Post your experience on Reissue Vinyl quality!

www.classicrecords.co.uk

Check out this website and look at his lists - he has over 6,000 LP's in stock.  He lists them accurately and you can see immediately which 'generation' of SXL / LXT etc. that is on offer and how much the price differential is. Most expensive SXL's are early 'wide band' versions.  Generally speaking though, it's generally hard to go wrong with pre-digital Decca recordings - as the recordings worked their way through the catalogue they went from full price SXL's to mid priced JB (Jubilee) series.

bluedog,

Have you ordered anything from him before ?

Yes - I've bought several times from Brett; his grading is pretty accurate and service is very good. He also has a Monks RCM so all records arrive clean. He has special sales from time to time if you're interested in buying the pricey stuff.  I generally find most of the output from Decca in the 60's - 80's were good pressings and usually first class recordings.

Thanks. 

That's nice to know they are reliable seller. I might give a shot. Which ones do you have?

With used record, it's always risky. Sounds like they play grade them tho.

I've collected a number of SXL's over the years. The Penguin Classical Guide from 1983 is one of my main references and I have tried to collect the rosette LP's when they have been available at a sensible price (many early SXL's are over £150 now).  I have a number of SXL's of piano music I've collected recently - including Ashkenazy and Curzon performing various Schubert works.  I've also bought other labels from Brett, of course, including a number of EMI's (again, avoiding the silly money stuff).

He carries around 6,000 LP's so I'm not sure he play grades them all.  I'm not sure where the definitive gradings are described - but when he says 'near mint' they always look very clean and shiny but have the occasional 'pop'.

bluedog,

That's an excellent information. Thank you.

I'd love to hear the UK equivalent of Ravel's G Major Concerto.

It's in stereo and I have both copies of the US Blue Label and Red Angel label. Even between those pressings, the earlier Red Label sounds much better with less distortion and frequency limitations.

How's Klemperer's EMI pressing? I've got a ton of US Angels Alas, no UK pressings.

There are a few factors at play here;  the big one is rarity.  Stereo took much longer to catch on in the UK, so for most of the first half of the '60s the mono LXT issues hugely outsold the stereo SXL issues.  As such, the early SXL2000 series issues were only made in relatively small numbers, exascerbated by the fact that the big stereo market, the USA, didn't get Decca SXLs at all (because of the unaffiliated Decca label of the US) and instead they were marketed and sold as London FFSS. 

The other factor is down to the sound.  Decca had some of the finest recording engineers and they weren't held back in the same way as they were by the relatively conservative attitudes over at EMI.  They aimed for a very dynamic yet spacious sound and theatrical soundstaging became something of a hallmark.  Listen to some of the very early Decca opera recordings and you will hear this in its very pure essence.  In order to get this onto vinyl Decca stretched the technical boundaries as far as they could go; half speed mastering ensured that they could get an extended frequency response beyond the 12kHz limit of contemporary cutters and mixing the lowest frequencies down to mono gave much better low frequency performance as well as benefitting the entire range upwards.

Listen to the very earliest SXL2000 pressings today and they have a rather unique sound.  They can be a bit brash and lurid compared to a modern recording but they are full of life and a sense of the space - they seem to do an amazing trick of transporting you back in time, which I think is much of the appeal today.  Some of this was lost with later re-cuts.  I have some issues where I have collected every issue, re-issue and re-cut throughout the years and it's fascinating to hear the differences. 

I don't have any but I believe they are well regarded.  There are certainly some great EMI recordings from that era.

Fascinating insight - thanks Richard.

An interesting thing to note here is that this isn't always the case with boxes.  Sometimes a set would be the first issue and then in later years the re-issues would be done individually on single discs.  Phil Rees did some excellent research on this and published his Collectors guides back in the '90s.  Well worth getting hold of a copy if this interests you as he cross-references against reissues and US market issues.

I have not heard this new Decca Sound Box Set ( with strange program selection ) but I bet these would sound inferior to the original pressing.

Interesting what you say about the EMI. I would love to listen to Klemperer's original releases on EMI. All my Angel pressings are fair to middlin' even when they are in a great shape. ( I guess that's why they are going for relatively cheap ) I have noticed some early stereo pressing can sound bright with suck out midrange compared to mono. In which case I just engage a mono button.

They have done some decent transfer and clean up for their Great Performance Series from the late 90s CDs. Some of them sounding better than my US Angel LPs. :/

This isn't the original DECCA but I have happened to run into the original Columbia pressing yesterday.

I have the US Angel reissue box set in later blue/silver label.

The condition of these records are exceptional without any visible marks anywhere.

Except one catch.

It's an Australian pressing. Not the original UK pressing.

Whilst they sound much better than the US blue/silver Angel records in terms of clarity and congestions, but still not as great as it should be. As a rule of thumb I usually avoid Austrian pressings as I have never had good sounding records out of them. ( same goes for Japan actually but I am sure there are  a few exceptions )

BummER~

All

Bought Seasick Steve   Man from another time.  Poor muffled compressed sound on vinyl

Sonny Rollins    Way Out West   Considering this is back from 1957 remastered it is just natural and real superb to listen its a must buy the cd is good but not so spacious

Generally I find recent pressings are noisey and crackley

I have an original upstairs with Eric by Yazoo and a new Mobile fidelity copy and the original is far superior even after 30 years

Thanks HiFiKid.

Which Label produced the Seasick Steve album?

Sounds like they just put on 16/44 files onto a slab of vinyl and called it a day. :/

I certainly have a few of those...

And who's the reissue Label for Sonny Rollins?

Not sure that is true. The cover states original master recording on it. To me it sounds better than my original uk pressing. Not as good as the 45rpm releases of Freewheelin & another side for sure but still very good. 

You may be right but I did read that this was the case. I was disappointed that it wasn't released as a 45rpm and that's when I went searching for an explanation. I wish I had kept the link.

According to Fremer review, the new MOFI pressing does seem to have a different balance from the original pressing.

FWIW, it was remastered by Krieg Wunderlich. He also worked on James Taylor's JT which he took away transient  dynamics compared to the original pressing.

If u do a yahoo search on Dylan mofi release schedule. Then look at the expectingrain link it has some further info on why blood on tracks is at 33 1/3. Sorry I can't just post the link bit of a techno phobe!!

New Music Matters 33rpm series. Superb. On par with the the 45 rpm reissues. I have not heard a bad one yet.

Analogue Productions new Living Stereo reissue. I do not like it.

It has neither the sweetness of the original or the clarity of the Classic. I does have some good bass, but the string tone is wrong and it loses the tune, as per usual with Chad.

A reissue for laying down, and avoiding.

Rats!

Does this mean you are not getting the Reiner's Lt. Kije?

Good news that Music Matter is releasing 33 rmp records.

Any other interesting upcoming titles?

Has anyone tried this one - Emil Gilels Beethoven Piano Sonatas 30 & 31?  It is one of my all time favorite recordings.  I just noticed the dreaded (to me, at least) "Digital Recording" label on this image. Checked the CD, and it is indeed DDD.  So, very skeptical of a $40 reissue on vinyl.

mutterback,

Does your orignial DG pressing sound good?

When was this recorded and whos' the recording engineer on it?

I am curious about the DG's reissue too.

I just have the CD. Was recorded in 1985 in Jesus-Christus-Kirche in Berlin. "Recording Supervision" by Werner Mayer.

oh so it could have been a digital recording to begin with.

In which case, *if* they recorded it in high res format then put that file on a record, there is a chance, assuming production QC is high, the vinyl can sound better than your CD.

If they put on a red book file on the vinyl, you are better off with a CD. :/