BRIAN ENO- New reissues double lps 45rpm August 4th

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by zwolo, Jun 14, 2017.

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  1. dougotte

    dougotte Petty, Annoying Dilettante

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    I'm listening to the 45rpm AGW. Browsing the inside cover, I found this unfortunate typo under 'Sky Saw':
    "John Cole: Viola Section"

    His surname was spelled correctly under 'Golden Hours'.
     
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  2. fairaintfair

    fairaintfair I Buried Paul

    Location:
    Lafayette, CA
    While getting up and flipping a side every 3 songs is, well, ... getting up and flipping a side every three songs, I think the half speed masters of Eno's 70's vocal albums are well worth the effort.

    Yes, I do own all the original LP pressings, but the half speed Abbey Road Masters have breathed some new life into the low end of what I consider to be some of the most unique sounding rock records ever recorded. Some of the harshness of these recordings have been slightly "browned" creating a sound that is more forgiving, on the whole (Ok, nothing will temper the sonic brutality of "Needles In The Camel's Eye", nor should anyone even try). I found the drifting and economic ambient works of AGW have been made even more lovely to my Eno worshiping ears. This is something I never thought I'd say.

    Essential? For me, these Abbey Road offerings certainly are, but I certainly understand why the price for these new releases may seem a tad prohibitive to casual fans (a mint Abbey Road "Green World" is already well over a US $50).

    Personally, I don't find these releases a gimmick in the least, unless one is venturing into the pure ambient works, which I have some problems with (form being a major one..flipping "Airports" or "Discreet.." more than once seems to be counter to the whole point of these pieces?) CD's work better for me for the ambient works and I didn't find the sound noticeably improved by the half speed masters.
     
  3. dougotte

    dougotte Petty, Annoying Dilettante

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    I only have TTMbS, AGW, and BaAS. I initially thought I wasted my money because it is a hassle to get up twice as often to flip. But, when comparing the sound to other non-Eno vinyl (old or new), I'm glad I have them. They truly do sound very good.

    I don't recall if I've directly compared them to my original vinyl or the DSD CDs. There's a project...

    To be honest, I'm a fidgety person anyway, so getting up is no inconvenience.

    Has anyone compared the 45 rpm versions to the later 33 rpm versions?
     
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  4. mne563

    mne563 Senior Member

    Location:
    DFW, Texas
    Getting up twice as much to flip sides has left me entirely too exhausted to compare the 45 rpm versions to the 33 rpm versions.
     
  5. gr8trak

    gr8trak Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    Well said!
     
  6. MAYBEIMAMAZED

    MAYBEIMAMAZED Don't think Twice it's alright

    Location:
    DFW TEXAS
    Wow, you're really in out of shape...;):laugh: perhaps you should have someone do it for you. lol
     
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  7. japhyman

    japhyman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Yarmouth, ME, USA
    I’m really happy with the 45rpm music for airports, after having owned and sold off a few US, UK and JPN pressings that all looked NM but played quite noisy (tough album I know for any amount of noise) , plus none of them sounded particularly good. The 45rpm I have plays quiet and sounds good to me. This is in reference to owning all the 1st pressing UK “vocal” albums and some Ambient JPN pressings . Really hope they do the Harold Budd / Eno albums in this format as I’m still without good copies of those after too much money spent!
     
  8. fairaintfair

    fairaintfair I Buried Paul

    Location:
    Lafayette, CA

    Yes. Those Budd/Eno albums are so good it hurts. It's weird, I just didn't hear any markable "improvement" for the half mastered Ambient works? But, in fairness, the sonic range and intent of the work is pretty different, so maybe I need to have another listen...The improvement may be more elusive?

    And another listen is never a problem for me and Eno.
     
  9. japhyman

    japhyman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Yarmouth, ME, USA
    Yeah I don’t know that “improvement” is the right word either , i think it’s more like the half speed reissue of Ambient 1, to my ears, isn’t a letdown the way the various original pressings were that i heard. Actually for both Ambient 1 and 2, with the original US UK and JPN pressings I heard I thought the piano just sounded kinda crummy. On CD these albums sound beautiful . Eno is just one those artists where I’m happy to spend the money investigating these things... Here and there you do strike gold.

    Ambient 1 is the only half speed reissue I own. Music for Films I love the UK pressing, US is also good, JPN is okay. Discreet Music and Ambient 4 I quite like the JPN versions.
     
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  10. ispace

    ispace Senior Member

    Location:
    Sydney Australia
    I’m not sure how to put this gently, but my humble opinion is that Ambient music remasters on vinyl are a waste of time and money.
     
  11. Norco74

    Norco74 For the good and the not so good…

    Perhaps it is just not for you.

    I am a bit in the same position when it comes down to Eno on vinyl.

    HCTWJ, TTMBS, AGW & BAAS are worth to be listened on vinyl although early 2000 remasters are excellent. I have old vinyl pressings and won’t go for the new ones.

    Any ambient Eno on vinyl is a no go for me. Again the early 2000 remasters are my goto source.
     
