Roxy Music - Avalon....why no audiophile treatment?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by richbdd01, Oct 30, 2016.

  1. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    First of all, one of my favourite albums of all time. I love the sound of this record, it is really well produced and many would regard it as a reference recording.

    My question is i wonder why this title hasnt received the audiophile treatment? (ie MFSL, AP, AF etc) i know the original already sounds great, but there are many albums that are considered similar in being reference recordings that have been reissued countless times (Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman for example)

    I would have thought Avalon would be the obvious choice for an audiophile reissue....particularly on vinyl? I wonder why none of the so called audiophile labels are touching this?

    Any thoughts?
     
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  2. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
  3. Grohlfan

    Grohlfan Dan

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    The original U.K. press works for me.
     
  4. Rodney Toady

    Rodney Toady Waste of cyberspace

    Location:
    Finland
    Perhaps it sounds so good already that audiophile treatment does not seem necessary.
     
  5. JayB

    JayB Senior Member

    Location:
    CT
    It doesn't need it IMO..
     
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  6. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    Again....as I said previously, this hasn't stopped other titles getting the treatment. Many would argue that the original U.K. of Supertramp Crime of the Century sounds great...but MFSL did it twice and Speakers Corner. I could pick out many other examples.
     
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  7. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    Why not? Does Santana Abraxas need yet another reissue? Avalon hasn't had one audiophile reissue for LP...
     
  8. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    Sure, that would apply for many other titles that have already been reissued by an audiophile label...
     
  9. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    So if analogue productions or MFSL did this as part of their catalogue then no one here would be interested?
     
  10. SteveS1

    SteveS1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Weald, England, UK
    I could just think of so many more recordings in greater need.
     
  11. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    I'm trying to pick up a mint UK copy of this and its not that easy...

    I bought a 'near mint' copy the other week but wish I hadn't bothered in the end as it was overgraded :(
     
  12. ParanoidAndroid

    ParanoidAndroid Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bournemouth, UK
    The SHM-SACD sounds awesome to me.
     
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  13. Rodney Toady

    Rodney Toady Waste of cyberspace

    Location:
    Finland
    Perhaps it has something to do with it being an 80's album? OK, it hasn't thwarted audiophile releases of Brothers in Arms, to name one of the most obvious examples, but I would think albums from the 70's are more easily perceived as being "ripe" for audiophile mastering.
     
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  14. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I agree. I haven't heard the earlier SACD, but the newer one is perfect to me.

    I think Avalon would be hard to muck up whatever format it was on.
     
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  15. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    Is Avalon analog or digital?

    It sounds kind of like a really good digital recording like Brothers in Arms...doesn't have that full analog feel to me?

    I'd like to hear a US Ludwig cut
     
  16. Dhreview16

    Dhreview16 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    Original UK vinyl pressing sounds great still.
     
  17. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    Many arguing that the original sounds great. I agree and I am not disputing this fact.

    Does this mean we don't need audiophile reissues for originals that sound great then? We're effectively saying that's the best it will sound?! Its all about what you compare something to...

    If this was reissued and done the right way, I think it could sound better than the UK original IMO...great as it sounds!
     
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  18. Rodney Toady

    Rodney Toady Waste of cyberspace

    Location:
    Finland
    Indeed! Sometimes I feel that audiophile reissues are only needed to provide the comparison in order to prove that the originals in fact sounded just about as good as these albums will ever sound. I'm not so sure if the labels see it that way, though - and I wouldn't want to either.
     
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2016
  19. gabbleratchet7

    gabbleratchet7 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I would bet that Avalon is one of the holy grails for all audiophile reissuers; whether it truly needs that treatment is beside the point. The only explanation is that the owner of the masters (now Virgin?) is not willing to licence them. Maybe the band has veto power...
     
  20. While Simply Vinyl (SV) is not considered a genuine audiophile label, and their releases were hit and miss, they did an excellent job on Avalon. I cannot speak to comparisons between it and an original UK release, but I prefer it over my Canadian press.

    Like many, I also would love to see a genuine audiophile release from one of the big hitters. Maybe one day!
     
  21. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I think there are a few reasons. First, the vinyl (which sounds great) sold well upon release, and the original CD, which sounds superb was an early CD release that many people own. And it was a later release (1983) so the people that bought originals tended to be older and the vinyl and CD's tend to be in good condition. So there are lots of great sounding copies in terrific condition available in used bins.

    Second, On CD, it's seen many releases - Original EG, West German Polygram, Japan black triangle, remastered HDCD, multichannel SACD, SHM-SACD. All sound different and all sound good to great.

    Finally, on vinyl, there was a 180 gram audiophile issue a few years back (can't remember who did it). And I seem to remember a Japan version that was an audiophile issue but I could be wrong.
     
  22. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    I don't recall any Roxy album having an audiophile release. Mostly digital remasters of inferior quality apart from the Emi 100 of the first album. However the Simply Vinyl 180 grm Avalon sounds better to me than the UK original.
     
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  23. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    There are many titles from that period (1982-1987) when both CD's and LP's were selling in huge quantities, that have not see "audiophile" releases. Some of the best selling artists of the era - Prince, Madonna, Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Sting. I do think that one reason is there are a ton of copies out there.
     
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  24. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    It's to do with licencing. Big name artists rarely get farmed out to audiophile labels. Most exceptions were in the period between early 90s and start of the present resurgence apart from the old MFSL titles and a few others in the early 80s. The fact there are a ton of copies does not prevent the major labels reissuing digitally sourced versions. Always people who will only buy new vinyl.
     
  25. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    The 5.1 SACD sounds outstanding to me, very tastefully done.
     

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