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Audible difference between labels ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter GoldTop
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GoldTop

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I'm going back and forth listening to Steely Dan's Aja on a '77 ABC vinyl and a later '80 pressing on MCA vinyl. I'm convinced that the MCA album sounds much better...anyone agree or have knowledge that there is a difference?:scratch2:
 
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If both are in fine condition, the ABC should be a little bit better. MCA pressings could be a real crapshoot in quality, their mastering was usually fine. The MCA might have been an early pressing from fresh metalwork, the ABC might have had more wear or from worn out stampers. Luck of the Draw.
 
It's not uncommon for one pressing to be better than another. Look at the area between the playing surface and the label (the 'dead wax') - I'll bet the numbers engraved in the vinyl are different, indicating that the mastering is not the same.
 
Of course there's a difference. I notice this on a lot of my records of which I own multiples. Sometimes it's rather surprising. For example, I own two early issues of The Modern Lovers, an first issue on the first label (Home of the Hits) and the second on the next year's reissue (Beserkley). They're essentially the same company, same label, but the the company changed its name. Yet I notice very clear differences. The first issue sounds much punchier.
 
Condorsat said:
for instance: you have a friend who gets an outstanding pressings of given album and highly recommends it to you ... you buy the album based on his/her recommendation :thmbsp: ... but your pressing is sub-par ... so you assume you friend must have bad taste. :thumbsdn:
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Well, only if what you're after is the sound, not the music itself....

On topic: For example i have some brazilian records on their original pressing and then on an alternative italian pressing (both Philips brand), the Italian pressings are much better.
 
gmku said:
...I own two early issues of The Modern Lovers, an first issue on the first label (Home of the Hits) and the second on the next year's reissue (Beserkley). They're essentially the same company, same label, but the the company changed its name. Yet I notice very clear differences. The first issue sounds much punchier.
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Man, what a great album.

I'm impressed you have an original Berserkley pressing.

I'm doubly impressed you have a Home of the Hits pressing.

In all my years record collecting (35+) and living in Boston, I've never seen an original Modern Lovers record.

I have a re-pressing.
 
thedelihaus said:
Man, what a great album.

I'm impressed you have an original Berserkley pressing.

I'm doubly impressed you have a Home of the Hits pressing.

In all my years record collecting (35+) and living in Boston, I've never seen an original Modern Lovers record.

I have a re-pressing.
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I have a Berserkely pressing that, ironically enough, I bought in Berkeley, CA!
 
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I have both an early ABC pressing and a Mobile-Fidelity reissue of Aja. The Mo-Fi has dead quiet vinyl compared to the ABC,
but IMO, the ABC issue has the edge on mastering. Have a few early Greg Kihn 45's on Beserkley too.
 
thedelihaus said:
Man, what a great album.

I'm impressed you have an original Berserkley pressing.

I'm doubly impressed you have a Home of the Hits pressing.

In all my years record collecting (35+) and living in Boston, I've never seen an original Modern Lovers record.

I have a re-pressing.
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It rivals a few in my collection as probably the "greatest" album I own.

I have a sad story about this:

I bought my first Beserkley copy in 1978 or so. Then during desperate times traded it 10 years later. Realized my mistake immediately when the store owner handed over 30 bucks and ran--ran!--to his back office, slammed the door, and yelled on the phone, "You're not gonna BELIEVE what some kid just brought in!"

I felt sick.

I picked up these copies only fairly recently, and could not believe my luck when I found them.
 
Condorsat said:
I have always enjoyed comparing various vinyl pressings for subtle differences. Some vinyl guru from years back ... used to refer to this as "vertical stacking". ...
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Classical collectors have been doing this for years. I first became aware of it in the late 1970s when a collector friend of mine routinely special-ordered Decca records from England at higher cost rather than buying the same performance on the U.S.-market London label. He demonstrated the difference for me at one of our listening sessions. The Decca was more natural and the difference was not subtle. He claimed that the label re-EQ'ed the Londons to match what the execs regarded as American tastes in sound. :thumbsdn:

RCA classical collectors can get truly obsessive about pressings, searching for years and paying outlandish prices to get a pressing with a "shaded dog" label rather than the later "white dog" or "no dog" labels. There are differences here, too, but to my ears they're much more subtle than the differences between Decca and London pressings.
 
GoldTop said:
Yes, MCA 37214 also stamped in silver on upper right of cover (promo?)and KG in dead wax... almost looks like K/G or K1G.
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Yep that's what I have, little known later press by Kevin Gray, I think it sounds better than the ABC, and the cisco (which I think was also done by Gray). Haven't heard an mfsl yet.
 
gmku said:
It rivals a few in my collection as probably the "greatest" album I own.

I have a sad story about this:

I bought my first Beserkley copy in 1978 or so. Then during desperate times traded it 10 years later. Realized my mistake immediately when the store owner handed over 30 bucks and ran--ran!--to his back office, slammed the door, and yelled on the phone, "You're not gonna BELIEVE what some kid just brought in!"

I felt sick.

I picked up these copies only fairly recently, and could not believe my luck when I found them.
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Is that album REALLY so valuable? I think I paid $2.50 for my copy at Rasputin's.
 
GoldTop said:
I'm going back and forth listening to Steely Dan's Aja on a '77 ABC vinyl and a later '80 pressing on MCA vinyl. I'm convinced that the MCA album sounds much better...anyone agree or have knowledge that there is a difference?:scratch2:
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Hmmm....I never thought about that. I also have an original ABC LP and I'm gonna have to pull it out and do an A/B with my MoFi LP. Interesting.
 
jfine said:
Yep that's what I have, little known later press by Kevin Gray, I think it sounds better than the ABC, and the cisco (which I think was also done by Gray). Haven't heard an mfsl yet.
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Wow...better than the Cisco? That's high praise. The Cisco "Aja" LP sounds terrific IMO! I have the MFSL Gold CD, two original 1977 ABC vinyl pressings, a Canadian red vinyl pressing and a few other CD versions. The Cisco easily trumps them all...but I've never heard the 1980 MCA version.
 
steely said:
Wow...better than the Cisco? That's high praise. The Cisco "Aja" LP sounds terrific IMO! I have the MFSL Gold CD, two original 1977 ABC vinyl pressings, a Canadian red vinyl pressing and a few other CD versions. The Cisco easily trumps them all...but I've never heard the 1980 MCA version.
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YMMV. If you had 10 MCA copies, they might all sound different, so, it's possible I simply got lucky.
 
jfine said:
Yep that's what I have, little known later press by Kevin Gray, I think it sounds better than the ABC, and the cisco (which I think was also done by Gray). Haven't heard an mfsl yet.
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I have Aja 8 track, cassette, cd, cd remaster, the two mentioned albums and now looks like I'll have to purchase the MFSL:yes:
Perhaps reel 2 reel deck and tape:scratch2:
 
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