I'll throw in another vote of hate for the German pressing of Animals, paid $12 for it and was very disappointed. My original CD sounds much better.
Theres a sealed u.s. first issue on the bay for $189.00 - it would be interesting to see if an unopened copy was super quiet or inherently noisy.....too $$'y for me !!
Haha, since my last post, ive gone through 4 more u.s. copies of animals on vinyl and they are all to noisy...some looked gorgeous, but all had some amount of sustained pops and clicks...this was even after a 30 minute run through my ultrasonic V-8 rcm and finished up on my VPI 16.5 RCM. What i wouls give for copy that has only sporadic crackle.....my first u.k. 2u/2u and 3u/4u copies have some pops and tics but im not ready to spend 100+ for a true nm copy that probably doesnt even exist or is available to commoners like myself. I just want a clean nm playing copy of a u.s. or canadian pressing. Is that too much to ask? I think not. So, i decided to up the ante on how much I will pay and have two copies on the way. One is a "for governmental sale only" where the seller has better feedback than God and the other from another highly rated seller. You cant tell Sh_t from pictures of vjnyl on line and i dont know why people say" pictures tell all"...lol...they never do...but the jacket looks like it was just removed from the shrink wrap with not an iota of wear and the seller says the vinyl is equally as impressive so heres hoping. Each copy was between $30-36 dollars and I can return no questions asked. .....these lp's will be my 10th and 11th attemt if my memory serves me correct....im starting to believe that the "animals" pressings were all victim to that really nice, but sandpaper like inner sleeve that contains all the lyrics. Most of the copies i have received have the damage in the same general passages (quiter). I have many other albums with such quiet passages but no tics or pops....what a shame too, for such a great lp to be so hard to find in quiet condition....i have considered just trying to find the best digital copy of this album and be done with it but I love a challenge and may have to go through 30 copies before i find the right one. The ironic part is that in all the copies i have bought so far, all but one i was able to resell for more after i cleaned it and corrected the grading.....people like honeaty and will pay more not to be negatively surprised ......the saga goes on........
I got a nice US promo copy of "Animals" at The Record Exchange in Salem, MA. It was a little pricy ($45.00), but it plays through with only two or three random, soft pops. Just to let you know that there are good versions out there, but they must be hard to find. With your experiences, I must have got lucky with my copy.
Just an advice from someone who's got the same scenario through already Buy a nm/nm Japanese copy from a Japanese Seller. Japanese copies of the title sounds superb and are pressed on dead quiet vinyl. I had 3 copies in my possession once and all three didn't have a single pop or tick on it.
Thats funny....one of my copies coming is from a seller in salem ma...he has a pretty good rep...i only live about 45 mins from there....is it an actual brick and mortar store? The exchange that is?
Nice...i wonder if its affiliated with the enay store seller......im always looking for record stores that sell more than garbage. ..not a whole lot of them here in n.h.....thanks for the info...i appreciate it. .. Scott
Have you been to Thrifty's lately? Still mostly garbage, but they have expanded their vinyl area by 3x
I am wondering if anyone has a "for governmental use" copy of animals? I have 10 copies of animals 8 are u.s. early and one bei g a1997 re-issue....this album has a few scuff marks but plats far superior to my other u.s. copies in similar visually graded condition.. From what ive gathered these were sold on military bases....would these be inherently better pressings than the regular u.s. pressings? It ia my best player by far.
Just bought the latest reissue. It sounds really nice, but I can only compare it to a redbook cd I've had for quite a while. This recording is not the sonic marvel that dsotm is, but I think they did a good job with it.
Newbury comics chain here in new Hampshire has 25% off vinyl today and tomorrow....I have all the other reissues up to wywh which I got for great prices on eBay....but I think im grabbing animals tomorrow.....I bought about 12 copies of animals over the last 2 years and never got a dead quiet copy....hopefully this new one is quiet....I cant wait !!!!
My new purchase was flat and quiet. No extras though. Record was in a cardboard sleeve...no fancy poly or rice paper.
off topic : I've decided to replace all of my inner sleeves. Should I go poly or rice? Back on : Hard to believe that a reissue campaign as important as the Floyd's is having corners cut on packaging - did the cardboard sleeve have lyrics/credits ala the original?
Saw a new copy of Animals at Barnes and Noble and the big sticker on the shrink rap was for "The Final Cut"...never saw a mistake like that before. I have a 1977 US original in near pristine condition. A little staticky here and there as others have posted and it does not engulf you like DSOTM does but it still sounds pretty good. The Mastered for iTunes version I have sounds incredible to me.
