Physical Graffiti vinyl reissue quality thread - defects/distortion?

Hi all, I've already heard of possible pressing flaws on the Pallas version of Physical Graffiti. After the terrible problem with "The Ocean" on Houses of the Holy, this is of course a major concern.

Although I don't have a copy yet, I've received a PM from someone stating that they've had significant distortion on "In My Time of Dying" on side 1, and also on "Kashmir" on side 2.

Now, these are of course innermost tracks, where distortion will raise its ugly head most readily during a song's last minute if a stylus is inexpensive or worn. Is anyone else who has already gotten their copy hearing distortion?

 

I hope this will not a big problem. I saw your other posts about The Ocean and it was helpful to me because it let me know I did not have a bigger problem on my hands. It is really bad.

I just picked it up last week. This forum rocks.

 

The Ocean always had distortion even on the original seventies pressing..it has nothing to do with the pressing; it's the way the song was mixed and the higher resolution of the remaster brings this out even more.

 

With all due respect, that's not the issue being talked about here. On the initial pressing of the HotH remaster from Pallas for the North American market, the entire right channel of "The Ocean" was severely distorted. The Optimal pressing did not have this problem. There's a big huge thread here:

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...lin-houses-of-the-holy-vinyl-remaster.389892/

 

Man...I really hope this is not true.

 

Me too, because I can't afford to order the Optimal pressing this time!

 

uh-oh, not again. i already own a couple great sounding copies as it is, so i won't screw around this time if something's wrong.

 

Why not wait until someone actually possesses the new lp?

 

Some people already do.

 

I had no distortion issues that I could detect. All copies were flat, quiet and perfectly centered. Disc 3 has a scuff mark on side 3 that is non sounding

 

I just went with the EU version right off that bat. Not gonna mess around with one of my all-time favorite albums.

 

Out of curiosity how would you even order an Optimal pressing? Is it as simple as buying from Amazon in UK, or is it some type of super speciality pressing that you are talking about? I am still kind of green as I am just beginning to get back into vinyl.

 

I find it hard to believe they didn't listen to the test pressings THIS time around, since presumably Rhino or whoever had to eat the costs of the defect. I can report tomorrow morning how it sounds distortion wise.

 

****. I still haven't found a replacement for my HOTH and I'm expecting the super deluxe edition of PhyGraff to arrive tomorrow.

I've gone through 3 super deluxe boxes of HOTH and ended up with defected copies each time. It appears that the only sure way to get a good copy is to order a German import.

I hope I don't have the same experience with PhyGraff.

Not good.

 

Yes, there's a nasty bit of overdriven signal which has always been there. But it doesn't take audiophile ears to hear the completely distorted channel of the defected pressings. It is only on certain vinyl pressings and it is truly horrible.

 

Yes, that's it. I got my copy of HOTH from Amazon UK. It's flat, quiet, and has no distortion defects. Cheaper than buying from U.S. sellers too because the VAT is removed at checkout. Even with shipping from the UK it's still cheaper. However, it took close to a month to arrive.

 

Glad that you started this thread, Ben!

Rather than pre-ordering and trying to get the best price, I decided to see if there were problems reported before buying this time.

 

Yep, same here. I actually ended up with two EU copies of HOTH. One remains sealed. I think I'm just gonna post it in the classifieds.

 

Thanks for the advice, HK. I think I will go this route. I can wait a month for an enhanced version of an album I know intimately. In fact, it will make it better as one day it will be a surprise.

 

My copy will be arriving today. I'll report later.

 

Went to my local store I pre-ordered it at, they didn't have them in yet. They're not sure if they will today, since they said that the shipments are so behind the Super Deluxes had to be next-day'd to their store. I'll see about calling them later. Hopefully we can get multiple reports to see what's what.

 

I'll add my experience as well.

When the thread came to my attention that pressings for the USA (Pallas) for Houses of the Holy (and IV) had problems, Amazon (US) had not yet shipped my pre-order. I cancelled both and ordered from Amazon (UK) and received Optimal pressings.

So, in that instance, it was as easy as ordering from Amazon (UK). I feel confident that it would be the same situation for Physical Graffiti.

I ended up paying about $2 extra for each record. (I think that was because my pre-order price was slightly lower.) Well worth it to me to avoid probable aggravation.

 

Just email [email protected] and explain you got one of the bad ones. I did and they had me send a picture of the record, then sent out a replacement (just the defective record on its own, not the whole package). I didn't even have to send the bad one back.

 

I will report back tonight after I listen - this is killing me! On my lunch hour I went home to get the big box with my Super Deluxe Edition off the front porch and into the house. I did manage to confirm that all three of my discs are as flat as can be, but I was running short on time and didn't get a chance to listen to those two alleged problem spots. I hope the person the OP spoke with experienced something isolated but we shall see.

I also noticed that the inner sleeves shed an awful lot on the LPs.

 

My Pallas pressing of PG actually arrived on my doorstep the day before its official release from Amazon. Here are my thoughts:

Overall, the vinyl sounds and looks great. Some songs sound better than others, e.g. The Rover seems to suffer from poor recording quality. I admittedly do not have any original pressings or CDs to compare it to. The packaging for this release is top of the line. It's very well-done. Heavy, flat LPs. Sleeves are well made with great resolution. I'm just concerned about some of the distortion towards the inner grooves. I had this issue with Stairway on Zep IV (didn't buy Houses of the Holy...yet). I'm getting some serious IGD towards the end of the Side 1 on My Time of Dying, some towards the end Kashmir on Side 2, and some more towards the end of Side 4. End of Side 3 sounds better, but it's Ten Year's Gone, which is a slower song with less action. The LPs did come with a fair bit of static on them. I've re-checked the alignment of my JICO SAS/M97xE, made sure my platter is flat, and ran through it again. It slightly improved (I think), but the IGD is still there. I admittedly get some IGD on a few of my other LPs, but rarely this bad. Overall, I'm pretty happy with this repress. I'm now a proud owner of Physical Graffiti on vinyl!