Vinyl Me Please Essentials

NathanRicaud said:
Omg Joe, that’s so strict/harsh! 🤪

I mean, I have some One-Step pressings but I have some other releases, like some Analogue Productions and some of those VMP Classics and Blue Note Tone Poet and Speakers Corner and even Friday Music pressings and some of them are a 10/10 for me! And some of the VMP Essentials and Rap & Hip-Hop releases are a 9/10 or 10/10 for me. That Salt-N-Pepa ROTM is a 10/10 in terms of sound quality for me! Same with the Jorge Ben! They sounds just so “mmmmmmm freaking good!” 👌

Also, if the best VMP pressing is like a 7.5/10 for you, that Laura Marling you just got, that I’ll also be receiving, must sound like 3/10 in comparison! Because boy, you play the Isley Brothers Classics ROTM, and then play Nulifer Yanya or Michael Kiwanuka afterwards for example, it’s like...disappointing! So all those new releases you and I are getting are all 3/10-4/10 if you are going by that metric! 👨‍⚖️
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Its not strict! It’s realistic! You’re saying that you rate a VMP classic as being close to a one step? I can no longer trust any reviews of pressings that you give. My one step is so far ahead of any other pressing that I own that if it’s the benchmark then you have to mark everything else accordingly. 9 for AP and MoFi 45s. 8 for MoFi and AP 33s, speakers corner, pure pleasure, 1 or 2 VMP classics and downwards accordingly. Of new pressings yes indie pressings from the secretly crew are mostly 4-5. Grae is an outlilier approaching a 7, makes the shit ones even more frustrating though. Maybe the rhino AAA or Neil Young or the recent Dylan might be between a 7 and an 8.
 
Joe Mac said:
Its not strict! It’s realistic! You’re saying that you rate a VMP classic as being close to a one step? I can no longer trust any reviews of pressings that you give. My one step is so far ahead of any other pressing that I own that if it’s the benchmark then you have to mark everything else accordingly. 9 for AP and MoFi 45s. 8 for MoFi and AP 33s, speakers corner, pure pleasure, 1 or 2 VMP classics and downwards accordingly. Of new pressings yes indie pressings from the secretly crew are mostly 4-5. Grae is an outlilier approaching a 7, makes the shit ones even more frustrating though. Maybe the rhino AAA or Neil Young or the recent Dylan might be between a 7 and an 8.
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Yea--I gotta say...I didn't really buy into the One-Steps being that much better than other records I own, but the Blood On The Tracks One Step is far and away the best sounding record out of 1,000+ records I own. If that's the new standard of 10/10, then I agree with your other ratings. Call Me is probably the best sounding VMP record I own. Some of the Blue Notes come close to Call Me and are up there as well. VMP is still ahead of most general releases, but if One Step is a 10/10, VMP is around a 7/8 for me most of the time.
 
MikeH said:
Yea--I gotta say...I didn't really buy into the One-Steps being that much better than other records I own, but the Blood On The Tracks One Step is far and away the best sounding record out of 1,000+ records I own. If that's the new standard of 10/10, then I agree with your other ratings. Call Me is probably the best sounding VMP record I own. Some of the Blue Notes come close to Call Me and are up there as well. VMP is still ahead of most general releases, but if One Step is a 10/10, VMP is around a 7/8 for me most of the time.
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Yeah if the one step Blood on the Tracks is the only 10 I have the only other one that comes close to a 10, but only just misses out, is the Radiohead In Rainbows diskbox you just had arrive!
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah if the one step Blood on the Tracks is the only 10 I have the only other one that comes close to a 10, but only just misses out, is the Radiohead In Rainbows diskbox you just had arrive!
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The In Rainbows diskbox is simultaneously awesome and frustrating. Awesome because it sounds amazing. Frustrating because we know that Radiohead can clearly make great sounding pressings of their albums, but great pressings of their other albums are so few and far between.
 
MikeH said:
The In Rainbows diskbox is simultaneously awesome and frustrating. Awesome because it sounds amazing. Frustrating because we know that Radiohead can clearly make great sounding pressings of their albums, but great pressings of their other albums are so few and far between.
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Yeah I don’t think vinyl or audiophile is a focus to be honest beyond doing nice packages of each release. I can imagine such things really boring someone like Thom who I imagine doesn’t look back, just moves forwards...

They seem to be happy to leave the logistics to the label and we all know how poor XL’s reputation is, particularly in America. I think that In Rainbows all fell together in that it was one of their last albums recorded to tape, they didn’t have a label so their management had to organise the pressing and there was some conjecture over whether it would get a traditional physical release outside the diskbox, the XL distribution deal was some months later, it’s the reason I got it because I didn’t have a vinyl system/collection back then.
 
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Bluecloud777 said:
I'm probably ignorant, but what are these One Step records? I've never heard of them. Are they some very audiophile analogue pressings like AP or MoFis etc?
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Its mofi’s gold standard. Mofi one step Ultradisc they are called. Cost a pretty penny but if the album is an all time favourite they are worth it because the only description of how they sounds that works is, WOW!
 
