Japan Vinyls Sounds Better?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by stenway, Nov 12, 2011.

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  1. stenway

    stenway Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    hi, japan vinyls 1st pressings sounds better than usa/uk 1st pressings?

    by example:
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/AEROSMITH-TOYS-ATTIC-ORIGINAL-70S-JAPAN-PRESS-LP-METALLICA-SLAYER-EX-/250926978864?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item3a6c69d730#ht_1064wt_1119

    vs

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/AEROSMITH-Toys-Attic-LP-1975-Album-Columbia-Records-VG-GD-/290622197738?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item43aa6ecfea#ht_1589wt_885

    just an aerosmith example but you know mostly records are released in japan too, so vinyl japan 1st pressings are better in sound???

    thanks
     
  2. laughalot

    laughalot Forum Resident

    Why should it sound better?
     
  3. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Well..... careful with generalisation ;-)

    Certain Japan issues sound MUCH better than UK Firstpressings e.g. "Gentlemen Take Polaroids" (VIP-6969) by...errrr.... Japan . This sounds so lively and spacious that I had to hold my breath. But... I'm sure you could find examples where the UK vinyl sounds better. After all: Japanese people are humans too. As we had to learn this spring :-(
     
  4. rburly

    rburly Sitting comfortably with Item 9

    Location:
    Orlando
    Virgin vinyl
     
  5. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    I just compared an American second issue of "Atom Heart Mother" with the first japanese EMI pressing and.... they just sound DIFFERENT.

    The japanese record offers MUCH more detail but is very bass-shy while the American issue has a lot more power. I guess in the future I will play the first side from the US-LP and the second side from the Japanese pressing. Oh.... and both don't have the locked groove at the end of "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast"
     
  6. stenway

    stenway Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    well I dont know I just ask, you know like some cds like black triangle sounds better than other usa pressings etc...

    but yeah is not possible say that japan vinyls are better than others, it depends of each band pressing etc.. but im courious
     
  7. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth

    I guess if you find Japanese vinyl at reasonable price it's always well worth checking out. Another one I just got is "First And Last And Always" by The Sisters Of Mercy and that sounds like another world. Ok... it has different mixes than the European and American Edition but that can't explain the sonic difference. This original Japanese pressing made me fall in love with that record all over again. In fact it reminded me what I loved about it in 1985 when I heard it first.
     
  8. rburly

    rburly Sitting comfortably with Item 9

    Location:
    Orlando
    This should help. It's video from the Discover channel, which describes the making of vinyl records. My experience with Japanese virgin vinyl for Genesis albums (all their early ones) through the '70s made me a believer in Japanese virgin vinyl.

    http://www.classicvinylrecord.com/how-vinyl-records-are-made
     
  9. JustVinyl

    JustVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Switzerland
    I thought one thing that was generally true was the pressing quality tends to be higher, whether the mastering and sound quality are always better is another matter.

    From a packaging point of view I would take a Japanese pressing every time.
     
  10. let him run...

    let him run... Senior Member

    Location:
    Colchester, VT USA
    Vinyl singular, not vinyls.

    signed,
    English Usage Police...move along, nothing more to see here. :)
     
  11. bibijeebies

    bibijeebies vinyl hairline spotter

    Location:
    Amstelveen (NL)
    very true JustVinyl, I bought most of Ry Cooder Japanese vinyl on Warner-Pioneer when they became available in my store in Amsterdam in the Seventies.
     
  12. AaronW

    AaronW Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    It has to be on a title-by-title and pressing-by-pressing basis. Japan often has had numerous pressings of classic albums (like Getz/Gilberto or Helen Merrill which have had at least three Japanese pressings pre-1990) and personally I have found very few Japanese pressings take the #1 spot for any record as they are often pressed from dub tapes and mastered on the the brighter side of things, especially albums from the 1980's. Their real advantage comes from their mostly very quiet (more so than domestically available vinyl) from the 1970's onward, for instance my best Bill Evans Sunday at the Village Vanguard & Waltz For Debby LPs are mid-70's Japanese pressings (yes, sonically a step up from the OJCs) as I haven't come across affordable original US pressings that weren't distractingly noisy.
     
    rufusbass likes this.
  13. bibijeebies

    bibijeebies vinyl hairline spotter

    Location:
    Amstelveen (NL)
    I also admire their foolhearted attempts at transcribing the lyrics in English while they could have just asked for them at the US offices! With all their perfectionism they really did this by ear.....and the results are really funny too...
     
    weaselriot likes this.
  14. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley...

