The Who’s ‘Tommy’ - New 2022 Half-Speed Remaster

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Benn Kempster, May 11, 2022.

  1. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    Yes. But what my ears tell me is no more valid than what your ears tell you. You can find it for less than $60 though, I think.
     
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  2. RJB1954

    RJB1954 Member

    Thanks, I will check it out.
     
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  3. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    I don't know what the MCA Tommy's sound like but I do have an original Decca. Based on that one , the half-speed is well worth the purchase if you're a fan of the album. Supposedly, the original Decca pressings were sourced from fourth generation tapes (I believe our host stated that at one time). This would automatically make the half-speed (or the Classic records version)far better listening "experiences".
     
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  4. sharedon

    sharedon Forum Zonophone

    Location:
    Boomer OK
    IMO the half-speed is a great, affordable go-to pressing.
     
  5. Paineish

    Paineish Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    I'm going to suggest that it's not. As I indicated, the reissue is really quite good but if your 1977 pressing is a fair copy of my original pressing from high school, that's tough to beat and what you have is truly all analog. That seems decisive. I'm curious; do you have, may I ask, a Canadian pressing?
     
  6. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    Damn ... you people make this hard. So I have two vinyl copies of Tommy -- a NM UK Track A5/B2/B3/B4, a VG+ A1/A1/B2/B3 and the MFSL CD from ... was it 1990? Anyway, I have to drive into the town that has the closest record store to me on some errands. I was there last week and saw that they had the Tommy Abbey Road in stock. I thought about it but ended up getting something else (the Kevin Gray stereo mix of Blue Train). But Tommy is nagging at me. What do I do? What will I gain with the Abbey Road in terms of listening experience over what I already have? I've read all the posts up to here ... on the whole I think the positives have outnumbered the negatives, but the negatives seem credible. If you have an opinion, please chime in.
     
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  7. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    Unfortunately my opinion, or anyone’s, is ultimately a reflection of what appeals to me in terms my own set of ears. Also, I don’t own or have heard an original UK so the specific copies a given listener is familiar with makes a huge difference.
     
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  8. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    Seems like there are people here for whom Tommy is a huge deal and who have multiple copies in multiple formates. For my part I quite like the MFSL CD and play it often, but there is something missing over the vinyl copies I have. I guess that's why I'm open to hearing something new...but I want more information if I can get it before pulling any triggers.
     
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  9. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    For me, it’s generally hard to compare CD versions to vinyl versions because of the different qualities brought out between the formats. For instance with vinyl, the comparison of sibilance or inner groove distortion is a big deal with me.
     
  10. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    I get what you're saying, but I'm after wholistic evaluations...what people like better. I think the majority of the posts I've read here are from people who have multiple formats. In my case it's only vinyl and CD/SACD.
     
    DK Pete likes this.
  11. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    Yep. The few brown ones I've come across didn't stay in my collection long.
     
  12. Con

    Con Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    You won't get any crackles on the new vinyl, the Abbey Road version is a nice listen worded of the €46 it cost here :righton:
     
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  13. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    If I pull the trigger I'd be letting loose with approx. another €18 over your price. Besides it being an import, the JPY has really tanked this year and every import has risen in price.
     
  14. Con

    Con Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    Yes it's an expensive hobby these days :shake:
     
  15. Kuro

    Kuro Forum Resident

  16. Tommyboy

    Tommyboy Senior Member

    Location:
    New York
    You’ll gain nothing over a UK Track pressing.

    The AR half speed version is a nice sounding record but I don’t think it betters an all analog Track pressing, regardless of the matrix numbers.

    If you only had a US Decca or MCA pressing, then I would say, go for it.
     
  17. Jeff57

    Jeff57 Senior Member

    I have my 70's Canadian MCA vinyl, CD, DVD-A and Blu ray of Tommy. I don't "need" this AR 1/2 speed, but I may cave and get it. :mad:
     
  18. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    A most surprising thread its turned out to be. Informative of course too.

    I'm curious I am guessing your
    a1 a1 b2 b3 is a 1972-73-ish UK Track release?

