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In Reply to: Re: interesting... posted by newdreams on April 16, 2007 at 21:34:01:
to 'blues walk' and 'the all-seeing eye' again to see if mine have the same issue.i don't recall any off-center or warped (alot can happen in shipping/storage) out of the 20 of them that i have.
i agree on the dirty records coming out of the plant.
that's too bad about your lou lp -- it really is great music. i honestly don't remember having those same serious problems you are experiencing. again, i'll check it out tonight or tomorrow.
Follow Ups:
Thanks - I'd value another opinion. The slightly off-centre and warp I can live with, as neither are audible problems. I did hear from another "Blues Walk" owner who heard the same failings with his copy. If yours is different, that would be interesting.It's disappointing to see quality like this on Blue Note, when I have thirty year old pressings of all kinds that are dead flat and centred and still sound beautiful after all this time.
hi, paul:
some comments after listening...1. It is slightly warped so I can watch the headshell dance up and down with every revolution, although I don't hear any wow. It's also pressed very slightly off-centre.
my pressing is neither warped nor off-center. i could see how a warp could be introduced at any step along the distribution chain. this *may* not be a 'scorpio' problem.
2. The original mix/master is flawed. On cut 3, side 1, "The Masquerade is Over", the bass and drums drop off as if the fader was pulled nearly all the way back at about one minute in. You can see the absence of bass looking at the grooves. After about three minutes, the bass and drums abruptly come back in. This also occurs on cuts on side two. This is a mixing/mastering flaw rather than in pressing. It could be the only masters they had to work from, but I find it hard to believe Blue Note would knowingly release vinyl from such a flawed mix.
agreed. the congos remain very well-defined and have a certain presence to them, though. it's almost as if they wanted certain instruments to stand out, given when the bass kicks back in.
3. The bass and drums drop off again, almost to the point of inaudibility, on side two cut 1, "Play Ray", for about 30 seconds. It's like a studio visitor was playing with the faders, not knowing what they did. There is another short drop out in "Autumn Nocturne". The reverb return also changes as if someone was riding it and playing with it. There's a bit of pre-echo, but I can't be sure whether that is from old master tape print-through (most likely) or from the LP.
agreed on the drop-out. again, based on when the bass kicks in it *almost* seems by design.
On cut 3 side 2, again the bass/drums is pumped up and down as if someone is experimenting. It's very irritating. It is consistent at exactly the same spot on each playback, and you can see the different groove pattern where the bass disappears, so it's not my equipment. Does anyone else know this recording and can comment?
unfortunately, i don't have an original of this particular title (1st/2nd/3rd pressing) to compare...i wish i did. i can do other comparisons. while i can confirm what you are hearing, i cannot give a key critical comparison vs. what an original "should" sound like. could it be carelessness? mastering? pressing? tape age?
while i do think we deserve good quality for our hard-earned money, i do think the music is so overwhelmingly good on this title that i do not find it difficult to listen through the aforementioned problems, and you won't find an original anywhere near the price (sadly).
Thanks! I will indeed go back and try to enjoy Blues Walk for the music, perhaps missing the badly afflicted cuts. It may have been made worse by the fact that initially I was listening on headphones, where things like channel dropouts really show up.My guess now is that the pressing was done from a test recording, where the engineer was pulling faders to make decisions, and that the test recording was accidentally mastered without a listen.
My concern about writing to Blue Note was to let them know what was happening to works they had licensed, and maybe get a replacement of some kind. I bought my LP from the US via eBay, and doubt I will get a replacement that way.
Too bad about the original vinyl - I've been following it on eBay, and most of it goes for far beyond my price range - so I buy CDs. A recent mono Art Blakey "The Freedom Rider" escaped me with a last minute snipe at around US$60, so that's it for me until I win a lottery...
Hi, Paul:
Your issue is with the company who (perhaps carelessly) made the reissue, but it would be useful for Blue Note to hear about the experience as perhaps it could make them more careful about who they license material to. Maybe.I wouldn't think Blue Note, the label, could offer you a replacement of any kind -- and since it is not a one-off problem (and indeed a trait of the whole run), I don't think you'd get anywhere with Scorpio.
4100-series mono recordings are going for a pretty penny these days. I do think companies like Classic and Blue Note do have a market, if they just do things right. $9 reissues are a great thing. I still maintain that there are a bunch of good Scorpios.
Also, the problems with Blues Walk are immediately apparent on my stereo. I can see how they are more annoying with headphones...but, again, some people are more bothered by such problems. I do not they are not small problems -- but when the music is so good I can look past it.
All great points, and thanks.Up here in Canada, the "cheap" reissues are in the $16-20 range, where new Blue Note RVG CDs are generally CDN$12.99 at A&B Sound in Vancouver, so I expect a bit more.
I'll keep my eyes open for the earlier reissues, but I fear the growing public awareness of vinyl will not be good for the prices. (My Blue label McCoy Tyner "Expressions" was great.) I liked it when no-one else seemed to be buying vinyl. I've even been given a couple of good collections due to being the weirdo who still has a turntable.
Still, there are only so many of us willing to spend money on turntables. This whole going back to listen to my (large) record collection thing convinced me to buy a Rega P3/RB300 and vintage preamp/power amp gear, so it's been a fun, but slightly expensive trip so far.
i always feel that if price is an issue (and it is for most of us) the reprints and reissues are where its at. also, they are good ways to test if one likes the music. $10-20 is a small price to pay (for a CD or reissue) to see if one wants to plunk down big $$ for a 1st pressing.i'm more a listener than a collector (meaning if i find a sealed original, i open it and always play my best copy!)... but if i was on the fence i'd have no problem buying a good CD to check out music.
...that it is "scorpio" releasing this reissue, not blue note. therefore, the comment about 'writing to blue note when you have time' (in your earlier post) is something you need to carefully consider so your comments are directed to the appropriate people.these are quite different from (re-)releases when liberty and/or UA owned the label.
i am going to play that LD lp in just a few minutes.
the scorpio lps are budget reissues -- digital replicas of the cover (OK but not great), possible use of other than 1st generation tapes, etc. i still recommend them to folks seeking the music and not willing or able to pay for an original.
classic monos are quite good, but they are 3x the price. if one can find 2nd or 3rd pressings, they are often better, but they are likely 2-15x the price. originals of many of those titles may be 30x the price.
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