Gillian Welch Soul Journey Vinyl summer 18

Bought over the counter today and played it earlier tonight. It sounds incredible, possibly even better than The Harrow and the Harvest. My copy is perfect. Not off centre and dead flat.

 

Yes, gatefold. Dunno about the sleeve art, as all my GW albums so far have been mp3 only.

This is a nicely done album, although I have to admit that at this price point, I expect a bit more. My pressing is slightly off-center and not completely flat (strangely only on the A side, though). Kind of disappointing considering GW and DR have been making such a brouhaha about how they acquired their own record-making equipment because what is available didn't live up to their expectations.

This record sounds amazing, but the lack of QC negates much of its appeal and price. Acony needs to take a hint from Oh Boy records (John Prine's label); his recently released album, Tree of Forgiveness, comes on limited edition green vinyl in a MoFi sleeve and gatefold cover, is flat and centered and includes a download code. All that at $5 less than "Soul Journey."

 

My copy has some repeat ticks and pops on Side One, tracks 4 and 5. There is a really loud pop on track 5 which sounds like a really deep scratch but the surface is fine and I can't see anything like an embedded particle or anything like that. The record has also been wet cleaned and ultrasonically cleaned so I am thinking it must be a pressing issue? My Lyra Kleos does not draw undue attention to minor surface defects either. I envy people who have got 'perfect' copies. My experience of QRP to date is that the records they produce are pretty good but there is always a spot on their pressings where there is a noise issue, viz. clicks and pops, in my case. I will probably have to change my copy because this will probably be sold out fairly quickly.

 

Gillian and Dave never said they have their own record pressing equipment. This is pressed at QRP and certainly deserves to be perfect. I'm hoping mine is close, otherwise it will get exchanged. That's the primary reason I went the Amazon route, which I failed to do with Harrow.
As to John's album. To the best of my knowledge it is not an all analog release, which is why I went with the CD. Perhaps that was a mistake. The limited edition vinyl sounds like a nice deal.

 

Correction. There are embedded particles on the two tracks I mentioned. I had to use a strong light to even see them. I did okay avoiding having to wear reading glasses until age 55, but I didn't see these particles with my regular eye glasses and had to use a stronger pair. Well, if it's just embedded debris I can see how people have really nice clean copies. I haven't been able to remove the stuff with a tooth pick so far and I wonder if it will even be possible? Shame, because this one sounds really good and the presentation is first class. Makes me wonder if my other problematic QRP discs have similar issues?

 

Disappointing. I have a skip on Miss Ohio AND Lowlands. Some fairly loud pops on side A and I would say noticeable surface noise throughout. Yes I Spin Cleaned before playing. Sorting an exchange. Otherwise the music sounds phenomenal.

 

My copy of "Harrow" is quite a good player, but I'm not surprised there are pressing problems. QRP is the most problematic of the "quality" pressing plants. They CAN turn out good pressings, but I've had more noisy, warped vinyl from them than from any other reissue labels I've bought from. They seemed to have dealt with those issues, but maybe the demands of churning out product has returned these problems to the fore.

 

The mastering on Soul Journey is just fantastic. One of the best sounding albums I have. I think it may be a bit better even then Harrow.

Sadly I will have to ask Amazon for a replacement, because of pressing issues. I could have accepted the oversize spindle hole and the few lite clicks, but each side has a set of 3 loud ticks plus a separate loud tick and side 2 has two very sort bits of non-fill. Sound this good deserves better.
I had to buy a second copy of Harrow because I hemmed and hawed too long to return the album to Acony. Not going to do that this time. I just don't know if I should wait a short bit to get a replacement. Has anyone gotten a great copy from Amazon?

 

I have 2 copies with groove grit. The first copy was trashed by UPS so Acony kindly sent a 2nd copy via USPS which was undamaged. Both records had seemingly permanent grit on tracks 1 and 2 on side 2.

I decided to experiment on record 1 since it was still playable (most of the damage was to the cover and Acony let me keep it because I sent photos). I cleaned it first with Audio Intelligent one step formula then followed with ultrasonic cleaning and a vacuum. This achieved very little improvement in the multiple loud pops. Then I thought of using alcohol as a grit solvent. I soaked a cloth with isopropyl alcohol and wiped the visible bits of grit. I could actually see them dissolve. I kept at it for a few minutes until I couldn't see or feel the particles. After a rinse and vacuum I played the record again. There were only 3 audible pops which were much quieter than before.

I repeated the alcohol cleaning for a longer period of time using a goat hair brush to scrub it. The 3 pops were still there but even quieter. It isn't so annoying that I want to return the record and I think if I keep cleaning I might eventually remove the pops. The crud doesn't dissolve quickly.

 

I had the same exact problem. Acony already sent me a replacement.

 

Maybe Acony should look into having RTI or Optimal press for them.

 

I picked a copy on Friday from Amoeba. No issues with my pressing. The difference between the CD and the vinyl for this release is more noticeable than the difference in Harrow and the Harvest as in the CD mastering for Harrow was really good even though the vinyl had a little extra magic.

