Keith Jarrett Sun Bear Concerts - Piano Solo Limited Edition Vinyl

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by DaK, Jan 16, 2021.

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  1. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    I don't know what Amazon does to them, but I do know that QRP was recycling vinyl from pressed records. They even had special machines just for cutting out the centers (since they don't recycle the part with the label), and reducing the recycled vinyl to beads. When I worked for a record store in the 80s, we returned defects to the distributor.
     
    lucan_g likes this.

  2. Indeed, Joe may well be doing that cause he can. He is pressing a premium product at a premium plant, RTI. But I doubt he’s on the pressing floor randomly checking everything that comes off. And Even if a plant can run ten production lines, I’d be really surprised they dedicated all ten at a time to complete the box.
     
  3. DaK

    DaK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Yes for sure. And piano music sure is complicated in general on vinyl. But this one really is very nicely mastered for vinyl and would be perfect without these nasty defects. And I am not talking about light crackles but about really loud random cracks.
     
    lucan_g likes this.
  4. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    That was my point…is there someone curating this release, like what Joes does with his work.

    Someone may be random checking in the RTI pressing plant. They do that at QRP (I've seen it).
     

  5. The Majors had the law changed in the mid 90s that they were not responsible for product defects, stores were. Bad, bad faith.
     
    Josquin des Prez likes this.
  6. Again, I don’t doubt it, at this point it comes down to ECM and Optimal(?). 2000 units isn’t a lot but the later sets in the run may be better than the earlier pressed sets.
     
  7. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    My plan is to get one from Amazon. If it has problems then I request a replacement and see if I can assemble a good set. Otherwise, I'll return it all and call it day.

    FWIW: of the ECM vinyl I have bought in recent years, I only had issues with the Jimmy Giufre album, so hopefully my luck with their releases will continue.
     
    zphage likes this.
  8. yasujiro

    yasujiro Senior Member

    Location:
    tokyo
    I was talking about the West Germany pressing. I know nothing about the US ECM vinyl.
     
  9. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    In general, the German pressings of ECM records sound better than the Polygram or Warner pressings. However, the Warner pressings are quite good in contrast to U.S. pressings for other labels.
     
    Conster likes this.
  10. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    I'm starting to have second thoughts about buying this set. I want it, but it's a lot of money and I need to start saving for a special retirement gift (bicycle) to myself. I retire in 11 months and have to order by December.

    I wonder with this release whether they'll upgrade the 16/44 stream on Qobuz to 24-bit versions.
     
    DaK likes this.
  11. DaK

    DaK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    I feel you ;)
     
    Josquin des Prez likes this.
  12. Conster

    Conster Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    Anyone hear listen to the Budapest Concert on Vinyl? I have received 2 with the exact same issue distortion and infiltration on side D at beginning of first song.
     
  13. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    There is an ECM thread. You might have a better chance of getting an answer there, since it's a broader ECM audience.
     
  14. Fitter Stoke

    Fitter Stoke You don't suspect my life's a mess...

    There are some pressing issues (I mean literally) with my set, varying from some isolated scrunch sounds (already mentioned by others) to a couple of the discs being warped. I’m not happy with this but, given the set’s limited run and the hassle that sending it back would involve, I’m just going to live with it. After all, there’s no guarantee I’ll ever get a flawless copy and, if I want a fault-free experience, I’ve still got my CD set.
     
  15. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    Warps don't bother me, but noise and non-fill does. I'll decide this weekend whether to cancel my order or not. Leaning towards passing on it.
     
  16. John D.

    John D. Senior Member

    Just received Budapest Concert double LP today, cleaned LP two and listened to side 4, my copy has no distortion on this side, sounds very good. The gardener just showed up, will listen to remaining content tomorrow. :righton:
     
  17. DaK

    DaK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    I am giving up...sending the set back. The mastering in general is really well to my ears, the digital version (via Tidal) is much brighter and less pleasant, not really fitting the meditative nature of the recording. However, the records are full of really loud cracks. I do not believe that other sets will do better. So I am a bit sad, but also have 240 Euro to invest in Jazz records now (to reduce my vinyl purchases I am only buying AAA jazz records in 2021...turns out 2021 is the worst year for that plan with all the great Blue Note, Sam Records and Acoustic Sounds records coming)
     
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  18. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    Yeah, that makes sense. I went ahead and cancelled my order. I can stand to save the money and have plenty of other Tone Poet and Acoustic Sounds preorders shipping in the next few weeks.
     
    DaK likes this.
  19. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    Yikes, if ever there was music made for CD, it would be Keith Jarrett's marathon piano improvisations.
     
    lucan_g likes this.
  20. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    Yeah, but the CD version on Qobuz sounds just OK, not great, and lacks the warmth and liveness of other Jarrett recordings I have on vinyl.
     
  21. wellers73

    wellers73 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    I said it earlier in the thread, but my German LP version of Sun Bear is WAY better than my German CD version. I’ve also compared the version on Qobuz, which sounds to me just like my German CD box. For what it’s worth, I’m not a vinyl-only kind of guy, by any stretch - my collection is spread equally between LP and CD.

    I haven’t heard this new reissue, but I strongly encourage anyone who loves this music to try to find an original LP version. It’s hard to find, especially with a box in good condition, but it’s worth the search!
     
    yasujiro likes this.
  22. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    I'm not against digital, although vinyl is my primary source. I just don't find the Qobuz version of these all that compelling (It's OK, just not great) I'm not going to worry about getting a vinyl version, old or new reissue. There is plenty of other stuff to enjoy.

    There's a chance they cut highres files when they mastered the vinyl. Maybe we'll see 24-bit versions of the new remasters for streaming.
     
  23. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    You know for sure he spent time combing through 12 test pressings? He runs the whole label. He may not have the time for something like that.
     
  24. brimuchmuze

    brimuchmuze Forum Resident

    My impressions:

    The mastering sounds fantastic. From some comparisons with the CD box I do prefer the sound of the vinyl.

    However, I do have some of the glitches referenced on several of the sides.

    I sent an email to ECM to see if there is some way to get replacements for individual discs.
     
    Beamish13 likes this.
  25. brimuchmuze

    brimuchmuze Forum Resident

    You said "Curating", which I think is different than Quality Control?

    Ya, I don't know if he listened to test pressing of all the albums.
     
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