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Aja - Cisco Pressing

jcmjrt

jcmjrt

Addicted Member
I'm a Steely Dan fan and my SO is a big Steely Dan fan so when I heard that this was a great pressing, I had to order it.

NO lie, this is wonderful! There is no noise even at the beginning or between tracks. All there is - Steely Dan doing some of their best music. It's quiet, it's dynamic, it's balanced, even the record cover is nice and they give you a quality plastic outer sleeve to keep it looking good. This beats Mo-Fi hands down. Kevin Hoffman remastered it so I guess I'm not surprised but the people at the pressing plant did their job well too. If you are a Steely Dan fan who loves Aja - buy this pressing. :thmbsp:
 
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Joyce,
I bought the Cisco Aja about a month ago.Besides the Cisco I have the MoFi,and an original ABC gatefold pressing.
The Cisco ain't bad,and I thoroughly agree that it wipes the floor with the Mo Fi,but my original ABC is soo much better than the Cisco,that I have to say that I'm disappointed with it.
My original ABC Aja,is one of those records I put on my system and watch people pick their jaws-up off the floor. :yes:
The MoFi on the other hand is possibly one of the worst sounding records in my collection. :thumbsdn:

Not meaning to rain on your parade. :no:
Just about anything would sound better than the MoFi. :yes:
 
I had until someone liberated it from me an original pressing...bought it new lo those many years ago...and although I don't have it now to compare it with, I don't remember it sounding as good as this Cisco. Of course, there are many variables and audio memory is a short thing but this Cisco pressing is excellent.
 
They are over at my brother's house these days, but I have the original ABC and the Mo-Fi "Aja's". Both were frustrating in many ways. The ABC pressing had a more natural flow to the music, but was a noisy pressing. The Mo-Fi was dead quiet as far as background noises, but seemed to me like the eq had been messed with and was more mechanical in it's delivery of the music. When "Gaucho" came out, MCA released a high-def vinyl version that was superb in every way. MCA's CD's of SD have been a disappointment to me so far.
 
I don't have Aja on Cisco but have several others and have to say its one of my favorite labels. Too bad they are out of biz :( .......
 
JC, I've read numerous comments about the Cisco Aja over at the Asylum, and pretty much, 99% of them say the original pressing is sonically superior to the Cisco.

After reading this thread some months back, I was lucky to have picked up a mint original at the local antique shop for a whopping $2.

As for the Mo-Fi releases, not all are "bad", and in fact the two recent Santana Releases I recently bought I feel are extremely good.

Two other recent re-issue releases that I hear are very good, have gotten great reviews from end users, (and I've seriously got my eye on to buy), are Stevie Ray Vaughan Texas Flood, and Couldn't Stand The Weather. I think these are from Classic? Mark
 
markd51 said:
Two other recent re-issue releases that I hear are very good, have gotten great reviews from end users, (and I've seriously got my eye on to buy), are Stevie Ray Vaughan Texas Flood, and Couldn't Stand The Weather. I think these are from Classic? Mark
Click to expand...

I think SRV is wonderful so I guess I'm going to have to check those out.
 
markd51 said:
JC, I've read numerous comments about the Cisco Aja over at the Asylum, and pretty much, 99% of them say the original pressing is sonically superior to the Cisco.

After reading this thread some months back, I was lucky to have picked up a mint original at the local antique shop for a whopping $2.

As for the Mo-Fi releases, not all are "bad", and in fact the two recent Santana Releases I recently bought I feel are extremely good.

Two other recent re-issue releases that I hear are very good, have gotten great reviews from end users, (and I've seriously got my eye on to buy), are Stevie Ray Vaughan Texas Flood, and Couldn't Stand The Weather. I think these are from Classic? Mark
Click to expand...

There are a couple of things I'd like to expand on my first post:

Firstly,I don't hate MoFi.I have the Rickie Lee Jones first album on MoFi and love it.The Led Zep II on Mo Fi is really good too(the Classic Records pressing 200g Quiex,is better though).
The Cisco Aja slaughters the MoFi Aja.
As to the 'Original' Aja,like a lot of examples of other pressings,there is variability in what you get.The original Aja I have,is simply crazy how good it sounds.
That's the proviso I'm putting here.I don't expect that every original gatefold Aja sounds good,but I'd be lying if I said the Cisco Aja I have is as good or better than the ABC Aja I have.Because it isn't,and the difference is obvious.
I'd have been over the moon if the Cisco was better.Indeed,that's what motivated me to part with my bucks to buy the Cisco.If it was going to beat my ABC(by any sort of margin),it was not only going to be one of the best records in my collection,but I'd have bought a couple more Cisco Ajas,just to stash away.
I mentioned the Classic 200g Quiex Led Zep II.I love it,yet I've heard that there are better pressings of it than the Quiex out there.
Great.
However,since I don't own one of them,the Quiex 'II' will do me just fine.
CD variability is just as bad(apparently,not that I'd know :smoke:).
 
Of course Theophile, good points you have made.
We can assume that other's mileage may vary, and that not all original releases may be superior. As some have noted, the Cisco Aja displays dead silence, and this is an important, desireable characteristic for vinyl playback.

Finding a pristine, virtual unplayed copy of any original vintage LP is many times "luck".

I've got many Mo-Fi releases on LP (and some on CD too) and mostly all have at least some good qualities to decide that they won't be leaving my collection anytime soon. As some usually note, some seem to be a bit bass heavy.

I've always been very satisfied with both the Mo-Fi ELP Tarkus, and Trilogy LPs. Traffic Low Spark of the High Heeled Boys, is another which is sonically fantastic IMO. Another, which was actually my very first Mo-Fi, bought new many, many years ago (perhaps 15-16 years ago from Rose records in Chicago) was The Doors.

If I recall correctly, the two SRV LPs I earlier spoke of are on Pure Pleasure Vinyl, and I see these at Elusive Disc. The price is nothing to sneeze at, @$44 a pop. Perhaps one might find these slightly cheaper elsewhere? With the few dealings I've had with Elusive Disc in the past year, or so, all have been perfect, and painless. Mark
 
I have an old copy of Aja that has a Japan pressing on it. I forget the exact catalog number it is but it sounds great. No reason to replace it for me.
 
markd51 said:
Finding a pristine, virtual unplayed copy of any original vintage LP is many times "luck".
Click to expand...

The very reason I bought my Cisco copy of Aja. No matter how good the original sounds, never finding a NM copy is not an option. I bought a sealed 1972 ABC release of "Can't Buy a Thrill" and it sounds good but I wish there was a Cisco version of it to compare with.
 
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markd51 said:
Finding a pristine, virtual unplayed copy of any original vintage LP is many times "luck".
Click to expand...

Must have been one of the few times I was lucky then, cause I purchased a NM copy of Aja on the ABC label at my local shop a month ago. :yes:
 
I had the original pressing of Aja and was disapointed years ago with the Mo-Fi that I anticipated soooo much to get back then. Also my ABC original (that I got the first day of the LP's issue) sounded better... my bad luck story is that I when I got my Mo-Fi version I lent to a trusted friend that ABC copy who scratched it:tears:!! When he brought it back he brought with him a new unopened ABC copy. Wasn't nearly the as good as the original:yes:... and what was worse, the friend... still a friend to this day.... couldn't tell the difference!! And yes... he mainly listens to talk radio now.:D
 
sooooo.... i just picked up a nice copy of aja. abc AA-1006, gatefold. thats the original, right? sounds very nice, low background noise. the cover still creaks when i open it. 5 bux, but what the hell. its only money, right?
 
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