Joy Division. 2015 RHINO Anniversary vinyl reissues

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by jimhb, May 15, 2015.

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  1. stem

    stem Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hertfordshire, UK
    Yeah, I'd been looking at that and wondering whether to go for it.
    Please let us know what you think of the sound quality when it arrives.
     
  2. Vinyl Fan 1973

    Vinyl Fan 1973 "They're like soup, they're like....nothing bad"

    Bump on this. I have the 2007 and although very good, I'd be open to an upgrade if the 2015 was any better.
     
  3. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    The 2015 is better in my opinion, but really only because the 2007 pressing was off-center and the 2015 is not. But as for the actual sound, I think they are the same.
     
    marcfeld69, jimhb, stem and 1 other person like this.
  4. Vinyl Fan 1973

    Vinyl Fan 1973 "They're like soup, they're like....nothing bad"

    Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. Luckily my 2007 is a good copy, so now there isn't a reason to get another reissue, but I'll still continue my hunt for an original.
     
  5. It's Felix

    It's Felix It's not really me

    How much are originals going for now?
     
  6. Kristeva

    Kristeva Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Here in the UK, regardless of whether its a reissue or the repress, let alone the 1st press, they go for silly money - even the smashed copies. Ebay is just about the worst offender and the last place you want to go looking.
     
  7. It's Felix

    It's Felix It's not really me

    I am in the UK and have UP and Closer originals from back in the 80s I just didn't think they were that steep now. Mind you they both sound amazing. Factory knew what they were doing!
     
  8. Kristeva

    Kristeva Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Yeah, I haven't looked at the prices for a year or so tbh, but from what I'd seen over the last 3 or 4 years they'd been going up steadily. What's considered steep is down to the individual perhaps. Couple of years back I sold a beat up old copy of the 2nd press reissue for £40-50 on ebay. The buyer was well happy - each to their own, lol. The translucent first press often goes for £100 + on fleabay I think last time I checked, but don't quote me on that. Things change i guess.

    Even the out of print 2007 Rhino reissue was steadily rising until they repressed it. I've heard most versions and they all sound pretty good to my ears.
     
  9. It's Felix

    It's Felix It's not really me

    I agree I have seen prices rising steeply for any classic 80s early 90s stuff over the past 4 years.
     
  10. jimod99

    jimod99 Daddy or chips?

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON
    I've got 2 first presses of UP and a UK and French first press of Closer, might be time to offload one of each!
     
  11. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Recently got my hands on 2015 reissue of Closer. I can't A/B with my 2007 reissue because that is packed away in another state. However this 2015 is very slightly off-center, and yes, it's one of the Optimal pressed copies, not leftover stock from 2007. I seem to recall my 2007 was a bit more off-center than this one, but I can't say for sure. I don't have perfect pitch, so I might not even notice it on this particular copy, we'll see (only on track 2 right now). Still, it's frustrating, because with all the positive comments on these I expected a near perfect copy.

    My take on this: buy these from a place with a very liberal, no questions asked return policy if you haven't bought them already and plan on buying them.
     
    marcfeld69 likes this.
  12. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area

    That is a bummer! Hopefully it's not off-center enough to be audibly noticeably to you.

    Like I mentioned a page or two back in this thread - on my copy of Substance, which was pressed at Optimal, side two of disc two is ever so slightly off center, but not enough for me to notice any fluctuation in pitch (and maybe the nature of the music on that side makes it difficult to notice as well). And it isn't nearly as off-center as my 2007 pressing of Closer.

    But I agree - I think it's wise to buy any new vinyl from a place with a lenient return policy.
     
    patient_ot likes this.
  13. berlinerpunk

    berlinerpunk Record Collector

    Location:
    Berlin/Brooklyn
    Not sure if I ever heard an original UK Unknown Pleasures but I certainly have heard many pressings from around the world over the years. The best I've ever heard was an original (West) German pressing. Best sound and best quality - bar none.
     
  14. Kristeva

    Kristeva Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    This is really irritating and it happens a lot with new vinyl but in my experience the head shell has to be swaying some distance before the defect becomes audible, and my system is good enough to reveal these small differences, (or maybe I'm tone deaf?)

