Great sounding LP records that don't cost an arm and a leg

[rajapaarvai]

Hi,
Just to share my thoughts on the sound quality of some of my LPs which are not to difficult to come by.
My observation is that you don't have to be hell bent on seeking out the very first pressing of a favourite LP. In most cases the 2nd, 3rd or subsequent pressing sounds just as nice; and in some cases even outdoing the so called first press.
On the topic of "cheap and good" here are some relatively affordable LPs that sound great on a properly calibrated rig.
1. Prince - self-titled 2nd LP from 1979 (US Winchester pressing) - Real punchy, airy, room filling sound. My favourite album of the Purple Majesty.
2. Little Feat - Time loves a hero (US 1977 US Palm label pressing)
3. Roberta flack - Killing me softly (US 1973 Atlantic AT/GP pressing)
4. Ry Cooder - Jazz (US 1978 pressing)
5. James Taylor - JT (US 1979 - TML pressing)
6. Stevie Wonder - Original Musiquarium (US 1982 compilation - Precision)
7. Fleetwood Mac - Tango in the night (US 1987 Precision pressing)
8. A-ha - Scoundrel Days (US 1986 Warner)
9. Roxy Music - Avalon (US 1982 masterdisk pressing) - But you probably know about this one already. The UK copy should sound wonderful too.
10. Madonna - self-titled ((US 1983 Sterling Winchester pressing) - I must say I was pleasantly surprised with one. Didn't expect it to sound this good)

Shall share some others soon.

Cheers.

 

[Sandesh]

Scorpions - love at first bite (original press) has some of the most amazing sound ever!

 

[rupy]

Very Nice.I had bought a Pnk Floyd Dark side of the moon some years back.I realised that it was a digital remake.Where can I get an original analogue recording from.

 

[Bloom@83]

Very Nice.I had bought a Pnk Floyd Dark side of the moon some years back.I realised that it was a digital remake.Where can I get an original analogue recording from.

Analog first or even second pressings of DSOTM are super expensive today , easily above 300 dollars that too not in mint condition.
The Guthrie remaster from analog tapes is the best balance that can be made for sound and cost perspective.

 

[Bloom@83]

Hi,
Just to share my thoughts on the sound quality of some of my LPs which are not to difficult to come by.
My observation is that you don't have to be hell bent on seeking out the very first pressing of a favourite LP. In most cases the 2nd, 3rd or subsequent pressing sounds just as nice; and in some cases even outdoing the so called first press.
On the topic of "cheap and good" here are some relatively affordable LPs that sound great on a properly calibrated rig.
1. Prince - self-titled 2nd LP from 1979 (US Winchester pressing) - Real punchy, airy, room filling sound. My favourite album of the Purple Majesty.
2. Little Feat - Time loves a hero (US 1977 US Palm label pressing)
3. Roberta flack - Killing me softly (US 1973 Atlantic AT/GP pressing)
4. Ry Cooder - Jazz (US 1978 pressing)
5. James Taylor - JT (US 1979 - TML pressing)
6. Stevie Wonder - Original Musiquarium (US 1982 compilation - Precision)
7. Fleetwood Mac - Tango in the night (US 1987 Precision pressing)
8. A-ha - Scoundrel Days (US 1986 Warner)
9. Roxy Music - Avalon (US 1982 masterdisk pressing) - But you probably know about this one already. The UK copy should sound wonderful too.
10. Madonna - self-titled ((US 1983 Sterling Winchester pressing) - I must say I was pleasantly surprised with one. Didn't expect it to sound this good)

Shall share some others soon.

Cheers.
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Very nice. I own the Rumours Pallais pressing - very nice sounding.

 

[rupy]

That means vinyl today is no good if it is taken form digital master.Pure digital will be much superior.

 

[prem]

Rupy, if both the CD and the vinyl are made from the same master and there is no tampering, then they will be the same. But that’s not what happens in reality. When a CD or a file is being made from the original master, they engineer normally compresses the sound. Hence the CD will usually have a compressed sound. 95% of the albums out there on CD or streaming are compressed. When a vinyl is being made, normally no compression is applied to the master. Hence the vinyl sounds better.
So while theoretically you are right, in practice because of different mastering practices, it’s very different. Usually the vinyl of a digital master sounds better than the CD copy

 

[Bloom@83]

And the compression is done to make them sound louder , yes ?

 

[Bloom@83]

What Prem said applies 100% for Indian music labels , for jazz, classic rock and western music labels (ECM , Atlantic , Prestige , Columbia Legacy etc ) it’s not necessarily true.

 

[prem]

What I said is true for all Indian and western popular music, including pop and rock and including popular artists like Norah Jones, Adele, etc.

