Third Man Records Vault

popthropologist said:
Has anyone listened to the TMRxImpulse yellow releases that I see in the Vault Store? I usually check on Fridays and a new one has been released. Wish they would send a stock update email when new releases hit the Vault store!
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I have the James Brown one and it’s fine. Not outstanding and I can get why the artwork isn’t everyone’s cuppa. I haven’t had a lot of the issues with TMR pressings as others or I’m just not as aware of them. I bought it with some store credit I got for Xmas so it wasn’t a huge lift.
 
popthropologist said:
Has anyone listened to the TMRxImpulse yellow releases that I see in the Vault Store? I usually check on Fridays and a new one has been released. Wish they would send a stock update email when new releases hit the Vault store!
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The yellow vinyl versions sound the same to me as their black vinyl counterparts. If you are buying, I'd say do so for the collectible side of it if you are a TMR and Verve/Impulse fan. Some people don't like how the sleeves look (monochrome where yellow replaces white).The Ashby cover for example doesn't look as good as the Roy Brooks or Blossom Dearie. Some translate better than others in my opinion.

They don't email when additions to the Vault, I think, because they often have very few copies of certain titles and it's first come first serve. It would be nice if they did though.
 
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I really dislike the VBR series. I’ve gotten three and not really liked any of them so I’ve given up. They were consistently the worst sounding when compared to other versions (CD, streaming and other vinyl copies I had). Cut from kinda crappy digital transfers. They aren’t worth what they are charging for them at all IMO. The somewhat good thing about the series is it’s brought down the price of better pressings of most of these albums so far.
 
Glad I asked about them! The yellow covers are kind of a turn off personally, and I wasn’t sure how the Third Man pressings compared. Verve seems to be allowing anyone and everyone a shot at pressing some of these albums.

I bought the recent Exploding Hearts yellow and pink splatter vinyl release, and it sounds great to me, though. It’s a nice remaster and the extra tracks are inessential but fun to have. I was disappointed that I missed the heart vinyl edition… until I read the Discogs reviews!
 
popthropologist said:
Glad I asked about them! The yellow covers are kind of a turn off personally, and I wasn’t sure how the Third Man pressings compared. Impulse seems to be allowing anyone and everyone a shot at pressing some of these albums.

I bought the recent Exploding Hearts yellow and pink splatter vinyl release, and it sounds great to me, though. It’s a nice remaster and the extra tracks are inessential but fun to have. I was disappointed that I missed the heart vinyl edition… until I read the Discogs reviews!
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In my experience, when Verve reissues stuff themselves, it's usually a bad product. It's usually better when they let another label like Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions or VMP license the stuff and reissue it on their own labels.

TMR were given the plates/masters for this series and just pressed them. I'm really hoping the Blue Note campaign they are doing is good quality since they did all the steps themselves but not holding my breath.
 
MikeH said:
In my experience, when Verve reissues stuff themselves, it's usually a bad product. It's usually better when they let another label like Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions or VMP license the stuff and reissue it on their own labels.

TMR were given the plates/masters for this series and just pressed them. I'm really hoping the Blue Note campaign they are doing is good quality since they did all the steps themselves but not holding my breath.
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The way they’re talking about the BN 313 series—“as close as possible to the magic of the originals”—sounded like quite the hedge to me.
 
MikeH said:
In my experience, when Verve reissues stuff themselves, it's usually a bad product. It's usually better when they let another label like Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions or VMP license the stuff and reissue it on their own labels.

TMR were given the plates/masters for this series and just pressed them. I'm really hoping the Blue Note campaign they are doing is good quality since they did all the steps themselves but not holding my breath.
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Prior to building his own pressing plant, TMR used United down the street in Nashville. Some folks used to say those pressings had issues, others were fine. In video I have seen of TMR Detroit's presses, the presses seem new and I would think Jack has a system in place for QC. I don't know what may be causing the perceived QC issues from TMR's presses, but several people on these boards and and others have mixed opinions and experiences, so is it a machine issue with or a human QC issue?
 
