New Craft One-Step in the house today. As with the others in the Small Batch series, this one is mastered AAA at 33rpm by Bernie Grundman. I have all of them. This is the best yet (although Eastern Sounds is also really special). I only have the previous Craft release, mastered from file, to compare to. The One Step is miles ahead. There's a more extended high-end and a resulting greater separation between the instruments, but the album never veers into shrillness. Despite the extended highs, the overall sound signature is actually pretty mellow thanks to a healthy low-midrange. The level of detail here is extraordinary. I can easily follow each individual note on the bass. The kick drum is also really well defined. If I'm splitting hairs, the snare could maybe have a little bit more bite, but again, the overall tone of the album is laaaid back. No individual instrument stands out to me as especially well-defined or impressive. The band just grooves along together as a cohesive whole. The low end is not necessarily huge, but it's right where I'd want it to be--I can feel it in my ass but I can still hear the rest of the band too. Isaac sounds great, extremely natural, with a lot of body in his voice. I get some sibilance/mistracking on the last Craft release, but none on the One Step. The backup singers are kinda distant, like they're singing from space. It works. One Woman (my favorite track on the album) is cut from the safety tape. If Craft hadn't told us we'd never have known; the song sounds just as good as the rest of the album (i.e., quite). In fact I'm not hearing any tape defects here at all. As of 3/1/24 this isn't sold out yet. Go out and get one.
Thank you for this @Jeremy B. As a huge Isaac Hayes fan, I couldn't pass this up. I placed my order with AS a couple of days ago so we'll see when they'll ship it (and how much I'll have to add in taxes) but your review is what I needed to not feel like I'd lost my mind spending all that money. Completely OT but I'm listening to the 2x45rpm AP CSN "couch album" as I write and I can't believe how good Bernie Grundman is. Still at the top of his game. Isaac Hayes's catalogue could do with some judicious mastering, imho. Expensive? Yes. Essential? Hell yes.
idk I'm debating buying this. I have the mofi which wasnt cheap when i bought it. It sounds great. But I havnt played the album in 2 years. Guess im never in the mood for some "hot buttered" soul? He kind of talks too much on this album?
I haven't heard the MoFi but would be very interested to hear how it stacks up against this release! I've read that the MoFi is great, so I have no idea if it's worth your upgrading.
I was going to wait until a few comparisons were made by others here to the MFSL SACD, but FOMO, along with this Vinyl being Mastered by BG from the Original Analog Tapes, I placed my order earlier this morning from Acoustic Sounds, as they package their Vinyl Records securely and ship fast even with the Free Shipping option(read a few prior posts on this Forum from a few people about bad Customer Service who had ordered from the Craft Website other past Titles from the Small Batch Series and possibly lesser quality Vinyl Mailers utilized). I am trying to limit my Vinyl Start Up Collection, and this is a lot of money for 1 Vinyl Record, but looking at the AP Atlantic 75th Series of Releases, the only Titles, which interested me are a few of the Genesis Albums, although did not buy The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, as $120 is a lot of money, and was just going to get the upcoming SACD for that Album, but see the Vinyl Record recently sold out, although another 600+ copies will be repressed, so I might change my mind and eventually still buy it, when it becomes available. Anyways, figured since I would not be buying anything else from the AP Atlantic 75th Series on Vinyl, figured I would allocate my limited budget for Vinyl to the Craft Hot Buttered Soul BG Mastered Release, along with whatever I plan to buy this upcoming RSD in April, along with a few Individual Titles that might drop this year of interest for me. I did also buy the War Greatest Hits AP New Release before that one might eventually sell out. Also, made my first VMP Purchases with their 40% Off Sale that ended last night to buy 5 Titles(Herbie Hancock-Sextant, and the 2 latest Releases that VMP did for Fleetwood Mac and Sly & The Family Stone).
I'm not sure what album it's on but my walk on by burt Bacharach seven minutes edited version is awesome.
Ratings Guide 1 Star - Sorry I bought it 2 Stars - I'll listen to it in my car 3 Stars - Everyone at a party will like it 4 Stars - Only one flaw 5 Stars - I can feel it in my ass
Which Craft do you have? I have this one and wondering if it can be bettered: https://www.discogs.com/release/11635885-Isaac-Hayes-Hot-Buttered-Soul It sounds really nice to me, except for some non-fill in a few short passages.
I vote 4 as the only flaw is that about half(about 9+ Minutes) of the By the Time I Get to Phoenix Song is Isaac talking. Otherwise, Hot Buttered Soul is a Great Album.
