Group order for Vinyl of best of AR Rehman

Got my copy today, thanks to a helpful fm. Not heard it yet. But it arrived in good nick.


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I can help and extend this project to include old Bollywood hits from the fifties and sixties with original vinyl in my personal collection or from my circle of very enthusiastic friends and collectors! I have access to most world class mastering engineers and mastering facilities - I live about 10 miles from the world famous Abbey Road Studios! :) I also have about ten Nakamichi cassette decks including the famous Dragon in my collection :)
 
However, the bottomline is, in my opinion, this LP is a very respectable production. I have quite a few newly produced LPs of Bollywood films, paying more than what I paid for this one.

Incidentally when i first got the LP i found it thin sounding and lacking body for several songs ................ better than the Flacs i have heard by a huge margin on my setup

Couple of folks mentioned about the CD sounding better though. I do have a view on A/B between LP and CD and why it is never a great idea

When we compare 2 mediums we are not just comparing a CD vs LP but the LP+ TT++ cartridge+Phono to the CD + CD player (+ dac)

too many variables which change sound to do an objective A/B. a A/B works well only if you are able to change one parameter...here there are too many



I dont have any of the original CDs ( Indian pressings anyway are not great)

Given that the masters are digital, the pressings are very very good, I must say. I think the efforts put in by arjun and prem (after the birth of the initial idea) have been worth it. A sincere and hearty congratulations to both of them.

The Saathiya songs have that slight edge reminding us of their digital origin. But in the vinyl form, the vocals are devoid of any sibilance that my CD version unfortunately carries. Saathiya songs are also remarkably clean (sonically). The original recording and mastering, albeit digital, was indeed of high quality. Overall, the vinyl is much better than the CD, one just needs to listen to the "Chupke se" song and listen and compare Sadhna Sargam's voice. That voice comes out gorgeously well in the vinyl, sparkling yet not biting (which the CD is, at times).

Takshak songs are more full-bodied, I agree. And, there is a tad more instrument separation in these songs. I just loved the initial tabla pieces just before Ashaji's passage. Asha ji and Roopkumar sound fabulous and involving.

If this is the result, I think we should do it again. I have paid much much more for vinyl, and got much less quality, in the past.

At the end, I must admit of one disclaimer here. Both my amp and phono pre-amp are fully tubed instruments. Even my CDP has a tube in the output stage. Hence all my judgements may not be valid for people who are using completely solid state stuff.

well, congratulations everyone for success of this venture. arj prem and others who wholeheartedly took pains- a huge round of applause from my side.
now lets talk about whether this vinyl revival and higher sales kinda stuff is worth or not.
i have no qualms with this vinyl. its great.
i have seen many posts with members claiming they would love to be part of such projects in future too. that might even be me.
but for future ventures, ( and i m thinking not just a few titles, i am thinking of a possibility where a lot of titles get released) we have a lot to consider.
since people up there are listening and are equally sincere in improving the vinyl ecosystem, few things should be discussed.
the cost of lp to us was around 800 a pop, although sony sold them @1.5k, these songs on wav format are available at 100-200rs max. as a dedicated listener, if a listener has to go for 20-30 such vinyls, it makes much more sense for him to invest on a good cdp. especially since there might be a 100 more titles from 1995 onwards that may not even get released on vinyl.
what would you choose? songs on vinyl by paying 1.5k or on cd for 150inr? is the difference in sound enough to justify the price gap?
lets face it. there were many members who ordered the lp without even owning a TT just as their token of support to this venture. hats off to their spirit. a few more who increased the numbers of lps they ordered just to meet the minimum requirement of 300 lps. unless we have really better sound to talk about on vinyl, i dont see lot of people returning to next venture. moreover
in its peak, vinyls offered sound unmatched by any other medium and were sold at even twice the price of a cassette. today, if its only as good as a wav that costs 1/10th of lp but offers comparable sound, we need to improve things. and we can because people higher up are taking our feedbacks seriously.
i d love to buy a lot of newer music on vinyl if it retails for 2-3 hundred a title. but not if newer formats offer same clarity at any level.
at 1-1.5k a title, it s not sensible to be a mainstream source again which is a pity.
i d love to see lots of new latest titles releasing on vinyl hereforth and proudly say, we at HFV did a lot towards that revival.
 
My view is a bit different . I am not inclined to buy a vinyl as an alternate to flac. If flac is better I would buy that and not the vinyl .

So those recording where I already have a good CD pressing or a flac I would not really buy that vinyl .
Eg most jazz and western classical that I listen I have got some great pressing the hence am not investing in vinyl .
For Hindi music especially older than 90s , I don't have good CDs and most I have heard on digital are not great so prefer the older vinyl and found them magic . I also find most new Hindi digital music also not that great so hope for better here .


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I can help and extend this project to include old Bollywood hits from the fifties and sixties with original vinyl in my personal collection or from my circle of very enthusiastic friends and collectors! I have access to most world class mastering engineers and mastering facilities - I live about 10 miles from the world famous Abbey Road Studios! :) I also have about ten Nakamichi cassette decks including the famous Dragon in my collection :)

Hi Bangkok, kindly elaborate your suggestion a bit please!
 
I guess its not so profitable for co. If they sell it under 1k.