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I think in this case, the OP doesn't speak English as his/her native language and can be excused of using the hated expression "vinyls" just this once. :wave:
     
  15. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley...

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Yes the Japanese pressings I own do tend to have those very desirable, high quality hard-board sleeves. And of course obi's are way too cool for school :)
     
  16. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    How about LPs, or Long Playing Records? "Vinyls" is dead wrong. "Vinyl" singular sounds like fetishism, which it is anyway.

    In answer to your question, LPs pressed in Japan have a higher standard of manufacture as regards essentials, such as ultra-quiet vinyl and perfectly centered discs. However, the equalization of Japanese LPs tends to have a big treble tilt upwards. Furthermore, you are more likely to be hearing earlier generations of the recording if the pressing is from the artist's country of origin than you will in a Japanese pressing. If you are interested in a recording from the all-tube era of recording—roughly 1928 through the early sixties—you will hear much more tape hiss on a Japanese pressing than you will on the original. If your audio system is set so that it sounds just right with USA or UK pressings, odds are that the Japanese pressing will sound shrill in comparison. I have owned many Japanese pressings and find, by way of example, that the Parlophone UK originals of Beatles records sound much better than their Japanese equivalent. I still have some Charlie Parker LPs on Japanese pressings that sound good, but the originals on Clef and Verve sound that much better, with more body and cues that tell you that "This is really happening."
     
  17. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Japanese LP discs tend to be superbly pressed, mastering is excellent to their tastes. And they cost double UK, West German, or US prices. More like Mobile Fidelity prices. But country of origin best on mastering every time. Overseas, you get either metalwork or copy master tapes sent over from the originating label.
     
  18. Efus

    Efus Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Japanese vinyl is likely subjected to a better quality control process than in most other countries. Additionally less product is churned by their presses than in US or Europe, therefore, the probability of a bad run of pressings is far less.

    The rest is just marketing, and in the mind of the conscious consumer, imo....
     
  19. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Vinyls made in Japan usually have great pressing qualities.

    However the mastering usually leaves something to be desired which makes the quiet vinyl pointless.
     
  20. Efus

    Efus Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    No way.
    You've succumbed to the we call it "vinyls" crowd?
    Say it ain't so Steve! :( lol.....
     
  21. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    This thread is is like asking: does extra salt make food taste better? (or extra sugar)

    A majority of people will say yes.

    The problem I have with practically every Japanese pressing I've compared to a good "country of artist origin" LP - is the mastering. They are almost always sweetened up sounding. Dead quiet, but tinkered with. And rarely will they have the same level of resolution.

    Stunning vinyl quality & packaging though...the best in the biz.
     
  22. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    This has been my general experience as well. They tend to look better than they sound, unfortunately.
     
  23. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    I don't have more than two or three JPN LP pressings in my entire vinyls collection (or in my entire record collection for that matter). They just sound bad and ain't worth the moneys.

    I have some Classical stuff though, a few.
     
  24. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    You better stop using "vinyls" ironically. Impressionable young minds may get the wrong idea :)
     
  25. soundfanz

    soundfanz Forum Resident

    I generally love Japanese pressings.
    I'll use Miles Davis records as an example. I have well over 60 albums from his catalogue now, and well over a third are Japanese pressings. They just sound so much more dynamic,quiet... and just better than the US counterpart. I've found this out over the years by buying the US/UK or whatever version and then finally settling with the japanese version.

    The bonus is how well packaged they are, and also note that Japanese record collectors take more care with their vinyl, so am much more likely to get a good copy when buying second hand.
    Unfortunately they are usually more expensive though.

    Thats my take.
     
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