Well, recordings with and without chings are available for all who either like them or not. So we all have an option! I don't mind it with or without the chings. Ching - ching!!
This was what makes any Sinatra thread great on these forums- people still help each other with only the mildest rebuke ! Other threads would be much less helpful if someone didn't take the time to read the thread first! It's great on here. Dave Peace and love✌
If the mono version sounds good why don't they release it on CD or hi res audio. Also if the 50th anniversary LP is just the digital remaster cut to vinyl why get it over the CD. I have not heard it. Is it a pure analog transfer or just a digital file cut to LP?
They just haven't done that for ANY Reprise albums. In this particular case, they would probably have to remix a mono version from the studio 4-tracks. See Steve Hoffman's post in another thread: Sinatra-Jobim: 1998 German CD Versus "the Suitcase" Tracks
I was hesitant to purchase the 50th anniversary edition but was curious by the discussion, so I bought the CD and the lp. I was really hesitant to buy the lp because I thought it would be the digital master dumped onto an LP. To my ears, the LP sounds very natural like its all analog and different from the cd. The CD opens up so I hear more detail in the music supporting Sinatra. I have the 1998 ETOC edition and I think I slightly prefer it only because Sinatra's voice is front and center and "Dindi" sounds so much more intimate, which is one of all my favorite songs on the album. Don't know what the fuss is about but the LP sounded very natural to me and not like a digitized copy.
I picked up a sealed, vintage Reprise Lp of this title. It's not an early pressing. The inner sleeve is plastic (not paper) and the plastic sleeve has a 1981 copyright. So the pressing is from 1981 or later. It doesn't appear to have the vocal clams and chings so it must be the original mix. Deadwax: Side A: FS-1-1021 - JW2 #4 Side B: FS-1-1021 - JW2 #1 I vacuum cleaned it and am doing a needle drop. While the vinyl is not super quiet, the mastering sounds decent. In setting levels to record the LP, I was surprised by the dynamic range -- this 80s pressing is not overly compressed. The overall presentation is lush and warm. Question for the experts. How does this 80s pressing stack up against other respected pressings? I'm not super familiar with this title. I compared the LP on headphones to the iTunes samples of the modern remixes and this 80s pressing blows them away. Those new mixes sound "hard" with boomy over EQ'd bass. Vocals and instruments mesh with this original mix. In some of the remixes I've heard, the voice sits on top of the instruments and sounds goofy.
Lacquers likely cut at Warners for manufacturing by Capitol, under contract, or, depending on exact vintage, manufactured at Specialty after Capitol closed its plants. Check the runout scribe. Does it mention JW, WW, or LW? Hand-written or machine-stamped? On the label, if the inner ring (around the spindle) is roughly the size of a quarter, it was pressed by Capitol. Many of these are very, very nice.....but not all.
Those appear to be: Lacquers cut at Warner for manufacture at Capitol's Jacksonville plant. LW would be for Los Angeles; WW would be Winchester. See: Sinatra / Reprise Sound Quality and General Discussion: "Sinatra and Swingin' Brass" - 1962* (and several posts that follow that one).
Thanks. I did a 32bit 96kHz needle drop from my 1961 Empire turntable sporting a Denon 103R cartridge. The pressing sounds pleasant and completely smokes the sound samples of the 2010 and 2017 remixes I comparison auditioned on iTunes using headphones for careful analysis. However, I needed to import the needledrop into ClickRepair and use the minimum click reduction setting of "1" to eliminate the light ticks in this pressing. This particular 80s pressing clearly used recycled regrind in it's pellet formulation. Capitol must have been trying to cut costs. I measured the pressing ring and it's 1.5" which indicates a Jacksonville, IL pressing location. Side 1 has bass in the right channel suggesting no LFB. In contrast, Side 2 mostly has bass in the center channel. If the bass as originally mixed was supposed to be panned to the side on all tracks, then Side 2 appears to have low frequency blend (LFB).
Keep in mind that these were budget reissues, but that said, I've got other titles in the series, and they are clean pressings, so I'm mildly surprised to hear that. I wonder if maybe you got a one-off dud. That correlates pretty-well with the idea that the presence of LFB or not just depends on which Warners staffer cut the lacquer on any given day: Whether you get a cut with bass centered or bass where it belongs is basically a crap shoot.
It sounds pretty good to me, but how does this budget reissue compare to the original stereo first pressing? And how do the 2004 Rhino and Japanese pressings rank?
I need to leave that to others, as I just have not played the vinyl enough to have any meaningful input, and don't want to talk our of my hat. Maybe @MMM knows?
I'm digging the original mix on this 80s pressing. I wish there was a high resolution digital version available of the original mix, but my needledrop will suffice until that happens (if ever).
I haven't compared them in ages, but on this album the 80's era LP I have was better sounding overall than my original stereo copy.
Just a quick question regarding the "Girl from Ipanema" session recording; is the version of third completed take (take 3 or take 4) the same mix and edit as used for track 1 on the CD? Thank you.
The last session take on the bonus track is the same take as track 1. Not sure if all the edits are there; no time just now to A/B them on a computer.