Post your experience on Reissue Vinyl quality!

Well done, Kuma.  Thanks for passing that along.  

I haven't bought any of the new vinyl, because I have the remastered CDs.  It would be interesting, for someone who has both, to play a remastered CD simultaneously with the new vinyl and A/B them on the fly.

joerand,

What do you think of the remastered CD? I assume new ones?

Yes, I was referring to the 2009 remasters.  Overall very well done.  Please Please Me is one of the better ones; dynamic sound and retains all the energy.  Help is a bit thin sounding, but I think that was done by George Martin earlier than the others.  My German pressing of Help on the Apple label sounds better.  The CDs sound much better than the LPs I have that were issued by Capitol during the mid 1970s (orange labels).  The White album on CD has a very good mix, with better clarity than my vinyl.  It's also quite warm sounding, almost too bass heavy, as is Abbey Road.  Sgt Pepper is just right.  Those are my quick thoughts.  I'll have to sit down and do some A/Bs with some of my imported vinyl and compare sound.  I also have, in near mint condition, a red vinyl copy of the "Red Album" from Capitol which sounds superior to the black stuff.  I'll give individual songs from that a spin versus the CD remasters.  Something to do to start the New Year.

I agree with Kuma's assessment - though only have the original 1980's CD to compare it to. The original CD is terribly thin and harsh. So, for me its an improvement, though the vinyl is a bit warped and hole is off center.

I didn't get the paper doll cut outs! Will send it back and get them

Gotta have those cutouts, mutterback.  The 1980s CDs are so glaringly harsh they turned me off to listening to them except in my car or on a boom box in my shop, where I could add some bass and reduce the treble.  They should be stricken from the catalog and put in a museum as a relic, never to be played again.

(2011/STARDUST) 11 tracks 1950/60s

1-Killing Floor 2-Smokestack Lightnin' 3-Shake It For Me 4-I Believe I'll Dust My Broom 5-Going Down Slow 6-Highway 4 7-Little Red Rooster 8-Poor Boy 9-Worried About You 10-Smile At Me 11-Howlin' For My Baby. 

Disappointed to find this album filled with alternate versions and live recordings. The SQ and production is also not the best. However the pressing is good with little noise and is nice and flat,The cover art is also very good.

Graham,

Gee, I'm sorry I ever started reading this thread!

I just got a copy of the Sundazed reissue of the first Hot Tuna album, and reading this thread made me want to sit down and do a side-by-side with the original. I can't complain about the packaging--sturdy sleeve, and the color is good. Surface noise on the Sundazed is better, the level is a good bit lower, and some hiss that I thought was amp noise is missing, although that may be attenuated treble. The sound on the Sundazed is flat and nowhere near as engaging as on the original. The vocal has a stridency that is missing on the original, thankfully. It sounds like two very good musicians playing together on stage. The original sounds like great musicians who know each other well, having an intense musical conversation on stage.

Damn....

Thanks for additional reporting chaps.

This is a kind of feedback we all need before we waste an more $$££ in lacklustre reissues. 

I don't mean to dwell on this Beatles reissue but just for a giggle, I've pulled out the original 2007 release of Beatles Love. I know this isn't a *kosher* version but there are a few tunes on there from the Sgt. Pepper album.


I cued up the 'Day in the Life' and I gotta tell you this is what reissue ought to sound like!
This is also a stereo issue but no strange hole in the middle. The voices are centered between the spakers. Someone at Abbey Road studio fixed the hard panning. I think it's done rather well.

I know it doesn't go over well amongst the hard core Beatles fan but this release has a lot less distortion and better overall balance. Plus it's groovier!~

Artistically it is a completely different production but strictly from the sound point, this is a better sounding vinyl.

So, the new 2012 Sgt. Pepper reissue remains as 'could'been-would'been-should'been'.

Label: Music On Vinyl. Number of Discs: 3.

Paul@Hifi Lounge, commented on the 'What was the last vinyl you bought' thread.How impressed he was with the re-master of the Elvis 30 No'1s he had bought recently.So decided to give this a go.Well to say that i am impressed would be an understatement.I have played all three albums back to back, about 3hrs of music, starting with 'That's All Right' and finishing with 'Way Down'. All three pressings are first class, flat, unbelievably quiet with no surface noise.The production is excellent, baring in mind, that a lot of the early releases would have been made in mono there is no obvious panning, with a very good sound stage and EQ on all three albums.This must rank as one of my best reissue purchases this year.Both in the quality of the sound, packaging, and value for money.It gets a 9 out of 10 from me.

