Bob Dylan Vinyl Box Set - the Original Mono Recordings

SH Spotlight - If you have a turntable you need to play your mono records in true MONO. How to do it cheaply..

 

In my opinion if one has to narrow it down to one Dylan purchase this box set is the one to choose. Think of it as Dylan's BC-13 Blue Box. Get it before it goes OOP once again.

(Remember how available those MoFi Dylans were about 3 yrs ago...now look at the prices post oop)

 

You shouldn’t need to sum a record to mono to get rid of distortion... especially when it’s new and undamaged. That indicates an issue with the playback system. Summing to mono in that case is just a bandaid to hide an issue that needs to be fixed.

 

Not according to Steve Hoffman.

 

I’m curious where he has said this. It will mitigate surface noise, yes. But on modern mono records which are cut with a stereo cutting head, if you have to sum to get rid of actual distortion, and not surface noise, there’s an issue somewhere. That’s literally how they are cut. As stereo records but with identical channels

 

First post
SH Spotlight - If you have a turntable you need to play your mono records in true MONO. How to do it cheaply..

 

Though I should post this somewhere before I forget.

Compared a numbered box to a new one. The only differences I could note are that some of the printing colors differ slightly. Probably just small inconsistencies in the print.
Also, the Highway 61 insert has slightly different directions of texture, but that might also just be an inconsistency in printing direction.
10 years apart yet almost identical.

 

Yes, I am familiar with that thread and have a lot of experience folding records to mono. A brand new, undamaged, unworn mono record, cut from a stereo head, will play with no extra distortion on property aligned and non-worn equiptment. It may have pops and clicks that are hidden by summing to mono. However, if you listen to that undamaged record without summing it to mono, and you hear distortion that is hidden when you sum to mono, either the record is cut wrong, or your turntable is misstracking, or there’s some kind of issue with one of your channels somewhere. The only thing summing to mono should be used to hide is pops/clicks. If you’re using it to hide distortion (once again on a new, undamaged record) then there’s something wrong.


However... if you’re playing old mono records from the 60s and earlier, cut using a mono head, and with who knows how much play wear and groove damage, you may encounter some distortion when unsummed that’s actually a part of the record, and not an issue with your system. Folding will still hide some of the distortion yes, but when it’s an old used record like that, it’s a good chance it’s groove wear you’re hearing which is the product of repeated plays on bad or miss aligned equipment that has damaged the record permanently.


It can always be the way the record was cut too as mentioned by Steve in that thread, but again if you hear distortion from only one channel of an undamaged mono record, and you trust that whoever cut it cut it correctly... check your turntable/cart and amp. Something is probably up.

It’s the surface noise that we are talking about here, not distortion. There is a very clear difference between the 2.

 

As far as the pressings themselves, IIRC, on the repress, Side 2 of the S/T album has a slightly different runout matrix and no STERLING stamp.

 

I can check that actually.

I did find it interesting that some of the clicky tracks I had on my numbered box are actually similarly clicky on the new one. So it might not be very worth it to get a second one to potentially upgrade some discs.

 

I looked closely and found the Sterling stamp on side 2 as well. Its just buried beneath other runouts.

 

That's great! I just paid A LOT for the Beatles box and I don't want to make the same mistake again so I just ordered the Dylan box for $185CAD. I was worried they might have issued it more cheaply compared to the original pressing. Does the new one still have the "All Analogue" hype sticker?

 

The yellow sticker, yes. The only differences are that the download cards will have different expiration dates and that the box isnt numbered.

Both boxes have pretty clicky Another Side Of Bob Dylan, wonder if thats an issue with the cut or metalwork.

 

Man, I’m just realizing this Dylan box has been around for a long while.

Still in stock at Amazon. Were these really all pressed in 2010? I wonder how many there are.

 

Anyone got a cheaper copy in the UK than this one?: BOB DYLAN: ORIGINAL MONO RECORDINGS (LP vinyl *BRAND NEW*.) 886977610516 | eBay

£197.59 is still a great price for a set of this quality, but obviously if there's better I'm game! I've been wondering about getting this set as my UK H61R needs an upgrade, and the US Mono Mix of BoB is different to the UK LP, so there's justification there.... right? (All my acoustic LPs are either stereo of heavily scratched anyway).

 

Depending on the importation fees, you might be interested to buy a $212 CA on Amazon.ca. It's £124 for a new set

Link : https://www.amazon.ca/-/fr/gp/product/B003ZYJS5Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Thanks for that. I balanced it up between that and Amazon US, which after postage is about £10 more, but also includes a payment to cover customs. I might go with that as the customs sting will be much bigger otherwise, and £158.28 is a great price still.

These re-pressings still have the replica original sleeves I am assuming, with the paste-over jackets etc?

 

Yes, the re-pressing sleeves are top quality, paste-over replicas that look and feel amazing. Just like the original box from 2010.

 

It's not letting me order from the Canadian Amazon site. Says it doesn't ship to my address in the UK.

 

Same issue I had sadly.

 

Hi FJFP, when I'm ordering on the Amazon US site I can't see an option to choose payment to cover customs fees.
There's Amazon standard global shipping or Amazon Priority Shipping and both selections show a message saying your country may charge import duty.

 

If you look in the checkout section, there’s 3 charges - the roughly £111 for the box, roughly £20 for the postage, and then roughly £26 for customs. Let me know if you have any issues.

 

Great set, but any recent mono pressing of H61R is a) great, b) the US mono and c) AAA. Save yourself a few bob, if that’s all you need.

 

A fair comment, but I do need clean monos of the first 4 acoustic LPs, and obviously a mono JWH. Ultimately it's 6 LPs, plus the US LP1 Mix of BoB, so really 7. Also, I know it's a poor excuse, but I'm not a fan of reissues of 60s albums in direct-to-board printed card sleeves, which I assume the other pressings of H61R are.

 

If you need all those, then you need the set. Yes, stand-alone LPs issued here are European pressings in standard European sleeves.