Todd Rundgren: Something/Anything?

Get Back Records 180g Virgin Translucent Blue Vinyl ( it says so on the label ) / GET 596 Czech Republic ( Manufactured by GZ Digital Media )
Re-mastering by: No mention who did it but their mastering process can be read on their website
Release date: 2000

Sound Quality:
This reissue is not the latest Rhyno reissue (RHI 71107 ).  I am a bit shy of pulling trigger after my experience with this one which gets no rating due to its extreme poor sound quality.

To be fair, the original Bearsville issue (2 BX 2066) isn't exactly an audiophile production but it sure does not have this much distortion with spitty sibilance scattered all over like this reissue. It almost sounds like a poor CD copy. I am not surprised if they used a Red Book Quality 16/44 CD for the source!

How ironic that even my MOFI CD copy sounds better than this botched vinyl production. But perhaps mp3 ipod younger genearaions find this OK.

It's odd that I could not find anything about the Get Back Records Label except that they are owned by Abraxas Records in Italy. No mention of where they are sourcing the material.

Packaging Quality:
One of the best repackaging job I have seen complete with the original 4 pg. B&W booklet. Printing is bright and sharp with solid blk. ink for the text no blurry pictures nor moire pattern/out of registration on 4C pictures. The only difference is the original Bearsville logos are nowhere to be found. The spine thickness is a little thinner compared to the original issue but good enough that I can use it for my original copies since the outer jacket has seen better days.

So things to do is throw away the records but keep the outer jacket for keepsake. :x

Led Zeppelin - The Mothership. Is it mastered too slow?

Took a good listen to The Mothership box set today. My way of not spending $150- 400   each on the Classic Records reissues. 

Seemed to drag and flutes on Stairway to Heaven were a bit flat.  Got me worried that my turn table was spinning slow. I don't have a strobe, so entirely possible. But, other LPs sounded fine. Anyone else have this?

Just catching up on a few releases....

Lambchop - Nixon. Of course, this contains absolutely fantastic music. You really should own a copy. The sound too is better than the equivalent CD (either by design or serendipity), if not audiophile in nature. If it exists, the original vinyl is extremely tricky to find. This one also comes with a DVD of a live concert and a download code for an MP3 version. It looks great and the pressing is excellent. Once you have this, then get 'Is a Woman'.

Liszt Piano Concerto No.1 & No.2:
Sviatoslav Richter/Kyril Kondrashin/London Symphony Orchestra

Speakers Corner 180g / PHS 900-000 (Stereo) Germany
Re-mastering by: No production notes on this particular title. They do not guarantee they use the original master tape. But guarantee that only analogue masters are used.
Release date: 2010

Sound Quality:
I was starting to get a bit nervous with Richard's experience with Speakers Corner Mendelssohn 'Scotch" release and my experience of Giulini/Mozart records so far. ( I am not too nuts about Ansermet's Firebird either, to be honest )

Well, this record lives up to the audiophile hype and this is a sort of quality/performance level that I expect from a high-ticket reissue label.

There is still a tape bleed ( faint echo ) and the tape hiss/white noise is quite higher than the Decca reissues (Giulini/Ansermet ) but compared to my original US pressing, the noise floor is greatly reduced. It is low enough that all those mid range textures and deatils are coming out. Or possible that the mastering engineers futzed with it. Instruments colours are richer, vivid and immediate. It's much more realistic rendering than my original copy complete with the air around it.

I can even hear pedal movements ( good God this so wanky :x )

So I suspect it's the nature of the original tape. ( done on 35mm magnetic film )

I had to turn up a volume slightly and that the piano takes on more warmer full boddied sound. Higher register keys are less peaky, the low end registers have more bloom in that depending on a system balance it might sound duller/darker with less sparkle. It works well with my Briks where the bass delivery is on a dry side. ( or lack of in my office with standmounts speakers )

This is a very different EQ from other Decca Speakers Corner reissues I have heard so far. Its balance is closer to the Blue Back US Decca reissues which have more natural tonal decays. Not so squeeky clean.

Altho, busy passages are still a tad hot, no more audible break ups at the finale.

I wish there are more Richter's reissues available but I gladly take whatever I can get!

Now this gives me a hope for Speakers Corner Shostakovich Reissue.

Packaging Quality:
Laminated heavy cardboard with thicker spine but blurry black text on the back. ( they didn't type set the copy ) and the cover art due to 4C printing instead of 2 solid inks.

Plain white paper inner.

Kuma,

thank you.  Most interesting review of a wonderful performance.  It perhaps confirms my suspicion that SC were/are on a learning curve with more recent releases being better than some of the earlier ones.

I recall this was recorded by Mercury for Philips.  I have this one in a few guises, including the original "hifi stereo" issue, so didn't feel the desire for the SC release.  But now you've perhaps changed my mind...

Kuma:

Thanks for the review. I have that record and thought it sounded quite good but I will give it a more careful listen now. Especially nice to hear it sounds better than your original (if I am reading your review correctly).

Jay 

Richard,

Did you find that Giulini and Ansermet albums lacklustre, too?

I still have a few early Speakers Corner records I need to get through. Some of them are older releases. I will not be very happy if they are all duds. :x

Learning curve or possibly they could not get a hold of the original masters?

Either that or different engineers working for the Speakers Corner. It is hard to believe the same folks worked on the Ansermet/Giulini albums.

Ah... now it makes sense 'Chicago Illinois' imprint on the label. Mercury was based in Chicago.

The original pressing I have is probably made in the USA. It has the same cover art as the reissue and it's a stereo. UK or French pressings might be better, if the master tape stayed in Europe.

