I’m pretty sure they’re just taking CD files to RKS for the “mastering” and pressing it on vinyl. Whatever it is, they’ve all been lifeless.
Yeah, I read that about the MMW. I only picked up It's A Jungle In Here, and it was a tad quiet due to the side length, but thought it sounded pretty good overall. Not too flat sounding when I cranked it. But yeah,definitely would have preferred to pay more for a 2xLP
I have many of their CDs and when I compared Jungle to my CD, I passed the vinyl along. The CD sounded better on my system. It’s a shame because those albums could really benefit from an audiophile treatment and people would for sure pay.
Nice! Yeah, I'm one those people that still scrounges around in used CD bins hoping to find great albums for like $4 or less. Always looking for live Phish, Dead, and jazz CDs.
I don’t even think RKS is doing the whole series anymore?
The MMW’s do sound fine when you crank it, but it’s because they cram almost 30 minutes of music on each side. They’re all nearly 60 minutes and all on one disc.
Ah interesting, I thought RKS was doing the whole series but maybe that was just the first few. I tapped out after the Ptah, James Brown and Mel Brown - they were all underwhelming.
Got one on hold at my local!
I've listened to my copy a couple times through now. It's wonderful. Absolutely no surface noise. Crispy cymbals, prominent bass, well balanced mix. Nothing to complain about with this one. It's a solid pressing.
Yup. The only two I have grabbed are Ahmad Jamal's Awakening and Yusef Lateef- Psychicemotus because I love both those records. Both pressings are entirely mediocre - I do get more enjoyment than from streaming at CD quality, but I likely will not be purchasing any more of this series.
The Scofield is a 16/44 master. So, basically, it is for all intents mastering the CD files.
It would be interesting to know when the Ptah tapes went missing. I have the CD from 96ish and it’s so much better than the VBR. I think Turd Man/Universal has done such a bad job on the ones I’ve heard and it’s a shame that they have kept certain titles for their own series. Quality control has been all over the place on the ones I got and I just gave up in the end.
Ptah, like 90% of Impulse, Verve, etc. aren't missing, they went up in smoke.
That Third Man is a tourist attraction more than it is a record store. It’s really weird IMO what Jack White has done with the shop.
Its really bizarre, they have a decent enough stock of records considering its size and have a wall of all the Blue Note 313 series, which is why their bluntness regarding the Muriel Grossmann threw me off.
Haven’t been to the London shop, but that is similar to how I felt about Detroit and Nashville. Went to the Detroit store and bought an lp that cost the same as anywhere else and a coffee mug. Don’t think I even bought anything in Nashville. Overall very meh
I’ve had a chance to A/B the Go West! box pressing of Way Out West versus the OJC, and you described the differences almost perfectly to my ears. Rollins’s tone is definitely fuller and more lush on the BG cut. The bass clarity and presence is probably the most obvious distinction. It’s like a different album from a bass-focused perspective. Drums and cymbals are more laid back for sure in the BG cut compared to the OJC, which has more of a live and forward vibe on the drums and cymbals (especially the cymbals, which are really in your face on the OJC). Rollins’s tone is more lean on the OJC but it cuts straight through in a way that some people might prefer.
