Vinyl Me Please Anthology

agutierrezb said:
I'm glad you're all enjoying your Herbie records. TBH it kind of makes me want to buy it, as he's one of my favorite artists of all time, and I don't have most of these albums. But then I see the price, and I remember why I haven't purchased a single Anthology so far. In my mind boxsets are supposed to be cheaper than buying all records separately, and this is definitely not the case. > $40 USD per album is crazy, especially when these records are pressed at GZ and have issues such as warps and surface noise. I bet you will eventually get a good copy, but for that price one would expect a premium product where defects are not the norm.
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I’m on exactly the same boat, down to pulling out the calculator to verify that they’re indeed > $40 per record (not including sales tax). I like Herbie alright and have cheaper pressings off several of those records, but I cannot see myself dropping $43 and change on a copy of Future Shock or The River even if those were Mofi pressings. VMP Anthologies are weird.
 
bettim84 said:
I’m on exactly the same boat, down to pulling out the calculator to verify that they’re indeed > $40 per record (not including sales tax). I like Herbie alright and have cheaper pressings off several of those records, but I cannot see myself dropping $43 and change on a copy of Future Shock or The River even if those were Mofi pressings. VMP Anthologies are weird.
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I would actually pay that price for a Mofi pressing of some of these albums. But if I'm buying them in batch and getting them "curated" (ie. Being forced to buy some albums I wouldn't necessarily buy) I would expect them to be significantly cheaper. And if I was paying that price for a Mofi I would expect the absolute best quality straight out of the box, not after a series of emails with Pauly and defective replacements to the original defective records.
 
Im on to Headhunter's now.

Maiden Voyage was very good and I'm lucky enough to have a first mono copy to compare it to (which I obviously did being the geek that I am). The separation of the instruments sounds really great on the anthology pressing. Unfortunately my copy also had a few ticks. I thought I might just need to clean it again but seeing comments here it might just be that particular title.

Headhunters is on another level completely. It's a big claim but this might just be the best sound record that I have ever had from VMP. It just blows me away how fantastic it sounds. I'm so glad I held back over the years, I was always overwhelmed by all the pressings of this and wanted to get the best sounding version. I'm certainly glad I waited.
 
agutierrezb said:
I would actually pay that price for a Mofi pressing of some of these albums. But if I'm buying them in batch and getting them "curated" (ie. Being forced to buy some albums I wouldn't necessarily buy) I would expect them to be significantly cheaper. And if I was paying that price for a Mofi I would expect the absolute best quality straight out of the box, not after a series of emails with Pauly and defective replacements to the original defective records.
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Agreed, a Mofi Headhunters or Maiden Voyage at that price would be an absolute steal. I was just singling out two of the box’s ugly ducklings IMO.
 
Oof... so here's currently what I'm going to look to get replaced:

-Maiden Voyage has some surface noise, particularly on the opening track.
-1+1 - both records probably have the worst warps in the box and the first record in particular has some terrible pops on Side A.
-The River - first record is fine but the second record is ATROCIOUS. Just this horrible swooshing and distortion all throughout Side C. Is this surface noise? An off-center record? I have no idea but it really, really sucks. I haven't even listened to Side D yet, not sure if I should even bother.

I need to give VSOP another listen before making videos of everything. In my email to VMP I also might gripe a bit about Head Hunters' warp as well but at least it's listenable unlike the above.

Because I want to try and be a glass-is-half-full sort of fella, I will again state The Piano is amazing, Takin' Off and Future Shock have no issues of note, and Head Hunters would be perfect if it didn't have that dish warp. Oh and no complaints on the packaging, everything is absolutely beautiful.
 
NewsFedora said:
Oof... so here's currently what I'm going to look to get replaced:

-Maiden Voyage has some surface noise, particularly on the opening track.
-1+1 - both records probably have the worst warps in the box and the first record in particular has some terrible pops on Side A.
-The River - first record is fine but the second record is ATROCIOUS. Just this horrible swooshing and distortion all throughout Side C. Is this surface noise? An off-center record? I have no idea but it really, really sucks. I haven't even listened to Side D yet, not sure if I should even bother.

I need to give VSOP another listen before making videos of everything. In my email to VMP I also might gripe a bit about Head Hunters' warp as well but at least it's listenable unlike the above.

Because I want to try and be a glass-is-half-full sort of fella, I will again state The Piano is amazing, Takin' Off and Future Shock have no issues of note, and Head Hunters would be perfect if it didn't have that dish warp. Oh and no complaints on the packaging, everything is absolutely beautiful.
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I have similar issues...all are pressing issues ultimately and all are on GZ. I have no qualms with requesting replacements.
 
Just submitted my request for replacements. I did include Head Hunters because seriously, guys:



Update: I'm getting me some replacements! Based on the shipping notification they're only going to be the records themselves, hopefully they'll be well packed (and flat).
 
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Received this from VMP today:

“Join us on Friday, 5/7 at 2pm PT / 5pm ET on Crowdcast for our capstone AMA (Ask Me Anything) video episode featuring VMP's Classics & Country Director, Andrew Winistorfer and Stephen Anderson, VMP's Music Operations Coordinator! You'll get a behind-the-scenes look at everything that went into making this box set a reality, from how the albums were picked to the 20+ test pressings of 1+1.

The best question asked will receive $25 in VMP Store Credit, so be sure to drop your questions into the chat box in advance of the recording!”

Interesting as I thought 1+1 had the relatively worst SQ of the box and was the only double album that I requested replacements of both records...
 
Just popping in here to say how stunning Herbie Hancock's 'The Piano' is. I have quite a few solo piano jazz albums now and this has to be the most beautiful sounding of the bunch. The jump from V.S.O.P. - Live Under the Sky to this is staggering in terms of musical approach and it's clearly a great way to highlight Herbie's versatility as a musician.

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Selaws said:
Just popping in here to say how stunning Herbie Hancock's 'The Piano' is. I have quite a few solo piano jazz albums now and this has to be the most beautiful sounding of the bunch. The jump from V.S.O.P. - Live Under the Sky to this is staggering in terms of musical approach and it's clearly a great way to highlight Herbie's versatility as a musician.

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This is the one album that was pulling me to get this set. Really wish this was released separately as well.
 
DJSJ said:
That's very cool they added the Obi's for the japanese releases.

But it goes to show....they DO know what an Obi strip is and how to make one.
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They have also reproduced any inserts which would have been included in the original releases. In the case of the Japan-only releases (including The Piano) this includes the original Japanese liner notes sheet and the Master Sounds product sheet. V.S.O.P also included the Direct Disk product sheet/process.

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Selaws said:
They have also reproduced any inserts which would have been included in the original releases. In the case of the Japan-only releases (including The Piano) this includes the original Japanese liner notes sheet and the Master Sounds product sheet. V.S.O.P also included the Direct Disk product sheet/process.

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Wow. And we're sure VMP produced this themselves? The attention to detail is so unlike them.
 
Okay, on the fence about grabbing one of these sets. Whats the consensus, so far seems like a crapshoot in terms of QA but is the sound worth chasing clean copies?
 
Ghost said:
Okay, on the fence about grabbing one of these sets. Whats the consensus, so far seems like a crapshoot in terms of QA but is the sound worth chasing clean copies?
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3 LPs in, all 3 are fantastic sounding. 1 warp I'd like to replace but can live with, 2 pretty much flawless discs. If that ratio holds, it is worth it.
 
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