SubstituteForLove Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Hi all, I've been meaning to complete my Joni Mitchell collection for some time now and I was wondering, for older records, which sounded better: the original pressing or a 180g remastered reissue? I've read around that original UK pressings sound great which from my experience really depends on the condition. I've got OG presses that sound stellar when they're NM but my OG's that are scratched, naturally, sound crappier. Plus being UK-based, it's pretty easy to get my hands on an OG UK pressing. Would the remastered 180g sound better? Perhaps if it was mastered from the original analogue tapes? I know the weight has little to do with it - only adding to the durability. Just wanted to round up some VC opinions on this. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsimmons Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 I'd say more often than not anything pressed during vinyl's heyday will sound better than most current pressings. Thats not to say current pressings don't sound good, I just think you are better off tracking down an original pressing as long as its cost effective. vinyl addict 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl addict Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 I'd say more often than not anything pressed during vinyl's heyday will sound better than most current pressings. Thats not to say current presings sound good, I just think you are better off tracking down an original pressing as long as its cost effective. This. 9 times out of 10, the original press is far superior in quality and sound. This, of course, is assuming both the 180 and OG are in identical condition. 180g is hype, regardless of what others will tell you. Also, most new presses are digitally sourced. Unless an original is crazy money, I normally seek it out. In many instances, the UK press is the better of the bunch. That being said, I research before any large purchase to see what the consensus is on best press of the particular LP. Sidney Crosley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdwell Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 For me....I hear no difference in sound quality as far as the weight of the record is concerned....all 180g means to me is its more durable and less likely to warp while sitting at my door step in the 100+ degree heat of the Alabama summer Just for reference and to stay on topic. I jammed my copy of the SRC Goldfiner release (180g) and kept thinking it sounded flat and dull. Next record I put on was a flimsy lightweight 70's Willie Nelson record, first off it was audibly 10+ decibels louder than the previous pop-punk record I had been spinning and there was just so much more life to the record...it kind of blew me away the sound quality difference. I know they're drastically different records, but one was newer 180g (mastered from digital files) vs older very thin/light weight vinyl from the hay day of vinyl, although dramatically different genres of music, the country album was MUCH louder/clearer/crisper/powerful That said, it really does depend on the time-period of the release...when recordings were recorded, mixed, and mastered specifically with vinyl pressings in mind you're going to end up with a better sounding end-product than some random yahoo getting the digital master files and making a modern vinyl pressing. I think there are a few companies and vinyl mastering engineers doing great work these days, but overall as a blanket statement the vast majority of pre-1980 vinyl sounds much better than the vast majority of post-1990 vinyl (in my humble non-professional opinion) GalacticMelt and Sidney Crosley 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Crosley Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Great answers, all of you! Puts a lot of the rereleases in perspective. I know I've picked up some that are quite amazing, while other just plain don't sound that good. One thing I've seen recommended before if you're looking for discussions on specific pressings is the forum at Steve Hoffman's site. A lot of serious audiophiles there that can likely steer you towards the correct pressings, if they haven't already. Also, awesome on the Joni Mitchel collection. My wife is a huge fan and we have most of the albums up until Hejira. We're on our second copy of Hissing of Summer Lawns, because that's her favourite (and is getting right up there with me). We have a Canadian pressing that sounds pretty good, except that it was quite well-loved when we got it. That being said, other than maybe Blue and Court and Spark, I've seen most of Joni's albums for quite good prices (usually $5-10 for VG+). niblips and agaetisbyrjun 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl addict Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 One thing I've seen recommended before if you're looking for discussions on specific pressings is the forum at Steve Hoffman's site. A lot of serious audiophiles there that can likely steer you towards the correct pressings, if they haven't already. Very good advice. That's where I spend a lot of time. Here is more for news on pre-orders Sidney Crosley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niblips Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 One thing I've seen recommended before if you're looking for discussions on specific pressings is the forum at Steve Hoffman's site. A lot of serious audiophiles there that can likely steer you towards the correct pressings, if they haven't already. this agaetisbyrjun 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGhostOfRandySavage Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Very good advice. That's where I spend a lot of time. Here is more for news on pre-orders And cat .gifs. DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CAT .GIFS! vinyl addict 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdwell Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 And Shaq .gifs. DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE SHAQ .GIFS! Dusted_By_Space 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daegor Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 There is still a fair bit of misinformation here... 180g means nothing. It's less likely to warp, that's all. It doesn't sound better, it's not more durable, it won't wear better. It's just harder to warp (which IS a good thing). All things being equal.... new versus old will sound the SAME. But rarely will things be equal. Things you need to ask if you're trying to find the defacto best pressing of a particular album (it will be different EVERY album, and every different pressing of the same album): What company pressed the release? What is their general reputation? What is the audio source? Analogue is always better than digital. Depending on the process a digital source can result in a pressing that sounds worse than a low quality MP3. Was there vinyl specific mastering? If there was a CD releases and they didn't remaster it