What Regular Pressing LPs sound like audiophile pressings?

jadis · Jul 8, 2011

The original Concord Pressing of Tango by Almeida and Byrd sounds better than the 45rpm Groove Note 2 LP release. More spacious soundstage and the strings are more natural, sweeter and has a tingle to it that sounds romantic.

Also the original Concord copy of Soular Energy by Ray Brown sounds more natural to me than it's Pure Audiophile re-issue. On the re-issue, the bass seems too much, kinda exaggerated, even on my Maggies.

jadis · Sep 19, 2011

I'd like to add Roberta Flack's Killing Me Softly LP here. The recording is very open with very nice bass and voice of Flack is excellent. Surprisingly, I found out there are 2 pressings of this on the same Atlantic label, SD7271 and SD 19154 while looking for back-up copies. I like the SD7271 better.

fas42 · Sep 19, 2011

jadis said:
I'd like to add Roberta Flack's Killing Me Softly LP here. The recording is very open with very nice bass and voice of Flack is excellent. Surprisingly, I found out there are 2 pressings of this on the same Atlantic label, SD7271 and SD 19154 while looking for back-up copies. I like the SD7271 better.

Takes me back! At University it was a ritual at the libary, you could go to a music listening area, put on headphones, there were half a dozen records playing that people coming to the area could nominate to have put on the TTs. And every time, every, every time you went there, there it was, Killing Me Softly playing, people blissing out, row upon row ...

Frank

jadis · Sep 19, 2011

fas42 said:
Takes me back! At University it was a ritual at the libary, you could go to a music listening area, put on headphones, there were half a dozen records playing that people coming to the area could nominate to have put on the TTs. And every time, every, every time you went there, there it was, Killing Me Softly playing, people blissing out, row upon row ...

Frank

The guitar intro is beautiful too in the song. And the album was Record of the Year and won her Best Pop Vocal Performer in the 1974 Grammys. It brings back memories in my high school years.

rockitman · Sep 22, 2011

Most of the first issue Steely Dan catalog pressed in Japan are very audiophile. Just listened to the Royal Scam last night. Fantastic !

es347 · Sep 22, 2011

rockitman said:
Most of the first issue Steely Dan catalog pressed in Japan are very audiophile. Just listened to the Royal Scam last night. Fantastic !

Do you have a link to same?

garylkoh · Sep 22, 2011

jazdoc said:
The original pressing of "Rumors" sounds much more natural than the recently released 45 rpm reissue.

My original Pablo recording of Duke Ellington & Ray Brown "This One's For Blanton" sounds better than the 45 rpm reissue (although the 45 rpm is very good).

I agree. I also think that the original Duke Ellington & Johnny Hodges "Back to Back" on Verve sounds better than the 3 audiophile reissues I've managed to find so far (including the 45 rpm). The Classic Records reissue from early 1990's is good, and better than the recent 45rpm.

rockitman · Sep 22, 2011

es347 said:
Do you have a link to same?

They Steely Dan records I speak of I bought Near Mint on E-bay from one of my reliable Japanese sellers who lives in Tokyo.When I get home, I can supply you with the link to his store on ebay if you wish. When you buy from him, it's usually at your door within a week or so. His NM rating is always impeccable.

MylesBAstor · Sep 22, 2011

garylkoh said:
I agree. I also think that the original Duke Ellington & Johnny Hodges "Back to Back" on Verve sounds better than the 3 audiophile reissues I've managed to find so far (including the 45 rpm). The Classic Records reissue from early 1990's is good, and better than the recent 45rpm.

Truth be told Gary, most original are better

OTOH, the reissues give people software to play on their tables and have led to the resurgence of interest in vinyl. And for me, these reissues are still quite a bit better than the alternative.

IMHO, one of the problem with the release of SACD is they put the cart before the horse. In other words, they had all this gear out there and nothing to play on the SACD players. That killed many people's interest from the start

rockitman · Sep 22, 2011

es347 said:
Do you have a link to same?

My japanese pressing source.

http://stores.ebay.com/maximumrarerecordsandcdsjapan

jazdoc · Sep 22, 2011

Buck Hill's "Scope" on Steeplechase from 1978. Yummy!

jadis · Sep 22, 2011

rockitman said:
Most of the first issue Steely Dan catalog pressed in Japan are very audiophile. Just listened to the Royal Scam last night. Fantastic !

