Mobile Fidelity Vinyl One Step of SANTANA, BILL EVANS TRIO, etc.*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Drew769, Dec 1, 2015.

  1. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Legally, unless something is custom ordered, a retailer in the US cannot charge until the item is shipped.
     
    richbdd01 likes this.
  2. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    How about should not ? I had to pay The Graceland Store up front ( they advise you of this all over their site ), and there's this thread : Online retailers that charge your card when you place a pre-order.
     
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  3. Guss2

    Guss2 Senior Member

    Location:
    South Florida
    Try telling that to SSD. They charge almost immediately and don't ship for weeks. I gave them another chance recently when a Zappa album went on sale real cheap. Ordered January 22th, charged the 24th, received February 20th; never again!
     
  4. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    You could report them. They're not supposed to charge for stock they don't have. The exception, again, is a custom order (such as something that is being made especially for you).
     
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  5. Mr. Explorer

    Mr. Explorer Trumpet Man/Dapper Dan

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    Can someone with a modest vinyl system let me know their impressions of these One Step reissues? Bridge Over Troubled Water is the first title that’s interested me so far, but I definitely don’t have an expensive rig (I’m upgrading my cart soon, but it’ll still be firmly in the lower mid range).

    I know I’m gonna call in soon pre-order Blood on the Tracks because who knows how far away that is gonna be released and I’ll probably have the $100 to spare at that point. I dont know if I can afford the S&G as soon as it’s coming, but I’d hate to have missed it if the Dylan turns out to be a revelation.
     
    Joti Cover likes this.
  6. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Chances are your Bose 301s are not going to take advantage of most of the advantages of the One-Step pressings. Those, in fact, are the weakest link in your posted system. You could get a budget hifi system out of the rest of your system, but the Bose are not close to being neutral or revealing.

    If you don't have any interest in upgrading at least the speakers, I don't think you'll get your money's worth.

    With the rest of your current equipment, you'll only be able to figuratively scratch the surface of the One-Step. If you're thinking of an upgrade someday, you'll at least have a copy for when you do.

    But I wouldn't waste your money if you're just going to stand pat.
     
    Bigbudukks likes this.
  7. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I would not spend $100 that you do not have on this album. That said, I think that you would get some enjoyment out of it listening on your headphones. Even if you later need the money, you would probably be able to sell it for $75 at the worst, so you’ll end up having paid $25 to enjoy it for a few months. Selling is a hassle though.
     
  8. Mr. Explorer

    Mr. Explorer Trumpet Man/Dapper Dan

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    Thanks for the advice! I’ve never talked/read much about my speakers on here, so i think I’ll PM you with some follow up questions.

    For the general thread audience though, I will say that I plan on having a reference grade system someday, but I’m only 24 and don’t have a record deal yet, so that’s a bit in the future ;)

    (I also know that these records alone someday could cost more than a nice stereo component!)
     
  9. Mr. Explorer

    Mr. Explorer Trumpet Man/Dapper Dan

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    Sound advice :laugh:

    I do have the cash, but it would be theoretically out to better use in my tiny savings account, haha

    Here’s a follow up question: have any of these sold out before the street date? If the street date is in June like someone suggested on this page, that gives me a few more months to hmm and haw

    Edit: Thanks for the replies, I’ve been following this thread since day one, as the process really intrigues me, but this is the first time I’ve cared about the album being released (Santana doesn’t have much appeal and I don’t even know who Donald Fagen is!)
     
  10. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    The demand for the Santana exceeded supply and orders had to be cancelled. I think that their estimates for the others have resulted in the titles not selling out for a few months. This one may be popular, although it had been done so many times that most audiophiles already have one or more versions that they are happy with. Hard to say. You can always cancel a preorder until it ships, no?
     
    Mr. Explorer likes this.
  11. Paully

    Paully De gustibus non est disputandum

    Location:
    Tennessee
    While I concur with the other assessments, the one thing to keep in mind is do you ever plan on getting higher end stuff? I'm not knocking what you do have, and neither was anyone else, just straightforward answers to a straightforward question. My thought was if you do plan on upgrading and this album means something to you it might be nice to have since so far history indicates that buying it in the futre could be problematic. Just a thought.
     
    Mr. Explorer likes this.
  12. Guitarded

    Guitarded Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montana
    Buy two copies. Leave one sealed.

    You'll be fine.
     
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  13. Bobsblkwax

    Bobsblkwax Forum Resident

    Location:
    NorCal
    You can't do that here. As I recall, the penalty was something akin to getting your _____ whacked off.
     
    AnalogJ likes this.
  14. Mr. Explorer

    Mr. Explorer Trumpet Man/Dapper Dan

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    Thanks Paully, I absolutely DO intend to go high end in the future, like I mentioned in a separate reply. How far in the future time will tell. For now my theoretical upgrade chain will go New Cart—>new modern integrated amp—>—>speakers—>separate phono stage? And somewhere along the line a DAC/headphone amp for my laptop (All of this would be mid range for now, then more expensive as I get older and/or richer. I’m running 90% pre-owned gear as is).
     