Joe Mac said:
Its not strict! It’s realistic! You’re saying that you rate a VMP classic as being close to a one step? I can no longer trust any reviews of pressings that you give. My one step is so far ahead of any other pressing that I own that if it’s the benchmark then you have to mark everything else accordingly. 9 for AP and MoFi 45s. 8 for MoFi and AP 33s, speakers corner, pure pleasure, 1 or 2 VMP classics and downwards accordingly. Of new pressings yes indie pressings from the secretly crew are mostly 4-5. Grae is an outlilier approaching a 7, makes the shit ones even more frustrating though. Maybe the rhino AAA or Neil Young or the recent Dylan might be between a 7 and an 8.
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No, I’m not saying the VMP Classics sound advice good as the One-Step MoFi Bon Dylan, definitely not! That, along with the One-Step of Thelonius Monk & Charles Mingus, as well as Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly MoFi 45RPM, and The Doors L.A. Woman 45RPM and Nat King Cole 45RPM are all my best sounding records in my collection in my opinion.

But I still rate a lot of other pressings 10/10 just for how amazing they sound, including the VMP pressing of Al Green’s Call Me! Errol Garner’s Magician is like a 10/10 for me too! That pressing sounded impeccable. If I was to compare to my best sounding records, they would be an 8/10 or maybe even an 8.5/10. Still though, I rate them 10/10.

This is how I see it: Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, Madvillain’s Madvillainy and The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead are all very strong 10/10’s for me! But you also have other 10/10’s, like Kate Bush’s Hounds Of Love, A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory and Prince’s Purple Rain. But for me, they are a step below the before-mentioned 10/10’s. You know what I mean?

Like they’re all 10/10’s, but there are just some top-tier, the best of the best, 10/10’s with albums (all subjective I guess, but you know where I’m coming from).

Same case with the pressings, like Thelonius Monk, Charles Mingus & Bon Dylan One-Step are like the top-tier 10/10’s! Then the Speakers Corner Carla Thomas’ The Queen Alone pressing is also 10/10, but it just scores a 10/10 for me!
 
NathanRicaud said:
No, I’m not saying the VMP Classics sound advice good as the One-Step MoFi Bon Dylan, definitely not! That, along with the One-Step of Thelonius Monk & Charles Mingus, as well as Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly MoFi 45RPM, and The Doors L.A. Woman 45RPM and Nat King Cole 45RPM are all my best sounding records in my collection in my opinion.

But I still rate a lot of other pressings 10/10 just for how amazing they sound, including the VMP pressing of Al Green’s Call Me! Errol Garner’s Magician is like a 10/10 for me too! That pressing sounded impeccable. If I was to compare to my best sounding records, they would be an 8/10 or maybe even an 8.5/10. Still though, I rate them 10/10.

This is how I see it: Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, Madvillain’s Madvillainy and The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead are all very strong 10/10’s for me! But you also have other 10/10’s, like Kate Bush’s Hounds Of Love, A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory and Prince’s Purple Rain. But for me, they are a step below the before-mentioned 10/10’s. You know what I mean?

Like they’re all 10/10’s, but there are just some top-tier, the best of the best, 10/10’s with albums (all subjective I guess, but you know where I’m coming from).

Same case with the pressings, like Thelonius Monk, Charles Mingus & Bon Dylan One-Step are like the top-tier 10/10’s! Then the Speakers Corner Carla Thomas’ The Queen Alone pressing is also 10/10, but it just scores a 10/10 for me!
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Yeah that’s a cop out. We’re talking pressing quality. Take Phoebe Bridgers last one. One of the best of the year so far, we’re looking approx 8.5. Pressing 4 to 5.
 
Bluecloud777 said:
I'm probably ignorant, but what are these One Step records? I've never heard of them. Are they some very audiophile analogue pressings like AP or MoFis etc?
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The One Steps are from Mobile Fidelity. It's a 45RPM box set (2xLPs for each album) of reissues of specific albums. I think they have only done 11 or so right now off the top of my head. The idea is that it removes a lot of steps in the vinyl making process, giving you a much cleaner sound and less degradation. This kind of sums it up:

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I agree with @Joe Mac . If they release a title that is truly one of your favorite albums, I would highly recommend springing for one. The original list price is $125 in the US but you can sometimes luck out and get them cheaper as I did. They are all limited too and the pricing after they all sell out is a bit crazy. The Santana one has absolutely insane resale value (I've seen people pay $900 for it) but that one was also the most limited. I think they made 1,500 of those whereas Dylan which is one of the newer ones had 7,500 I think.
 
NathanRicaud said:
No, I’m not saying the VMP Classics sound advice good as the One-Step MoFi Bon Dylan, definitely not! That, along with the One-Step of Thelonius Monk & Charles Mingus, as well as Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly MoFi 45RPM, and The Doors L.A. Woman 45RPM and Nat King Cole 45RPM are all my best sounding records in my collection in my opinion.

