Reissued vinyl

Posted by: Alan Paterson on 12 January 2010

This is from another thread i started but will probably get a better answe if i ask it seperately:

I went looking for Songs of Experience on vinyl and found this place http://www.vinyl.com/help/faq.php

However in the F.A.Q section i read about how they themselves seem to reissue the albums, can anyone tell me what this is all about? The copy of the 'Auction' i got came from the states i think too and the sound is terrible. I tried listening to it on my headphones (Grado GS1000) and thought at first they were damaged. The best way i can describe the sound is that it was akin to going to parties as a teen and people would have there mini systems turned up full and the sound would start to distort and break up. I then played the album through my speakers where it was less noticeable but if i went fairly close to the speakers i could hear it, not enough from my listening position to spoil the music but through the cans it was terrible. Is this something to watch with reissues? Am i correct in saying that this company gets the masters and has the machinery to produce the vinyl themselves? Would i be better off with the CD? I know my headphones are going to show weaknesses on a recording more so than my speakers (Kudos C1) but it really is unlistenable through the Grados.

What do you lot think?
Posted on: 13 January 2010 by fathings cat
I bought a primal scream reissue 180g - it was rubbish.......
Posted on: 15 January 2010 by Big Al
I think I may have mentioned this somewhere else, but my experience of reissues, 180g or not is that they can be crap, so I have not bothered buying many.

ELP's first album is so sibilant as to make Greg Lake's vocals virtually unlistenable (in fact I prefer a friend's crackly original Island pressing, and a Stone the Crows album is dynamically lacking.

My copies of Tarkus and Trilogy which I bought in the early 1970's are still vastly better than the far newer reissue.

My reissue collection is too small to generalise, but TBH I would rather spend a lot less and buy the CD, if available.

Anyone her bought really top-notch re-releases?

Al