    Paully likes this.
  15. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    I've pre-ordered one of the new UHQRs (Hendrix?) and one of the forthcoming one steps (Bill Evans?), just out of curiosity. I've had many "audiophile" records in the past, from the original "Audiophile" record label (Ewing Dunbar Nunn) to the various direct to disc, old MoFi, M&K, Sheffield, Crystal Clear, etc., ad nauseam. Most of them sit on a shelf, rarely played. I did sell off an M&K Flamenco Direct to Disc Fever, because it was worth stupid money (and is worth even more now), just to fund other records that I would actually listen to. The direct to disc records typically sound fabulous, but the music is, for the most part, unadventurous.

    I'm at the point where I appreciate the incremental differences in pressings, but I usually only spend money on rare stuff. That's where I'd love to see purist reissues (e.g. some of the Vertigo Swirls), but it's pretty unlikely, given the narrow market for most of the catalog (with the exception, say, of the first four Sabbath albums). That would have value to me, given the price today of original pressings, e.g. Cressida Asylum, which is typically around a grand for a mint- copy. For that, even a $150 US would be a bargain as a high quality analog reissue.

    I do buy a lot of reissues of uber rare records, because I can't stomach the idea of paying 4 figures for a record. Most aren't from the MoFi's, Analogue Productions, ORG or other high end reissue/remaster houses of the world simply b/c they don't reissue the more offbeat stuff. (Speakers Corner did do a killer remaster of Herbie Hancock's Crossings, which is well worth the money) and Pure Pleasure is doing a bunch of spiritual jazz stuff, including material from the old Strata-East catalog.

    The concept of buying these as an investment- yeah, maybe. I think I mentioned I was at a record show in the last year or two and the guy had a table filled with old MoFi UHQRs and other audiophile stuff- I made a comment about "another audiophile kicking the bucket." The dealer just smiled.
    Go for it if the records themselves are of interest.
     
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  16. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Honestly, your first upgrade should be your speakers. No kidding. The next might be the amplifier, but the BOSE throw the sound SO out of whack. BOSE speakers are known for their poor EQing, poor balance. At least you can get balance out of the other equipment. Depending on what you can spend, you can get a good, fairly neutral for the price of those what those BOSE cost new. I used to have a pair of 301s in the late '70s when all I knew from the salesman was BOSE.

    Speaker technology and design has gotten to the point where you can get much better speakers now then you could for the same price a couple of decades go. And then a pair of used speakers can be an even greater bargain.
     
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  17. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    There was a point in the '80s when every company seems to have gotten into the audiophile reissue game. And most didn't know what they were doing, even the originator, MoFi. They cared more about counting beans than putting out the best product.

    Nowadays, there still have been some serious misses, but I'd say, overall, there has been much greater consistency.

    The best example of a reissue where I was absolutely floored, prior to the Abraxas One-Step, was the series of Nat King Cole 45rpm reissues that Steve Hoffman did for Analogue Productions. He cut them live from the 3-track original recording session tapes (not the stereo EQ'd master tapes!), mixing them down to 2-tracks as the lacquers were being cut. Steve has documented the simultaneously arduous and exciting process in these pages.

    If you haven't heard them yet, you ought to get your hands on one, starting with Love Is The Thing.
     
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  18. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    I do have a pressing somewhere of the Hoffman Gray 45 cut of Way Out West- it may be a test pressing- and it kills.
     
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  19. mick_sh

    mick_sh Hackney diamond

    Location:
    Madrid, Spain
    Some years ago I used to read the UK What Hi-Fi magazine online forums. One of the reviewers (I can't recall her name) was attending a hi-fi show and it seems that a manufacturer was demoing their products with Steve's Love Is The Thing 45rpm. She wrote that she just couldn't believe how good that vinyl sounded, and in her opinion was the best vinyl she had ever heard.
     
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  20. musictoad

    musictoad Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City, UT
    100% agree. Speakers first then everything else.
     
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  21. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Yes, but not in the same league as the Nat King Cole. Keep in mind, they used the stereo master tapes for WOW, which were a generation away from the original recording session tapes. Why I cited the Nat King Cole series as they went all the way back to the session tapes and mixed LIVE to the lacquers. Ordinarily, there would first be a mixdown to an EQ'd tape and then to the lacquers. SH was mixing from the original session tapes direct to the lacquers with no additional tape generation in-between. This is a more significant savings of a generation in terms of sonic immediacy than skipping of creating the Father stamper.
     
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  22. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    Alright, I check it out. I guess the point of my original post was, despite the fact that i go to some lengths for SQ, including the source material, I gotta dig the music for me to spend money.
    This the one you're referring to? : Nat "King" Cole* With The Orchestra Of Gordon Jenkins* - Love Is The Thing
     
  23. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
  24. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Yup to both your and Tullman's posts. And here, too, and MD will discount the title.

    www.musicdirect.com/vinyl/nat-king-cole-love-is-the-thing-180g-45rpm-vinyl-2lp
     
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  25. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Looking at your system more closely, the one egregiously bad component are the speakers. For a budget system, the turntable and receiver are very decent. I wouldn't worry about those. The cartridge can be upgraded after the speakers, but it isn't terrible.

    I mention the Magnepan MGi, an incredible bargain at $650 shipped with a 60 day money back directly from Magnepan.
     
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