Vinyl Me Please Essentials

Jeez, I must have gotten lucky with my copy of Prine. No skips at all and is pretty flat.

I will say it sounds a bit hot to my ears as well, especially on his vocals. I‘m a bit disappointed with the sound on this one. If I can find the Rhino reissue I’ll probably pick it up to compare.
 
Mather said:
Night Mather is a lot of things, but he has an almost otherworldly tolerance for alcohol. He does not leave records spinning no matter how many whiskeys he has consumed. I thank him for that, but otherwise screw that guy.
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I'm not quite at the point of upgrading my table, but maybe within the year, and I'm looking for something that will do autolift or autoreturn, but i haven't found anything that really ticks all the boxes for me. open to suggestions if anyone has one off the top of their head (other boxes: direct drive, easy switch from 33/45.)
 
yukbon said:
I'm not quite at the point of upgrading my table, but maybe within the year, and I'm looking for something that will do autolift or autoreturn, but i haven't found anything that really ticks all the boxes for me. open to suggestions if anyone has one off the top of their head (other boxes: direct drive, easy switch from 33/45.)
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Looks like you're looking for something like the Denon DP-300F. Not sure outside of some AT options what may work for you.

EDIT: Full disclosure. I'm using an AT-LP60 right now. With my Edifier speakers it sounds pretty great, but looking to upgrade to something higher end and more customizable myself, but automatic is definitely a plus since I can't always guarantee I'm able to jump and turn off the record when say I'm working and my wife also just likes to put on a record and forget about it. So I'd love to upgrade, but for now the dummy-proofness of the AT is a plus.
 
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yukbon said:
I'm not quite at the point of upgrading my table, but maybe within the year, and I'm looking for something that will do autolift or autoreturn, but i haven't found anything that really ticks all the boxes for me. open to suggestions if anyone has one off the top of their head (other boxes: direct drive, easy switch from 33/45.)
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I was in your shoes and went with a Fluance RT-85. Doesn't have auto return but it has auto stop. Good enough compromise and it kicks ass. Belt drive though if that matters.
 
Paul1023 said:
So, VMP just replied saying they need a video (I feel like I shouldn't need to go through another iteration of this, but whatever). They also said the following

"With this cut being mastered quite hot, the grooves are quite close together which may be why the stylus is having issues tracking the record creating those skips".

Does this sound reasonable? I'm using an AT-LP120, with an Ortfonn Red cartridge/stylus
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For what it's worth, I also have an AT-LP120 (just with the AT cartridge that came with it though), and I ran into a situation a year ago where it seemed like a lot of my VMP essentials releases were skipping. All of the VMP classics releases were totally fine on my setup, but my Aretha "never loved a man", Roots, and Arctic Monkeys [I hadn't actually spun it until last year] pressings were all skipping in places. Also had skips on the Novos Baianos "Acabou Chorare" VMP exclusive. The fact that some of my records were totally fine and some were skipping made me think the issue was primarily with the records, rather than my setup. I was thinking it was maybe because of the colors in the pressings, or maybe different pressing plants between classics and essentials, and those things might have something to do with it, but I did end up getting rid of most (but not all) of those skips by getting a tracking force gauge and fixing the tracking force by adjusting the counterweight on my tone arm - no idea how it got out of whack. But yeah, even that still didn't fix all of the issues, so I just stopped subscribing to VMP, and now I don't get brand new records that skip anymore and I don't have any of that stress about checking new records that I get to make sure they don't skip before VMP sells out of replacements. All that to say, if you haven't checked your tracking force in a while - it COULD make a difference - also, beyond the difference in how things sound, it can be hard on your records if the tracking force is off. It sounds like with this Prine record in particular, though, that might not be the issue.

I'd ask for a refund and use the money to get the Rhino reissue like you suggested.
 
yukbon said:
I'm not quite at the point of upgrading my table, but maybe within the year, and I'm looking for something that will do autolift or autoreturn, but i haven't found anything that really ticks all the boxes for me. open to suggestions if anyone has one off the top of their head (other boxes: direct drive, easy switch from 33/45.)
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audio technica at-lp3? I bought this for the auto start/stop and it’s been great
 
yukbon said:
I'm not quite at the point of upgrading my table, but maybe within the year, and I'm looking for something that will do autolift or autoreturn, but i haven't found anything that really ticks all the boxes for me. open to suggestions if anyone has one off the top of their head (other boxes: direct drive, easy switch from 33/45.)
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If you want a DD, I think you have to go used if you want to stay in the budget realm. Technics SL 1200 is a great rec except that they are so popular that you pay a huge premium for that now. Most audiophile tables haven't had automatic things on them because it will eventually break. My Mom had to have auto and after some research I got her a Sony PS-X600, which is really cool and works great so far. I'm sure it will break someday though.

Always the option of the aftermarket autolifters.
 
After revisiting the A/B of the kevin gray Prine with the VMP ryan smith Prine, I will say I do like the brightness of the vocals and acoustic guitar more on the VMP one, and it is definitely a "hot" cut that you have to turn down a little compared to the Rhino (it sounds distorted because it's so bright and hot if you crank it), but overall I think I like the Kevin Gray cut more — it has better seperation and a wider soundstage of the instruments and the band sounds better (songs like "Pretty Good" sound better on the KG cut for sure), although the vocals and acoustic guitar are sound lower in the mix and not as bright. Other than the great VMP packaging, I would say if you just grabbed the KG Rhino cut and skipped the VMP edition you probably made a wise move. My VMP copy if flat and pretty quiet and doesn't skip.
 
keylime_5 said:
After revisiting the A/B of the kevin gray Prine with the VMP ryan smith Prine, I will say I do like the brightness of the vocals and acoustic guitar more on the VMP one, and it is definitely a "hot" cut that you have to turn down a little compared to the Rhino (it sounds distorted because it's so bright and hot if you crank it), but overall I think I like the Kevin Gray cut more — it has better seperation and a wider soundstage of the instruments and the band sounds better (songs like "Pretty Good" sound better on the KG cut for sure), although the vocals and acoustic guitar are sound lower in the mix and not as bright. Other than the great VMP packaging, I would say if you just grabbed the KG Rhino cut and skipped the VMP edition you probably made a wise move. My VMP copy if flat and pretty quiet and doesn't skip.
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I haven't heard the Rhino but hugely enjoyed the VMP. Those with a clean copy got a real treat
 
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