Vinyl Torture Tracks - Inner Grooves, Sibilants, Hotly Cut Tracks, Sudden Volume Bursts, etc.

Another gift from Daniel.
Damn
I heard this for the first time recently and really liked it. The vinyl sounds very nice.
Paul Desmond - Summertime

 

I just checked - I actually have 6 different labels / renditions for the Rite of Spring so I better get busy, a little light on that one!

Did you realize that Stravinsky had a huge impression on the early formation / love of music - and then writing of Frank Zappa? Frank was a big Stravinsky fan.... you can even hear his band / lead singers on a couple live recordings ribbing Frank about Stravinsky.

 

The newer vinyl re-issue of Joe's Garage is superb. Amazing sound quality for a re-issue. A system demo LP for sure.

On my limited classical front (compared to yours), I'm basically a Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Debussy, Ravel, Gershwin guy mostly. I did have Zappa's classical CD but haven't heard it in a long time.

 

I bought the newly issue Live in NY 3LP set a couple months back... Joe's Garage I still only have on CD and one of the two older cut LP's .

 

The re-issue is 3 LP's. A must have if you're a fan.

 

Run don't walk to get the Joe's Garage vinyl reissue! 10/10 for sound

 

Yeah one of the best rock re-issues I've heard for sure. Beautiful attention to detail on the jacket and inserts too.

 

Wow, so crazy thing happened: Shortly after our little discussion here, a local shop just so happened to have a copy of the 80s UK Love LP for a mere $6. However, there was a catch: It was kinda beat up and absolutely filthy. But I figured at that price I should pick it up anyhow, and at least the cool UK-only gatefold cover is in excellent shape.

Anyhow, after cleaning it, I compared it to the US/Sire Love, and I was really pleasantly surprised to find that the UK sounds quite noticeably better! "Rain" on the UK sounds significantly clearer and totally listenable throughout - even towards the end when the chorus repeats and the arrangement is kind of built up (where the US really starts to sound muddy and distorted). We're talking a night and day difference.

This is probably why:

• The UK was cut noticeably quieter than the US. I had to turn the US down a "notch" when I put it on after the UK, as it was blaring through the headphones. I have to say, the US was cut way, way too loud for a record that's so lengthy and has so much music crammed onto both sides.
• I also noticed that the run-out groove on the UK's side one is wider; the US "Rain" runs closer to the label, which could make an already poorly mastered and cut song sound worse since it would be potentially harder to track.
• The other difference I noticed was in the EQ: On the US, they really pushed some of the upper mid frequencies hard, giving it an overall tonal quality that just seems to sound inherently gritty/muddy. The UK sounds much more balanced tonally, and the higher-frequency details come through much, much better, sounding smooth and silky. I'd go so far as to say the UK sounds vastly superior.

Only problem is that this UK copy, even after cleaning, isn't the quietest LP, and there is some light but persistent crackling that you can hear in between songs and in the background on quiet passages. (The LP is covered in hairlines.) It sucks because my US copy is very quiet, but I just can't see myself wanting to listen to it anymore now that I know how good the UK sounds. I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for a nicer UK copy, because this is the way this album needs to be heard.

 

Very interesting observations. It's funny how the same exact album released in different countries around the same time can be so different to listen to based on mastering choices that the lacquer cutter made. Not only in terms of source, general eq, etc. but also level and tracking difficulty.

 

I know! And I think I mentioned this earlier, but there seem to be quite a number of LPs, particularly from the 80s by British artists, where the US pressing sounds comparatively crappy for some of the reasons we're discussing in this thread, but the UK pressing sounds great. It seems like the US pressings tend to be cut louder and the EQ often sounds like it's been messed with. I wonder if US labels were deliberately pushing for louder/hotter pressings. I can picture some label exec saying, "These English masterings sound so tame, let's make 'em POP!"

 

Yeah, I think it's just more of the mastering engineers in the country of origin sometimes being more sympathetic to the band or the recording or whatever. Like U.S. Sire pressings of UK and European bands - for example - some sound pretty good and others not so hot, it just depends.

I've also got plenty of the pressings that are the opposite of what you describe above, where the UK/Euro pressing is cut much hotter.

It all depends. But this is why we have this forum to exchange info like this and inform our buying choices

 

The bass on Norah Jones Live at Austin City Limits used to throw an old Koetsu around. My Lyra sails right through it.

 

I don’t know this for fact but I’d imagine foreign pressings were made from copy tapes in may instances as well.

