Rush "permanent waves" mfsl 2015 reissue vinyl lp comparison?

Well, I'm listening to the Compton Signals. It has an excellnt soundstage and great warmth. Wonderful, possibly better than the Compton PeW. Have to give the PeW a re-listen soon.

 

Well, I'm listening to the Compton Signals. It has an excellnt soundstage and great warmth. Wonderful, possibly better than the Compton PeW. Have to give the PeW a re-listen soon.

 

Well, I'm listening to the Compton Signals. It has an excellnt soundstage and great warmth. Wonderful, possibly better than the Compton PeW. Have to give the PeW a re-listen soon.

 

Well, I'm listening to the Compton Signals. It has an excellnt soundstage and great warmth. Wonderful, possibly better than the Compton PeW. Have to give the PeW a re-listen soon.

 

Yes you are correct about the artwork being pretty bad. The pressing is very nice though. I remember them complaining about the tapes for Permanent Waves being in horrible shape. So they did the best they could. I think it sounds good but not great. This is probably my favorite Rush album but never thought it sounded all that great. Especially compared to Moving Pictures, which is one of the best mastered records of all time IMHO.

 

Not an owner of the new DMM pressing (best to keep the last Rush AAA album that way) of Perm. Waves.
I do own:
US, Rays mastered
US, Masterdisk, HW mastered
MoFi
I prefer them in that order. The MoFi does have a lush/romantic presentation that is nice. The cover art quality however is just a tragedy!!!! Not sure how they could have accepted that!

 

Right on!!Great punch is a definite on that. And the warmth. That's one thing I love about this pressing. The highs aren't so high, just so well balanced. I'll have my Compton Pe W on Tuesday to compare to the signals and I'll post how it sounds. Glad you got a good one, crank it!!

 

Spot on assessment of the mofi.

 

Lol, tell me about it.

 

Right. My Compton Signals definitely sounds better than the Compton PeW, but I think my PeW is a bit more used. Could be that it simply wasn't recorded as well. Intrigued to know how they compare for you.

 

Oh.. PRC. I have a bunch of those but think they are mostly Rush '80s pressings (maybe a few Kings and Hemispheres) . Didn't realize PRC was Compton.

Never found any particularly remarkable but they weren't inferior either.

 

How did this thread end up being about signals?? anyway. the 2015 version of waves is a different mix and is too warm for me. stick with the original..

 

Ok, I've received my Pe W PRC. It's also a RAYS cut too by the way. That would be Ray Staff, who mastered Pe W. I've cleaned the record well and had a couple spins. This pressing Sounds very much like my Signals, but with an extra helping of punch. It's sounds very tight and clear as well. The highs were blended more than just screechy, just close to perfect to my ears. There's a touch of surface noise that's clearly a product of the records condition,(not quite the Ex- it was advertised as, go figure) but it didn't interfere with sonics enough to annoy me really. Listening to Natural Science was a nice experience this time around,(compared to CD.) one of my favorites, the soundstage is incredible. As far as comparing this to the mofi, off hand, I might like it overall a bit more. I'll have to spin them both back to back to know for sure. I do like the mofi, though this one just has such power and clarity. Think it's time to spin these suckers.

 

Excellent news. Maybe I just have to give my PeW a clean, too (RAYS cut, too).

 

Mine was pretty noisy indeed. Cleaned it quite thoroughly and even gave it a small dose of Gruv Glide (I only use on worst of noisy records because it actually works) and, hands down, I prefer it to the mofi.

 

Talking about other PRCs as were a while back, I just saw a PRC Big Country. Mastered by Howie Weinberg (HW). I know I already have a US of this masterd by HW, but I dont know if its a PRC. Have to check later.

 

May I ask what your focus on that one (PRC) pressing plant is about? I must have missed what that is about.
Thanks.

 

Ah right. Brian 9229 and I have a feeling the Compton pressing plant Rushes are superior, but I don't have much to compare. I would say that it's mainly Brian9229's claim, and I'm just along for the ride! But I now have another PRCC Rush (Grace Under Pressure), so there seem to have been a lot pressed there.

 

OK, probably area specific as to their availability. While I'm not sure of the one plant superiority (always exceptions), the mastering/stamper info I find of more import.
Rock on!

 

Well, not really a claim, more of a sort of rhetorical question like (Thinking to myself)"Wow, ok, so my best sounding Rush albums all have Prc or PRC c, ok so it's a specific plant(Compton CA.) that pressed throughout the mid 70's to mid 80's , ok, well look at this my Def Lep Pyromania (sounds incredible)was pressed there too, oh, and my best sounding Bee Gees albums as well, and my several excellent Eagles pressings! Is this plant like one of the best or what?) So, at this point, until I receive a record that was pressed there that sounds like crap, I'm just gonna assume that plant had it going on quite well. Although, I'm quite sure there's probably quite a bit of vinyl that didn't come out of there sounding great, I just don't have any yet. And the list of great albums pressed there is quite vast too.

 

Well, if it's working for ya', then cool.

 

FWIW: every upgrade I make to my system, the MOFI Permanent Waves sound better and better. It's now the best sounding Rush album I own and one of the best MOFI titles I've heard as well.
Ok, that's your chum. Have at it!

 

I stumbled across a Mercury Compton of Big Country's S/T, which happens to be one of my favourite albums; masteredby Lee Hulko, signed on one side. I have another non-PRC pressing of the same also signed LH, so I should be able to put the theory to the test, all other things being equal.

 

Hit the local shop the other day, found some gems. I was looking through the R's, but no Rush. But, hidden under the rows of albums were more stacks (in no discernable order) and I found me another PeW Ray's cut. It was $5, and the sticker said 'check cond' I checked it over and over, and indeed, it looked great.(record sleeve not so much, sleeve, damn near mint)Next to it, a lone copy of Grace under Pressure. Both sides stamped Masterdisk bk. (My other 2 copies of Grace each have one side Masterdisk stamp) It too, was in excellent condition. But, the PeW score was so great for me because my existing op copy, which does sound awesome, has an anger inducing, hot staticy mess in Jacobs Ladder. Just that one song, on an otherwise perfect record.(and no way in hell is this album perfect without JL)Well, I have one that sounds as it should. And oh, how I melted when it played through to the last note. The whole album was equally excellent, and possibly my quietest copy yet. As for the copy of Grace, the 2 I've had a while sound great, only complaint on both was static on The Enemy Within. Now, the new one sounds actually a lot better on both sides, great clarity, soundstage, etc. But, I'll be damned if The Enemy Within isn't another hot mess. As a matter of fact, of the 3 copies of Grace i have, one has a slight warp, it so happens that's the one with the best sounding (more tolerable)Enemy Within. So, the hunt continues...