But on another note Plz recall in early 80s a LP used to cost 40 Rs which would be roughly 550 as per inflation calculator.: So that should be the benchmark price for new LPs Under 600

It will liven up the format and companies would also make money as now they get very little ravanue from physical media sales.
 
The cost of lp to us was around 800 a pop, although sony sold them @1.5k, these songs on wav format are available at 100-200rs max. as a dedicated listener, if a listener has to go for 20-30 such vinyls, it makes much more sense for him to invest on a good cdp. especially since there might be a 100 more titles from 1995 onwards that may not even get released on vinyl.
what would you choose? songs on vinyl by paying 1.5k or on cd for 150inr? is the difference in sound enough to justify the price gap?
lets face it. there were many members who ordered the lp without even owning a TT just as their token of support to this venture. hats off to their spirit. a few more who increased the numbers of lps they ordered just to meet the minimum requirement of 300 lps. unless we have really better sound to talk about on vinyl, i dont see lot of people returning to next venture. moreover
in its peak, vinyls offered sound unmatched by any other medium and were sold at even twice the price of a cassette. today, if its only as good as a wav that costs 1/10th of lp but offers comparable sound, we need to improve things. and we can because people higher up are taking our feedbacks seriously.
i d love to buy a lot of newer music on vinyl if it retails for 2-3 hundred a title. but not if newer formats offer same clarity at any level.
at 1-1.5k a title, it s not sensible to be a mainstream source again which is a pity.

Whatever you said makes sense to me and this is what I think.


I guess its not so profitable for co. If they sell it under 1k.

But on another note Plz recall in early 80s a LP used to cost 40 Rs which would be roughly 550 as per inflation calculator.: So that should be the benchmark price for new LPs Under 600

It will liven up the format and companies would also make money as now they get very little ravanue from physical media sales.

It would be profitable if they sell it under 1K but LP should be in good quantity (say 300-400), less no. LPs means increased cost. This is not about one LP sale or for one title. There are hundreds of good titles need to release on LP and if they want to sell it @1499/- then it would be hard for everyone to get most titles and have to settle with few only.
 
I am still waiting. There was a minor change recently in the address by the municipal corp for me, however I have not received any call from the courier people.
 
Kinghuks got returned so they are reshipping

the following are still open. have written to rajesh

apk
audiophile001 ( No Phone number for them to contact)
niccolewis
Naeem
drAnil
 
I guess its not so profitable for co. If they sell it under 1k.

But on another note Plz recall in early 80s a LP used to cost 40 Rs which would be roughly 550 as per inflation calculator.: So that should be the benchmark price for new LPs Under 600

It will liven up the format and companies would also make money as now they get very little ravanue from physical media sales.
Here you need to take into account the numbers sold in the 80s compared to now.
 
sorry prem to have started this discussion before every last member recieves his copy. :) :thumbsup:
But on another note Plz recall in early 80s a LP used to cost 40 Rs which would be roughly 550 as per inflation calculator.: So that should be the benchmark price for new LPs Under 600

It will liven up the format and companies would also make money as now they get very little ravanue from physical media sales.

It would be profitable if they sell it under 1K but LP should be in good quantity (say 300-400), less no. LPs means increased cost. This is not about one LP sale or for one title. There are hundreds of good titles need to release on LP and if they want to sell it @1499/- then it would be hard for everyone to get most titles and have to settle with few only.

Here you need to take into account the numbers sold in the 80s compared to now.
my point is less about cost and quantity although everything is inter related.
my point is about quality of sound vis a vis other sources.
now if newer titles were planned to be released on lp and were recorded/arranged keeping lp production in mind, right from the inception/recording stage, i am sure this can work. in west they are already recording digitally and cutting the lps too with not much concern from listeners.
but right now we are being thrown titles produced prior to 90s- JJWS, IJAAZAT , even kashmir ki kali or silsila. it would be awesome if they did it from original redbooks. we already know that they are doing it from digital compressed files. at the very best, such lps will sound as good as their cd counterparts, that too the later year ones and not the initial issues. more often, they would not. right from the source. such ventures will only push up the prices of older well kept lps.:(
i d reckon, they should leave the old titles alone. ( bangkok's idea is still applicaple and its pertinent only because of lost original redbooks.)
why not ask sony to produce something very latest, from their own copyrighted repertoire with the aim of beating the shit out of cd sound. please note that the dilemma i mentioned was not how much would you shell out for an lp?-rs 600 or 1499. my query was, is it worth spending 10 times the money for something that wont sound better. in 80s, the lps didnt just cost more but they sounded better.
EDIT: i woould correct myself here though. lps, sounded better than cds for the price of rig. to beat the sound of lp on a mid end rig, you d need a high end digital rig. ( this info is a piece of old wisdom and with lots of evolutions, this may not be the case now. more knowledgeable members on this, kindly comment.)
so, whats the point in having an expensive lp rig/disc to extract a sound equivalent or inferior to a digital rig.
 
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^In short... BUT they are charging 10 times money for identical to CD quality as LP and CD both are from same source.

These songs on wav format are available at 100-200rs max. as a dedicated listener, if a listener has to go for 20-30 such vinyls, it makes much more sense for him to invest on a good cdp. especially since there might be a 100 more titles from 1995 onwards that may not even get released on vinyl.
what would you choose? songs on vinyl by paying 1.5k or on cd for 150inr? is the difference in sound enough to justify the price gap?
 
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