specifically for vinyl it follows that it will simply sound like a scratchy CD. What colour is the pressing? Black and clear are generally the best sounding. Some of the common mixed colour options like hazed colour in colour are prone to sounding particularly bad. Was it pressed on virgin vinyl? This has a small, but noticeable impact. What is the weight of the pressing? Mostly looking for is the pressing super thin and flimsy, which is not uncommon in older releases or cheap new releases. It greatly increases the chances of warping. There were definitely periods of time where reissues were generally worse than the original pressing, but I've found it more and more common that there are "audiophile" reissues being released now where they actually know what their doing and release a pressing that sounds better than the original. Maybe reissues from the 2000's might have been worse than the original more often than not, but I'd say that it's at least 50/50 now. You pair all of this down with the fact that if the original release is not near mint, the poor quality reissue that's never been played yet will probably still sound better. Sidney Crosley, mssskat184 and nancy_raygun 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heypeterman Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 What colour is the pressing? Black and clear are generally the best sounding. Come of the common mixed colour options like hazed colour in colour are prone to sounding particularly bad. Was it pressed on virgin vinyl? This has a small, but noticeable impact. I think these two tie into each other. I have the some of the same albums on black and white vinyl, white and splatter etc. In these cases, they sound identical because the manufacturer used virgin vinyl. It is easier to get away with using recycled vinyl for coloured pressings because it is less noticeable in appearance. It's fairly easy to identify recycled black vinyl, it looks like there are scratches on the record but it's just inconsistency in how the vinyl material melts together. Recycled vinyl became more common in the 80's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubstituteForLove Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 Great answers, all of you! Puts a lot of the rereleases in perspective. I know I've picked up some that are quite amazing, while other just plain don't sound that good. One thing I've seen recommended before if you're looking for discussions on specific pressings is the forum at Steve Hoffman's site. A lot of serious audiophiles there that can likely steer you towards the correct pressings, if they haven't already. Also, awesome on the Joni Mitchel collection. My wife is a huge fan and we have most of the albums up until Hejira. We're on our second copy of Hissing of Summer Lawns, because that's her favourite (and is getting right up there with me). We have a Canadian pressing that sounds pretty good, except that it was quite well-loved when we got it. That being said, other than maybe Blue and Court and Spark, I've seen most of Joni's albums for quite good prices (usually $5-10 for VG+). Yeah, I was a little deterred from Steve Hoffman because of my relative inexperience but I'll look on there for a specific thread for the releases I want to buy. I've got great sounding OG UK presses of Blue and Court & Spark (lucked out on finding these for cheap!) and more worn Hejira but was wondering which would sound better for Hissing of Summer Lawns. Plus a new Hejira wouldn't hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubstituteForLove Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 That said, it really does depend on the time-period of the release...when recordings were recorded, mixed, and mastered specifically with vinyl pressings in mind you're going to end up with a better sounding end-product than some random yahoo getting the digital master files and making a modern vinyl pressing. What is the audio source? Analogue is always better than digital. Depending on the process a digital source can result in a pressing that sounds worse than a low quality MP3. There were definitely periods of time where reissues were generally worse than the original pressing, but I've found it more and more common that there are "audiophile" reissues being released now where they actually know what their doing and release a pressing that sounds better than the original. Maybe reissues from the 2000's might have been worse than the original more often than not, but I'd say that it's at least 50/50 now. You pair all of this down with the fact that if the original release is not near mint, the poor quality reissue that's never been played yet will probably still sound better. Thanks for both of your great answers (and everybody else too!). And yes, I agree with everybody, 180g records merely prevent warping and only ever make a negligible contribution to improving sound quality. I'm pretty undecided between a near mind UK original pressing and reissue remastered with the original analog tapes. Am I right in assuming, these would pretty much be on the same level, sound quality-wise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl addict Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Id go for the early press Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daegor Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 I'm pretty undecided between a near mind UK original pressing and reissue remastered with the original analog tapes. Am I right in assuming, these would pretty much be on the same level, sound quality-wise? Unless they specifically point out something that they did better than the OG press I'd assume it should be the same audio quality, in which case: I'd go for the early press Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsimmons Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Remastered from the original analog tapes doesn't guarantee an analog transfer. Just that a new master was made from the tapes. Whether that was direct to vinyl or if a HQ digital version was made and then used for the vinyl may be unknown. All th same, I'd go original UK pressing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjkenney Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 I have the og press of "VS." and it sounds great. Haven't heard the 180g reissue though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawney Bomb Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 It depends. Some represses sound great, some sound pretty bad though. I ended up canceling a lot of the recent Iron Maiden reissues because of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl addict Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 It depends. Some represses sound great, some sound pretty bad though. I ended up canceling a lot of the recent Iron Maiden reissues because of this. I have all the first presses. They sound amazing. Dead wuiet too, even on the lead in groove Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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