If I ever decide to sell it, I will 100% sell it for cost. One of my favorite record shops in town realized they were sitting on some OOP Bob Pollard records a couple of years back. Sold 'em for retail. They could have sold them online for $100 each but decided to do right by their customers and Pollard fans instead. Truth is, Craft doesn't benefit from flippers. They would have sold 1000 copies whether folks bought copies just to flip or not.
A few others in this thread have already reviewed this better than I ever will, especially in terms of comparing against prior pressings. Nonetheless, I wanted to give my two cents. This is an excellent pressing, vinyl is completely flat and noise floor is non-existent. It all feels somewhat intimate and I Love You is something to behold here, you hear every thump and pluck. It's perhaps quieter than some of the other super vinyl pressings I own, but it doesn't need to be cranked up much. I know some have said that they should've went with a stronger Coltrane release, but honestly, any Coltrane is fine with me, which is why I had no problem laying down the £75 ($99) for preorder. Do I think this was worth the retail price? It's easy to say it was given the secondary market sales right now, but honestly, I could've lived without the box and have them spend that on beefing up the sleeve. On the other hand, buying a mint original 1st pressing of this is impossible at that price, so maybe I'm being a tad harsh. Also, the fact I was able to even buy this at retail without getting hit with customs sweetened the deal too. I'm in for future releases, but I'm hoping it's not a case of right place, right time like this release.
Craft Recordings on Instagram: “ In early March 1962, the Bill Evans Trio's live album Waltz for Debby was released. Along with Sunday at the Village Vanguard, Waltz for…” I wonder why they'd put this up...
They confirmed to me that the next small batch wasn’t waltz for Debby! I was annoyed as I’d just bought a Japanese pressing when I saw this ha!
That would have been a good title. But I think the one Id want most is Digs Evans, doesnt get pressed nearly as much and the ERC releases is as usual too expensive for most.
True but the resale value on some of these have doubled. Sunday at the Village Vanguard is over $1100.
Correct. The additional cutting time to produce multiple lacquers, as well as the cost of those lacquers, can quickly make the one step process more expensive. I’m not sure what the break even point is, with Craft only doing 1k the onestep process may be cheaper still. But for MoFi who presses 6-10k, I’d imagine it is well north of the point where it becomes more expensive.
But you dont have to master each one, so its just an extra 40 minutes and some Lacquer plates. Is this really so expensive? Id imagine its the initial mastering time that is expensive.
. MoFi Ultradisc One-Step Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's new Ultradisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the Ultra High-Quality Record (UHQR) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master tapes and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a "convert." Delicate "converts" are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. The exclusive nature of these very limited pressings guarantees that every UD1S pressing serves as an immaculate replica of the lacquer sourced directly from the original master tape. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today. Source: https://www.mofi.com/Articles.asp?ID=254