But I still rate a lot of other pressings 10/10 just for how amazing they sound, including the VMP pressing of Al Green’s Call Me! Errol Garner’s Magician is like a 10/10 for me too! That pressing sounded impeccable. If I was to compare to my best sounding records, they would be an 8/10 or maybe even an 8.5/10. Still though, I rate them 10/10.

This is how I see it: Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, Madvillain’s Madvillainy and The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead are all very strong 10/10’s for me! But you also have other 10/10’s, like Kate Bush’s Hounds Of Love, A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory and Prince’s Purple Rain. But for me, they are a step below the before-mentioned 10/10’s. You know what I mean?

Like they’re all 10/10’s, but there are just some top-tier, the best of the best, 10/10’s with albums (all subjective I guess, but you know where I’m coming from).

Same case with the pressings, like Thelonius Monk, Charles Mingus & Bon Dylan One-Step are like the top-tier 10/10’s! Then the Speakers Corner Carla Thomas’ The Queen Alone pressing is also 10/10, but it just scores a 10/10 for me!
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The whole point of a rating scale is that you have a gold standard 10/10 and everything is in relation to that though...if the One Steps are 10/10, then something that isn't as high quality cannot also be a 10/10 hah. I have TPAB on vinyl and it's a favorite album of mine. But the pressing is nowhere NEAR as good a pressing as any MoFis I own, VMP Call Me, AP pressings, Classic Records pressings, etc. It's not awful, but there's no way it's a 10/10 if the One Steps are also 10/10. You can love the album itself but it doesn't make the pressing of it super high quality.
 
OMG, I can’t handle how strict and ‘no-nonsense’ you vinyl nerds are when it comes to sound quality! You nerds really aren’t playing around!!! 😝🥵🤐👀

Like damn, so crazy how high the expectation/bar is! 🙉🙉🙉

I feel like you guys would all rate me like a 2/10 in terms of my physical attraction because you have models and super attractive actors who are 10/10, and because there’s no 20/10, they set the bar. Which means I’m literally ugly in comparison and I’m like a 1/10! 😂😂😭😭😩😩🥀🪓

That’s what’s literally going through my head! 🤣🙈
 
NathanRicaud said:
OMG, I can’t handle how strict and ‘no-nonsense’ you vinyl nerds are when it comes to sound quality! You nerds really aren’t playing around!!! 😝🥵🤐👀

Like damn, so crazy how high the expectation/bar is! 🙉🙉🙉

I feel like you guys would all rate me like a 2/10 in terms of my physical attraction because you have models and super attractive actors who are 10/10, and because there’s no 20/10, they set the bar. Which means I’m literally ugly in comparison and I’m like a 1/10! 😂😂😭😭😩😩🥀🪓

That’s what’s literally going through my head! 🤣🙈
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hahah. I personally kind of hate rating things, giving top 10 lists or anything like that. I could never give anybody a list of my top 10 favorite albums, for example. I think tiers can be helpful though especially since there are so many different pressing plants, labels, etc and a lot of people always ask "what's the best pressing of this album?". But it is fun to get insight into how people rate things, especially since you seem to be a big fan of rating albums + pressings!
 
MikeH said:
hahah. I personally kind of hate rating things, giving top 10 lists or anything like that. I could never give anybody a list of my top 10 favorite albums, for example. I think tiers can be helpful though especially since there are so many different pressing plants, labels, etc and a lot of people always ask "what's the best pressing of this album?". But it is fun to get insight into how people rate things, especially since you seem to be a big fan of rating albums + pressings!
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Yes! I definitely love rating albums! And I think Joe was being generous with his Phoebe Bridges pressing ratings! That pressing of Punisher was garbage! It’s like a 3/10 at best! It definitely sounds average and it is not quiet, especially for an album where you need a quiet pressing!
 
NathanRicaud said:
Yes! I definitely love rating albums! And I think Joe was being generous with his Phoebe Bridges pressing ratings! That pressing of Punisher was garbage! It’s like a 3/10 at best! It definitely sounds average and it is not quiet, especially for an album where you need a quiet pressing!
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So disappointed about that one. I was mad that I slept on preordering it but have now just heard that every pressing of it is hot garbage. That's definitely an album that deserves a higher quality pressing! For now, I'll just stream it in high-res but if they repress and address the issues, I'll pick it up for sure. I feel like they almost have to at this point with how well-received the album was...right??
 
NathanRicaud said:
Yes! I definitely love rating albums! And I think Joe was being generous with his Phoebe Bridges pressing ratings! That pressing of Punisher was garbage! It’s like a 3/10 at best! It definitely sounds average and it is not quiet, especially for an album where you need a quiet pressing!
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I wouldn’t argue against it being a 3-4 either, I wouldn’t go much lower though because it hasn’t been brickwalled to fuck, beyond the 2 or 3 albums that it suits brickwalling is always going to be thing that causes my lowest ratings...
 
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