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Sade This Far

I purchased this set with great anticipation. I have been a Sade fan for nearly 38 years and own multiple compilations and albums. I was so excited thinking finally her voice will be treated as it deserves. Half speed mastered, the works. I waited for months. This is seriously the biggest let down I’ve had since I got into vinyl in 2014. I have a $100k analog front end so it’s not the gear (Ortofon MC Anna, Kuzma 4Point, SMARTractor, etc.). The sound on these albums is dull, lifeless and simply nothing to talk about, I couldn’t even get through one album before getting fatigued. 
The packaging is also cheap!

Two hundred of my dollars gone for this poorly remastered cheaply packaged mess. You would do far better to just go to eBay or discogs and seek a clean copy of an original pressing. I usually treat my new albums to a new hi-end record sleeve after I clean them in my KLAudio ultrasonic record cleaner. Not these, I put this mess back in their original cheap paper sleeves.

If I seem bothered, I am as this stinks of just a rush to push something out there with little regard for quality just to make a quick buck.
audiofun

Showing 4 responses by audiofun

audiofun OP
799 posts
 

I was so dissatisfied I decided to not go back for seconds. I’ll live with my original pressings, CD’s and Quobuz :)

audiofun OP
799 posts
 
audiosaurusrex:

Glad you found it useful. I just wanted to save at least one person the money and aggravation.  
To be fair one of my buddies just told me he had two copies he thought the one he sourced from the UK was great while the one he got here sucked and he gave it away. My dead wax says Abbey Road 1/2 speed mastered room 30, so go figure. 
audiofun OP
799 posts
 
I have a replacement copy on the way. Hopefully this was a dud.
audiofun OP
799 posts
 
geof3:
Thanks, maybe mine is a bad apple. I will look into it.

orpheus10:
It is a hit or miss I agree and most of the albums I obtain are decent to great, i.e. my recently purchaesd Valarie Joyce New York Blue is one of the finest sounding albums/recordings I have heard. It is far beyond the 96khz digital which I’ve owned for more than a decade.

I have purchased CD’s that were equally disappointing, especially painful when I spring for an XRCD and it turns out to be a dud. This is not a subject exclusively germane to analog :) This has even happened with a $600 15ips tape “Here’s to Ben”, not so good, but “Jacintha is Her Name” was OUT OF THIS WORLD. Tape is a whole other level of risk. Jacintha is Her Name was one of the best sounding recordings I had ever heard but I noticed that for some reason some of the Groove Note tapes will fade after about 6 months. None of my other tapes displayed this trait and I am very meticulous about where and how my tapes are stored (and I check for magnetic fields). Tried to contact Groove Note via Elusive Disc but they would not respond to Elusive Disc who did follow-up with me. I suspect they are recording on poor tape stock.

I am calmer now LOL. I was very disappointed yesterday after waiting months for this set. Ah, the value of a good nights sleep.
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