Cheap Xmas: Donald Fagen Complete - Vinylbox coming in December

I just bought the vinyl set on moviemars.com for $90.15 shipped.
Really looking forward to hearing this fine vinyl collection and looking forward to seeing Donald in Denver in June!
Wooohooooo!!!

 

Down to CAD 103.16 (about USD 85) at amazon.ca! Finally pulled the trigger!

I just wish I hadn't recently bought the standalone Nightfly, assuming that the price of this set wasn't going back down so soon. But I love all of these albums, so I figure it can't hurt to have backup copies. (I'm clumsy.) Or I'll sell the extras.

 

Nice deal! I was about to order from discogs for 130 CAD without shipping until I saw your post. Price is now 101 cad on amazon, and I had a left over gift card from christmas. So picked up the whole box for a cool 68 dollars..... Feel like I made a great choice.

 

"Bass heavy"is an understatement! I finally bought the box and I'm listening to Morph this moment. Pretty wild!

 

As big a Steely Dan/Fagen geek as I am, I totally forgot about this set until today. I took advantage of Ebay's "15% off everything" sale and pulled the trigger on one. So far, the reviews for it have been good, and I can't wait to get these on my turntable.

 

The set is currently 74 Euro on Amazon Italy (https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B075KN11WK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) with another 10 Euro off if you use the code GRAZIE1000 ... came to around £60 including postage

 

You said that like it was a bad thing...

 

Just got my box. Two lps in...

I thought Nightfly was very nice. Smooth. A bit less louder than my 82 US original.
But Kamakiriad is really quiet, as in mastered with the volume way down...my amp needle is nowhere near mid-levels...kinda buried in the wrong direction. I’ve got to turn it up to 9:30-10 o’clock to get half decent volume. Unlike the original cd that I have.

It may very well be a conscious and important choice in mastering, to avoid the high end sharpness that the cd sometimes exhibits.

Anyone else have this going on?

 

Cutting at lower volume would have nothing to do with "high-end sharpness".

Why does it matter how "loud" it was cut? Is the vinyl surface noise intruding? Otherwise, it's better too quiet than too loud, no? With the number of complaints by vinyl newbies these days of "sibilance", "distortion" and "skipping", is it any wonder cutting engineers back off a bit?

And besides, the Fagen stuff is quite dynamic, so better to cut with dynamics intact than compress the dynamics in order to make it "louder".

 

Has there ever been word as to whether these would be re-released individually?
Kamakiriad is all I need and I don't want to buy the box just for that....

 

The bottom end isn’t really there like it should be. I do think that toning down the high end during mastering would result in what I’m hearing.

Of course, better this than the opposite.

You don’t have this box, do you?

 

I’ve now finished listening. Aside from the disappointment of having a warp in every lp...yes, every one, though all are playable because my cartridge tracks really well it appears...I am, unfortunately, completely underwhelmed.

The Nightfly...not as good as my Canadian original. Sonics actually vary from track to track upon close listening. It’s smooth enough, but not terrific.

Kamakiriad...terribly low recording level. I mean, really low. Strikingly, shockingly low. The original cd is so superior it’s scary...and I never compliment CDs...ever!

Morph the Cat...sure it’s got thump, like the cd...but no better sonics.

Sunken Condos...same, but the bass isn’t crisp...it’s wooly.

B- Sides...nice to have.

I’m a huge fan of this music. I was really looking forward to these lps. But I must say that if you’re looking for improvements, and you’ve got the CDs, you may want to take a pass. It’s rare when I A/B an lp and CD of a particular album that the CD wins out. But the CDs do here.

Well, there you go...digitally recorded albums sounding better in their digital form!
Who da thunk it, right? Sheesh...

 

Nope. Morph and Condos are the doubles, and Condos is the only 3 sided one.

 

That's right, Ken gave the correction to the side slits back in post #28.

 

Ok, if you say so, but none of this has to do with the volume at which vinyl is cut. You were conflating fidelity with amplitude.

No, I don't have the box. I have the individual albums on vinyl and/or hi-rez (except Sunken Condos with does nothing for me), so I don't see the value. But if you don't hear a difference between the vinyl version and the CD version of Morph, I don't know what to tell you.

 

Sorry to hear the news about the Kamikiriad pressing. Can any other owners weigh in? Anyone compare the new one with the original release?

Glad the digital versions are already quite good.

 

Confide In Me is one of the best tunes in his solo catalogue. Essential.

 

I have a cd of kamikiriad bought when it came out.....pretty fab recording which makes it easier to accept that the vinyl might not be stellar.
I have the regular old Strawberrys record store copy of the nightfly, a RL pressing on vinyl, and the Mfsl One-Step set. The aRL copy is so friggin' good on my set up that I havent opened the One-Step yet....I dont see how it can wow me over the RL. I will open it, clean it, and play it eventually to celebrate a special occasion...

Maybe one of these days Kamikiriad will be redone correctly. In my dreams, the owners of Music Matters decide to start reissuing more adult oriented rock/Jazz/blues albums at their quality leveland we get some re-issues on SRX vinyl.

 

Nice of Donald to pose for that picture in the waiting room of his dentist's office.

 

Well, I sure do hope you post your impressions when that day comes!

 

just how limited was the vinyl set? been trying to hunt down a reasonably priced copy from a reputable source for a while now, and almost everyone is OOS.

 

https://www.amazon.de/Cheap-Xmas-Donald-Fagen-Complete/dp/B075KN11WK

 

I finally ordered one with the MD discount.

I only have The Nightfly, so very much looking forward to these.

 

I’ve got an original press of Kamakiriad and it’s a stellar bit of vinyl. A regular go-to LP when I’m trying out a new bit of kit. No low-level issues at all. Shame they seem to have backed it off a little too much on the new pressing. I rate this album over Nightfly, if I’m honest.

 

This statement blows my mind every time I hear it... Kamakiriad is fantastic, but the Nightfly is in my top 5 of all time.