@tylermunns: No, no mid-70's pressings. I wore out my original; In 1971 I was backing a chick singer who did a coupla songs from the album, and played the album a LOT. "Smackwater Jack" was a lot of fun to play. Drummer Russ Kunkel and bassist Leland Sklar were real good at creating a killer groove and feel. That's why they got as much studio work as they did.
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ericsch: I believe Bernie Grundman mastered the 2017 version. Fremer might know the answer to your question.
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Agreed. I wince when I hear the term record collector. I’m not collecting anything, I’m amassing a music library (my entire adult life), for listening to. And to then refer to record collecting as a hobby only makes it worse!
When I started buying LP’s it was the only music format available (well, except for 7" 45 RPM singles, of which I own about 500 or so). I never bought pre-recorded reel-to-reel, 8-track, or cassettes tapes, and when the CD was introduced ignored them for as long as possible. LP’s were phased out gradually, record companies offering new releases in both LP and CD formats into the 90’s, before finally abandoning the LP sometime in the middle of that decade. Then it was either buy CD’s, or not be able to listen to new music.
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Yep @sokogear, you HAVE fallen hard for Steely Dan! Those who buy all the upcoming UHQR's are going to have a fair chunk o' change invested in that group.
I sold my MoFi collection of The Beatles albums when the mono boxset came out, as those MoFi's weren't so hot (Stan Ricker was not a great mastering engineer). That way more than paid for the box. I also have them all on original UK Parlophone in stereo pressings.
I bought the Tapestry 1-Step because the Ode Records pressing is terrible, no matter the vintage. And I really like the album (I had the pleasure of meeting Carole in L.A., and she was a delight. She just exudes positive energy.).
I have quite a few Speakers Corner reissues (both Classical and Pop), all of which are great. I bought their 3-LP 33-1/3 RPM version of the Janos Starker Bach Cello Suites boxset rather than the 6-LP 45 RPM from Analogue Productions for the reason I explained above. As a bonus, it was half the price ;-).
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@sokogear: In the world of rare LP collecting, $3-400 is not at all uncommon. Original 1950’s Blue Notes in Near Mint condition now sell for more than that, and even more rare records into four figures. I myself don’t swim in those deep waters, and was speaking in terms of the price of rare records in the collectors market.
I like superior sound quality as much as the next guy, but respecting and preserving the nature of the album creator’s musical ambition in the album side’s programming and flow takes priority. Bob Dylan had the Sony engineers make him multiple test pressings (in the early days) or cassette tapes/CD’s (in the later), each with a different song running order. He would decide which order he preferred after living with them awhile, and the album would be made to his request.
I don’t like to mess with the artists musical creation, but rather want to give him "final cut". If I have a choice between a 1-LP 33-1/3 RPM version of an album and a 2-LP 45 RPM, I ALWAYS choose the former. I chose the single disc version of the AP Tea For The Tillerman, and the Kind Of Blue, both also available in 45 RPM. I will admit, however, that I did get the 1-Step of Tapestry, which is of course a 2-LP 45 RPM set. But in that case, one was given no choice. The $125 for that album was the most I’ve ever spent on a record. Most of my LP purchases are in the $5 to $10 range, used. For new $20 to $40.
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@sokogear: Another guy did a shoot out between the Classic Records "regular" 45 RPM Kind Of Blue (NOT the single sided boxset) and the Analogue Productions 33-1/3, and felt the latter was superior overall (I don’t remember on what basis). I don’t like 45 RPM (I want the original release musical "flow", impossible of course on a 45 RPM pressing), and am willing to forfeit the relatively small difference in sound quality. All the Classic Records and Analogue Productions Kind Of Blue LP’s were made using the exact same metal parts that Grundman made back in 1997.
I have only one Classic Records album, the 2-LP Whiter Shade Of Pale by Procol Harum. It’s a keeper! The Classic Records LP’s that fetch REAL money are the Led Zeppelin albums, especially the one of the entire catalog housed in a flight case. Around twenty thousand, last I heard. Kassem has a couple in his collection. Good thing I don’t care for Zeppelin ;-) .
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@sokogear: Michael Ludwig (45 RPM Audiophile on YouTube) has done a video in which he compares his MoFi 45 RPM 2-LP version of Kind Of Blue with his Analogue Productions 33-1/3 RPM 1-LP. I think he may have already compared the new AP 45 RPM 2-LP version to the 33-1/3 as well, but that may have been someone else.
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@whart said it all!
By the way, some of the MoFi LP’s made in the past 15 years WERE "cut" (the lacquer) from analog tapes (presumably a "production"/aka "safety" copy---usually 1/4" 15 IPS---of the 2/ch mix master, though some original studio master tapes are made available by some companies, particularly WEA), amongst them a couple of Ry Cooder albums, as well as the debut by David Crosby.
For those who don’t already know, the Analogue Productions Kind Of Blue was made using the metal parts made by Bernie Grundman back in 1997 (for Classic Records), using the actual 3 channel master tape fed directly into Grundman’s mixing console, no intermediary 2/ch tape made or used! Grundman was the one who discovered the original master mix---from which all releases of Kind Of Blue had been made---was made with the songs on one side of the LP having been recorded in the studio with the 3-track machine running at the wrong speed, causing the music to be heard slightly off pitch and tempo. He of course corrected that in his mastering.
In his mastering of Tea For The Tillerman for AP, Grundman discovered the original release had been mastered assuming Dolby noise reduction had been employed in the recording. It had not; with Dolby engaged in playback, the recording was subjected to a considerable degree of high frequency roll-off, resulting in the sound of Cat Stevens’ plastic-bodied Ovation acoustic guitar/guitar strings/etc. to be drastically changed, as well as that of the drumset cymbals and any and all other high frequency sound producers (the upper harmonics of the acoustic bass strings, etc.). The AP reissue of TFTT was the first that sounded anywhere close to that of the master tape. Thank God for Bernie Grundman!
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"I don’t think there was deceit."
I not only think it, I know it. There is a clip floating around on YouTube, in which one of the MoFi people is asked point blank if their mastering chain is 100% pure analog. He responds with a very unambiguous "Yes". That was a deliberate lie. If you watch very closely, you may detect the same subtle sense of shame register on his face immediately after saying yes as do I. Not everyone can pull off being a shameless liar. Those who can sometimes run for president of the United States, and win (once, at least. Fool me once, shame on you..... ;-) .
In his announcement of the upcoming release of the Steely Dan catalog on LP, Analogue Productions’ Chad Kassem states the first five albums will be cut to lacquer from the analog master tapes (Chad and mastering engineer Bernie Grundman go to great lengths to secure master tapes), the 6th and 7th from DSD files.
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No @hotei, and no one is saying that. But their ethical behavior over the past 15 or so years certainly has been.
It doesn't matter anymore, there are plenty of audiophile LP reissue companies putting out fantastic product: Analogue Productions, Speakers Corner, Vinyl Me Please, Intervention Records, Sam Records, Run Out Groove, Light In The Attic, Jackpot Records (a new label out of Portland, Oregon), Blue Note, Exhibit Records, Anti Records, a dozen more.
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I'm really curious as to why Fremer left Stereophile for TAS. They must have made him an offer he couldn't refuse.I gave up on TAS when Robert Harley took over.
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