I posted in the Jazz forum that I just picked up
this 45rpm press of Cannonball Adderley Quintet, “In Chicago” (aka “Cannonball and Coltrane”). It’s part of the “45rpm Audio Check” series, for which the “non-limiter, maximum cutting level is between +7 and +11db.” I have only the slightest, vaguest idea of what this means, but it sounds important (that’s sarcasm). In any event, I already have
this 1972 copy of this album, which I really like, and I was curious what could have been done w/ the 45rpm “audiophile” version.
I thought (and think) the 1972 press sounds pretty good, but there’s simply no comparison. The Japanese 45rpm sounds amazing — lush, present, vibrant. I purchased this from Ella Records in Japan, and I’m going to have to check out some of the others in this Audio Check series. One of my locals has a few other albums in the series, but the condition of the vinyl is bad on all of them.
The downside of the Audio Check series is that they can’t include all the tracks, so this has 4 of 6 songs from the original. It only cost me $17, including shipping, so I’m fine with that given the quality.