Biscuit said:
Prior to building his own pressing plant, TMR used United down the street in Nashville. Some folks used to say those pressings had issues, others were fine. In video I have seen of TMR Detroit's presses, the presses seem new and I would think Jack has a system in place for QC. I don't know what may be causing the perceived QC issues from TMR's presses, but several people on these boards and and others have mixed opinions and experiences, so is it a machine issue with or a human QC issue?
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If it’s a machine issue, it’s still a qc issue. In my experience, the vault stuff is pretty good, can be great, the Jack centric stuff is good, can be great, the early releases were better than now. Everything else is just not great. I think it’s some Jack hate and some just not great presses hate. I don’t think they are as shitty as united (and united was indeed very shitty) but they aint consistently good. I wonder if they do the whole pay more for better qc stuff like GZ (and I’m convinced optimal) are rumored to have.
 
Biscuit said:
Prior to building his own pressing plant, TMR used United down the street in Nashville. Some folks used to say those pressings had issues, others were fine. In video I have seen of TMR Detroit's presses, the presses seem new and I would think Jack has a system in place for QC. I don't know what may be causing the perceived QC issues from TMR's presses, but several people on these boards and and others have mixed opinions and experiences, so is it a machine issue with or a human QC issue?
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I've seen some people call them the new United haha. One big issue I have had is brand new records having scratches and really dirty discs. Doesn't help that most seem to use paper inners. Some warps but no more than any other plant. Not sure if they are cheaper so clients who tend to want to pay less press there or what....but I can't think of many records that I have from Third Man that have really wowed me, yet some of the records pressed there are as expensive as stuff coming out of QRP, RTI and my new favorite Gotta Groove. I think GZ is better at this point.

I think what Jack White is doing encouraging people to open plants is awesome and I don't have any hate toward him at all (don't really know enough about him tbh). I just wish they would up their QC game.
 
Biscuit said:
Prior to building his own pressing plant, TMR used United down the street in Nashville. Some folks used to say those pressings had issues, others were fine. In video I have seen of TMR Detroit's presses, the presses seem new and I would think Jack has a system in place for QC. I don't know what may be causing the perceived QC issues from TMR's presses, but several people on these boards and and others have mixed opinions and experiences, so is it a machine issue with or a human QC issue?
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Machine quality would be important but just one small piece of the puzzle - the bigger thing is the skill of the operators. Temperatures to use (including the different temps for different colors/mixtures), cooling time, cleaning presses/metalwork, etc. Then, post-pressing handling (making sure the discs are cool enough to sleeve, using the right sleeves, etc.) makes a big difference.

Based on the issues I've seen with Third Man, it's probably due to lack of skill/experience, which isn't hugely surprising considering it's still a relatively new plant that probably took on way too much volume than they should have early on. Hopefully they get it straightened out - I assume Jack definitely cares.
 
Twentytwo said:
View attachment 177110

thirdmanrecords.com

THIRD MAN RECORDS ANNOUNCES VAULT PACKAGE #57: THE SOLO WORKS OF SYD BARRETT

Third Man Records (in conjunction with Sony Music Entertainment) is humbled to present Syd Barrett’s solo albums - The Madcap Laughs, Barrett, and Opel - as the 57th installment of the Vault subscription series. Individually out of print for almost ten years, and never previously available...
thirdmanrecords.com thirdmanrecords.com
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I got really excited when I saw the David Gilmour 7” and thought it was the live covers he did with David Bowie.
 
Twentytwo said:
View attachment 177110

thirdmanrecords.com

THIRD MAN RECORDS ANNOUNCES VAULT PACKAGE #57: THE SOLO WORKS OF SYD BARRETT

Third Man Records (in conjunction with Sony Music Entertainment) is humbled to present Syd Barrett’s solo albums - The Madcap Laughs, Barrett, and Opel - as the 57th installment of the Vault subscription series. Individually out of print for almost ten years, and never previously available...
thirdmanrecords.com thirdmanrecords.com
Click to expand...
Price is right if you don’t have all 3 albums. Cheapest on cogs would the same as the vault package.
 
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