Jay,

The copy I have is probably not the first pressing, and it's the US copy, tho.

Kuma,

it has been a while since I listened to either of them.  Will try to do so at some point soon. I'm guilty of having a few that are still sealed - haven't got around to playing them yet!!

It turns out I do have an original. If you have an original, I would not spring for the SC. The SC is very good, quieter, bigger, etc. but lacks a certain life compared to my original (appears to be a US Mercury pressing for Philips).

Each of the first four Neil albums in the box set were extremely well done. Kudos.

Jay,

Interesting findings. In my case, Speakers Corner reissue was definitely an improvement over the original issue I have even figuring in a poor condition of the original pressing. Here the reissue gave more immediate tactile feel lacking from the original which sounded a threadbare.

Now.. can't say the same for Speakers Corner Ansermet Firebird where I've compared it to the original Blue Back London.

Stravinsky: The Fire Bird ( Complete 1910 ver. )
Ernest Ansermet/ L'Orchestre De La Suisse Romande

Speakers Corner 180g / SXL 2017, 009 2017 (Stereo) Germany
Re-mastering by: No production notes on this particular title. They do not guarantee they use the original master tape. But guarantee that only analogue masters are used.
Release date: 1994

Sound Quality:

As any Speakers Corner reissues, this album has a scary inky background with and excellent frequency extensions with lovely note decays. A great instrument separation and massed strings and fiddles remain sweet and lucid except for a few spots. A hefty low end bloom, slam and impact. It has a *modern* EQ curve in that it can sound mighty impressive. A low tape hiss noise gives the music jump out giving a sense of better dynamics.

However it can sound stark and unnatural at times. Particularly the sound of brass instruments suffered from the general *clean up* here. I knew something was off when the brass sounded too artificial,  synthetic and out of place. They have this very opaque nasaly character. Overall presentation is somewhat stand offish. Ansermet's *cool'n'suave* direction doesn't help me to get involve either. I am feeling indifferent even at the finale.

Original London '59 Reissue with a *babe* cover more appropriate for the American market.

As earlier Giulini/Britten contrast, as soon as I put on this record, the noise floor and tape hiss are increased. No more inky background. Pity that this is not a totally quiet record in that there are a few pops and clicks at a quiet passages.

Also gone are the bass slam and upper frequency note decays. The biggest difference I have noticed is the midrange delivery and the sound of brass instruments. On Speakers Corner issue, they sounded fake and annoying. On this pressing they are now much more realistic presence with better stops and starts. Odd that this version sounds less pondering and has a better build tot he finale. Overall presentation is much more coherent and has a power to make me listen.

So it seems the Speaker Corner gained the top and bottom but lost the middle. The London issue doesn't have much frequency extensions but has the magic midrange.

Well most music lives in the midrange.

Speakers Corner Ansermet Firebird isn't as poor as the Giulini Issue above but loses out over the original because it doesn't have the power to captivate which is mostly the reason I spin records.

Packaging Quality:
Laminated heavy cardboard with thicker spine but blurry black text on the back. ( they didn't type set the copy ) A replica of original Decca inner in blue ink.

Matt,

Do you know if a  'Harvest Moon' ever been published in vinyl?

Hi Kuma,

yes Harvest Moon was originally released on vinyl. Well, it was in the UK. I have no idea how it sounds, though the track Harvest Moon sounds great on the Greatest Hits collection. Also, I do have Sleeps With Angels on vinyl. For my tastes, the vinyl is much better than the CD on that title. HTH

Martin

Agree with Martin that Sleeps With Angels on LP is very good.  Great album too, with the sublime "Trans Am"...

Kuma, great write-up as usual.  I'll have to dig out my SC Firebird and compare against the original.  I've also got the London Blueback.

Good for you fellas~

I saw it's going for close to 100$ on ebay. :x
It's the only Neil Young record that I love. By misake, I bought a poor reissue 'Harvest'.

Great Richard.

I am curious to see what you hear. I bet the original Decca sounds wonderful.

btw, how is his third Firebird with New Philharmonia performance wise?

Agree with posters who've said the quality of 4MWB pressings is variable, but this (from 2 or 3 years back) is absolutely superb - quiet surfaces, lots of PRaT and wonderful bass:

It's one of the most frequent visitors to my turntable.

Also agree with those who've praised the 2011 WYWH and DSOTM vinyl reissues, both hugely impressive IMO.

New info from Speakers Corner via Acoustic Sounds. With the original machines and man, this round of reissues should be better, perhaps even great.

Richard, any comment on the choice of titles?

Listening now to the recent Warner reissue of Van Morrison Astral Weeks mastered, I think, at, cough, cough, Acoustech and pressed at RTI. It's quite good. I don't have an original to compare but I can live with this.

There were a few pops and clicks on side 1 for those that are bothered by that sort of thing. May go away with play.

Thanks Jay.

Is it a 45 rpm disc?

Jay, interesting info re. SC - thanks.  As for the two reissue titles they mention, I have an AoD of the Sleeping Beauty and some originals of the Ravel/Berlioz disc.  The former, I honestly cannot remember, but the latter is a wonderful disc - truly one of the great Deccas.

No. 33 1/3.

I compared my Speakers Corner with my London narrowband and I think I prefer the Speakers Corner for the better highs and lows and better dynamic range. The London is slightly sweeter in the midrange, however. I confess I did not listen to both pressings all the way through.

Listening now to Fruhbeck de Burgos conducting Albeniz, Suite Espanola on Speakers Corner. I don't have an original to compare but it sounds very, very good.