I like my Japanese pressing of The Carpenters 'Kind of Hush' album. I encountered a few US pressings of the Carpenters that sounded thin and shrill at times. I have a few Julie London 'Best Of' pressed in Japan that sound very sweet and round, well, wasn't she like that all the time.

rockitman · Sep 22, 2011

jadis said:
I like my Japanese pressing of The Carpenters 'Kind of Hush' album. I encountered a few US pressings of the Carpenters that sounded thin and shrill at times. I have a few Julie London 'Best Of' pressed in Japan that sound very sweet and round, well, wasn't she like that all the time.

when it comes to 60's, 70's, 80's rock and pop...you can't beat Japan (save for original UK releases of UK bands). The vinyl is better, the pressings are better, better quality control. They are a meticulous culture and very polite and respectful of others unlike other places I know...lol.

jadis · Sep 22, 2011

rockitman said:
when it comes to 60's, 70's, 80's rock and pop...you can't beat Japan (save for original UK releases of UK bands). The vinyl is better, the pressings are better, better quality control. They are a meticulous culture and very polite and respectful of others unlike other places I know...lol.

I'm just curious if those Japanese LPs were simply pressed in Japan and not remastered or redone at their mixing studios. Was it just a case of pressing using Japanese virgin vinyl from the original masters from the US?

rockitman · Sep 22, 2011

jadis said:
I'm just curious if those Japanese LPs were simply pressed in Japan and not remastered or redone at their mixing studios. Was it just a case of pressing using Japanese virgin vinyl from the original masters from the US?

My thinking is that they were not remaster's....tapes supplied by the label, perhaps even the stampers. I could be wrong.

jadis · Sep 23, 2011

rockitman said:
My thinking is that they were not remaster's....tapes supplied by the label, perhaps even the stampers. I could be wrong.

hi christian,

that would be my guess too. the idea would be to import only a few tapes by the recording company and have the local company source their own vinyls and cover jacket. we had that too in the philippines and the sound quality of the 60s pressing were quite good though the vinyl seems to be of the cheap type and usually noisy. by the 70s locally pressed vinyl sounded bad together with the noise and crackle on the vinyl. though i must say that those local lps there were really cheap.

MylesBAstor · Sep 23, 2011

rockitman said:
My thinking is that they were not remaster's....tapes supplied by the label, perhaps even the stampers. I could be wrong.

I pretty much assume they did not work with the master tapes! What they probably got is a second gen copy of the master to work with. And that is almost always going to be inferior sounding. You can tell by the lows or the loss of information.

jadis · Sep 23, 2011

MylesBAstor said:
I pretty much assume they did not work with the master tapes! What they probably got is a second gen copy of the master to work with. And that is almost always going to be inferior sounding. You can tell by the lows or the loss of information.

Now that you mentioned it, Myles, I think you may be right. 2nd gen master. I even thought early on that a recording company like RCA, for example, would give its Philippine licensee the METAL STAMPER for mass production of locally sourced vinyls. I have a Philippine made (60s) Valiant pressing of Cascades' RHYTHM OF THE RAIN given to me by my father-in-law. I played it and it sounded pretty good to me. Rich tonal balance and clear. I really had no complaints till a friend brought over his US pressed Valiant of the same title. The sound by comparison became 'audiophile' quality, with depth and 3D soundstage more prominent than the Phil copy. Vocals are smoother too. So I conclude both cannot have been made from the same master tape as the US copy sounds so much better.

rockitman · Sep 23, 2011

MylesBAstor said:
I pretty much assume they did not work with the master tapes! What they probably got is a second gen copy of the master to work with. And that is almost always going to be inferior sounding. You can tell by the lows or the loss of information.

The thing is, the Japanese Steely Dan catalog blows away any of the us versions I have heard. I don't hear anything inferior with the Japanese versions. I guess this is all speculation cuz we just don't know what was used for making their stampers

MylesBAstor · Sep 23, 2011

rockitman said:
The thing is, the Japanese Steely Dan catalog blows away any of the us versions I have heard. I don't hear anything inferior with the Japanese versions. I guess this is all speculation cuz we just don't know what was used for making their stampers

Christian:

You mentioned Royal Scam. Do you find the Japanese pressing of Aja superior too?

What Regular Pressing LPs sound like audiophile pressings?

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