Mine is numbered #0438. I just cracked it open and cleaned both records. Jacket One is perfect. Jacket Two has some of the same small blotches that we saw regularly on BOTW. I'll be playing it shortly.
welp, Fedex said delivery was today. Was here all day checking my door regurlarly and also the tracking number. finally at 4:00p.m i check and it says it was delivered at 2:44p.m? what? so i call fedex and they said they will run an investigation. I will call music direct tomorrow because they are closed. In all my life of buying online this has only happened 1 other time. and have ordered thousands and thousands of things. And the other time was also Fedex. a book i ordered from amazon spain. Next time i choose a shipping option i will definitely choose usps. my local mailman knows us and has never made mistakes like this. it may take longer but at least i'll get it.
I wouldn't be terribly surprised if it had been dropped at a wrong address nearby, and someone walked it over.
Probably delivered to the wrong house. Happened to me once and it was 2 doors down! Good luck with this!
#0910 and #3790 (I'm not at home and can't remember if that's 100% correct) arrived. Odd that I got a lower # and then one almost 3000 higher.
Forgot to mention in my previous post, I also heard some sibilance just on the vocals of the first track, then the rest of the album was fine. Normally this is just something I chalk up to limitations of my turntable (Rega P3 w Elys) when i hear it. I only mention this because of others upthread mentioning hearing sibilance, could be just a challenging record to track?
Pretty sure you don't need to spend $125 to "upgrade" 'What's Going On' from YouTube audio. But hey that's good for MoFi that they can convert somebody right from zero to $125. Having heard this album in numerous iterations I am undecided on this one. Splitting musical content to accommodate 45RPM? I don't know..... Said what I was thinking as I have been reading through this thread. I know audiophiles have their favorite labels, but this is remarkable. An album pressed in the millions like this I would have thought the appeal would be to people who know it all too well but are determined to hear it out of curiosity or in case it captures something truly unique. Hats off to Mofi.
I’ve found that getting a great copy of Fragile takes about five bucks and an appearance at any record store.
Just opened mine. Everything looks great except for unacceptable scuffing on back of sleeve one and front of sleeve two. Vinyl looks really good and clean at first glance. Unfortunately , my system has been sounding crappy and sibilant lately. Cant figure out why. Not optimistic how this will sound after hearing the two lp's I've played to warm things up.
So I just got finished listening to the What's Going On? One-Step. At first, I was a little disappointed listening to the opening track. It was very good, but no sonic wonder. It wasn't until the 2nd track that the album really took off sonically. There's a lot of richness and clarity to be had here. The mastering renders a really liquid flow to the music, as well. If you're a fan of the album, it's worth it. It's really lovely listening. The vinyl was whisper quiet, but this isn't the most demanding title in terms of needing absolute quiet. Same blotchy scuffing as the previous poster. The main flaw here that some have talked about is the flow of the album as a suite. There are two times when there is an interruption to the original album. Sides 2 and 4 end at a logical place. Side 3's fadeout still works. But side 1's fadeout wasn't done well, in my opinion. It's awkward. The interrupting of the flow of the album, in a way, highlights the slightly repetitive aspect of some of the songs, but the large and deep soundstage allows you to sink into the songs more. Is this the sonic wonder that the first side of Abraxas was? No. But parts of this approach the level of Bridge Over Troubled Water. There's nothing as dynamic and huge that Abraxas contained here. But think of "The Only Living Boy In New York" sort of sound quality for some of this. The bass is never quite the really strong foundation I would have hoped for, though. This isn't unleashing the bass the way Scott LaFaro's is unleashed on Sunday At The Village Vanguard. Or even what you occasionally hear on Bridge Over Troubled Water. I rarely thought "Hey, this bass player is really laying down some lines", the way I sometimes so for some of the Motown stuff. Sonically, this is certainly a few steps up from any previous copy I have heard (I have not heard the 40th Anniversary edition, only some '70s and '80s copies). I can deal with the hiccups of the two interruptions, one awkward. That moment passes and I'm back into it. Yup, listening to this is not the same experience as listening to each full album side. But each song, in a way, becomes more important (aside from the title cut, oddly), more magnified. The magnificent aspects of the album are magnified, but, again, it also shows up a bit of the musical repetitiveness. Still, this is a very inventive, ambitious album from Gaye. Is this THE best way to hear it? I think MFSL giveth as well as taketh away here. Worth hearing and having. Would the One-Step be my only copy? Probably not.
Well right off the bat I can tell my system is off and this recording doesn't sound as great as I'd hoped but... It does have an impressive soundstage, clarity, sense of air and dynamics over anything else I have. Need to get my system sorted out to give this an honest evaluation. Under close inspection, the vinyl was way too dirty. Didn't give it a good vacuum cleaning as I should have before playing. Just did a pass with a carbon fiber brush followed by some anti static spray and a pass from my discwasher.
I got #815 and #3704 from MusicDirect. (The copy I reviewed was #3704.) My first one is 95 units before yours and my second is 86. Maybe they're working the pallets from both ends toward the middle! The wildcards are the guys who just bought one, but I'm guessing #2304 and #2305 to a single buyer will be sequential serial numbers. Ha.
Mercy mercy me really opened up a lot more and started giving me a taste of what I expected. Right On is even better, listening to it twice before going to side 4.
Gourd, triangle, cymbals etc very impressive on Right On. Very airy and 3D. Side 4 pretty dirty but cleaned up easy. Inner City Blues vocals kind of sibilant. How much of these variances are system related vs. source us still up in the air. Right On still the highlight.
Turns out my stylus was plowing dust bunnies on side 4. Another cleaning and replay sounds much better.
I'm going to add that the sonic beauty here with the Marvin Gaye is generally of a more subtle variety. It's not going to knock your socks off, for the most part. Those who are most familiar with the album will appreciate the better fidelity the most.
I have my first RCM shipping to me this week. I’m also waiting on delivery of this latest one-step release. Can you explain why it’s an imperative to clean an RTI pressing before playing?
Yikes. Number 178. Perhaps I should’ve bought two. I’m never one to double purchase. I buy to listen and collecting is secondary. I never expect a low number. Can’t wait to spin this later today.
