On the last point, while I didn't ask, I would think it's not about what's available, but what they are licensed to use. You can't grab the 96/24 on HD-Tracks if you aren't licensed to use it. I would guess the "drying up" that Tim referred to is the fact that they are licensing the hi-res stuff to others. As for the Urban Outfitters argument, I suppose you could be right. But many of titles we are discussing are pretty far out of the mainstream. I have a hard time seeing a 20 year old buy jeans and a Big Star album.
MOV also released Agharta in 2016. I have that version, and concur that it is good enough but I'd still like to pick up an original to compare.
I'm basing this on memory since it was a while ago. 4 Beards- it was a Dusty in Memphis -- I don't remember anything bad about the surfaces or the pressing, per se, but the sound was in a shoebox. Simply Vinyl- I think they switched around sources- didn't they do Blonde on Blonde first from analog then switched to a digital file as a source? Akarma- very nice packaging and whoever was choosing their repertoire had good taste for obscure prog, proto-metal, etc. Sonics were canned and lifeless. I don't attribute this purely to digital at this point- I've heard some very good records on LP that were sourced from digital. Perhaps its the difference of getting a high resolution flat transfer vs a 'needle drop' from a CD, I don't know. Some of the records on that label are crazy money as original pressings. What to do? For some of the obscuro-hard-proto-prog-metal, Repertoire is passable (but still gets put to shame in my estimation in comparison to an original pressing). For the uber records, if I haven't anted up for an original (something I'm less inclined to do given today's prices), I try to find an early CD, perhaps one that was sourced from tape. It's nice to be able to listen to some of these great early records without paying 4 figures for an original copy.
For Simply Vinyl, it should be noted that there have been counterfeit pressings released under the Simply Vinyl name. I remember seeing a bunch of these counterfeits in record stores around 2009-2010. These are mostly junk pressings that don't live up to the official Simply Vinyl releases from the late 90s and early 00s. My guess is that the counterfeits were produced from CDs.
Not really accurate. The OP asked for opinions about 4MWB pressing quality. Most posts said it varied between terrible and passable. Where they get their source material was a question raised later. Someone contacted the company and received an answer.
...or, and I think more likely, it costs more to get the high-rez. license, which goes against the 4MWB business model of going cheap in all facets of their releases. BUT, as some other posters have mentioned, and if I'm to take them at their word, Intervention (excellent label) had looked into licensing some titles only to find out 4MWB had already done so, but if 4MWB only licenses the cd quality files wouldn't the high-rez./analog license be available to someone else? Or, and this is an even more depressing reality, is the license a broad one where 4MWB has access to various sources, but instead opts for the cd quality one 95% of the time which also has the collateral damage of tying up all rights to the album as well? Seems to be a bit of both.
There was a webpage for Scorpio linked somewhere in the forum a long time ago where they explicitly stated that the majority of their reissues are sourced from 16 bit digital, either CD or DAT tape.
Hip, Brooklyn-based makers of expensive, "artisanal" chocolate, who allegedly didn't actually make some or all of their own chocolate for a period of years: Mast Brothers - Wikipedia
Regardless of what 4MWB/Plain source their audio from, the vast majority of their releases sound like absolute $hit and and are pressed on noisy vinyl. That's my experience with the roughly dozen albums of theirs that I previously owned. There have apparently been some exceptions, but overall, they should be avoided if one is looking for good sound. That probably describes roughly 100% of the people looking at this board, no?
IIRC (the original) Simply Vinyl, who put out high quality reissues and were based in the UK ran into financial difficulties, this was before the "vinyl revival", after this counterfeit pressing which originated in the US under the Simply Vinyl name started appearing on the market.
Runt is a small record label group founded in 1996 and since September of 2007 is part of City Hall Records. City Hall Records manufactures, distributes and markets releases on their in-house imprints such as 4 Men With Beards, DBK Works, Plain Recordings, and Water. Runt:About Interesting, in some cases they have vinyl only US production deals with other labels: Runt:Labels
Thank you for providing additional information. Time to add the following sublabels to be very wary of: Arhoolie Records Fire Records Hi Horse Records Premium Cool Smithsonian Folkways Sutro Park
That's a very broad brush. I have several Fire releases by Giant Sand and Rainer Ptacek and there's absolutely nothing wrong with them.
I have a couple,Scott 4 which is pretty good,nice clean pressing great sleeve and dusty in Memphis, Again nice clean pressing good sleeve, but pretty lifeless and boxy sounding.
Most of what I have from them are lousy needledrops. I recommend avoiding them or at least asking about specific titles before buying.
There's no real Hi Horse Records. Anything sold on Amazon as Hi Horse is an old stock cutout--often a rewrap, often with a sticker applied to hide the cutout mark. Sheisters.
I had their violent femmes hallowed ground album, No complaints. Doesn’t sound as good as the slash version, but quiet and no pops.
