Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures 40th Anniversary Limited Edition

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by bettsaj, May 8, 2019.

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  1. Vinyl Fan 1973

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

    Thanks! I also scored a mint pressing of closer. An original US translucent pressing, and it sounds wonderful.
     
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  2. Fat Bob

    Fat Bob Forum Resident

    My 2007 UK copy has the deadwax etchings. It's identical to this copy on Discogs - including the serial number in the deadwax - but it also has 'This is the way FACT 10 Outside-1' and 'Step FACT 10 Inside-1'.
     
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  3. SCOTT1234

    SCOTT1234 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scotland
    I have 3 UP and 2 Closer pressings.

    UP:
    UK Porky 1979 is my favourite soundwise. Very cohesive, slighty narrowed stereo. Punchy. Good eq balance. Fresh tape. Just sounds right.
    German 1979. Wider stereo. More separation on each instrument. Slight boost to high end frequency over the porky. Very good.
    2007 US Rhino reissue. Soundstage and eq is more similar to the uk porky than the German. It sounds fine but I put in 3rd place because it just doesn't sound as vibrant and fresh as the originals. Probably due to a combination of the older tape and lacking that George Peckham magic touch.

    I would happily recommend this UP reissue to someone who doesn't want to pay a sky high price for an original uk porky, but would also suggest they give the (still reasonably priced) German a try.

    Closer is a different story. The 2007 reissue sounds nowhere near as good as the uk original to my ears and I would recommend spending the extra to get a 1980 uk pressing.
     
  4. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    I'm going to take your word on Closer. While my US 2007 is fine/passable, i'm thinking it's going to be like a comparison between the Movement remaster and the old UK Townhouse GG.
     
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  5. SCOTT1234

    SCOTT1234 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scotland
    Yes
     
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  6. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Thanks. I know exactly what you mean. :cheers:
     
  7. bettsaj

    bettsaj “I'm in competition with myself and I'm losing.” Thread Starter


    I've not heard the german pressing, but totally agree to your assessment of the UK first pressing against the 2007 Rhino. The 2007 remasters got a bad wrap at the time I think all down to the CD mastering and not the vinyl mastering. I think they're very different, and were done by different mastering engineers. I've not heard the 2007 Closer remaster, but I'll take your word on that.... I'm happy with my first pressing of that record.

    Bottom line is the mastering on the 2007 US Rhino's are different to the 2015 Frank remasters. Although Frank Arkwright states on his resume page on the Abbey Road website that he did the 2007 remasters, I think there's something awry with his recollection. None of the 2007 vinyl remasters are signed by him on the dead wax, maybe he just did the CD mastering which is quite possible..... In which case he screwed them up as they were awful.
     
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  8. JeffMo

    JeffMo Format Agnostic

    Location:
    New England
    no we are aging like fine wine... :cool:
     
  9. Big Blue

    Big Blue Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    So, was there any consensus on the pressing quality of the white cover/red vinyl anniversary edition? Particularly pressing quality compared with the 2015 reissue? I see a lot of discussion about the mastering, but given they seem to be the same cut, is one pressed better than the other?
     
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  10. bettsaj

    bettsaj “I'm in competition with myself and I'm losing.” Thread Starter

    My opinion is they are Ok, they are the 2015 Frank masters and are the same as those pressings. They are different to the Rhino pressings. Balance wise they are different to the original pressings in so far as the left and right channels are the wrong way round to the original pressings. Having listened to the original mix for years i find the 2015 pressings a bit disconcerting due the that fact. but, on the whole, they are good SQ.

    I don't have an original black 2015 anymore to run an AB test between the 2, but I don't anticipate them to be any different. They are both digital transfers, and digitally mastered, so should be the same. The fact that one os red and the other is black shouldn't make any difference to the SQ, in my honest opinion.
     
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  11. Big Blue

    Big Blue Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Thanks, I appreciate the comparison. All things being equal, mix/master-wise, I’m curious whether one or the other is known to have more defects, in terms of off-center, non-fill, etc. I wouldn’t expect black or red to make a difference, either, but being pressed about four years apart, I could see quality control varying between the two runs. So I was just curious whether anybody had observed pressing issues with either (Amazon reviews being entirely unreliable since I assume anybody whose review is “it skips” is potentially using a garbage turntable and/or poor setup).