    Minor sway tends to get overlooked in my house. No consolation I know when you're watching it happen on the TT and you feel it ought to be perfect. I recently spunked £60 on the MFSL of Ryan Adams, Love is hell, and the beginning of one of the 4 sides (on my fav track) was ever so slightly warped. I contacted the seller for a return but ultimately couldn't be bothered to go through all the fuss of reordering, etc. I couldn't hear it so I forgot about it - nothing is perfect these days.
     
  15. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    @Kristeva, don't get me wrong, I'm accustomed to living with all sorts of flaws with newer (and some older) vinyl. I just had very high expectations with this one for a variety of reasons. The tonearm sway is really minor but it still kind of bothers me. I'll have to listen to it some more and compare my CD copy to see if there is audible pitch fluctuation or not. Oddly enough it is only side 1 that is off-center on my 2015 Closer. Side 2 was dead on from what I could tell.
     
  16. It's Felix

    It's Felix It's not really me

    The U.K. Original is the only version I have heard - 100s of time, so hard to comment. But it does sound great.
     
  17. Kristeva

    Kristeva Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Yeah, I totally understand.

    Side A and B can often be differently centered.
     
  18. Kristeva

    Kristeva Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    It's been said on here before that the German version is very good. I must check it out one day.
     
    It's Felix likes this.
  19. Technocentral

    Technocentral Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    I dont understand the reason for off centre thing in general, do pressing plants not hire competent staff, are they all teenagers with no technical knowledge?
     
  20. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area

    Well, off-center pressings are caused by misaligned stampers, and the machinery that all the pressing plants are using is really old, and possibly more prone to misalignment. Also, the people who really know how to work on these old machines aren't getting any younger and some are probably even dying off. And it could be that the people operating them aren't as familiar with how to maintain them, but also, the handful of big pressing plants that remain are being inundated with orders. I know there's a plant in the Czech Republic that operates around the clock in order to fulfill all of its orders, and plants like that may not be allowing themselves the time to worry about maintenance issues.

    Sometimes the stamper starts out aligned and then gradually goes out of alignment over the corse of the pressing run, leaving the LPs at the end of the batch off-center. But with some pressing plants, like Rainbo, where everything seems to come out uniformly off-center, it could be that the machines are in need of more serious and costly repair, and the owners just don't want to deal with it.

    Finally - and I think this is the most critical issue - I suspect most people, particularly more casual listeners, don't notice the fluctuating pitch of an off-center pressing, or else they just don't care, and therefore, labels and pressing plants just aren't hearing enough complaints from people about the problem to bother dealing with it. They probably look at it like, since there's a steady flow or orders coming in and very little competition, and if almost no one is really complaining, why bother doing anything differently?
     
  21. Kristeva

    Kristeva Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    And as both sides are centered independently you've got double the chance of a defective LP.

    I've got a diagram somewhere on my computer representing the point where 'sway' becomes audible in pitch, but I don't know how to post images on SH. I must say I've only got one record where the pitch variation is obvious but as i said previously I don't have 'golden ears' unfortunately :)
     
  22. Dhreview16

    Dhreview16 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    I saw a guy hand over £ 20 ($30) for a used Closer at a car boot sale recently, after a good inspection. I'd just bought the 2015 reissue for just over half that, and couldn't decide who'd got the best deal !
     
    Kristeva likes this.
  23. Kristeva

    Kristeva Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Yeah, closer tends not to fetch the same prices as UP, although you can still find them both at reasonable value. I saw an 80's reissue of UP in good nick at Guildford vinyl fair on Saturday for £20.00. I almost got it.

    Many people think the 2007/2015 reissues hold up well against the originals, so I wouldn't worry too much about your copy. And it seems the 2015 run fixed a lot of the pressing issues.
     
  24. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Wow, I'd love to see that diagram. If you can figure out a way to post it, maybe by putting it online somewhere, like Flickr or wherever, and linking to it, that would be awesome!
     
  25. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    I recently saw a couple copies of Closer in my local record shops go for $20-$25. One was UK and the other was a FACTUS, but as they their clear outer sleeve covers were taped up, I couldn't see what condition they were in. Seems to be about the going rate. I also recently saw what was marked as a 2007 pressing of Closer going used for $16, which is only a couple bucks cheaper than those went for new, iirc.

    I'm just really glad I got my Factory (and FACTUS in the case of UP) pressings back in the 90s when they were cheaper and a little easier to come by.
     
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