 

They are. Henry Rollins - for some reason - collects every international release and test pressing of many of his favourite artists because they're different cuts from different tapes. He was talking about how he prefers an Italian test pressing of some Iggy solo LP's rather than the standard releases.

 

This makes me laugh. I am trying to imagine myself demoing "Sy Borg" for the wife and kids.

I just played Elvis Costello's Blood and Chocolate (US Columbia) for the family this past weekend. "It's the way your shoulders shake and what they're shaking for" from "I Want You" was awful.

I picked up a mofi Aja record at the library bookstore for $1.00 and I thought I was so lucky. While the record is in good shape, what a disappointment. It has more punch in the low end but it's terribly sibilant throughout.

The only time I ever clipped my amp was when listening to Rickie Lee Jones's Girl at Her Volcano. It;s a fantastic record.

And I need to get my copy of Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 on my turntable soon. That is a great demo record. I don't remember hearing sibilance on "Mas Que Nada," so I guess I'll see how my stylus is tracking.

 

It could be a factor in overall sound quality but in terms of how aggressive a cut is comes down to the mastering engineer/lacquer cutter.

 

Lol. Yes, the audience for your demo of Joe's Garage must show ID at the door.

The best Steely Dan Aja pressing is probably the AB1006 IMO, which is the only pressing off the original master tape. Even the AA1006 released same time period is from a re-mastered copy and has more compression. I've got both. I have the MoFi Aja CD and I was also less than impressed. It's muddy sounding and has a recessed midrange compared to the LP's. The standard CD release is better IMO.

 

The mono mix of Surrealistic Pillow, especially Somebody to love is cut very loud, and in my experience is hard to get it to play without just a touch of distortion, so if I upgrade my amp or speakers or cart, that's one of the first LPs I usually test to see how distorted it is.

 

Tonight I remembered a particularly good torture test that should be very common to come across in the $5-10 bin. Early Portrait pressings of She's So Unusual cut at Sterling by George Marino are cut HOT and the bright sound of the production doesn’t help matters. The chorus of the inner song on side one (“Time After Time”) is a big offender. I always assumed this was just a spitty sounding LP, but playback with a MicroLine really tamed this to fully acceptable levels. Still feels a little tilted towards the higher frequencies compared to digital versions, but it sounds great now to my ears.

For the low cost of these pressings this makes for a pretty good test track for those looking. Plus, who doesn’t love at least one cut off this LP...

 

I've come across two more that I thought were worth mentioning:

First is the (only) US pressing of Lush's Split. Terrible IGD. I think this one was cut hot, and I think the mastering was botched, as there are bits of distortion and clipping throughout the record, and not just in the inner grooves. The CD is pretty darn loud and has some clipping as well. I'd be curious to hear a UK pressing of this LP, as for me this US pressing is basically unlistenable. I hadn't listened to this record in years, and putting it on the other day I was reminded why. This is one where I have to stick with the CD, and even that isn't ideal.

The other one is a bit more obscure: Sad Lovers and Giants - Feeding the Flame. On the last song on side one, "Man of Straw," when it resumes after a quiet/spare mid-song breakdown right around the 3:35 mark, there's audible distortion, mainly from the blistering guitar, and it sounds fairly crappy until the end, for the last remaining minute or so. Not sure if it's my copy or if all pressings are like this. This track gets closer than normal to the label, but I certainly have other records that get even closer to the label which sound just fine to the end.

(Fortunately, I have the "Man of Straw" 12", which sounds great, and also features the full version of the track, as the version on the LP fades out early so that it can fit.)

 

I don't have an OG Midnight Music copy of FTF unfortunately. I do have The Mirror Test and Total Sound on OG MM vinyl. Although those records do sound good I'll be honest and say these albums sound better on MM CDs or the Cherry Red clone pressings. I'm guessing MM was fairly budget in their approach to vinyl in the 80s like many independent labels.

 

Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon, I'm listening to it on the Songs To Learn & Sing comp.

 

What pressing of STL&S? Is it Korova, Sire, WEA, a later reissue, etc?

 

Korova.

 

Just put it on my decks...Korova (German pressing)...vm540ml : loud and harsh sounding S'es but no distortion- Ortofon mc3-turbo : lightly distorted S'es.
So yes, I think it's in the recording/pressing.
Listened to a few other songs, overall a very harsh sounding album/pressing. Almost to the point of being unlistenable on my system.