    I don’t have a copy at all, currently, and either of these would be my easiest way to get one, as they are readily available and priced OK. I may go with the red simply because there’s been less time for them to sit in a warehouse poorly stored and getting warped...
     
  12. Echoes Myron

    Echoes Myron Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Both my red and black sound great and are free of defects.

    Very happy with them but am still on the hunt for a first UK :)
     
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  13. bettsaj

    bettsaj “I'm in competition with myself and I'm losing.” Thread Starter

  14. Echoes Myron

    Echoes Myron Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Not sure if there is another thread on this, but I just saw the announcement for Rhino reissues of Closer on colored vinyl, plus LWTUA, Atmosphere, and Transmission 12" singles.
     
  15. jimod99

    jimod99 Daddy or chips?

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON
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  16. biozen

    biozen Member

    Location:
    Saint Marie
    Hi I am looking for any information on the Japanese pressing of Unknown Pleasure. Please share any knowledge you may have on this release!

    There is only one release (if we exclude the promo) :

    Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

    Also any subjective opinions on sound quality.

    Thanks
     
  17. biozen

    biozen Member

    Location:
    Saint Marie
    .. Bump
     
  18. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Figured Echoes would have all the Japan's :winkgrin:
    Being 84 and their first issue of this I wonder what source was used.
    If anything it'd be a nice one for collection reasons, and at that price, a beautiful piece of framed wall-art. That's how I'd look at it.
    For New Order, the only Japan LP I sought out was Low-Life, just because they did the first compact disc manufacture for UK/Europe and was curious what a non direct metal first press would sound like :)
     
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  19. Dil

    Dil Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    What. On. Earth....

    I recently bought the "2019 Digital Master" of the 2 albums and the 3 12" singles from Qobuz. Given the vinyl 12"s are fantastic - big, open, spacioius, great bass - I thought yaaay! I wanted digital versions thinking they would be quite good, judging by the vinyl.

    What a waste of my money. Every one of these is so loud and brickwalled that they are honestly unlistenable. There is actual mega distortion on every track. I could not believe the spectograph results off Audacity. Thick slabs of signal top to bottom. Shocking. I'm puzzled as to why there would be such a massive difference between the vinyl and digital. If its also Frank Arkwright remastering for this digital, I seriously give up.

    And...the absolute same applies to the "2020 Digital Master" of the New Order singles. This is so weird, because the digital versions of Movement and PC&L from the Definitive boxsets sound great.

    Kill me now. Please.
     

  20. This is probably not what you want to hear...

    ...back in the 80s I sold all my Joy Division / New Order vinyl when Factory started releasing CDs.

    30 years later I wanted someone to shoot me!

    About 5 years ago I got back into vinyl - I rebought all the original JD / NO 12" singles in mint condition (for not too much money).

    I also rebought all the Factory era New Order albums in mint condition (again not too pricey).

    For the 3 JD albums I settled for the 2015 reissue vinyl editions.

    I have the 2 New Order Definitive album box sets but not the reissued 12" singles (as I now have the originals again).

    ...So for New Order just buy mint Factory original vinyl (it is not going to break the bank for a UK buyer who is patient).

    You might want someone to kill you...

    ...but aged 19 in 1986 having acquired "Unknown Pleasures" on Factory CD (with car carry case) - I recorded it to a TDK SA90 cassette...

    ...wanting a cassette inlay - I cut out the radio waves design out of my Garrard & Lofthouse textured first issue "Unknown Pleasures" LP sleeve with a pair of kitchen scissors.

    Don't sweat it - there's always someone stupidier than you.
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2021
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  21. Dil

    Dil Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Nice one Thedmans. Oh, I have ALL the original Factory vinyl albums and singles. And the original CDs. Vinyl are all first pressings, including the Porky Cuts (I'm 56!). I never truly bought into the CD hype back then, have always been a vinylista. I never sold them, lucky for me.

    I was curious as to the quality of the supposed 2019 and 2020 remasters as there is no physical product of these on digital.

    So, no worries I am a JD/NO vet!
     
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