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  12. dougotte

    dougotte Petty, Annoying Dilettante

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    I don't know why I didn't do this when I first bought the 45 rpms. Last night, prompted by this discussion, I listened to the first 2 sides of TTM on the 45 rpm. I first heard the increased clarity and deep bass I remembered. But, after a few minutes, I started to notice a digital two-dimensional harshness. I hear the same thing on the Kate Bush remasters. Others have speculated that these new remasters are based upon digital files. I think so, too.

    Today, I directly compared my original Island LP TTM to the 45 rpm. I prefer the original! It sounds more warm and balanced.

    The 2-D quality I mentioned above puts all the background voices, sounds, and instruments at the same level as the foreground sounds, and it gets a bit annoying. It's fine if you want to clearly hear those little bits that were always there, but maybe didn't notice. However, I think I'll stick with the originals going forward.
     
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  13. challenge

    challenge Forum Resident

    Location:
    Missouri
    I think somebody stated all the Abbey Road 45 are digital transfers. I don't own any but I have heard mixed reviews on almost all of them so I have stayed away.
     
  14. fairaintfair

    fairaintfair I Buried Paul

    Location:
    Lafayette, CA
    You could be right. "Currently" I do prefer the CD's of the Ambient works to the vinyl.
     
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  15. fairaintfair

    fairaintfair I Buried Paul

    Location:
    Lafayette, CA

    Respectfully, I'm not sure what two dimensional digital harshness is? So I can't speak to that. I really didn't experience a meaningful change in the mix or soundstage with my system?

    I'm leaning to the half speed masters for these 70's v0cal albums, as the overall bass change makes me quite happy.

    But are these (now expensive) releases just for the 70's Eno completist? Probably.

    Am I one? Heck yeah!
     
  16. dougotte

    dougotte Petty, Annoying Dilettante

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    My third paragraph explains it about as well as I can.

    Edit: I admit that I'm assuming the digitalization is at fault for what I'm hearing. It could be that, and/or some EQ tweaking.

    Also, I have to admit that I might not notice this effect so much if I didn't have original vinyl copies to compare. So, those who haven't heard the original vinyl and don't want to track down clean copies might be very happy with the remasters.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2019
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  17. ad180

    ad180 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I suspect it has nothing to do with there being a digital step in the mastering process.

    It's 2019. Convertors sound really, really good these days. People act like it's still 1983. Nonsense.

    That is probably an EQ choice. Nothing to do with digital vs. analog.
     
  18. dougotte

    dougotte Petty, Annoying Dilettante

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Thanks for explaining and debunking my myth.

    I don't like the new masters compared to the originals, and I appreciate knowing why.
     
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  19. Stencil

    Stencil Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lockport, IL
    I originally was not going to upgrade to the 45RPM from my Editions EG versions of the original pop albums based on things I had read about pressing issues and not very good sound. On a whim I bought TTM. Then went out and bought the other three. There was a distinct difference in sound between mine and the new ones. The Editions EG I had sounded muffled and kind of lifeless compared to the new ones. Sold my Editions EG for a nice price and they were even kinda crackly (bought them used in the 80s). I also bought the 45 rpm of Ambient 4. The difference between that and my earlier pressing is not as noticeable, but still there.
     
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  20. RocketUSA

    RocketUSA Forum Resident

    Has it been confirmed that the early 2000 DSD remasters are the source for the half-speed 45RPM Abbey Road LPs? I'm assuming the subsequent 33RPM reissues are sourced from those (as the included downloads with the 45RPM LPs were 16/44 WAV versions of the early 2000 DSD remasters).

    It'd be nice if they released those early 2000 DSD remasters as DSD downloads or SACDs...or even high-res PCM downloads.

    People that are new to the 45RPM LPs: are you still noticing the dropouts that many early buyers were hearing
     
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  21. JP Christian

    JP Christian Forum Resident

    I have several of the 2LP Eno releases in my "new, cleaned and ready to play next" section which has a bit of a backlog. I realised I don't have the 2LP edition of Another Green World when I thought I did and was a bit miffed that I'd let that one slip through the net, and now it seems it is out of print - so against my better judgement I've just forked out just short of £50 for it new and sealed from Discogs - I only hope it's worth the extra cost...!
     
  22. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Surely vinyl is the worst possible format for dreamy ambiant music. You get into the vibe and "click" - doh!
     
  23. JP Christian

    JP Christian Forum Resident

    Not if you look after it... the vinyl that is. I have plenty of ambient music on vinyl and digital and enjoy both - generally I personally find vinyl more engaging - it's going to depend on your set up.
     
  24. joshm2286

    joshm2286 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas
    I have a 70s re-issue of Songs for Airports which sounds great to my ears.
     
  25. dougotte

    dougotte Petty, Annoying Dilettante

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Hear, hear! :edthumbs: When the DSD remasters were first announced, I assumed they'd be released as SACDs.

    I never noticed any dropouts. Either my rig and/or hearing are to blame, or I somehow have unaffected copies.
     
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