Peter Gabriel rereleases So Us and Up on 45 rpm

It's funny that you're so upset about this when your profile says "I like all formats."

 

Exactly. These arent cheap records, they still cost a reasonable amount of money. I have nothing against a digital record if done right. And done right means at the highest resolution possible, analog if possible. If not analog, then 96/24 at the very least imo...

Thats why i get frustrated...the record companies need to sometimes make more effort to put out a better product!

 

Look, every record except for Up was sourced from 24/96 files. There must have been some reason why they chose 24/44 files for Up. If all of them were at 24/44 your argument might make sense, but it's pretty clear that these aren't being rushed out or dumped on the market. The Real World team deliberately chose to use 24/44 for Up and only Up, so either that's the resolution it was originally mastered at, or there is some other reason why they felt 24/44 was the best bit depth and sample rate to use.

I would agree that there are plenty of record companies who make subpar products with bad sources and poor quality control. This line of reissues doesn't fall into that category.

 

Finally received the bundle today. Unfortunately some discs are severely warped. There was a deep scratch on UP side E and some sides are pressed just a tad too much off-centre. I contacted real world (PGStore) about it and it seems more people have complained about the warping:

"Op 19/07/16 om 23:15 schreef PG Store:
Hello,
Sorry for the issue with your order. We have received similar complaints from other customers so we tested our remaining stock today for warping. Unfortunately none of the copies of Us we have are completely free of warping. We should hopefully be able to find copies of So and Up that are acceptable. At this stage we have the following options:
1. Refund you for US and send you tested copies of Up and So.
2. Refund your entire order and not send any further copies.
Please let us know your preference.
Apologies for the inconvenience
PG Store"

I chose option 1 and hope they will indeed find acceptable copies of SO and UP.
My US copy has the first 2 discs severely warped, pretty bad.

Have any of you from Europe received flat copies of US? And if so, where did you order it from. I may try to seek a new/better copy...

Thanks!

 

These are all pressed in Europe and being imported for the US market
My UP as stated by another member here has a slight first track warp only on lp 1, nothing that affects play...

 

My copies of UP and US were both pretty bad- I emailed a video clip on Friday evening and had replacements by Tuesday
morning. UP is now excellent. US still has a little warping but not so bad that it affects play.
I was very impressed with how the PG Store reacted with my concerns and their swift action to reissue copies.
James

 

Oha, thx for sharing. That's maybe the reason, why the records actually are not in stock. I asked them 2 days ago, whether or not the records will be available again and they told my that they have to deal with some "issues" regarding the preorders before.
However, I find that's all very honest!

 

Then they are not out of stock as they say? Perhaps the OOS situation is related to the defects.

 

Well I was wondering why copies of 'So' have suddenly become scare - I was all set to pull the trigger and then today What Records hiked the price up from £19.99 to £24.99, considering the other sets are 3LPs and also £24.99, needless to say I wasn't too impressed.

Just checked Juno and they don't seem to have it in stock anymore, and the cheapest new copy on amazon is going for £28...

At least Diverse still have it at £23 - think I better move fast though...

 

They will get a repress if there are so many returns. It's like the panic over Exile. That is out of stock at Diverse as they have had to order me a replacement for a faulty copy. These pressings are not so limited as they would have you believe.

 

I only bought US and only the first disk is minor warped. Hardly noticeable really. Guess I got lucky. I find it astonishing that 180g can warp so easily. Possibly not cooled down enough. I am not an expert though in the pressing process.

 

Well, I also have to add that it is very hot here in Belgium that last few days and it took UPS 3 days to deliver the package. But not all the discs were warped. So I guess some discs were definitely warped before the shipping process. The weather could have made the warping much worse though.

 

My Up has some annoying surface noise. I am getting a replacement.

 

Can someone tell me if the high res download of SO is worth picking up if I have the one from the Immersion set? I see the DR numbers are a tad different.

 

If Us was recorded in cd quality that is even more disgraceful. PG is a big time artist, so why the low res route. Answer = convenience and or arrogance.

 

I like all formats, but I like hi-res better than cd, when the label claims hi-res. I guess I need to put a disclaimer in there for the wise *****.

 

My disc 1 of So was heat warped due to being in a hot metal postbox for six hours. It tracked but the stylus looked like it was on the Big Dipper, going up and down all around the bends. Grr. But Amazon sent out a new one, and the replacement is perfect. This is absolutely the best I have ever heard So.

 

Really? You'll get disagreement from many audiophiles.

 

I reckon that even if these were mastered from a cassette, you would still have people say 'you havent listened to them yet, use your ears...blah blah'...

 

Funny you should mention that. I was expecting my Up records a few days ago from UPS. I received a message from UPS to expect my package. I happened to be looking out the window and saw the UPS truck down the street. I went and checked the front porch and sure enough the it was sitting on stone steps in the direct July sun in 95 degree heat. Fortunately, I grabbed to records before the heat warped them. It wouldn't take very long in that heat. What pisses me off, is that I have a very visible note on the front door to leave packages at the side door which is about 15 feet away and saves them walking up stairs. The side door is in the shade. Usually, they leave packages there, but no, they had to wait for one of the hottest days of the year. It is really a crap shoot for me, depending on who is delivering that day.

 

Have you considered supporting an indie retailer like Newbury Comics or Bull Moose?

 

I visit Newbury comics regularly, but they don't always have what I want, I doubt they have the new Gabriel releases at this time...Bull Moose is to far to make it worth it.

 

I'm going to look at one or both of them this weekend, so I hope "Up" is at least in.

My insurance company makes me get my prescriptions via mail order, and I worry about the summer heat for those.

 

Man, I'm glad it was OK!

 

Bull moose offers free shipping within the U.S. with a $30 order. Very reasonable.