Through the years I've collected a few Sinatra LPs. From a sound quality perspective some of the Reprise releases I have are decent and I have a few Capitol releases which sound thin and are pretty lacking in any dynamic range. They are old records but probably not original releases. I recently picked up a very mint MFSL Nice'n'Easy and was blown away by the sound quality. Way better than any of the old Sinatra stuff I have. So my question: Is the box set up to the quality of Nice'n'Easy? John
Sinatra MFSL Box Yes it is - at least regarding the Stereo LPs. If you do a search on the archives, there are two or three threads in this forum which are dealing specifically with Sinatra's Capitol Years and the sonic differences between the various LP and CD releases. Arne
I thought I remember reading in one of those old Sinatra threads that MFSL used the wrong tapes. Something to the effect that Capitol added reverb for Sinatra repressings in the 60s, and that MFSL used these reverbed tapes instead of the original masters with the "dry" vocals. I have been avoiding the MFSLs for this reason, although my frustration with trying to find clean copies of the original Capitol gray labels is leading me to reconsider. So, are there major sonic differences between the MFSLs and the Capitol gray labels?
Martin Melucci has discussed the differences between the various LP and CD pressings in depth. Here's the thread. BTW, the wrong masters were only used on the MFSL Mono LPs, as Steve explained two years ago on the old forum - you may find the thread in the archives section of www.stevehoffman.tv. Arne
I'll give you MY advise. I have a few Capitol gray labels. They are VERY nice. I continue to buy them because they can be found cheap. If I see a clean $3 copy.... It's in the cart. I have bought 3 copies of Songs for Swinging Lovers and finally found one that is nice and clean and I can really enjoy. However, My MFSL box is not for sale. In other words, just because you found a clean yellow/black Parlophone mono Sgt. Pepper's doesn't mean you have sell the Stereo MFSL. Summary: Get the box and keep looking for gray labels. That is what I'm doing. BC
I have the MFSL Nice and Easy LP and I'm not that thrilled with it. It sounds souped up and a bit forced.
The MFSL Set in my opinion is the best available for several reasons: 1. It is a set. 16 of his best albums. 2. The sound is really good on all of them. Others may have opinions about the mastering (EQ) and the slight echo on the monos, but they still sound gorgeous to me. 3. These are the quietest vinyl pressings of these LPs you will ever find. Period. I say go for it!
The mono first pressings If you want the original stereo mixes, you should be alright with those on the MFSL box set. However, the absolute definitive Sinatra Capitol, IMO, is, for the most part, the mono first pressings. As mentioned, these are the grey label Lp's, and they are inexpensive since they were very popular and a ton of them are floating around. A good, clean copy of one may be priced around $10 to 15, maybe even less. The mono versions were engineered better; I think all of them were mixed live to tape. The original stereo mixes don't have much magic to them, IMO. They usually had extra EQ, compression, reverb, etc. that wasn't needed. If we're lucky, someone like Steve will get a crack at the original three-tracks and make some great sounding stereo mixes without the unwanted extra noodling. Even then, though the mono's may still be the way to go; I think they were recorded better than the three-tracks. MMM also mentioned other issues with the earliest albums, mainly with dubs that have been used as the master for various pressings/formats. I think the original 10" vinyl is the way to go with those.
I found the MSFL "Nice and Easy" to be the worst of the bunch. I think I may have a bad pressing though (mine came from the Sinatra box set) since the Frank's voice sounds harsh and overloaded. The album is still great though.
In my experience from the few Capitol 10" LP's have, even though they come from "good" tapes, they don't sound very good. I got the impression that they kind of "dumbed down" the sound quite a bit for the probably bad turntables people were probably going to play them on at the time of release. This is for "Songs For Young Lovers" and "Swing Easy" since I've never heard the 2 record 10" version of "In the Wee Small Hours". For "Songs For Young Lovers" and "Swing Easy" look for the version Capitol combined both of these 10" albums onto 1 12" LP - Capitol W-587. There's also the JPN issue from the early 80's of this title that is nice - Capitol ECJ-50065.
