Vinyl Me Please Anthology

Mather said:
Well my thing is, the Rhinos aren't really around that I can see, the Mofi's are, but in only a couple cases, and the Glasser Rocktobers are available but that's only 4 slightly more fringe albums... And a lot of that stuff is pressed at Optimal... But still...
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They pop up with fair regularity, though. The last time I was in a record store my local actually had a few rhino copies of American Beauty and Workingman's.

MoFi's Beauty and Workingman's can still be found at list (think Workingman's is actually OOS on MoFi/MD but it's been coming and going for a while, I think they've been keeping these in press).

And, at the end of the day, you can find some really great condition 2nd/3rd generation US pressings out there for cheap. In my post I shared on Reddit, I suggested a 2nd-run Terre Haute 1970 press of Live/Dead. For everything in this anthology set, sans Without A New (not something many were actively seeking anyways - there's less than 1,000 people with any variant in their discogs wantlist), you can find VERY good sounding copies for cheap by going with 2nd or 3rd runs. Yeah you lose some fidelity in theory due to plate degradation, but it's rarely going to be super audible. The hype over original presses, in general, is over blown. There are obviously cases where the original has an advantage over later reissues, but for Grateful Dead there's no much that didn't get numerous runs with same plates/stampers and at the same pressing plant.

I used MoFi/Rhino/AP in my reddit post to highlight that you could buy some very expensive versions of these albums, a few made with higher audiophile standards than VMP's set, and still end up saving money.

If this set was priced about $100 less, I'd be in. But the $50 coupon isn't moving me and I'm figuring VMP might have an inventory overload on their hands.
 
MikeH said:
I didn’t buy but colored vinyl never bothers me unless it’s glow in the dark. I haven’t had issues with sound quality that I have noticed. And I have been mostly happy with QRP’s pressings
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Yeah, I think the narrative that color vinyl = bad is a bit outdated. When the vinyl boom started in earnest about 10-15 years, color vinyl was definitely still a novelty and the plants producing it simply were not the best at QC. There are different sound results based on compounds used, and when less carbon black is present, but there's nothing inherently worse about color vs black (glow in the dark being an outlier for a few reasons, here). What we have now is that the better plants adapted and have no problem putting out color vinyl with good QC.

CCKrone said:
@Mather @MikeH I'm in the camp of wait for MoFi represses because they seem to repress MoFi Grateful Dead albums a lot. Elusive Disc and a few other sites are hinting that Workingman's Dead will be repressed by MoFi shortly. I've gotten all my Grateful Dead MoFi presses for about $70 Canadian, they are out there, it may just take time. I remember waiting for about a year to get a copy of Mofi - Skull/Roses for a price around $70. I can't imagine they will ever stop pressing these albums because it's basically like printing money.
Now if only AP would repress Terrapin Station....
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And Reckoning.

And I wish someone would revive Audio Fidelity for a reissue of Blues for Allah (want to A/B it to my 45rpm MFSL), Shakedown Street, and Bear's Choice
 
Btsvinylfarm said:
Yeah, I think the narrative that color vinyl = bad is a bit outdated. When the vinyl boom started in earnest about 10-15 years, color vinyl was definitely still a novelty and the plants producing it simply were not the best at QC. There are different sound results based on compounds used, and when less carbon black is present, but there's nothing inherently worse about color vs black (glow in the dark being an outlier for a few reasons, here). What we have now is that the better plants adapted and have no problem putting out color vinyl with good QC.


And Reckoning.

And I wish someone would revive Audio Fidelity for a reissue of Blues for Allah (want to A/B it to my 45rpm MFSL), Shakedown Street, and Bear's Choice
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Ugh I totally forgot about Bear's Choice. I would have been more tempted to pick up this box if they swapped out E72 for Bear's Choice and Skull and Roses.
 
Anybody else notice some pretty gnarly wow on the first side of Witch - Introduction? Just checking to see if it's my setup or my record. I know these recordings are probably pretty rough but it was the first time I've heard it through vocals and guitar passages before.
 
folsom_lives said:
Anybody else notice some pretty gnarly wow on the first side of Witch - Introduction? Just checking to see if it's my setup or my record. I know these recordings are probably pretty rough but it was the first time I've heard it through vocals and guitar passages before.
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gnarly wow?
 
folsom_lives said:
Anybody else notice some pretty gnarly wow on the first side of Witch - Introduction? Just checking to see if it's my setup or my record. I know these recordings are probably pretty rough but it was the first time I've heard it through vocals and guitar passages before.
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The only time I've heard this on my system was with a very off centred pressing. Maybe check for that? But yes also I imagine those masters were pretty rough...
 
folsom_lives said:
Anybody else notice some pretty gnarly wow on the first side of Witch - Introduction? Just checking to see if it's my setup or my record. I know these recordings are probably pretty rough but it was the first time I've heard it through vocals and guitar passages before.
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Is it a tape flutter? I have a couple of reissues made from the best tapes that are still available where there is a bit of wow and flutter because the only tapes were getting a bit stretched. I listened to the WITCH album but didn't notice it
 
jamieanderson1968 said:
Is it a tape flutter? I have a couple of reissues made from the best tapes that are still available where there is a bit of wow and flutter because the only tapes were getting a bit stretched. I listened to the WITCH album but didn't notice it
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Not sure it's flutter, seems longer than that. I'm sure it;s from the master since it's only affecting a few tracks for limited times. Pressing is dead center and flat.
 
dhodo said:
Wow is pitch variation.
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🌈The more you know 🌠🌠 thanks hah. i'll take a listen today.

Mather said:
The only time I've heard this on my system was with a very off centred pressing. Maybe check for that? But yes also I imagine those masters were pretty rough...
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I believe only one of the albums is actually from a master tape (the Fireballs album). The rest are from vinyl masters as far as I can remember.
 
MikeH said:
🌈The more you know 🌠🌠 thanks hah. i'll take a listen today.


I believe only one of the albums is actually from a master tape (the Fireballs album). The rest are from vinyl masters as far as I can remember.
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Doesn't wow compound? Like the tapes, the vinyl master, and my system could all contribute to a pitch variation?
 
I will say that I find the general concept of this whole "Anthology" thing to be a very cool idea. I also find the idea of focusing on one artist/band rather than a label to be more intriguing, again, in a general sense. I just wish it wasn't so cost prohibitive and that it was being done by a company I had more faith in.
 
folsom_lives said:
Anybody else notice some pretty gnarly wow on the first side of Witch - Introduction? Just checking to see if it's my setup or my record. I know these recordings are probably pretty rough but it was the first time I've heard it through vocals and guitar passages before.
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Could be the masters? Seems like they weren't exactly stored in ideal conditions.
 
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