They keep getting the rights to albums I really want to buy, which often means other, better quality reissue labels aren't. It's so frustrating.
I have 2 that I bought used when I first got back into vinyl 7 or so years ago @around $10-12 IIRC. I didn't realize they were not up to snuff til I came to the SHF. Dusty In Memphis and The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads. I still play the Otis some because I can't find a decent OG at a good price. The Dusty I put into the trade/sell box after getting the Rhino CD and an OG vinyl. The OG Otis probably wasn't a sonic marvel to begin with was it? Anyway,it doesn't bother me and it's clean, flat,not noisy,with decent cover so I got no complaints about that one. I do avoid 4MWB these days though.
Because of this, I think the 4men issue works enough in this particular case (sorry for my poor English)
I have a couple by them, Televisions self titled album and The Dream Syndicate's debut. Not bad, they sound fine to me, certainly better than shelling out much larger sums for the original pressings, but if a better option appears I'm going to pick that up and replace what I have.
This is a fair point. We are getting here by deduction. The better approach is the high road taken by, for instance, Michael Fremer. He lists the companies he trusts, and says specifically about 4MWB, "I have no idea". My experience is mainly the Big Star Radio City album put out by 4MWB. I'm not even sure why it exists to begin with, as the Ardent/Stax labels are producing audiophile Big Star releases that sound awesome, like the recent 45rpm Best Of Big Star. No mastering information on the 4MWB Radio City is available, but there is no question that the sound quality is lacking compared to Ardent originals/reissues. Did they master off a CD? Itunes files? Who knows. What is fair to say about them is they have mastering issues, and are not transparent about what they are doing. A reasonable person might then say if they were mastering off tape or 96/24 digital they would proudly declare it, but hey, maybe they are just so humble they don't feel the need. But you are right that we don't have a CD mastering smoking gun. At least I'm not aware of one.
They could have also used the hi-res files that are available commercially... or the SACD from around 2004. Regardless, the first two Big Star albums are difficult to properly cut to vinyl, no matter what source you're using. When cutting the original pressings in the 70s, Larry Nix would ride the EQ throughout the cut, making adjustments on the fly for the trickier sections. It was a painstaking process.
E Exactly, I'm not Michael Fremer. I can say 'sounds like they cut it from the RCA Music Sevice 8-track cassette' and, if that is what it actually sounds like to me, why shouldn't I posy exactly that?
Junk label. It seriously annoys me that they can press such rubbish. My copy of Scott 2 was full of non-fill. Snap, crackle and poptastically crap.
^^^ This. They have so much stuff I want. I've been starring at Big Star's 'Radio City' for months but still won't pull the trigger. I have Gene Clark's 'No Other' which sounds ok, not terrible, but I'm affraid of getting burned on my next purchase so I keep picking up other titles on my 'want list'
When you say that it sounds bad, what are you referring exactly? Cracks and pops? Surface noise? Volume?
If people have been trying to get facts out of 4MWB for years now and all they get is silence, one would have to assume, at the very least, that they are not using the original master tapes in an all analog chain. They could just as easily pop into one of these recurrent threads and set the record straight if they wanted to. This is not an obscure forum to vinyl reissue companies, I can assure you.
Ok, I just played a minute of Oh My Soul from my Ardent reissue, and then the 4MWB. Firstly, both vinyls are flat, no blemishes, no no-fill issues. They are both very quiet. The Ardent has a little more volume. The Ardent leaps out of the speakers. The guitar has that chimey/shimmering quality that is so unique. Jody's drums are explosive with lots of dynamics and depth. And when Alex starts singing, he is... right there, such great definition, splattered all over the soundstage. (Ah, man I LOVE this song) The 4MWB version sounds like.. an mp3 file. I swear I hear compression artifacts on the cymbols. All the shimmer.. missing. It sounds like I threw a towel over the speakers. Bass is kinda boomy too, no definition. It's an absolute disaster. This is seriously poor mastering - unbelievably bad.
Speaking of 4 Men With Beard, be advised that they are under the parent company of Runt, who also runs Plain Recordings, DBK Works, and Water. See this Discogs entry here: Runt Stay away from those labels with prejudice.
Ha, there's a phone number there. Maybe I'll just call and ask them if they'd like to comment on this thread.
The Idiot was sourced from the cd which is also "not bad". I would suggest a used earlier pressing (if not an OP) or the recent Universal reissue which is (arguably) nearly as good as the OP and under $20. All sound better than the cd/4MWB pressing IMHO. I like it when the SHF reaches consensus and gives the kiss of death to shyster reissue labels like 4MWB and Plain. I like it even better when there are multiple threads over the years like public health warnings reaching this exact same conclusion in case someone doesn't have the good luck to find this thread. We are doing the work of angels. I have two albums from 4MWB which sound good (one of course, has a no-fill issue). I won't name them because I don't want to generate sales for these grifters. I'm genuinely dumbfounded why 4MWB used analog tapes/high rez. files in these two instances vs. the hundred other releases where they utilized a freeware cd ripper. Must have been some glitch in their quality-less control chain.