Graham. 

Graham

Interested in this, where did you buy from, not direct from Music on vinyl?

Cheers David

HI David.

From Amazon its currently listed at £26.74. Not sure how you feel about Amazon,after the recent tax thing!

Regards Graham

Thanks for that

I see it as getting our tax back in a small way, I blame HMRC not Amazon. Perfectly legal. 

A great news for Elvis fans!

Many folks here have multiple copies of DSOTM or Abbey Road, but I have multiple pressings of Sviatoslav Richter's Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2 and 6 Preludes. I ended up with this many copies for search for the best sounding pressing. Unlike old Decca or RCA, these late 50s to 60s DG records can be had relatively cheap.


Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2 & 6 Preludes: Sviatoslav Richter/Wislocki/National Philharmony Warsaw

Label: Clearaudio
180g Vinyl/ Stereo/ Germany/Deutsche Grammophon/138076

Re-Mastering by: N/A

Engineered and Mixed by: N/A

Pressed at: Germany
Release date: 2012

Sound Quality: 

Last year I've noticed that Clearaudio has been reissuing some DG titles but at premium. A single LP @45-50$, double LP @ 75-90$. Certainly, they are costlier than other audiophile reissues.

There's a very little information available for the reissue production.

I have the original mono and stereo issues albeit they are bit noisy so I have been on a hunt for a quieter better issues. My current reference is the GY7 ( German Yellow large Tulip Label ) with a Red Stereo on the cover.

This particular large tulip label stereo pressing is miles better than later German non tulip label pressings I own. Next good sounding after the Red Stereo pressing is Italian non Tulip pressing. I've been finding out that Italian and French DG pressings sound very good than other non German DG pressings. Incidentally stereo sounds a lot better than mono pressing. I am not sure if this recording is done in stereo or mono.

Anyways, on to the sound of über Clearaudio pressing.

Free of most manufacturing defect but I am surprised to find that the surface noise should be lower for a record priced at a premium. The background noise should be pitch black but it isn't. Record is flat and no off center hole.

Mastering level is slightly lower so I had to turn up a volume a tad.

Clarity and noise floor drop dramatically from all non tulip label GT2 pressings. Dynamics as well as micro details in the midrange are improved. Richter's laser sharp precisions are ever so present on this set.

That said, its dynamics are slightly attenuated and less of a jump factor than the Red Stereo Tulip pressing. This is the largest set back for this reissue. Dynamics is slightly attenuated and smoothed out. It is a comfortable listening and gorgeous. Massed strings stay clean for the most part but it gets a tad opaque in crescendo, however. The balance of piano is slightly set back compared to the Italaian issue.

On my reference *red* stereo German pressing, instrument textures are better heard and Richter's slightest dynamic nuances in phrasing is much more apparent. When a low end key is struck I can hear the initial impact then the resonance after it. Clearaudio issue as well as other pressings I don't feel that. A lot of pull/push motion interplay between the orchestra and the piano as well as the rhythmic swings are missing from it.

But, it is a lot better than non tulip DG reissues and I prefer their EQ than Speakers Corner classical reissues which can sound a tad strident. oh.. and miles better than the dreadful Hi-Q records for sure.

Packaging Quality: 

A bit let down for a 50$ record. Original liner note is omitted and whatever the text inclued is only in German. 

The front cover printing is bright albeit the 4C art is not as sharp as original and the text is not jet black. There are always some colour shift between pressing runs, but theirs is more like dark maroon for the original fuchsia. They also decided to get rid of either Wislocki or Ricther's mug shots on the back cover as well. The record is housed in a plain white paper. The label is printed in a dull yellow ( see the comparison ) and non Tulip design. No gold ink, either.

Love this album. It's one of my vinyl reference pieces, along with Neil Young Live at Massey Hall and Grateful Dead Reckoning.

Has anyone purchase the Velvet Undergound box from Sundazed or the 45 anniversary reissue of The Velvet Underground & Nico? How good/poor is it?

Anyone who has listened to the reissue of Massive Attacks blu Lines?