I agree. I have the 2018 Craft pressing and I think it’s good enough for me on this one. It sounds great and this is an album I rarely play anyway. I’m sure the one step is fantastic.
If I am reading your question correctly, it is on the topic's album Hot Buttered Soul. On the remaster, Walk on By gets an edited version.
I put this back on the turntable last night and found some areas to critique. The highs, especially the strings, horns, & electric guitars, are a little harsh. Not a bad pressing by any means, but I think that and the bass have room for improvement. I am not as strong willed as you, and bit the bullet! Will come back here to compare the pressings once I get the One Step.
That’s crazy. This is not a song that I would see charting in the top 40. I can actually barely get through it to be honest. I was only 3 years old almost to the day when this chart came out so maybe I’m just not old enough to fully appreciate it. (Birth day 10/20/66) I consider any of the other 3 songs to be much better.
This is an album that was well played in my household when I was growing up. A cook out staple. The Craft 1-step does justice and it is a real elevation to my scratchy 1980s Stax (purple label) reissue which apart from the wear and tear was pretty dynamic. Maybe not for everybody but definitely for me. True soul heada may give the edge to Haye's - The Isaac Hayes Movement with soul searing 16 minute cover of I stand Accused@@@
I have the mofi LP and now the Craft OneStep , they dont seem super far-off from each other which is surprising, but the difference Im hearing is the mofi has a bit (a well-done tasteful bit in this case IMO) of the smiley-face EQ and the Craft has more mid-range and feels warmer. Honestly I think the mofi presents the music a little better, feels somehow like more of an orchestral presentation with more air and openness and dynamic range which I think suits the music well. But the Craft One-Step is also really great , I was disappointed with the earlier Craft releases of Hot Buttered / Black Moses / Shaft , I got those and sold them off pretty quickly.
listening to my Monarch OG right now - probably good enough for me, but it's tempting (my only other Craft One Step was the Miles with the dreaded needle jump so I'm still kinda cautious on this series in general, but sounds like this is a good one)
Spectacular. What an epic “Walk On By” jam. That alone seems worth the price of admission. And on these classics, 331/3 is the right way to go. Less flipping, more enjoying. I love how this mastering doesn’t try to be something it isn’t. It’s got all the funk, the vocals are smooth as silk, but there is weight to the sound. I’ll be spinning this one a bunch.
I have to agree with this. The Craft arrived this week and finally got around to it. It was friggin great but I didn't have another vinyl version. S2 in the beauty. Finished the whole thing and restarted at the beginning of S2. When that finished I started the SACD played back natively as ripped to DSD and upsampled to DSD512 through my digital stack. Skipped to By The Time I Get To Phoenix and queued up LP with about 15 seconds between them. Flipping back and forth they are so similar it's tough to tell the difference. The Mofi DSD has a bit more top end and misses any surface noise. The Craft to Mofi DSD is nearly identical on S2. I wanted more from this but maybe there isn't anything missing from the Mofi. Really it's hard to tell the difference between the two. In hindsight, one of them is enough since they are so close even though I want more from each of them because it is such an iconic album.
Just listened to mine and compared track B1 to the 2018 Craft I have. The one-step gets my recommendation. Beautiful wide soundstage, great separation. The two things that probably stand out the most are Isaac’s voice and the dynamics. Isaac’s voice is front and center and has an almost 3D effect. The dynamics are ridiculous, as displayed on the fade in fade out one the first track. Unfortunately, it seems I have some non-fill towards the end of B1 and some noise at the beginning of B2. Anyone else experience this? Might ask for a replacement. It is a $120 record after all. With respect to the comparison: I think the 2018 Craft is very very good for the price. If this is not an essential album for you, I think just get that one and call it a day. It is not as dynamic as the one-step, Isaac’s voice is not as good, and it has slightly worse separation. For me, the one-step was worth those upgrades.
I've yet to buy any of these kind of records (Small Batch, UHQR, One Step etc), primarily because I just can't justify the outlay. I appreciate that they aren't exactly cheap even in USA but by the time you get them over to this part of the world, with the extra shipping costs and taxes, they start to get really expensive. I absolutely love Hot Buttered Soul. I've listened to it shed-loads of times over the years and I have been considering this one but I'm still pretty circumspect about shelling out this much for an album. And then there's the additional worry of getting a problematic copy. $120 is a LOT for an LP and IMHO it should damned well be bloody PERFECT for that price. Getting one with non-fill/ stitching would really piss me off.
