buying vinyl online

Hi Scotty!
They say that japanese stuff is different in terms of equalization.
I dont' know much about that.
I can pass you some links:
www.birkajazz.com (cds and vinyl)
www.classicrecords.com (vinyl paradise)
www.recordking.com.au
www.freakemporium.com
www.stockfish-records.de
www.thamesweb.co.uk
www.vinyltom.com
www.diversevinyl.com
www.fopp.co.uk
www.piccadillyrecords.com
www.speakerscorner.de
www.soundandmusic.com (best italian on line)
www.channelclassics.com
www.truebluemusic.com

and the mighty
www.musicstack.com (used and new)

Good work!

Gianluigi

thanks gianluigi,
anyone purchased portugese / spanish/german/french/columbian/mexican ? vinyl.
would like to know your thoughts. scotty

Hi All,
I would like to add GEMM. You can search for titles and artists and get new, used, CD, LP's and cassettes.

Anthony

Also add www.acousticsounds.com to your list.

yes guys i appreciate the web sites where i can buy vinyl BUT the question id like answered is-
what do foreign pressings sound like compared with uk or us pressings ?
would you consider buying an lp from say columbia !!
scotty

quote:

Originally posted by scottyhammer:
yes guys i appreciate the web sites where i can buy vinyl BUT the question id like answered is-
what do foreign pressings sound like compared with uk or us pressings ?
would you consider buying an lp from say columbia !!
scotty

Hi Scotty!
If you're buyin' a new release i'd look for the first edition.
I mean: if an album come out in England i'd take the England pressing or i'd look for the same pressing around the world.
About reissues i think that you'll meet 180/200 grams pressings and they usually are good stuff.
Btw not all the audiophile products are the same and some stuff is not so good.
I think you should try to make yourself an idea about the quality of the pressing reading reviews on magazines or on line.
I'm talking about the technical aspect of the matter here.
Music and performance is another thing and goes with the listener taste.
Usually they split reviews results under different aspect just like performance and recording quality etc
Good Luck!

Gianluigi

Might want to try ans ask this quiestion here:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2

These guys are really into the best pressing here and the best pressing there. But as a general rule the Japanese pressings although expensive are usuallly to notch. After that it really comes doen the the band and country of origin. For example UK pressings of the beatles up until the early eighties are the way to go.

But if you really want to getinto a full on debate go to Steve's Hoffmans forums foe both music and hardware, its a refresshing change from the Naim forum bubble.

oops, sorry about all the typos! It was early! I think?

thanks guys,
especially the hoffman forum. as a matter of interest just who is he ?
scotty

ok, ignore last post ive done a search on the man. impressive.
scotty

Yes Steve is a bit of a guru, really nice bloke who contributes to the forum constantly. The forum has a great vibe and has a much varied demographic which is very refreshing.

The Hoffman forum will leave you just as confused as you were before you read it. 95% of posts are rubbish.

And the opinion that Jap pressing are the way to go, is also rubbish.

ok count, then which is the way to go ?
uk pressings or us pressings.
and what about the columbian/mexican/portugese ?
scotty

count, if you don't have anything positive to add or say - just don't bother. It's a waste of time.

quote:

Originally posted by scottyhammer:
ok count, then which is the way to go ?
uk pressings or us pressings.
and what about the columbian/mexican/portugese ?
scotty

scotty

I was given some Portuguese pressings of Dire Straits years ago, not a group I'm particularly fond of, but I know others like them - you're welcome to them if you want them. I don't think the pressings are anything special though.

Rotf

quote:

Originally posted by scottyhammer:
thanks guys, especially the hoffman forum. as a matter of interest just who is he ?
scotty

This man?

/dl

There are those who like Japanese pressings. They have a distinctive style of mastering that is smooth and sweet. The vinyl is also of very high quality.

Back in the early '80s, and my days of buying MFSL and other things, the word was that some US companies were using 3rd and 4th generation master tapes to produce the stamping chain - also that US companies didn't cycle out the stampers as aggresively as Japan, Germany, etc. This would explain why you may have a US pressing of a certain release that sounds great - and another copy in the same visual condition, that sounds lousy. One was pressed in the early life of a stamper, and the other was pressed after the stamper was becoming worn just prior to its retirement. Japan in particular supposedly cycled out their stampers on a schedule well before the wear set in, creating a uniform quality over the pressings of a release/issue

My approach is; when the music is good, the pressing is good and I've stopped worrying about it.

In my experience it’s a mixed bag, whichever pressing you buy**. If I have the choice I go for UK, Dutch or German pressings, more out of habit than anything else.

Japanese vinyl is very quiet but I don’t think it’s musically any better than other pressings.

I’ve never found any correlation between thickness of the LP (ie 180, 140, 120 gr etc) and sound quality. I also have two 200gr quiet bla bla LP’s and they’re a complete waste of money; they are musically totally utterly dull (maybe a VTA issue?).

Don’t forget to buy a record cleaner.

**Slightly different for classical; there’s a good post about this on pfm from the residential record dealer


Peter

hi rotf,
thats bloody decent of you old son !
please email me - address in my profile
regards, scotty

peter, pfm ?

quote:

peter, pfm?

Scotty, that'll be pfm

of course, cheers stubby

quote:

Originally posted by scottyhammer:
hi rotf,
thats bloody decent of you old son !
please email me - address in my profile
regards, scotty

You have mail

Hi Scotty,

a few easy, reasonably foolproof rules for buying vinyl.

1. The sound quality of the vinyl reflects the quality of master tape. Therefore, in general (and for the time being omitting audiophile labels such as Classic Records) the original mastering is the best way to go. To spot this, look at the sleeve notes, they normal mention who mastered the album - then compare this to what is in the 'dead wax' - the bit toward the centre of the LP with the run out groove in it - f the writing in the deadwax matches the credit (e.g credit say Diug Sax at The Mastring Lab - the dead wax sat TML and DS then you're probably on to a winner.

2. Another rule of thumb, county of recording (or more accurately recording archive) has the best pressing. E,g John Martyn, Nick Drake, Elvis Costello, Squeeze and The Beatles go British. Joni Mitchell, Little Feat, Miles Davis, Randy Newman, Van Morrison (WB stuff) - go USA.

3. Classic Records are generally excellent.

4. DCC are generally excellent.

5. Classic Records 45 rpm editions are breathtaking

6. Speakers Corner are generally excellent

7. Simply Vinyl EMI/Island re-ssues are excellent.

8. The new Warner Brothers vinyl reissues (e.g the brand new Joni Mitchell Blue are excellent).

9. Japanese LPs are pressed beatifully but cqn be made from an inferior tape. Caveat Emptor - do your homework before buying.

Hope this helps. Sorry about grammer/spelling.

martin m,
great reply, thanks a bunch. most appreciated.
best regards, scotty