Hans

Hans,

If it's Sundazed I wouldn't hold out much hope. I've never heard a good one. Sundazed records have been mentioned many times on this thread and I don't remember anyone liking their pressings.

Steve

That is why I hesitate. On the other hand, the versions I have are far from great.

Hans

Coincidental to the Grateful Dead thread on the forum, I recently bought the Rhino/Warner box set. So, a review was called for!

I took a listen to aoxomoxoa and compared it to my CD copy (1790-2) so I'll focus on that. I have the "original" CD, there seems also to be a 2003 reissue. 

All I can say is this is a different album, not a case of I heard things I never knew were there. The notes say it is the 1st reissue of the original mix since its second release in 1971. In contrast the CD mix is aggressive, I'd say belligerent, and after hearing this LP,  33% of the fun is missing from the CD  From the opening notes of St Stephen, the guitar lick has vibrato on the LP, none on the CD. Vocals are much more in the background on the LP and a bit veiled which is kind of a shock on such a familiar album, but I can only assume its the intent of the mix. As a result it feels a bit slower, but has a better grove I think. (Workman's Dead in the box set has the same quality.) Aside from the mix - which I vastly prefer on the LP -  the LP has everything you'd want from vinyl - real drums, natural bass, good dynamics. The kick drum on Dupree's Diamond Blues is simply awesome kick you in the stomach stuff.

Pressing is very nice and quite. Packaging high quality, no special frills, except for the different paper stock on Workman's Dead, which I assume is from the original.

Wish more major labels could get it together to produce such high quality vinyl releases.

So, 5 little discs (which, by the way, Kuma how do you post?)

Hans,

Which versions are those? Do tell.

We need to know all the turkeys.

Oh wow. Sounds like you hit the vinyl Jack pot!!

You can cut and paste these.

Or get it from here: 

http://www.softicons.com/free-...-ae/vinyl-green-icon

Led Zeppelin Mothership Fails to Take Off

In response to Kuma's request to call out the turkeys - here's one

Other's have commented elsewhere on their disappointment with this and other Led Zep recordings, but I thought I'd catalog it here and took another listen last night.

To my ears, it sounds as if someone pushed up all the sliders on the EQ. An example of the Loudness Wars on vinyl? Maybe a compressed mix was simply carried over from the CD? The advertising for this promised more. Its super clean, and the pressing and packaging is very high quality. But, I remember hearing more dynamics and more excitement blasting Led Zep on the car tape deck in high school. Maybe that's how the band is properly enjoyed....

Mothership is a best of compilation, and the track to track changes in the mix are jarring. I listened most closely to Side 2 of the 1st LP: Whole Lotta Love, Ramble On, Heartbreaker, Immigrant Song. Woh, the transition from Heartbreaker (Zeppelin II) to Immigrant Song (Zeppelin III) is bizarre. I don't have any originals to compare to and my cassettes are long gone but Immigrant Song sounds completely off, almost out of phase. At the very least, they should have moved Immigrant song to the second LP.

Throughout, I just keep waiting to jump up and down and get excited - for example when the drums and guitar come back hard out of the spacey section of Whole Lotta Love. But, it just kinda rolls on by without any drama or impact.

Some of the passages with acoustic guitar and vocals sound quite "sweet" - the mix works well, and the quite vinyl shines. But, as in Ramble On, the brilliance of these passages is how they are paired up with a rockin' chorus. When the chorus comes back in Ramble On, its a flop with little dynamic change.

Can anyone recommend some good Led Zeppelin releases, even on CD? My current plan is to go  to the used CD bin to rebuild my Zeppelin collection.

mutterback,

I see they are back by a popular demand!

I've a freind who bought a set from Musicdirect and he was so upset due to it poor quality, he sold it on.

Here's the blurb from their site:
Half-Speed Mastered and Cut by the Legendary Stan Ricker

Pressed at RTI for True Audiophile Quality: This Set is as Good as You've Heard! 

24 Classic Led Zeppelin Tracks in Glorious Sound, With Remastering Supervised by the Band Members

We can't blame record vendors for selling poor quality pressings. If they only sold good ones,  they all go out of business.

Buyer be aware for sure. that's why I started this thread cuz I was stunned by the poor quality of Gould's Beethoven Symphony No.5 Liszt piano Transcription reissue.

I'll have to go through them and get back. Most of them are just run-of-the mill issues I've picked up over the last 25 years. 

Hans