    One thing the Japanese vinyl had from the start on any of the other releases, from a sort of convenience and also like a sense of unity or sequence about them, was the record 1 side a, b and record 2 side c,d as opposed to the auto-coupling pain. Plus the booklet being attached inside a gatefold and opening page by page like a book. None of it sound quality related. But the AR reissue is of course not auto-coupled. I assume the later K.G. mastering is not either?
     
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  19. Tommyboy

    Tommyboy Senior Member

    Location:
    New York
    That’s correct
     
    dee likes this.
  20. misteranderson

    misteranderson Forum Resident

    Location:
    englewood, nj
    No Classics on Discogs for less than $400 at the moment. No listening experience is worth that.

    I have an original Decca I stumbled on for $10 early this summer that's basically unplayed. Sounds amazing, don't care what gen the tapes were.

    Maybe I'll pick up the 1/2 speed someday, but another copy of Tommy isn't really a priority for me.
    Had brown MCA Tommy and Quad, in addition to other records from the late '70s with that label. Pretty awful all-around.
     
  21. Channel Z

    Channel Z Forum Resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    I have the original U.S. Decca Tommy and it sounds excellent. No way this sounds like a 4th generation tape source.
     
    Tommyboy likes this.
  22. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    Wished I'd seen your post. I bought the Abbey Road half-speed. It cost me JPY 7950 or US$55.16 or EUR 57.23. OK, the good, the bad and the ugly.

    The good: whether by dint of source, process or mastering I heard details I'd missed before on this album (and I've had copies on and off since the mid-1970s). Everything is rendered in sharper focus, instruments especially the bass are tighter and clearer (and there's plenty of bass here). I guess there was truth in advertising here: the half-speed process renders the sound more stable. This issue might be more dynamic than my old UK Track copies. Seems like the bass and drums hit harder, especially noticeable at the start of Overture.

    The bad: air and treble have been sucked out of this remaster, at least that's what my ears tell me, especially apparent to me in the vocals, and drums, acoustic guitars and the French Horn in Overture. Part of the promo for half-speed is how it serves the reproduction of highs better or something. I'm not hearing that. The highs on either of my UK Tracks is audibly better to my ears, more natural, and brighter (in a good way).

    The ugly: aural fatigue. I was listening pretty loud through headphones last night and it got unpleasant rather quickly. Doesn't happen with my Track's.

    OK. Buyer's remorse. Cue The Beatles: "I-----should have known better..."

    I'm going to listen again sometime later this week and see if my impressions change, but I don't think they will. Nice vinyl, pressed in Germany, nice packaging including a certificate that goes at length to tell you how good this sounds, and SQ that I could only call C+ / B-. Mind you this might impress on the right system. It just doesn't on mine. If only I'd known about the Kevin Gray when it came out...in the meantime, no more half-speeds for me.
     
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  23. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    I think one of my copies is an early '70s and the other mid-70s. The mid--with the later matrices -- is on thinnish vinyl so I'm thinking oil crisis. Sounds great. I play it more often because it's in NM while the earlier one isn't in as nice a shape.
     
    dee likes this.
  24. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    OK...I'm giving it a second go. I might have been a tad too harsh the first go round (I was listening fairly loud through an old pair of headphones), but now through the system it's a bit better, but it's still fatiguing to me, even at the moderate level I'm listening at. It reminds me about the huge controversy about digital in MOFI's over on that thread ... not to justify the deceptive moves on MOFI's part, but a record like this and the MOFI 45rpm series like their Dire Straits reissues illustrates the difference between good digital-to-vinyl and the not-so-good. This might sound better to me on a tube system (there are some tubes in my phono pre) but on mine it's just not cutting it. My old MOFI CD sounds better as do my UK Track vinyl copies. This is clear as a bell and on quiet vinyl, but so far I'm just not enjoying it much. Mea culpa.
     
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  25. MOON

    MOON Forum Resident

    I really would like to buy this record, however I think you nailed it using the adjective fatiguing. I have several Abbey 1/2 speed pressings ( Police, Inxs, etc ) and find them all this way. I never play them.

    Then I noticed the Analog Planet positive review and thought maybe, just maybe things had changed, apparently not. I find these Abbey rd issues a very hard listen. To me they just don't sound natural, very tipped up in the high's.

    As the quoted paragraph said comparing this issue to mofi's 45 rpm Dire Straits nailed it.
     

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