For jazz, Indian and western classical, it may not necessarily be applicable.

 

[Bloom@83]

Popular western pop / rock artists do not always get proper remastering. However remastering and mixing engineers like Steve Wilson, Grundman, Ludwig , Hoffman and the likes have brought out hundreds of classic rock albums in CD /SACD format that often sound as good as first pressings or even better.

 

[prem]

And the compression is done to make them sound louder , yes ?

Yes

 

[prem]

Popular western pop / rock artists do not always get proper remastering. However remastering and mixing engineers like Steve Wilson, Grundman, Ludwig , Hoffman and the likes have brought out hundreds of classic rock albums in CD /SACD format that often sound as good as first pressings or even better.

We are talking two different things here. I was discussing mastering for CD and vinyl. You are talking about remastering. And on that topic, I haven’t yet found a single remastering which is the equal of the original. Forget better. And I have owned many DCC, Mofi, Analogue Production lps. I always go back to the first press. It’s just more magical and gets the mood of the song so right. The remastering may have some better hifi attributes but generally it sounds dead compared to the first pressings. Where I cannot afford the first pressing, I buy the represses from late 70s and early 80s for the classic rock albums. I find them more natural sounding to the modern remasterings. I even had the one step Mofi mastering of Abraxas which I think cost USD 125. I prefer the first press to it.

 

[Bloom@83]

We are talking two different things here. I was discussing mastering for CD and vinyl. You are talking about remastering. And on that topic, I haven’t yet found a single remastering which is the equal of the original. Forget better. And I have owned many DCC, Mofi, Analogue Production lps. I always go back to the first press. It’s just more magical and gets the mood of the song so right. The remastering may have some better hifi attributes but generally it sounds dead compared to the first pressings. Where I cannot afford the first pressing, I buy the represses from late 70s and early 80s for the classic rock albums. I find them more natural sounding to the modern remasterings. I even had the one step Mofi mastering of Abraxas which I think cost USD 125. I prefer the first press to it.

Okay. My experience though much narrower to yours has been a bit different. I have listened to first pressing of Beatles Hard Days Night (mono ) and didn’t find it superior to the modern day remasterings (not represses as I don’t own any ). It is one of the landmark albums of the sixties (and of all time ) which you will surely agree. Same experience with few other albums from the seventies.

 

[prem]

I thought the Beatles modern remasters are really sad. The original IME is way better. But I guess we all hear differently

 

[Bloom@83]

I am willing to concede that condition of first pressing , cartridge and speakers play a huge role.

But practically - is it even possible to find first pressings of iconic albums like most of Beatles , Rolling Stones , Doors , Dylan , Floyd (and so on ) discography in playable conditions (minimum VG+ ) today ? I guess not.

Whereas the likes of Grundman and Steve Wilson are reissuing digital remasters from analog tapes in both CD and vinyls which are more often than not terrific.

Taking a concrete example - the original pressing of In the Court of Crimson King sounded actually poor as per all reviews from contemporary period due to tape hiss and other issues. Whereas in early 2000s those were corrected and reissued by Steve Wilson with full approval from the lead Robert Fripp using the master tapes. Even not taking cost as a factor this would be a winner anyday - I own one myself.

 

[prem]

All the albums that the OP has mentioned in the first post are nice sounding.

 

[reubensm]

Again, personal opinion but I have found most modern day re-mastered editions to be quite good. This is in comparison with originals that I found to be slightly dull (often referred to as smooth and laidback sounding) and often mid-rangy (referred to as neutral and warm), especially with vocals. But again, a lot of these statements are tied up with listening styles over the years and most importantly, the genre of music. From the older recordings, I have found RCA, Decca, Capitol and Columbia releases to have superior quality. Then there's the age old debate of musicians re-performing an old album and releasing it. I have found the re-performed versions to be more contemporary, exiting and listenable - some examples being the original Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon vs the Live performance captured on the PULSE album. Another great example is Dokken's Greatest hits album with entertainment lawyer, Jon Levin on lead guitar vs the old Dokken with George Lynch on lead guitar (now many believe that George is one of the all time greats ). Again these are all my personal opinions (its a purist vs innovator/disrupter situation) - these are controversial subjects to debate on, more like the debate on whether Rohit Sharma should be named white ball cricket captain of India, over Virat Kohli

 

[prem]

I am willing to concede that condition of first pressing , cartridge and speakers play a huge role.

It’s not about condition. The modern Beatles remasters I feel just don’t breathe like the originals. For Beatles I like the 70s EMI Box pressings to the originals. They are more open sounding. It’s not necessary the first press always sound the best. At times the second or third presses to my ears sound better. Examples of this are Beatles and Miles Davis KOB

 

[Bloom@83]

I just edited and elaborated my post.