Donald Fagen "The Nightfly" digital recording to MFSL 45 RPM One-Step vinyl?*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by kyndcookie, May 23, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. DeRosa

    DeRosa Vinyl Forever

    He says is sounds great, but there are better sounding records he has heard.
    Seems to me his post has at least a little to do with how it sounds!
     
    richbdd01 likes this.
  2. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    I think it's really important that this variable is honestly talked about here. Often, however, if someone is individually singled out, whether it be regarding what their references are or what equipment they have, many get riled up. And some recoil even when asked to list their equipment in their profile. But, say, someone listening on an old Technics SL-B100 table with a Shure M97 cartridge and Pro-Ject Phono Box is not portray the potential of an LP to even a Rega Planar 2 w/Benz-Micro Silver cartridge and Rogue Audio Triton will. And that combo won't reveal music and tonal aspects that a VPI Avenger Plus w/Koetsu Coral cartridge and Manley Stringray phono stage will.

    It's important that the owner of the equipment is self-aware of the limitations of his or her own audio equipment. I somewhat regularly take trips to hifi shops to see and hear what better equipment can bring with the same source material. Sometimes it confirms areas of great strength with the equipment I own. It also can illuminate areas of weakness.

    But qualitative discussions of a particular pressing needs references. And, as we have discussed, variables not only include the equipment, the ears (and preferences of the listener), but that each copy of the record can sound a bit, sometimes fairly dramatically different.
     
  3. musictoad

    musictoad Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City, UT
    I don't know. My apologies.

    I need to stop coming into this thread. I know my thoughts on the LP and that's all that matters.
     
    bluejimbop and DeRosa like this.
  4. shaft

    shaft Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm, Sweden
    Regarding limitations of people's audio equipment. In a way I understand what you are saying but my experience is somewhat different. IMO you can hear relative differences on simpler rigs too. For me when I get better equipment it is more like you move the whole scale further up and the SQ of the different LP's stay the same relative to each other. My best sounding LPs from when I was a kid still sound good today albeit with a higher sound quality. The next best still sound next best and the worst are still crap. My point is that just because someone exclaims that "this is the best I heard" and has not top of the line equipment we should listen to that voice also. :)

    BTW I played some songs again from the LP and it does indeed sound sweet.
     
  5. Slick Willie

    Slick Willie Decisively Indecisive

    Location:
    sweet VA.
    I agree, most folks purchasing these titles I would think have gear good enough to hear differences in recordings.
    It is relative, with the degree changing as the gear quality increases.
    The 'best I have heard' statement means little to me if stated without reference to other pressings.
     
    Joti Cover and shaft like this.
  6. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    First of all, as a new member, welcome. It will be helpful to all of us if you can post your equipment on the Profile page.

    I'm going to disagree with your statement. For example, recordings that are mastered loud will sound good on cheap equipment, better than recordings with a large dynamic range. And those 1970's MoFis sounded impressive with their quiet surfaces and smile EQs back then in the system I had back then.

    But as equipment gets better, loud mastering is more apparent and smile EQing becomes more unacceptable. I was able to notice the hollowness of the midrange of The Beatles MoFis.

    Loud cut CDs sound better in my car stereo. More dynamic ones (meaning the soft passages are much quieter) don't sound as good (even with the car not running). But at home in my hifi, the same album mastered better, more dynamically, sounds better.

    Furthermore, there are tonal aspects to recordings, harmonic complexity, that just isn't picked up with lesser equipment. I can clearly hear this myself.

    There is a danger here that one can get lulled into thinking that a cheap NAD phono stage will reveal everything on the record, just less so. That is just absolutely not the case. It's astonishing when, on much better equipment, aspects of the recording are revealed I had never heard before.
     
    Rich C likes this.
  7. SuperFuzz

    SuperFuzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC USA
    Please do not speak for "all of us". There's quite a large contingency of people on this forum that think the rule (although it is not an official rule) about listing equipment in your profile, is silly, and isn't at all helpful in knowing what someone else hears. (There's also a large contingency that believe some people here care way too much about how other people hear things.)
    The point of this post is not to drag the debate into this thread (people can dig up the old threads on the issue), but to point out that nobody has ever been appointed to speak for all of us, as if their opinion must necessarily reflect everyone's. Hopefully no retort will follow...

