Superb sounding Vinyl?

Posted by: blythe on 15 October 2002

Whilst having a pair of SL2's at home for a week (demo) I have been digging out some of my Vinyl to listen to and was simply stunned by some of the high quality of some of the LP's.

Some sound pretty dire but one really made me sit up.

I mainly play CD's these days - I guess for convenience as much as anything) but when I played "East Side Story" by Squeeze I couldn't believe how high quality it is. Both for musical enjoyment and the sheer quality of the recording.

Anyone got any personal "high quality" favourites?

Computers are supposed to work on 1's and 0's - in other words "Yes" or "No" - why does mine frequently say "Maybe"?......
Posted on: 15 October 2002 by NB
I tend to agree that most vinyl sounds poor nowdays but one of the best record I have heard for a while was Eric Claptons "reptile".

The record was the heaviest I had held for a while and production was fantastic. There was very little surface noise and the music could be heard perfectly.

Regards

NB
Posted on: 15 October 2002 by David Ng
I strongly recommend this two test discs of mine:

a. Bad Company - Bad Company (UK press) it is a typical 70s recording with close miking. The first track 'Can't Get enough' has this killer drums entry that will show off your new SL2.

b. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (US press) Again 70s recording. This LP is very well recorded, with very good dynamics, and the songs are great too.

Usually by the end of the 2nd disc, my friend's jaws would have touch the floor.

david
Posted on: 15 October 2002 by Nigel Cavendish
Silly Wizard - Golden, Golden live in America

Bothy Band - After Hours live in Paris has the best opening track ever.

cheers

Nigel

Posted on: 15 October 2002 by BigH47
My wife had friend working for PYE and he gave us 3 "demo" records Visionary,Perilous Journey and Fear of the Dark. They are quite heavy (weight) discs, clean well mastered and sound superb.

Regards

Howard big grin
Posted on: 16 October 2002 by JohanR
The other day I dug out an old and scratchy "Willi and the poor boys" by Creadens I once bought second hand and then forgot about. Sounds superb! My current LP12 setup handles the scratches and noices very well.
It's an origianl vinyl, but a Swedish made one (!), it was obviously quite common in those days.

JohanR
Posted on: 16 October 2002 by Tarquin Maynard - Portly
Good thread, good to find out what else sounds cool ( or hot, as you wish...)

My faves include Ziggy; just got a 180g "Simply Vinyl" remaster - brings back the goosebumps I had when I heard this first, way back er 30 years ago, first thing I had ever heard in stereo: also, Tears for Fears "sowing the seeds of Love".
This I strongly recommend as a test album - complex arrangements, superb production ( over a year to mix )fab tunes. As a rule of thumb it does seem IMHO the heavier the vinyl, the better the sound

Mike
Posted on: 17 October 2002 by steveb
Gentle Giant 'Octopus'-original issue, nice heavy vinyl and wide dynamic range. Loud recording. Coin Spin at start of second side especially good.
Focus 'Moving Waves also really well recorded, some of the bass is really low.Hocus Pocus being a good test track if you can stomach the yodelling.

Steve
Posted on: 21 October 2002 by Stephen H
Jennifer Warnes - Famous Blue Raincoat.

No self-respecting demo of the late 80's was complete without this one. It's the songs of Leonard Cohen, so it's not just the sound quality thats good.
Posted on: 31 October 2002 by count.d
NB,

Thanks for the Reptile recommendation.

This lp sounds superb.
Posted on: 01 November 2002 by Bosh
"Thanks for the Reptile recommendation"

I was very disappointed with this one as the Guitar rags gave it glowing reports. The CD recording is excellent quality, shame about the music
Posted on: 01 November 2002 by Alex S.
Deep cuts on heavy vinyl usually turn up trumps. A problem with many of today's pressings is not the vinyl but the packaging. It looks great but the heavy cardboard inners knacker the vinyl even before you buy it and fit a Nagaoka or whatever. Also, it seems the very low production runs can sometimes cause problems. Nonetheless, only about 1 disc in a thousand sounds better on CD.

Alex
Posted on: 01 November 2002 by garyi
SRV couldn't stand the weather on 180g vinyl, serious good recording, except I scratched tin pan ally. Not happy at all.
Posted on: 01 November 2002 by Keith Mattox
  • Opus3 - All vinyl by that label is superbly recorded and pressed. They print very little vinyl anymore (they've done a few of Eric Bibb's later releases), but you can get their older works used for a bargain. Recommendations: Bibb's River Road and Golden Apples of the Sun. Stunning music, stunning sound.
  • Billy Holiday Songs for Distingue Lovers on Verve heavy vinyl. One of the finest jazz albums ever on an excellent pressing.
  • Matthew Sweet 100% Fun - Great power pop on a great pressing. The title fits here!
  • Earth 5 on the Good Looking label. A box set with 5-6 disks, one song on each side (33 rpm though). Great music, and again well pressed.
  • My old mono copy of Revolver I picked up at a collector show many many years ago. This always throws friends off - how can one get more music out of an old mono pressing of a favorite? Yet they shake their heads after the first few bars of "Taxman".
  • George Cromarty's Wind in the Heather on Dancing Cat records (a Windham Hill spinoff) - Superbly recorded solo acoustic guitar that will never ever appear on CD. Scour eBay for this one - it's worth getting.
Cheers

Keith.