Blue Note 75th-Universal reissue sound quality?

I have completed all of the MM Blue Note 33 rpm collection..as it stands now..hopefully not. I have about 15 of the 45 MM Blue Note. Not sure if I am ever going to be able to complete that set! Looking for some opinions on the Blue Note Universal 75th vinyl releases that began in 2014. How do they sound? I know the quality of the pressing will not match that of MM and the cover quality as well, but for $18.00 a pop I wonder if it's worth just completing all of the MM 45's that I do not have with 33 rpm copies of the Blue Note Universal. As alway thanks!

 

If you're buying US pressings, chances are, you will be wasting $18 a pop. Better off buying the MM copies.

 

Wow really that bad huh? The good problem is that the MM sounds so darn fabulous but there are so many 45 rpm's. I guess it's better to grab a few every two weeks and hope I can get close to them all. You are right though...quality always wins...and there is no question to the QC at MM.

 

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Two different things. There's NO doubt that the mastering and record cover quality are FAR superior to the 75th Anniversary Blue Notes. The pressing quality control is certainly reputedly better with the MM series, but they have had their occasional issues, too. Anyone who has had records that have been pressed at RTI knows that they're not perfect.

The entire run of The Complete In A Silent Way Sessions on Mosaic Records had a problem with the plating, leaving noisy vinyl. For Mosaic, according to someone I talked to there, it would have been too expensive to do another run. The noise doesn't ruin the experience, but it's there and if you want the set, you have to put up with it.

 

There are scores of problems with the US pressings. While there have been issues with RTI, it's nothing compared to the garbage that's being pressed by United.

 

If you want to buy any 75th Anniversary copies, go the EU route.

 

How do you acquire those? I'd be really interested in the upcoming Sheila Jordan release.

 

I bought 2 copies (Bobby Hutcherson & Donald Byrd LPs) on EBay from UK sellers and paid a lot more than I should have.

 

There's another label that has been putting out some Blue Notes. I think it's a French label. About the same cost as the 75th Anniversary. They did the Sheila Jordan.

 

I'm curious which titles have been considered to have decent mastering? Clearly we're not talking about MM quality but which ones are considerd stand outs or at least a thumbs up? I can easily get the EU versions.

 

From my listening pleasure I find anything from Music Matters, Classic Records, Analogue Productions to be unbelievable quiet and "in the room" with you. I have a few of the Universal sides from the US and they sound good to be as well. At least the four or five I picked up are clean and quiet.

 

I'll echo experiences above; the 75th anniversary US pressings tend to be plagued with pressing quality issues, and make them very frustrating to listen to, especially if you're used to the MM releases. I have had very good luck with every Blue Note reissue that I've purchased that are on the "elemental" label. There are several titles available, and are not duplicates of the anniversary campaign. I have about 13 of them, and not a one has a single pressing issue. No, they don't sound as amazing as the MM releases, but they easily best the anniversary pressings, and can be had for around $13-$15 bucks each.

 

Indeed. I've just learnt my lesson after ordering 5 titles from the Blue Note 75th reissues via Amazon UK where pictures in their listings showed EU pressing and out of 5 records I received, only 2 were 180g from EU. Other 3 were from USA. I opened 1 of the 3 USA thinking "Surely it can't be that bad"… record was warped and skips on last song. Gutted. I didn't even bother opening the 2 other ones. Just sent them back. The 2 EU pressed records look and sound good.

Maybe I was just unlucky, but I'm not ordering any of the 75th reissues from Amazon anymore. After all the good things I've read over on this forum, I've now bit the bullet and ordered 2 Music Matters reissues instead. Can't wait to hear them!

 

BLUE NOTE SERIES #6 »

 

Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.de Amazon.fr Amazon.it

Shipping is much more reasonable than most Ebay sellers,
the only issue i've had ordering from the European Amazon sites
is the cost of return shipping is not always covered.

 

There are other options for 33 1/3 Blue Notes if you don't want to go with the MM45 direction for everything else.

I started collecting Blue Note records in the 90s, and there are lots of options from Japan (Toshiba or King pressing)
as well as almost an entire 1500 series from Classic Records (now out of business, but many are easy to find and not expensive)
Vinyl Records, SACDs, DVD Audio, Audiophile Equipment|Acoustic Sounds »

There are at least two basic approaches. 1) start at album #1500 and find the best copy you're prepared to pay for
2) pick titles you really want and buy the definitive quality version, with hope that in the future reissues will continue
to add titles you want. Good luck, have fun.

 

I'll say this once and I'll say it again - the cheap as chips Scorpio reissues have thicker vinyl - equally sketchy pressing quality but overall better sound and I don't care if they are digi transfers. Covers are thicker and artwork better repros too.

 

Are you interested in collecting objects (i.e., filling in gaps in your MM collection)? Or do you want the music?

 

I wish I would have read this thread before I wasted my $$$$$$$$ buying 2 75th reissues. The absolute WORST pressings I have heard in a very very long time. My Dad's 60 YO BNs sound infinitely quieter even after being played repeatedly.

Blue Note releases US are garbage

 

Sorry to hear that. If I have question about a pressing before making a decision to purchase, I always try to search this forum. Saved me a lot of money.

The idea behind the 75th Anniversary series was a great one. I don't know for certain, but I think the reason why Blue Note/Universal used United was to keep the costs down and make the records affordable to the general public. Foolishly they used the absolute worst pressing plant. I wonder what the sales for this series were like. What could have been a successful series from a QC perspective ended up becoming a big fail.

 

I bought the 3 Sounds' Out of this World 75th, I have the rest on originals and reissues of various vintages, and have no complaints. YMMV, etc.

 

I agree the concept is great and I was drawn in.

Where's the QC at BN? Don't they listen to the records before they are released to the public? Once a reputation is ruined it is hard if not impossible to regain. For a few $$ more per record they could have done a better job. And how is Untied or that plant still in business and how much more does it cost to make a good/great pressing rather than a horrible or inferior one? Are the records made with recycled vinyl? I mean what causes them to be so noisy? Don't people have any pride in their work anymore?

 

The most frustrating part of all this is that there are no "middle ground" Blue Note reissues. You either get bottom of the barrel releases (BN 75) or extremely high end/expensive releases (MM).

 

I recommend the original Pathe Marconi reissues - pre DMM. They sound fine - pressed perfectly and they're cheap to pick up.