    All I care about is someone giving an honest opinion about what they hear.
    And welcome @shaft - although I just looked at your profile and see you are hardly new - joined in 2008. Guess you're more of a lurker. All good. :)
     
    mpayan and Gems-A-Bems like this.
  8. shaft

    shaft Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm, Sweden
    Hi - thanks for answering AnalogJ ;-)
    I've been a member since 2008 so maybe not quite so new. But not so many posts I'm afraid. But I've read Hoffman forums many many times. I've been into music and hifi for about 40 years. I can update my profile soon yes but in short the analogue chain is Denon DL-304, Rega 3 and Accuphase phono+amp.

    I of course agree that you get more detail and enjoyment with a good setup and that bad setups will mask things - sometimes for the better. Sure. However, in most cases a bad recordings/masterings sounds bad all over the place - in the car on the Bose, Iphone etc etc. Loud and often compressed CDs sounds terrible to me for example. IMO a bad mastering does not sound good on bad equipment and vice versa. Not to me anyway. But my point is that the relativeness (moving the scale) is still there whatever quality equipment you are listening to. With more revealing equipment I would think that the scale is "stretched" out but the relativeness is still there. I'm not sure and that makes it interesting of course ;-)
     
    Slick Willie likes this.
  9. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    "...equipment in your profile, is silly, and isn't at all helpful in knowing what someone else hears." Sorry, but ignorance is not bliss here. Saying that you're not interested in reference? How else would you have any perspective? It is not all that there is to parsing out a critique, but equipment is a very important variable. You didn't want a retort, but sorry, I can't let that go because it's not truthful.
     
  10. Preston

    Preston Forum Resident

    Location:
    KCMO Metro USA
    Noise. Two or three tracks have higher levels of noise. I cleaned it on my VPI RCM and it made little difference.
     
  11. Diskhound

    Diskhound Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Had the house to myself this am so I opened-up, cleaned and then spun Nightfly - loudly!! I have been focusing lately on addressing vibration and isolation issues with respect to my equipment. I think it really paid off today. On my system this record sounds utterly fantastic. It is a real joy to listen to with lots of dynamics, great bass and a nice, rich, smooth tone. It just has that kind of driving rhythm and pace that is so very addictive.

    When I spend big bucks on an audiophile version of an already great sounding record in my collection I am always a bit nervous. In this case, I think the investment was worth it as Nightfly is a personal favourite and this pressing beats my RL.

    Bottom line, this record is right up there with the best sounding records in my collection and probably the best that Nightfly is going to sound with my equipment. Having said all of this though, I only collect rock, pop, electronica and blues on vinyl. So it's not like I am comparing this record to some of the greatest classical and jazz recordings that have been pressed to vinyl. I have a buddy who does collect vinyl in these genres and wow, some of those records are just unbelievable.

    On quality control .... I dodged a bullet on side one. Immediately upon opening the box I could see scratch like marks on the inner sleeve. Underneath the marks on the sleeve there were visible marks on the last 3 minutes of the first song. Thank goodness though, the marks aren't playable. The black sleeves for the records had some foxing from rubbing against each other. Nothing too severe but you have to wonder why they wouldn't have put them in plastic. The surfaces of the records are not dead quiet but as others have pointed out, this doesn't intrude into the music because there are not a lot of really quiet passages. When I get some time I may give it another, more serious cleaning.

    Oh yeah, I have gotta find some sort of sleeve for the outer box. It has very delicate surfaces. Too bad they didn't package it in a good reusable one!
     
  12. bluejimbop

    bluejimbop Thumb Toe Heel Toe

    Location:
    Castro Valley, CA
    I ordered the Donald Fagen One-Step from Elusive Disc on June 5th, 2017.
    There it sits, "Backordered".
    I've only been at this Audiophilia 3 or 4 years, so what do you think, Long-Timers?
    Do I have a chance in Hell of it ever landing on my front porch?
     
  13. Yes. Have you emailed elusive disc customer service? MoFi?
     
    bluejimbop likes this.
  14. Guildx500

    Guildx500 Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    I’m curious why guys in the USA are ordering these from stores other than Music Direct or direct from Mofi since they are the actual source of the product. I’m sure there’s a reason I’d just like to know what it is.
     