Question on Sinatra MFSL box set I know that the wrong mono master tapes were used in assembling this box set, and i've read here that the correct stereo tapes were used. My question relates to whcih stereo tapes were utilized. Was it the three track session masters themselves or the two track album masters. I suspect it was the latter because of the fact that on the ALL THE WAY lp two songs were in duophonic rather than mono.I'd like to hear from MMM on this one. Hank Bottieri
Angel is right, as are your suspicions Hank - older two track stereo mixes were used on the stereo albums, and not remixes from the three-tracks. I don't own this box, but I have heard over half of the records in it. I do own a MoFi test pressing of Sinatra's Swingin' Session though, plus a stock copy of A Jolly Christmas, which for whatever reason was not included in the MoFi Sinatra box set. One thing I don't remember - Frank Sinatra Sings For Only the Lonely in that box - I know it has all 12 songs on it, and I think "It's a Lonesome Old Town" and "Spring Is Here" are in stereo on the MoFi LP (these two songs were left off the Capitol stereo LP's of Only the Lonely due to the time restrictions iof the early days of cutting stereo LP's - and even today the length of this album is kinda "pushing it" for one stereo LP - appx. 53 min, though I bet Steve and Kevin could do it in their sleep ). The thing is, I haven't listened to the MoFi LP of this album in years and I can't remember if it has the original stereo mix or not - I think it does, but I can't remember what was the deal with those two particular songs, mix wise. I'll have to listen to a friend's copy again to check.
Thanks for the info, Angel and Martin. I don't know if you would agree, but I still like the MFSL box set better than any other Sinatra Capitol stuff i've heard on cd. The pressings are cd quiet, and the sound blows away any remasters since, IMHO. Hank Bottieri
The only MFSL Sinatra I have is Nice 'n Easy. It sounds - well MoFi. Souped up. Sort of spectacular, but not quite right. I don't have a Capitol of this LP to compare, but some of the other Sinatra Capitol LPs sound better to me. However the CD's that I've heard were butchered so I'm not surprised the MoFi sounds better.
I just listened to the MOFI Only the Lonely lp and Spring is Here and Lonesome Old Town are in stereo and the liner notes say it is the first time release of those tracks in stereo. However, I don't have an original Capitol stereo version to compare it to. I have a mono original but that is completely different sounding as you know. Hank Bottieri
This morning I picked up a NM copy of the Sinatra MFSL Box at a local estate sale ... while checking the condition of the records, I noticed that there are 10 slots ... if one puts 2 LPs in each slot and the Geo Disc in one slot, there is an extra slot ... was there a booklet that went with the set? I checked the ebay listings and didn't see any mention of anything other than the 16 LPs and the Geo Disc.
I have the advertisements that I ordered from on 10-11-83 and they list 16 discs. No brochure came with it. The strange thing was that the adverstisement listed Point of No Return which was not in my set. However, Songs for Swingin' Lovers was included but it was not mentioned in the ad. Hmmm
It was $350.00 then, which is pretty high, when you consider that I got the Bear Family Nat King Cole sets for less, and they have 11 CDs each with about 27 songs per CD. Hope you got a bargain.
I wondered the same thing when I first looked at one of the sets. No book, but it's kinda cool that when MFSL released A Jolly Christmas, they numbered the spine with a "17", so it fits right into the set and fills the empty slot.
I own a copy, purchased new many years ago from a store on Santa Monica blvd. Must have paid around $175, I think...then found out the mastering was oh-hum. Bought the Christmas disc, just to finish it off. The individual disc packaging is clumsy, to say the least. No real added value as far as extras, in fact, as noted, many discs were not part of the set. Virtually no new program notes. Figured I got suckered/jobbed into the MFSL legend. This was before the Internet & had no handy way to research. Hope you got a REAL good price. Makes a good bookend along with the my Beatles MFSL.
Thanks, again ... I did get a bargain ... I had spied the box in one of the 57 pictures that the estate sale company had posted online before the sale ... I got to the sale an hour and a half before it opened (but was still 3rd in line) ... fortunately the two people in front of me were after something else.
I just won an eBay auction on a Frank Sinatra MFSL set! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...8CQNKUI%3D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT $238 plus shipping. Do you think I did well? I am happy. Have been looking for this forever. Any thoughts on this set from those who already own it?
