RSD 2018 pressing quality reviews

I listened to the first LP yesterday and it sounds really nice. Didn't do a real comparison, but I suspect it's the same mix as the box.

 

Very happy with the Chris Bell and Mono Piper.

Yes Tormato picture disc seems a little noisy though....

 

The album originally was tinny as most fans know, but to have a second chance to make a great reissue and blowing it is unacceptable. Harriet sounds wonderful and the guitar sounds great, but it's now mixed in with distortion.

It baffles me that Fugitive Recording label gets to work with The Sundays and The Cardigans albums for these RSD releases.

 

the best way to describe the sound is ...it sounds like a band playing an outdoor festival in 1970 that never thought the performance would ever be released on a vinyl record...the performances are great

 

The dreaded non fill - look closely and will be stitching. I've ordered 3 titles I wanted yesterday at a bit of a premium from a certain record cover seller. Fingers crossed they will be OK.

 

terrific release throughout, buy with confidence

 

medeski, scofield jack, etc. ----- get this, terrific sounding and music is great jazz

my pick of 2018...ELLA, great sound and performance and pressing

 

Bruce Springsteen/Greatest Hits - Sounds very good! I usually don't buy Greatest Hits but this one was a must grab for me. Bellman mastered and pressed at MPO (seems like MPO pressed a lot RSD titles) Very good sound, nice copy, thrilled.

The Doors/Matrix II - These are just fun small club early gigs and while there is some slight hiss, which should be expected as I am sure the source was sketchy at best based on age alone. The sound you get is great. Pressing very clean (MPO again I think?) Jim's vocals seem to be way up front which is kind of cool.

The National/The Boxer Live - Another great pressing and the sound is wonderful. Not much else to say but if you like em, get it!

too come:

Dead @Fillmore
Buckley Live boxset
Phish - Billy Breathes
Lou Reed
Wilco - Live @ Troubador

 

I don’t have an OG of Baby Huey - Living Legend but this new 2LP set from Run Out Groove is excellent sounding. Dynamic and Punchy, CB in the deadwax, a lot of liner info and photos, and a bonus LP of instrumental jams. Can’t really improve on this one.

 

I spent the morning A/B'ing my original black vinyl album of Killing Joke's "Absolute Dissent" with the 2018 RSD yellow/orange vinyl remaster.

This album on the originally released vinyl and cd is one of the more notoriously brickwalled releases. The original album while (at least my copy) is a very nice, heavy weight, clean pressing is a frankly painful listen due to the mastering. Everything was mixed so hot that even for an album that's supposed to be brutal and played loud, it's just not a good listen. I think I've listened to my vinyl copies (I have the black and clear releases, I originally thought I had the orange one as well) maybe 3 times in 10 years. I've stuck with the CD version, not that it's any better, it's just more convenient.

Now the new remaster is definitely a different animal. Far better mastering, it *can* be cranked without listener fatigue. I don't know the details of what was sourced to remaster this version, but it sounds like the 2 track digital stereo source ca true multi-tracks was re-EQ'd as there's some stuff in the mix that is a bit more buried now. It sounds for lack of a better word, more "polite." The album is essentially pushed to 3 sides (side 4 is the 2 bonus tracks not on the original LP) while the original was spread over 4 sides. But make no mistake, this is a much better listen on vinyl than the original release. Also, this new release includes a fold out poster of the band that wasn't included on the original release.

The only real cons I can mention about this release versus the original is the original sleeve and inserts were printed on much heavier card stock and the black or clear vinyl pressings are heavier and frankly seems to be of better quality. My 2018 copy has very, very slight edge warping on both discs. I'll add the caveat that I'll always prefer black vinyl over any colored vinyl...

 

Mine had a piece of debris pressed into the vinyl on side 2 resulting in 6-8 loud pops. Have emailed Resonance Records about a replacement of the one disc but no reply yet. Everything about the set is stellar, the session, the recording, the pressing, everything.

 

Ugh of all the defects this one is my pet peeve. I always feel like I should be able to dislodge it with water and a Spin Clean but it never works

 

Someone had to have picked up Chris Robinson Brotherhood, it’s sold out everywhere.

 

How are the Soul Asylum and Living Colour live sets?

 

I didn’t see a copy. Not even in someone else’s hands

 

I had to work all day Saturday so I couldn't make it out for RSD.
Thankfully the 3 albums I wanted the most were ones most other people weren't very interested in. I found Steven Wilson, Platinum Blonde and Def Leppard late yesterday afternoon. All 3 pressings were perfect and sound great.

 

I’m not new to vinyl by any stretch, but must confess to never having previously owned any picture discs. I had no idea of the extra surface noise to be expected from them...that Tormato sounds fine otherwise, just noticeable between tracks.

 

Pineapple Thief is a lovely product, packaging and pressing. A little bit of crackle on the lat minute of side two is only complaint.
Gutted to miss out on UK. Anyone know what the pressing is like?

 

I did. But he insisted that he preferred taking out as much of the hiss as possible. That was important to him. Hiss in tapes bothers him. He doesn't hear the fidelity loss, or, at least, it's the lesser of two evils.

I have a friend who doesn't like listening to records because of the ticks and pops.

 

Yes, now I remember you commenting on his aversion to tape hiss.

 

Believe me, I tried to convince him otherwise, but he was fixated on removing what he thought were imperfections at every turn.

I think you're like me in that I'll accept the imperfections of vinyl playback in exchange for the life in the music.

 

I just finished listening to y first RSD 18 purchase - Kenny Loggins' Return to Pooh Corner LP. I bought it for my daughter and I recorded it on CD. I'm thrilled how beautiful this LP sounds.

 

I am into the Bunk Johnson double LP, the pressing is very good, on blue vinyl, however the recording is from 43-45. It's early New Orleans Jazz with most of the tunes from the turn of the century. Very cool to see something like this available.

 

Bowie Blackout sounds great but I've noticed my labels have the wrong track order and length. Anyone else notice the same?