Hi there. I came across the forum by chance and this topic in particular.
Having bought most of the blue note releases over the years on CD (at least from the label's golden age), this year I got hooked on vinyl again, probably due to the 80th year releases. To date I've bought a few of the tone poets, more of the BN-80s, a few of the 75th anniversary releases, and I bought a second hand music matters.
Firstly, the MM release I have has quite a number of clicks and pops, due to the previous owner I reckon. The MM releases are ultra expensive here in the UK so I'm likely going to avoid.
The Tone Poet releases I've bought so far have been exceptional. I just ordered the Grant Green and Tina Brooks releases from the Blue Note store in the UK with the 30% sale that's on.
The BN-80s I've bought so far are probably on par mastering and pressing wise. Only one I've had any problems with is the Johnny Griffin release - first one had a big imperfection on the run in on one side and the replacement is very warped and has numerous clicks. There's a big price difference between the BN-80s and the Tone Poets. I'd definitely say the Tone Poets are every bit as good as the MMs.
The BN-75s that I have were pressed in the EU (Germany?) and are 180G the ones I have are very good. I've read in other forums that the pressings in the US were very poor. I believe these were made from original analog tape masters.
One problem we have in Europe is that the copyright laws mean that after 60 or perhaps 50 years recordings are public domain. So there are numerous labels who produce vinyl releases using the CD as the source at low prices. I don't have any blue notes but I have a couple of John Coltrane releases and they are very second rate.
On the 2020 Tone Poet releases, I think I 'm going to try and be more selective to save my wallet further pain. But I did say that about the 2019 Tone Poets.
I apologise if this is restating or repeating other posts, but life is too short to read all 111 pages.
