Album Reviews

Thanks for posting all of this, Michael.

Why go digital if the analog master is right there? Is it an issue of safety for the tape as they can't cut a lacquer on sight?

All in all this seems pretty good, the sound on YouTube wasn't all that bad.

I agree with Michael that this is a historical document and getting rid of extraneous noise on the tape is like using an eraser on a famous artist sketch.
Has anyone had the opportunity to listen to what a guitar amp sounds when idle? It's noisy, and that's part of the signal to noise ratio that's laid on to tape.
On AC noise, the engineer was so quick to use his digital wand to get rid of anything he thought wasn't good. It makes me wonder how often these master engineer go in to get their hearing evaluated. He has been doing it for so long that more then likely lost the top end of his hearing, and is now more dominant in his lower part of his hearing at his age.
This eyeopener goes to show how mega record giants are just in it to sell you something that is less expensive and more profitable for generations to come.

I agree with Michael that this is a historical document and getting rid of extraneous noise on the tape is like using an eraser on a famous artist sketch.
Has anyone had the opportunity to listen to what a guitar amp sounds when idle? It's noisy, and that's part of the signal to noise ratio that's laid on to tape.
On AC noise, the engineer was so quick to use his digital wand to get rid of anything he thought wasn't good. It makes me wonder how often these master engineer go in to get their hearing evaluated. He has been doing it for so long that more then likely lost the top end of his hearing, and is now more dominant in his lower part of his hearing at his age.
This eyeopener goes to show how mega record giants are just in it to sell you something that is less expensive and more profitable for generations to come.

Thanks to keeping my 'cans' at ridiculous volume during my days in radio. (It gave a higher energy level on air.) I have elevated sensitivity to high-frequency sounds.
Noodling around on my Strat/Marshall combo, I can still hear all of the extraneous noises. Single coil pickups can really screw up the s/n ratio!
When Warners 'no-noised' Jimi Hendrix's albums in the late eighties, it completely ruined the sound by whiting out those anomalies. Jimi kept some of those down by setting his pickup selector out of phase, to eliminate the hum to an extent.
Low-level hum can be very fatiguing to listen to. I don't mind when engineers try to attenuate that. Unfortunately, those sonic tools frequently get overused when there are so many buttons and tweaks available.
Rather than testing their hearing, I'd hope that whoever is doing the mastering is a musician, or someone with experience with live recording.

I prefer lps with noises. Just adds realism to the ambience,just like a real performance!

That was a funny moment seeing that plate.
Willi Studer - Regensdorf - Zürich
I'll think of this the next time I'm on a train passing through Regensdorf....

Agree with Michael, better to use the original tape. Vinyl pressed that way has an authenticity to it, a feel, that goes missing in the digital transfer.
I'm a great fan of high resolution digital downloads, but not digital on my vinyl.

Beats the pants off the farce that record store day has become. Even if they used a digital intermediate, what matters is the end is an overall high sound quality, good pressing and presentation. This lp reissue is a "win" by almost any standard.

I joined, sounds like fun!

Thanks for posting this.

I have this release and I think it sounds awesome and my pressing is really really good. So far VMP is doing a good job. I hope they commission more releases.

We've seen some examples (none of which I can remember, maybe a Springsteen title? No, Grateful Dead?) where something like the Plangent Process fixed some analog ills such as above-average scrape flutter that would detract.

Anything else is probably hurting as much as it helps.

From my YouTube comments:

"In part of the clip Mr. Reiniger plays a portion where the inverse of the noise filter is heard. This is done as a check to see how much of the baby got tossed with the bathwater but in that example you can still hear some music getting deleted. Whether or not he applied that to the file, or some other judgement call we'll never know."

If that doesn't raise a serious question for anyone, consider that the 1989 reissue LP was cut from a digital file, too. Back then, a 16-bit file, possibly NoNoise'd, was considered by someone to be better than the original tape.

And here we are again, except "this time" it's truly better.

Until possibly the next time, when it'll be "for sure!" to be better.

Or maybe yet one more time in the future, when "no foolin'" it'll be the one.

So I've been a member of the record club for over a year now, I started with a monthly and recently changed to the quarterly membership. I also consider myself an audiophile as in pursuit of wonderful home listening experiences through my own audiosystem. I bought the Bill Broonzy record through the club and I love the way it sounds. One of the things I like about the club is that I am surprised by music that I would not have purchased if left to my own devices. I am a jazz nut so I usually try to buy every jazz record they offer but I've gotten some really nice rock, blues, indie music, hip hop etc on vinyl. I love that the pressings are usually all done especially for the club and the vinyl itself is often unique. Often but not always pressings are limited edition, the jackets are sometimes unique and the record of the month comes with a piece of unique artwork and a unique drink mix to experiment with. All of which add fun to the equation. I discovered for example that their is a company that makes real Tonic for Gin and tonics and my audio buddies came over and we drank authentic Gin and tonics while we listened to music and had a blast.

Elton

Personnel I get the its a historical document argument. I do, if fact I have more than a couple on my shelf. That being said I really enjoy owning this for the simple fact its really nice to hear a clean copy of an old blues record. They did a good job on this. Some of the tracks on side two really sound nice to me. I don't get the digital uglies from it.

Also Vinyl Me Please just had 20th anniversary re-release of the Fugees the Score. It sounds about as amazing as anything I have. I really like the club because it is more music lover than audiophile but from the limited releases I have gotten so far most of it sounds pretty good too. They are definitely taking SQ into consideration.

I for one am not ready to be one of the old guys complaining about kids and there new fangled music. I just can't be that guy...

<< The master tape resided at The Smithsonian and could have been used to cut lacquers, but instead the decision was made to first digitize it. Ridiculous in my opinion. >>

You are wrong. Because you don't actually do anything in audio.

Let me count the ways: Hum. Clicks. Pops. Hiss. Editing. Preserving the master tape. Preventing stretching of the tape. Fixing glitches. Lossless duplication of CDs, LPs and cassettes (and even MP3s).

Seems odd to me that they would pull out the master tape and do a meticulous job digitizing it, then make the LP available only through Vinyl Me, Please. Or you can try to buy it through the used market.