Finally! Iron Maiden BLACK VINYL reissues coming in September... (Part 2)

They did a great job on the artwork, looks awesome. Can't say the same thing about SSOASS. They scanned that one.

 

The "defect" will be the same on all EU pressings of SIT. The only thing that differs is the perception of that defect. I am happy for you if this doesn't destract from the listening experience. For me, it is about the strongest tape warble I have ever heard on any release. When I first heard it, I thought my turntable had a problem.

I can ignore the defect in "Heaven Can Wait" (noticeable dropout), and I find the slight issue in "Stranger in a Strange Land" really minor, but the speed issue during "Loneliness..." is quite severe in my opinion. I ordered a US copy of SIT.

 

The "defect" will be the same on all EU pressings of SIT. The only thing that differs is the perception of that defect. I am happy for you if this doesn't destract from the listening experience. For me, it is about the strongest tape warble I have ever heard on any release. When I first heard it, I thought my turntable had a problem.

I can ignore the defect in "Heaven Can Wait" (noticeable dropout), and I find the slight issue in "Stranger in a Strange Land" really minor, but the speed issue during "Loneliness..." is quite severe in my opinion. I ordered a US copy of SIT.

 

You mean SIT?

I'm fairly sure that one is scanned as well. It's definitely much more blurry than the original. It also suffers much more from the reduced quality than SSOASS due to the missing detail in my opinion.

 

Thanks for posting! I got the US Powerslave, Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son at the discounted price that day. Packaging was fine, not stellar, but the LPs arrived in perfect shape and actually didn't take long to get here by media mail. I haven't listened to the US Powerslave yet, but the sound of the other two is phenomenal. I've never had a clean vinyl copy of either of them, so it's like I'm really hearing them for the first time. Seventh Son was slightly warpy and had a couple of dimples, and Somewhere in Time was a little off center, but both play fine and sound incredible.

 

Played the new EU SSOASS a couple of albums ago, playing the new POM at the moment and it's sounding better now than the first time. SSOASS sounded great though! The only LP version I have of SSOASS is from last years picture disk set and it blows that out of he water. I couldn't find local copy of SIT so I ordered a US version to compare to the EU version.

 

Please let us know if the US version also has those defects!

 

Others have reported that the US version does not have those issues, which I hope is correct. I'll report back when I receive it.

 

"Others have reported that the US version does not have those issues, which I hope is correct. I'll report back when I receive it."

Same here when I get mine.

 

What's the deal with the channel balance issues, anyone notice this? Why can't they do a proper job, tape warble on Somewhere in Time and the usual quality control issues of most modern 180G reissues with scratches, non-fill etc.

 

Had to return Powerslave and Live After Death yesterday :-(. Pressed way off centre. I can put up with practically any other pressing defect except for off-centres. Really, how difficult is it to press an lp correctly?! The manager in HMV said lp returns are a nightmare, so here we go again - lack of quality control giving vinyl a bad name. Only a matter of time before the labels realise it`s more hassle than it`s worth and the `vinyl revival` will grind to a halt. The percentage of faulty pressings to keepers these days is really getting silly. I`ve been buying records for over 30 years and only ever remember returning one faulty lp - Piece of Mind...back in 1983!!! I bought 10 lp`s last weekend. I returned 5 of them yesterday

 

Im liking the sound of this very much compared to my UK 1st press, more thump and bass impact!

 

Hi guys, I´m following this thread since the beginning. I was actually quite pleased with all the albums but now it looks like the bug has found me. I´m on my 3rd warped EU copy of SSOASS. I´m just about to send it back for the third time. All other albums came nice and flat. Anyone else got a warped copy of that album? If yours came flat where did you buy it. I checked back with amazon.de and jpc.de They both have only warped copies. Thanks for your replies.

 

My SSOASS is perfect and came from amazon UK

 

Mine also.

 

That seems a little high. I've bought probably 30-40 new sealed records this year and returned maybe 3 (also for off-center).

 

I have had quite some bad luck lately also, without 50% of new vinyl not being o.k., either due to warping, noticeable (audible) scratches from the factory and sometimes off-center pressings. Vinyl is not a perfect medium, so some very minor warping is acceptable, but when the tonearm moves up and down 2 mm or more, or when I can see the air gap between the record and the felt mat on the platter on one side, or when there are scratches from the factory which are audible (repeated clicks), then it is not acceptable in my opinion. Also, off-center pressings by more than 0.5 mm are also not o.k. (some minor off-centering can be fixed by gently reworking the center hole a bit.

I'd say it is pure luck these days.

I feel bad about having to return vinyl quite often, since it seems such a waste. I hope that Amazon and other online retailers will forward the related costs to the pressing plants/manufacturers, since they simply need to get a proper quality control in place. Sometimes you get really nice pressings, so it is definitely possible.

 

I hear ye folks. I hate returning vinyl too but wow and flutter from off-centre pressings drives me nuts! I also noticed that the spindle holes needed a little grinding as they are a very snug fit. If you think you copy may be warped this is an easy fix and I thought my Number lp was warped but it wasn`t. It just needed the swarf to be filed off and it sat more or less flush with the platter - needs a little more work I think. I use something like this to tidy up the spindle holes:


I also emailed Optimal about this just to make them aware of the Powerslave/Live After Death issues and that there may be a whole batch like that. I bought Stiff Upper Lip and Ballbreaker by AC/DC again last week - I had bought them a few months ago and returned them as they were way off-centre. I reckoned these copies were from a different batch but had exactly the same problem. I don`t know if Optimal pressed these but it seems that the presses are not being calibrated properly these days. I got through Killers and Number of The Beast last night and they are perfect. Hopefully the debut will be the same. Killers and Number sure sound a bit strange but I reckon they are cut in such a way as to be played very loud! Unfortunately my neighbours would not appreciate that particular experiment

 

Had my first optimal casualty. Side 2 of somewhere in time was all scratched up.
They refunded said they didn't have anymore in stock. I can really hear it at the beginning of Alexander the rest was unnoticeable. I guess I'll grab a US press of Somewhere in time ....

 

I understand what you mean with a too tight spindle hole and that the record then can appear to be warped. But when I refer to "warped" it means actually warped. I use a special tool to fix the center hole, and if I see some burr or similar left, I file it off even before I put it on the platter.

 

I had also a couple of copies with the same patch of scratches on side 2 (for SIT).

 

Anybody else experienced channel imbalance issues with these. Im thinking of buying Piece of Mind and Powerslave but im hesitant with all the quality control issues people are reporting plus one channel being louder than the other.

 

Yeah, I sent something back to Dischord and the replacement had the same bad off-center, only on the other side. And in another case (The Antlers - Familiars on Anti-) the replacement was better but just barely acceptable. There doesn't seem to be a lot of consideration that a whole run might be messed up. That said, given the amount of records I bought this year, I'm not super frustrated or anything. I have had to grind out a few spindle holes too!

 

Does anybody know if the US pressing of SSOASS is any good? My UK copy from Amazon UK got lost/destroyed....

 

I thought it sounded pretty good but the only thing I have to compare it too is the original CD, no other vinyl copies.