There may be lots of things wrong in the world but hearing Gillian Welch on vinyl isn’t one of them.

Having grown up and went to school in Santa Cruz I had to crank Wrecking Ball a few times.

 

I tend to avoid QRP because of pressing issues, but I just have to get a vinyl copy of Soul Journey, which is my most played GW album. My copy, which I received from Amazon, has the following issues:

1. Slightly warped -- good enough for QRP standards, but I just had to use the Vinyl Flat to fix it. If I did not have a way to fix this, I would just keep the copy anyways.
2. Some light pops and ticks -- again, nothing major considering we are dealing with vinyl.
3. Oversized spindle hole -- need to be careful and center the LP before playing. Even if I don't, I am not sensitive to pitch variations, so still good enough for me.

In summary, the pressing quality is so-so. I have gotten Ryan Adams albums for $15 from Amazon that are so much better pressed. GW should really look into a different pressing plant, perhaps go with RTI. If she does, I will happily re-buy this and the Harrow/Harvest. I think the CD is really good already, and I have listened to mine for 15 years now and have no complaints. However, I will keep buying the vinyl releases just because I love her music.

Still, I spun my copy about 4x over the weekend .

EDIT: Forgot to mention, and this is not a pressing issue, I think the lead in groove is pretty narrow. I get that they want to use more of the outer diameter, but some of us have old eyes and find it difficult to hit the lead-in if it is too narrow.

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread, so if the mods feel they need to delete this response, please go right ahead.

I don't know if John Prine's "Tree of Forgiveness" album was specifically mastered for vinyl or if it's just a vinyl copy of the digital mix. I admit I probably couldn't tell the difference anyway. The vinyl copy sounds amazing. Rich and detailed. I have never figured out where one can look up the information about whether an album was specifically mastered for vinyl or not. I just buy the vinyl by default because of the look and feel. If anyone has tips on where to find this information, I'd love to know.

 

So far it seems I'm the only one to report skipping.

 

Listened again twice on Sunday. Such a beautiful record. No pressing issues here. Nice heavy cover stock and even the interior where the records lives is turquoise like the cover

 

That’s good! At least one other person has had the same problem. He posted on Discogs. I actually found the large piece of ‘debris’ that was causing the very severe pop on my disc and I removed it ...eventually. I tackled another smaller piece of debris, less successfully at this point, and the noise is just a light tick now. I will probably have a look at it again when I am in the humour. The trouble is that these pieces of paper (white in colour) are so tiny that they hard to see. I had to feel them with my finger to locate them. The person who posted on Discogs blames the inner sleeve material which is prone to this, according to what he says. Gillian did a superb job all around with this and it is a shame that a QRP inner sleeve wasn’t included. That might have avoided this?

 

The replacement Acony sent me was in a QRP inner

 

Just for points of comparison, I picked up the Rhino reissue of Los Lobos' "How Will the Wolf Survive?", and it's very well-pressed, quiet, flat and centered (and I do mean "quiet" - there isn't a stray tic, pop, or click on the entire LP). It also came in a perfectly adequate poly-lined sleeve - all for around $19. I think it's a mistake for artists not to at least use a simple lined sleeve - it's a chintzy touch otherwise, and could very well lead to scuffs and debris before the record even lands on the turntable. I have a copy of "Soul Journey" winging its way here, and will post impressions of its quality. I don't doubt it will sound very good, but am hesitant about its actual playability. Has anyone ever heard Samantha Crain's "Under Branch & Thorn & Tree"? That's another good-sounding analog recording that was pressed at QRP, and I exchanged it 3 times before getting a copy that only had mild surface noise.

 

How did we ever survive with paper sleeves throughout the 60s and 70s during vinyl's hey day (except for 60s Columbia for a short while and early 80s Warner Brothers).

Sure poly lined sleeves are nice, but my 30-40 year old albums with paper sleeves are all just fine.

Seems a silly thing to complain about but just my personal opinion.

 

Nice one!

 

Not at all. In vinyl's heyday, the quality of pressing and production was often wretched. You don't really think that the quality of the average pressing of, say, "Exile of Main Street" couldn't have been improved by using a decent-quality lined sleeve? I don't think it's silly, it seems to me a common-sense strategy.

 

Well it only becomes a 'complaint' when you get a pressing that has this 'specks' issue? You have been lucky to get a good copy. I paid €30 for my copy and for that I would expect such an issue not to arise. I agree with you about the paper sleeves used throughout the vinyl era. According to one person (discogs) the issue with respect to the embedded specks is related to the type of paper they used for the printed inner sleeve. That may or may not be correct, who knows? Some of the pops on my disc were on a par, sound wise, with the deepest scratch you are every likely to hear on a badly cared for record. If a better quality sleeve would avert this, then why not include one? They did a really outstanding job in all other aspects of this release, otherwise.

 

It’s always too bad when there are pressing issues. But the paper sleeve is only to blame because it seems records were placed inside the sleeves too early for some reason.

6000 plus albums in my collection and paper sleeves on their only have never been an issue for me.

 

Yes but the inner sleeve were rarely the reason for pressing issues.