Richard Thompson 'Rumor and Sigh' Mo-Fi double LP
Posted by: J.N. on 05 November 2017
Worth a dedicated post I think. I've long loved the 1991 album by our Richard. Mitchell Froom unfortunately killed it in mastering with heavy application of the 'dull' knob - or that's what it sounds like on the CD.
Enter this Mo-Fi remaster by Krieg Wunderlich on double 33 rpm vinyl. Aha! - life - at last.
Not cheap; and allegedly limited to a print run of 3,000, but grande grande!
John.
PS. The current Amazon price is crazy. I got my copy from Juno Records.
John.
I'm surprised that you find the CD sounds dull. I remember it being a really great sounding disc featuring some of his best songs. I even popped upstairs just now to get the CD out to check if I had a different version, but mine too is mastered by Mitchell Froom. I will play a few select tracks from it shortly just to check.
I agree with John Clive, the CD's not exactly a great example of the breed. Up there with my favourite Richard Thompson albums. My copy of the MFSL LP's on its way, should receive it tomorrow.
Mmm... It seems my audio memory is not so good. I'm playing the WAV rip currently through the NDS. At moderate levels it does sound a bit dull. I see Juno is out of stock, but there's another source I've found at Scott Nangle Audio.
Be wary of Scott Nangle Clive. I had some issues where I'd ordered an LP from him & after paying up-front it took an age to arrive, with poor communication. Try What Records - I'm getting mine from them for a similar price. They were out of stock apparently but might be worth giving them a call.
Phew! Just in time. Thanks, Tony.
Yup; Tony beat me to it Clive. I too, have heard only negative reports about that particular vinyl supplier.
Good call on 'What Records' by Tony. I learned about them showing the album at a good price after I'd paid a few quid more at Juno.
John.
I've had the MOFI SACD on pre-order for about a year now - still not released
They say everything comes to those who wait.
OK, but for how long exactly ?
Clive B posted:I'm surprised that you find the CD sounds dull. I remember it being a really great sounding disc featuring some of his best songs. I even popped upstairs just now to get the CD out to check if I had a different version, but mine too is mastered by Mitchell Froom. I will play a few select tracks from it shortly just to check.
I ripped my old CD when I first moved to streaming, & agree it was a bit dull. A while ago I replaced the rip with a 24/192 WAV & that really changed it for the better. I just looked into Qobuz, they have it at £9.99 (GBP) compared to HDT (USA) at $20 for (I assume) the same release. Qobuz show it as Capitol 1991/2016 HDT is 2016
Thanks for the reminder, its on the play list for later.
I have the mofi double vinyl and it sounds great to me although I never owned it previously so have not been able to compare it to anything else.
I caught RT live at the Theatre Royal in Norwich last week, very nice performance in a lovely venue.
I’ll have to look up the MOFI release as the Dylan MOFI’s have been excellent.
Cheers for heads up
Gary
My vinyl copy's arrived this morning. Once our cleaning lady's disappeared I shall be giving it a good scratching with a small bit of diamond.
I've got an early '80s vinyl pressing, I've just listened to Feel So Good and Vincent, the sound qulity is good. I saw him a couple of weeks ago at the Lowry, lovely gig.
Firstly many thanks for reminding me of what a wonderful album this is - such a great band.
Listening to WAV rip of my 1991 CD (Capital CDP 7 95713 2) not sure I'm hearing any dullness, maybe it's studio(s) ambience or the amp settings or the microphones they used. But if you guys are saying it's a dull recording then I respect your opinions - maybe that's how they wanted it to sound?
Mitchell Froom is using Tchad Blade and Paul Garcia who are top-rate Engineers plus Bob Ludwig did the mastering so I'm not sure what to believe other than my ears.
I managed to play my new vinyl MFSL album yesterday and, by George, it's a good 'un!
I think I will stick with my original vinyl of this. It really is a shame that MFSL releases are so expensive in the UK.
You RT fans might be interested in a new release of two RT band concerts from 83 and 84 - 3CDs and 2 DVDs - Live at Rockpalast. What I have heard so far on the CDs is very good, but I've not yet tried the DVDs. It's announced on the RT Facebook pages so I presume it's above board and that he will be benefitting from the release
As a long time follower of RT - I first heard him in concert in Norwich with his then wife Linda over 40 years ago - I had to dig out my LP copy of R&S. Not sure, based on the comments above whether I should love or hate it, SQ-wise. In terms of the music it sounds dull, though, which probably explains why I wasn't even sure whether I had a copy. It might be one of those that I played once and then stuck in the cabinet.
I have a Capital records LP. Just noticed that Gregson and Collister are credited with vocals
Probably need to have a comparative listening session (on a decent stereo rig).
MFSL copies seem to be out of stock anyway, that has saved me a few pennies to spend elsewhere.
And although not entirely relevant, my experience of Nangle has been very mixed, very good or very bad.
You'll have to bring your original R&S over sometime Nick, It'll be an interesting comparison. Or, having stumped up fifty quid for my copy, perhaps not...
Good idea. Perhaps there might be some cake..........
Nick from Suffolk posted:Good idea. Perhaps there might be some cake..........
Just enjoying SWMBO's experimental tequila and lime drizzle cake. It isn't going to last long...
I would say I would drive over now, but not sure it would be safe to drive afterwards
Managed to compare/contrast the CD, my ancient LP and JN's new Mo-Fi LP today. The CD is an excellent coaster, but of otherwise little value. I don't think J.N will disagree.
The original and Mo-Fi were clearly better, but different mixes. The bottom end of the Mo-Fi was bit fruitier, which I quite liked, on JN's rather splendid 707s. Elsewhere there were minor differences, but hard to say which was better.
Just to confirm that this wasn't just a couple of vinylosauri slagging off CDs, we spent a good few minutes comparing 3 different (CD) versions of "So". The newly mastered 3 disc (2 live concerts) came out rather well. I should have taken my old LP along, silly me. Strangely the 26-disc set of King Crimson, the collection of which had been the purpose of my foray into Naaridge, remained strangley unplayed.
Nick - FYI it looks like What Records have re-stocked on the MF vinyl.
Thanks for the heads up, but I am not convinced enough to pay £50 for a slightly fruitier bottom end. Now if could do that for my bottom end at that price......
Nick from S, where in my home city (Norwich) did you get the King Crimson? Sailors’ Tail boxed set I suppose?