    Billy Budapest and Slick Willie like this.
  15. shaft

    shaft Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm, Sweden
    I also have a copy backordered at Elusivedisc that I ordered 6th june . I don't think they ever had any copies....
    When I saw they could not ship I ordered from Analogue Seduction in the UK (I'm in Sweden) and they had one for me but more expensive of course. Whetever the price this disc is very very good and when the price is long forgotten we will still enjoy these LPs for sure.
     
  16. Ricardo Cosinaro

    Ricardo Cosinaro Forum Resident

    I also ordered a 'backup copy" from Elusive Disc on June 15th and haven't heard a peep as to whether they ever received copies and if I'll be getting one or not. Guess it is time to just cancel the order; I don't really NEED a second copy, I just thought it would be a good idea to order one in case my Music Direct order didn't ship (it did).
     
    bluejimbop likes this.
  17. Lovealego

    Lovealego Senior Member

    Why are people ordering this from any place other than MOFI and Music Direct???
     
    Cassius, giantleech and mpayan like this.
  18. NorthNY Mark

    NorthNY Mark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canton, NY, USA
    Mine came from Music Direct, but not everyone is necessarily aware of the relationship between Music Direct and MOFI. Also, some people may have longstanding relationships with some of the other retailers, and have never had a problem getting MOFI records before. I suspect that in the future, more people on this forum will probably order their one-steps from MOFI or Music Direct. Still, it seems unprofessional on their part not to supply the other retailers with promised copies (if that is what happened--the alternative scenario is that the other companies sold copies that were never promised to them, which would be unprofessional on their part).
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2017
    Joti Cover and bluejimbop like this.
  19. mpayan

    mpayan A Tad Rolled Off

    It is silly. And if people who defend it would actually think it out and were honest, theyd see its nonsensical also. But, instead, theyd rather thumb their noses at other peoples "lowly equipment". Its one of the most, if not the most, distasteful things about audiophiledom.
     
    SuperFuzz likes this.
  20. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    We usually agree, but I think it is useful info because it provides context - not so much about the nuanced qualitative differences of different systems, but the general tonal and spatial characteristics of a system. However like all info it can be (and is on occasion) misused and turns into a battle of who has the biggest equipment (so to speak).

    Someone who listens to, say, lossless mp3's on headphones will have an entirely different listening experience to someone who listens to hi-rez digital through planar loudspeakers.
     
    NorthNY Mark likes this.
  21. shaft

    shaft Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm, Sweden
    Why Elusivedisc - well I'm a customer since before (get their newsletter etc.) and they seemed like a major player. But I guess not in this case.
     
    bluejimbop likes this.
  22. Elusive Disc is a fantastic seller, but in this case because Music Direct owns MoFi, it is the most direct way to order. I’d be surprised if Elusive Disc does not ship your copy eventually.
     
  23. SuperFuzz

    SuperFuzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC USA
    You missed the point. You're welcome to your opinion. But one last time - please do not speak for "all of us". You find it useful to know what other people are listening to recordings on. I do not, and I'm not alone. "Truthfulness" has nothing to do with it, whatever that means.
     
  24. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Think about it. If you're critiquing anything, why wouldn't a reference be important? For example, one can merely look at a photo on a monitor. On the other hand, if one is looking at a photo to see if it's reproduced correctly, a check of the monitor's accuracy is mandatory. One needs to know if the monitor is reproducing colors accurately if a report is to be made to the producer of the photo or another photographer. I hope you would agree with this.

    So, how accurate is an audio system? Isn't it important to know how well it reproduces what is on the record? If I rendered opinions regarding the sound quality of a record, you don't think it's important to know whether I'm playing it on a Michell Orbe or a Kenner Close 'n Play? Wouldn't knowing either scenario alter your perception of my opinion?
     
    FashionBoy likes this.
  25. Slick Willie

    Slick Willie Decisively Indecisive

    Location:
    sweet VA.

    I think few ordering these pressings would be using junk to play them on. And again, all is relative. If they are comparing using the same gear, then that should have some merit.
    True, the degree of differences can change based on the quality of the gear, but is the listener focused? Can they state what they are hearing in words most can understand?
    Also of great import is to give the details on what they are comparing.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine