I have the Mofi Cyndi Lauper, and it isn't that great, compared to my NM first pressing. That original was mastered by George Marino (his unique script is in the deadwax) and he did some nice things with the mid-bass that really help out the recording. The Mofi doesn't have those mastering moves and is too bright, imho. George Marino was certainly no slouch of a mastering engineer.
I have one of the Monarch first pressings as well. I heard this is one of the best versions of the early pressings. I agree about the sound, very good indeed. I got my copy in excellent shape several years ago for around $5, and it took me a while to find one with the textured cover still looing almost new so to speak. Got the One Step on order and really surprised how long this one is taking to sell out. As much as I like Neil Young, I prefer this over Deja Vu. I bet this one will sound sweet as can be. I did get my BST One Step delivered yesterday and was going to hang tight opening it, but when I kept reading people having issues with it, especially the warps, I was a bit worried since I got mine from AS since I slept on it. The box, jackets and pics look perfect and both records look great, flat and centered. So I'm assuming I got lucky with this one.
Here is the one I found this weekend. It is a 1975 reissue cut by George Piros. Has '-FF repl AT/GP' in the deadwax. Cover is non-textured, brighter colors than the early pressings. Truly incredible sound. Highly recommended! https://www.discogs.com/Crosby-Stills-Nash-Crosby-Stills-Nash/release/6017967
Well, glad I pre-ordered this one directly from Mofi a few weeks ago. Here's hoping it hits the mailbox in the next few weeks!
I was on the phone with Music Direct today about an unrelated matter but asked about the schedule. She said Pearl was up next, and not to expect if before mid summer. Who knows, though?
You did get lucky. My 2nd replacent set came the other day. Disc 1 was flat but has smears ans such and a fingerprint or 2(I hope my Loricraft will hose it down) but Disc 2 was majorly warped. So, I'll keep Disc 1 and disc 2 of the 1st replacement set that has a lesser warp. The 1st set would blow your mind how warped it is. 1/4" rise and fall.
Man, I'm tired of people not packing properly. Today, I received my Duke at Newport from MoFi, my Billie Songs for Distingue Lovers from AS, and my King Curtis Live at Fillmore West from VMP . . . all of them had brutal seam splits. I shouldn't have to ask every seller to open sealed vinyl and ship outside the sleeve because they don't know how to add extra padding to the face of the sleeve to keep the vinyl from sliding around. These are pro shops and should know better. And I haven't even opened them yet to see if the vinyl is defect-free.
Received my Songs For Distingue Lovers, All Or Nothing At All, and Like Someone In Love from AS today, all three had seam splits. Recieved Soulville about a week ago from AS and it had seam splits as well. I wish I would have been more on top of things, found my Blue Train from AS I received last year has one too. Very frustrating.
The single pocket jackets AP used for some of their 45 rpm releases are really prone to splits. They are too large and the discs move around a lot. But I definitely don’t expect anywhere to open sealed records and remove the discs without a request to do so. Many people like their sealed records to arrive sealed and many collectors will keep them sealed.
I definitely prefer to receive mine fresh and sealed, but it "seams" like too much to ask nowadays. MoFi is the absolute worst when it comes to strength of their jackets. I'd say about 1 in 5 of mine are shredded to varying degrees upon receipt. I have all of the MMJ 45s and not a single one ever split on me.
I previously wanted to buy only sealed records for best vinyl condition but after getting so many warped records from primary and 3rd party sellers, I'm only buying open and inspected from 3rd party sellers from now on. I had AS open and inspect a couple of replacement LP's and they were still warped. It's the time...of the seeeeeson for war-ping!
What was the shipping method? I'm very surprised, as I have probably made 20+ orders, and several hundred records, from AS, and never had one damaged jacket. Everywhere else, yes, but the AS shipping boxes and packing has always been stellar, IME. But I wonder if the fact that my orders come Fedex (international) has any impact. Or just dumb luck? Now, QRP pressings? Ugh! That's another story! (And for another thread.)
ive been debating those 3 titles but wonder if theyll show up as a 33 in 2022 in the AS Series. I dont want to get up after 6 minutes to flip a record.
Shipped via FedEx. The crazy thing is the three that arrived yesterday only had seam splits on one side and the splits were on the same exact side (bottom) for all three. Edit: And I agree about the stellar packaging, which is why I didn't check my orders as well as I should have up until now.
I was having the same dilemma since all three are Verve. But I also didn't want to miss out just in case they aren't pulled into the AS series.
Well that sure stinks. I went through 5 different copies of the AP 45 of Jazz Samba that had some of the worst dishwarps I had ever seen (even their return manager could not believe how bad they were). I had to send back the last three copies to get my refund but was able to keep the cover and two copies that were somehow dishwarped on separate sides, thus allowing me to have sides A-D that were flat. One of the heaviest sets in my collection now, not counting box sets. So I got to listen to the BST yesterday. Oh my, holy smokes and WOW! This is almost like hearing this record for the first time. The depth, clarity, and soundstage with some great bottom end/bass just make this a special one. I swear this album has aged as good as any other record I have heard. To my ears, not referring to the sound since I did already, but the music is just a blast to listen to. Fantastic in everyway! I noticed you can still get this for under $200, if I had to, I would spend more than the $125 I'm that happy with it.
I've had a couple AP titles with seam splits at the bottom and they came with 3 other records that did not. Which suggests this happened at QRP / Acoustic Sounds before being sent.
Duke Ellington at Newport- another bigly warped MoFi. After 2 replacement BST warped sets, 3 in total with fortunately 2 "flat" discs between 3 sets, I'm starting to fear ordering from MoFi.
Well, go figure. With all of the other pressings out there (and I do have the 'okay' MoFi Anadisc), and my thinking it probably wouldn't get hugely better, I canceled my preorder of this. I'm glad it's a homerun, though.
