'Audiophile' records...a relatively new expression?

catman

catman

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G'day all, I've been making good progress in more properly storing my many records of late, and thinking about the many records that I have (dating from the very late 1950's to current new releases), I can't say that any of my 50's/60's/70's/80's qualify as 'audiophile' quality releases.

Many of those records are very well recorded, but audiophile quality? Probably not.

That makes me wonder if indeed the 'audiophile' quality vinyl album is actually a relatively 'new' expression/phenomenon. :scratch2: Any comments or thoughts? Regards, Felix aka catman.
 
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I just think it's a bit overused today on new vinyl IMO. Of course, some of the vinyl released today is very well mastered, and therefore is labelled "Audiophile." But on the other hand, there's a lot of bad masters and pressings out there also labelled the same because some record companies use it primarily for marketing. I think it might be used more today because audiophiles might express more interest in vinyl, although I may be wrong.

Not sure if it was ever used in the past though.
 
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Nautilus had direct-to-disc and half-speed mastered audiophile records decades ago. I bought a couple, and was blown away by the dynamics and overall SQ.
 
Is there a place on this Forum where I can get a list of popular well mastered LPs? Right now I am finding them by accident. I understand my question is huge but there must be a list somewhere.
 
There has been "Audiophile" records since the 1950's. Examples like Audiophile's 78 RPM microgrooves and 33 1/3 LP discs, Cook Laboratories X editions, Mercury Living Presence, Belock era Everest, to name some.
 
Audio Fidelity Records was among the first, back in the '50's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_Fidelity_Records

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Fans of Progressive music should seek out Porcupine Tree on vinyl.

Steven Wilson has done a wonderful job in directing the vinyl masters, so much so that the vinyl has an entirely different feel to the already well produced CD`s.

Pressings are by snapper records, or Dutch vinyl label Tonefloat.

Both companies seem to both understand and care about how their vinyl sounds.

One other tiny label whose vinyl has impressed me is Kapitan Platte from Germany.
 
HI All,
In addition to those already mentioned, the very best were the direct to disk recordings by Sheffield Labs starting in the 1980's. Others followed the Sheffield D to D formula producing some very fine recordings. I have the full set of Sheffield records. The sound is astonishing but the performances were not always the best. They do show how good vinyl recordings can be with proper care and attention to the technical aspects of the recording/mastering/pressing process.

The recording engineer was always Doug Sax who is something of a genius. All vacuum tube electronics were used which were updated to modern component standards. When the masters were worn out, the record disappeared from the catalog. Wonderful recordings and hard to find because of the limited production quantities.

Sparky
 
There was an 'Audiophile' record label (i.e. that was the name of the label) in the late 50's/early 60's, so the idea is not new.
 
And those Audiophile Records are heavenly, the best Dixieland Jazz you'll ever hear, also known as Good Old Reds, Grade A. Recorded by the legendary Ewing D. Nunn!
 
By and large, British Decca was an audiophile label most of the time. On average, their recordings were excellent. Their classical is superb as a rule and most of their pop if recorded in house. Their pressings were excellent.
 
My worst sounding LP is one that i bought brand new, a 180 grams 45 rpms copy of Lahasa, and the title of the album is (how original) Lahasa, the damn thing is so full of ''snap crackles and pops'' that it's pretty much unlistenable.

Ironically, some of my best sounding are $1 or $2 thrift store finds, some of them are dead silent, wich makes it much easyer to concentrate on the music, go figure!
 
I haven't had much luck with new vinyl either. I have only bought a few but all three are noisy and not very dynamic (compressed sounding). I am going to stick to the $2 variety at the Goodwill or purchasing peoples older collections. After a good cleaning these seem to play very well.

I have a couple of "audiophile" lp's that I bought new 30 years ago. One is a Decca recording of the 1812 Overture (with warnings about cannons and blown woofers) and a Cars album on Nautilus. Both are very good with virtually no surface noise and are very dynamic.
 
Of the new Audiophile records I have bought, Rod Stewart on MFSL is awesome. The drum solo on I Know I Am Losing You is worth the price of the LP. Another one is a 180g Bob Marley "Legend". There are more nice percussion sounds than you can listen to at once. A few turkeys have been Deep Purple 'Machine Head" and Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits. It truly is hit and miss. I bought a Cars Greatest Hits cutout from Sound Stage Direct that was truly awesome. A couple of my Beatles new remasters are awesome, quiet and very musical. The other two just so-so.

Carcrazy, I also have the Decca 1812 overture you speak of. It is very sonically nice but not a real good performance of the overture IMO. I much prefer my really old VOX recording of 1812
 
KentTeffeteller said:
By and large, British Decca was an audiophile label most of the time. On average, their recordings were excellent. Their classical is superb as a rule and most of their pop if recorded in house. Their pressings were excellent.
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Londons are also normally cheap as dirt.

The headline series, not so much though. Excellent sonics, however. The music will not be for everyone, but I like 20th century so w.ever.

btw I've heard some Phillips records which you would swear were modern with how good they are.
 
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