@rudd2004 thanks for the recommendation for Masterpieces! Sound is gorgeous (I'm listening on Tidal through a Marantz 8b), and the story of the recording is fascinating. For anyone else who's interested: https://slate.com/culture/2014/12/duke-ellingtons-best-album-masterpieces-by-ellington-reviewed-on-the-new-vinyl-lp-reissue-from-analogue-productions-it-sounds-better-than-ever.html |
Cleeds is often correct, he'd probably say always. :) I am always amazed by the knowledge base here, yours included. I thoroughly enjoyed your explanation. I remember 8 track days and how they littered nearly every highway as the decks would eat them while going down the road. I had one in my car almost as soon as they came out. They didn't sound bad but cars might not have been the best place for them and laying sideways lent itself to channel overlap or bleeding over, whatever you guys would call it. My dad had one in his home stereo. I moved to cassette before ever getting 8 track in a home system. Less trouble, sounded good and I also had one in a new Taurus in 89. I guess CD's were just getting started about then. I don't think I ever had a piece of gear that would decode dbx and the TFTT is the only dbx record that i think I've ever owned. I believe I probably bought it as new/sealed around 20 years ago. It still has the cello on it and is in perfect condition. There is a store tag that says PS 1058. If I had paid attention, the label on the cello says that you need a dbx decoder to play this record. I find that hilarious, I just thought it was the worst recording ever. I do see that some people collect and love them and I saw the copies for sale used at $100 or so. I also found something, a pink label Island copy (says first pressing) in the UK and it looks to be NM at least. It was about $150, shipped to the US. I had to have it. It will be interesting to hear it after all this info. I also see some remasters on clear vinyl with Island label. I may get one of those sometime. I guess you just can't have too many copies of TFTT. :) |
@billpete Please let me know if you can hear a big difference with the pink label. I would like to get the Analog Productions 45 rpm remaster. The 45 rpm albums that I own have remarkable frequency extension and a much wider image than their 33-1/3 counterparts. But it is a bit annoying having to turn the record over every 2 or 3 songs. However, I bet that the dynamics of TFTT would be amazing! The bass would be huge. TFTT is a perfect candidate for 45 rpm mastering. I can't think of a better candidate. But they are so expensive! |
I am into classical, just getting back into vinyl, so the latest vinyl releases from Hyperion suit me, especially their new recording of Beethoven Triple Concerto and their recent vinyl release of the Shostakovich Piano Concertos. I have used the SACD of the latter for years, especially the slow movement of the 2nd, to judge how much 'air' a system could reproduce. |
It would be nice if discogs were more fussy about mentioning DBX status. I once got an LP that had the CBS CX noise reduction on it. That was said to be playable without the decoder, though there would be some compression. It was acceptable, but I also had the CD of that album and it did sound better! |
