ultrasonic somewhat salvaged it actually (after 3 attempts cleaning it in the spin clean) but it’s still a long long way from acceptable! The peacock one I got is definitely the prettiest record I own but that’s kinda a moot point lol!
 
MikeH said:
I was mostly teasing about the name of the speakers on that one haha.

But that's also the guy who said his tracking force was set really high and he had forgotten to change it back before listening. I think he went back and edited some of his comments too. I couldn't really bother to keep track since the threads there get really insufferable as we all know.

There are likely to be pressing issues with most albums these days, no matter where they are from or how much they cost. As long as they give out replacements and the whole batch isn't a mess, then I think it's kinda the risk/reward with buying albums on vinyl. It's also why having some sort of cleaning system is also one of the better investments you can have.
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Ah yeah but it’s a cheap blow based on what they actually are lol!

I’m at a loss as to why you would increase tracking force for a 200g record, surely you’d decrease it, if anything, given it’s thicker and raises the playing surface?
 
Joe Mac said:
Ah yeah but it’s a cheap blow based on what they actually are lol!

I’m at a loss as to why you would increase tracking force for a 200g record, surely you’d decrease it, if anything, given it’s thicker and raises the playing surface?
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Yes-- absolutely a cheap blow haha

I could be misremembering if thats why he had increased it, but the guy said he had set it to a stronger tracking force for some reason (upper end of what was recommended) and people recommended that he decrease it and see if that helped and he said they may be right about that. Then he edited some of his previous comments.

As usual with Hoffman, there are lots of backs and forths, complaints, etc. There were probably 20 pages of people complaining that Craft wouldn't press enough this time and how awful the experience with trying to buy it was going to be. Now almost a month later, it's still available, nobody had issues with checking out, etc.
 
Selaws said:
I think this is a very good point you have made about limitations.

I have also seen some recent (since the Relaxin release) discussions regarding the previous releases. I have seen a few people comment recently on pops/clicks to then do a 180 once they had it properly cleaned on a proper machine. I dread to think how many people asked for replacements when all it needs is a decent clean (ie not a wet rag).
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Further, I have found that there are many cases (GZ pressings particularly) where the mold release compound is not fully gone and there are obvious clumps of debris sticking to the surface. As a general rule (not always true) if there are no obvious marks, I use First RV as the first step. There is nothing else on the market that does what FirstRV is capable of in removing tiny spots of gumminess in the grooves. Often, that makes the record very quiet, although in some cases, whatever substance is on the record is not fully dissolved the first tme. A run through the RCM often takes care of the rest, if it still isn't perfect, another manual turn with FirstRV takes care of anything left.

As a note, I use alcohol (isopropyl) based solutions for general cleaning. I find it, after using many others, simply more effective. It's one thing to loosen and lift, and a completely different thing to dissolve and lift. The latter is much more effective, and the difference is mostly the presence of the isopropyl alcohol.
 
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RHANDMJ said:
Further, I have found that there are many cases (GZ pressings particularly) where the mold release compound is not fully gone and there are obvious clumps of debris sticking to the surface. As a general rule (not always true) if there are no obvious marks, I use First RV as the first step. There is nothing else on the market that does what FirstRV is capable of in removing tiny spots of gumminess in the grooves. Often, that makes the record very quiet, although in some cases, whatever substance is on the record is not fully dissolved the first tme. A run through the RCM often takes care of the rest, if it still isn't perfect, another manual turn with FirstRV takes care of anything left.

As a note, I use alcohol (isopropyl) based solutions for general cleaning. I find it, after using many others, simply more effective. It's one thing to loosen and lift, and a completely different thing to dissolve and lift. The latter is much more effective, and the difference is mostly the presence of the isopropyl alcohol.
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I don’t have experience with RV. Interested to hear more.

Added IPA to my US process recently.
It seems to really unmask some fidelity. Big fan!
 
Mather said:
Also my second copy of Rumours has the same pops and clicks on Songbird and side 3 is again pressed off centre (although it's debatable if it's actually causing warble so I think it's okay), same Side 2 warp. So yeah, this new 22 batch was a little off...
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Yeah I’m going to return my second one that is the exact same as my first and maybe worse. Pallas is getting dangerously close to the no-fly list.
 
Unplugged One Step is up for preorder on the MOFI site

mofi.com

Eric Clapton - Unplugged

Strictly limited to 10,000 numbered copies, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl at RTI, and mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP collector's edition enhances the blockbuster work for today – and the ages to come. Surpassing the sonics of...
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Don't think I'll upgrade my existing copy as it's pretty good already.
 
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