My understanding is that the 2013 EU version uses the same lacquer by Chris Bellman (that's what it says on discogs). Anyway, I've also read reports that the Bellmans are good, but not as good as the originals. So it would be interesting to know how the new releases compare to the originals, rather than the Bellmans, I think...
My box arrived Friday. Ran all albums through the Degritter, and sleeved with new inners. Yes, the jackets are not Stoughtons, but that almost seems like a necessity, since these albums have unorthodox jacket designs to begin with. Every record in my set is flat and silent. Sound is brilliant. My originals are likely going into the sell bin, as shelf space is at a premium these days. Optimal did a great job on this!
Just listened to Miles of Isles. Sounds fantastic. I don’t recall how it compares to my older copy as I have not listened to it in some time. There is a big scratch across pretty much all of side 4 but I don’t hear it at all, so no point in returning it. Doesn’t look pretty but no issue audibly which matters most. I don’t see the point in replacing the inner sleeves as the ones that come in the set are perfectly fine rice paper inside of paper. I cannot see how these would damage any LP’s like paper and cardboard ones do. Also I didn’t bother cleaning them on my wet vac system as they are all nice and clean. Just used my carbon brush on each side before playing. Super quiet pressings.
The current EU Court and Spark doesn't use the CB cut. I own the EU version, sounds alright, but looks like it was cut in house by Optimal, probably from digital. Here's the discogs and it lines up with my deadwax... Joni Mitchell - Court And Spark I recently got the CB cut of Hejira though, and it sounds FANTASTIC! Better than my OG
Got through the whole box. The mastering is great. Sleeves are nice. But I am let down by the pressings. At least 3 of the 5 LPs have some non-fill. I wish I could ignore it, but when it pops up when Joni is playing piano it's very annoying. Most of them are noisy. Maybe a cleaning would help, but that won't fix the non-fill. I buy a lot of the Blue Note Classics which are pressed by Optimal, and they seemed to have turned things around in that series (lots of non-fill previously but they seemed to have corrected it). But now I am back to being down on Optimal.
But apparently Hissing does: Joni Mitchell - The Hissing Of Summer Lawns .. and that's where there are a couple of comments about the Bellman Vs the original. The Court you're mentioning seems to have been mastered by Grundman and pressed at Optimal - as is the new box?...
Could be, I don't have that one. The 2013 EU deadwax doesn't have CB. It has the Optimal engineers. So it's likely from a BG digital master, and cut by Optimal. But the new one was actually cut by BG. His initials are in the deadwax. Our "insider" says this is AAA, and the BG in the deadwax supports that. Likely it was cut by BG, plated by RTI, and sent to Optimal for pressing.
Yes you're right. For the 2013 EU Court it says mastered by BG, but the cut is Optimal. While for the 2013 EU Hissing it's clearly stated lacquer by Chris Bellman
mmm... not 100% sure we can positively jump to that conclusion. Yes I definitely see the BG in the dead wax. He definitely did cut this lacquer. And he also mastered the CD set, so he made a digital master, that's for sure. So... he might have made two discrete masterings, absolutely, AAA and digital. I seem to sense that we're ruling out any other option in this case. But it's been known to happen, you know, lacquers cut from digital?
Amazon price watch - cd box set was £44.99, now down to £35.57. Two days later!! It's going in my sort of direction. Must be they over ordered or lack of interest.
I have not compared but my old Joni albums were bought from the mid 70s on. Hissing and Hejira might come from nearer the release dates. They were also played on the dreadful Alba record player. I did get a Japanese Blue in the early 80s when I had money and a proper hi fi! They are of course great records and in an ideal world would have been out on sacd years ago.
Thanks, the vinyl box is tempting and Rhino are usually great. I like really good sleeve reproduction as I play most music from digital these days and my Sony deck is pretty modest although I upgraded the cartridge/stylus. The Japanese card sleeves are wonderful from a few years back. Interestingly although not available HD Tracks lists an MQA version of the box. Some recent Japanese MQA releases have been in lovely card sleeves eg. The Free Story, The Jam - Snap. Here's hoping. Oh just off the top of my head. The old HDCD Miles of Aisles was great but is this the first physical product remaster of For the Roses?
Wait for the reviews that cover their c*ck-up on Court and Spark and it will get even cheaper. Seriously how can they do something like that? I am considering returning the boxset.
That is really annoying on 2 counts. I paid £43 two days ago via Amazon and a glitch like that is unforgivable, particularly when so much attention has been paid to the actual packaging. Who was in charge of the quality control?
.... and Time Fades Away on cd is now a pound cheaper! Note to self..... give it a few days before ordering the upcoming Revolver reissue.
I deliberately avoided ordering this box from Amazon after they did exactly the same thing with the Archives 2 box last year. So much for loyalty!
I have the 24 192 flac and the same issue occurs ie track 4 "People's Parties/Same Situation", and then "Same Situation" on it's own. No doubt that is why HD Tracks have the set as unavailable at this time. Qobuz are pretty good. I had a Grateful Dead set where part of a track was missing. Before I got around to emailing the file was corrected and could be downloaded without the rest of the set. I have copied it all into individual files for each album instead of one great splodge of 50 plus tracks. These download folk must be the laziest toads in the world. Customer does the work.
This is exactly my experience so far. I’m actually incredibly happy with the mastering. The pressing quality is a bit lacking. It’s funny because the discs look perfect and they play very quietly, until you hit a bad spot. To me it sounds like nonfill which really can’t be fixed. I have noticed a bit of improvement though with repeated cleaning and playing so some of it could be due to debris in the grooves. Court and Spark is the worst in my set. Disc one of Miles of Aisles has just a touch here and there. I’m debating on what to do. A replacement of Court and Spark would probably suffice. Returning a whole set is a pain and still risks trouble with a few discs. Too bad. This set would be a resounding success IMO without pressing issues.
They should be offering replacement CDs for customers, too. No doubt Qobuz and others will take care of their buyers from the download realm, but let's see how they handle the physical product. Agree about the lazy way these downloads get handled. File names all over the place (like with the 2013 Grateful Dead remasters e.g.) & all songs in one folder like here is a bit annoying. Most download are not cheap, so you would expect at least some care being put into the way these are presented.
I found one spot of non fill on the three studio albums. It's on the track Let The Wind Carry Me, on the album For The Roses, about a second or two, with a couple of soft repeating tics following. The rest is good so far. I ordered a replacement. Overall very happy with the sound, pressings box and jackets.
I never learn. If I was prepared to wait another few months it'll probably be around £25 like the Reprise box.
Does anyone know who to contact re the faulty Court and Spark cd? I think it would be a waste of time returning the box to Amazon as they'd just send me another box with the same fault. When the Richard and Linda Thompson box set came out I contacted Universal Music direct because there were multiple disc faults. I received replacements a couple of months later.
