Yes. Here is Michael Fremer's review of the set. Note the copy that heads the review. Three Track Masters Mixed Live to Lacquer!
This isn’t the right thread, but it looks like there are several Cole albums mastered by Hoffman and Grey on both 45rpm and SACD. I’m curious as to whether the tapes were transferred to DSD for the SACDs live from the session masters like you guys say they did with the vinyl?
They did the SACDS and 45 sets simultaneously. The SACDs were mixed traditionally down from the session masters. The SACDs had bonus material such as the original mono mix of Love Is The Thing, in the case of that LP. I own a NM original of the mono LP. During the recording sessions, separate microphones were set up for the stereo albums and the mono ones. The balance of the orchestra is different in the mono. For example, at the very beginning of "When I Fall In Love", there is a cello line leading up to the first verse. On the mono, the cello is big and practically in your face whereas with the stereo, it's much deeper and more integrated with the orchestra. Anyway, we're off-topic. But for those of you who would like a sonic and musical treat, the AP NKC series is astonishing.
Good move. When I was 18 I gave almost all my reocrds away to my best friend and started buying new records. I vowed to never play them on substandard equipment and almost completely stuck to that. here I am 40 years later with only my fourth stereo (leagues above the first modest, but decent one I bought at 20) and I still have a bunch of old pressings that sound great because I bought them slowly but surely, waiting for the day when I would have equipment that would let them shine. It was one of the most intelligent moves I've ever made. So what if you buy Simon & Garfunkel and can't play it yet? When you finally can open it and play it you will probably spend the rest of your life mentally patting yourself on the back for having made such a prescient decision.
I have the Strata East reissues from PP that are now available in the US and am very happy with them. I too was pleasantly surprised that an "audiophile" company would tackle such material.
Pure Pleasure does tackle some cool stuff. I have their reissue of Roland Kirk's very first album, and it's very good. But the quality of their source material can be inconsistent, so their releases can be inconsistent in quality.
No, actually Way Out West and many other Contemporary titles were recorded straight to stereo. That was very common in those days. So the 2-track session tape is the master.
That may be the case, but they would have likely created a further tape from which to lay down to lacquers. They're not, for a regular release, just keep running the original session tapes direct to lacquer, right? To mirror the process that SH/KG did for the Nat King Cole 45s, they would have had to cut lacquers directly from those session recording tapes, which means no doctoring at all post-recording. Correct me if I'm wrong here.
Not necessarily. I'll give you another example. When Rudy Van Gelder recorded straight to mono and/or stereo, he never cut from copies. He used the actual session tapes in mastering.
Poly Sleeves for LP Box Sets? That was a year ago, looks like the current listing is : 10pc XL Box Set Outer Sleeves ~ 12" LP Vinyl Records CD Laserdisc 4mil Plastic | eBay .
78 left at the mofi website for Bridge. Almost gone people. Jump now. "Going, going, going, Bueller, Bueller, Bueller." It's ok though if you don't jump now. I may buy an extra one to sell you at triple the price in a few months. So, come to think of it, stay away, don't buy one! Yet!
Isn't the original master tape of Bridge Over Troubled Water supposed to be in a poor state? How will this impact upon the quality of this One Step release?
I have read that too, but I don't know if it's merely a rumor or not. Could they go back to the multi-track tapes and create a new master tape?
That would be a re-mix. MFSL does mastering, not mixing. Someone else - the record company and/or S&G mgmt - would make the call on a remix. But MFSL will use masters from a re-mix (see Dylan, Lennon, Miles Davis, probably others).
Put in an order for 100 at the check out page. Don't worry, you won't have to pay. It will then default to the number they have left in stock after you click "update". That's the mofi.com website
I think someone touched on this elsewhere, but can't find it. What are you guys using (if anything) as outer bags for the boxes? I'm putting in a Bags Unlimited order and thought I'd grab something for my One Steps.