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Reference Records - Those you play to people to convince them that Vinyl is boss

DrDarkFish

DrDarkFish

Active Member
We all have those 'digi-friend-naysayers' that believe that Vinyl is old and inferior technology.

Every once and a while we sit them down, warm up the system and blast their ears with so much analog goodness they scream in fidelity mercy..

But! There is always a handful of records that seem to melt faces more than the rest..

For me:

Beck - Sea Change (MFSL press)
Pink Floyd - DSTM (Australian Quadraphonic Press)​
always have people in awe..

What are yours? - be specific about the pressing and also your reasons why. You might even have a specific song that does the trick?

Not all tracks are pressed/recorded equally- I'm sure others will agree.
 
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Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers, Blue Note 4003, I believe mine is a 2nd pressing or so.
I have no idea how this was miked or engineered etc, but its absolutely the most doesnt sound like its been recorded record I have. This one above all, shows what a record can be..it literally drops jaws every time. I don't say a word, just cue it up. Even the hard-assed nay sayers can't get over it.
 
Might not be the best out there but it sure does sound damn good. Very dynamic, very well produced, very beautiful, very dawgtastic.
david-grisman-quintet-80-20120722130748.jpg


It's my go to when I want to make someone smile.



P
 
bobaloniny said:
Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers, Blue Note 4003, I believe mine is a 2nd pressing or so.
I have no idea how this was miked or engineered etc, but its absolutely the most doesnt sound like its been recorded record I have. This one above all, shows what a record can be..it literally drops jaws every time. I don't say a word, just cue it up. Even the hard-assed nay sayers can't get over it.
Click to expand...

And proving those hard-assed nay sayers wrong, that is what satistfaction really is..
 
Another one using Beck - Sea Change MFSL
I also use Two Lone Swordsmen-From the Double Gone Chapel, a very quiet record.
 
Mfsl Sea Change really is something to behold. I like to put on the Classic Records 4lp 45rpm one sided 200g (what a mouthful! ) reissue of Willie Nelson's Stardust. It puts everybother record I have to shame.
 
Well, "Breakfast in America" sounds really good. I also have some Shaded Dog classical records from the '50's that are remarkable.

I know your comments were at least partly in jest, but I find the adversarial tone bewildering. I feel no need to prove anything to anybody.

Friends who visit our house for the first time usually visit my home office/den and are interested in my stereo gear. They don't see turntables often, much less three, and the reel to reel also catches their eye. Few have ever heard a decent setup and I'm happy to show them how good LP's can sound. They are always pleasantly surprised. Their visit often includes stopping into the home theater to hear fun 7.1 movie soundtracks and multi-channel SACD. This also makes an impression.

I enjoy it all and don't feel compelled to prove anything to anybody. Why don't you just relax and enjoy some music?
 
bobaloniny said:
Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers, Blue Note 4003, I believe mine is a 2nd pressing or so.
I have no idea how this was miked or engineered etc, but its absolutely the most doesnt sound like its been recorded record I have. This one above all, shows what a record can be..it literally drops jaws every time. I don't say a word, just cue it up. Even the hard-assed nay sayers can't get over it.
Click to expand...

Holy crap! I bet you dropped some coin for that!
I would love to hear that one.
 
Blood Sweat and Tears first album - my brother in laws first experience with tube sound, as well as with return to vinyl. His jaw dropped.
Pink Ffloyd Dark Side of Moon
Miles Davis Kind of Blue
Dire Straits Sultans of Swing - a slightly "mello sound"
 
My reference record at this point is:
Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lions Skull

Great laid back blues rock with Bill Frisell on guitar.
I've got the first edition with translucent yellow vinyl (honey) and leather bound cover. Bad ass rare release.
The sound is AWESOME!
 
Is that a mono cut ?

bobaloniny said:
Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers, Blue Note 4003, I believe mine is a 2nd pressing or so.
I have no idea how this was miked or engineered etc, but its absolutely the most doesnt sound like its been recorded record I have. This one above all, shows what a record can be..it literally drops jaws every time. I don't say a word, just cue it up. Even the hard-assed nay sayers can't get over it.
Click to expand...

DO you play it in mono or stereo ? Very curious...Thanks !
 
I'm kind of with DougMac. I guess I just don't know anybody who cares enough to diss an audio format. I know a few who will diss any format that isn't as convenient as an ipod, or the cloud(it's the future ya know!), but nobody that gets into the analog vs digital thing.

If I were to try an impress somebody, it would depend on what they liked. If it were blues it might be The Nighthawks - Jacks and Kings, or Muddy Waters - Hard Again. Rock it would be ACDC - Back In Black, or Dire Straits - Love Over Gold, or some Wilco for something more modern. I also have an extra copy of Brothers In Arms that I use to demo tables that I'm selling. Familiar to most people, nice recording, and it's super clean/quiet. I have a lot of classical that sounds impressive. Shaded dogs, or almost anything from Phillips usually sound great.

I don't have a vinyl copy of Sea Change, but it seems to get mentioned a lot. I find it funny that it might be a title that will sway a digital guy, but a copy of the SACD would be the disc I would use to sway the anti digital crowd and the anti-multichannel crowd.
 
Supertramp's Breakfast in America and Crime of the Century, original US pressing of DSOTM, Time Out by Dave Brubeck quartet, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.
 
Sea Change sounds insanely good in every format. It was what sold me on SACD until I realized the normal MFSL CD sounds every bit as good (and I could never find another SACD that sounded that good). I should pick up the MFSL vinyl as well.
 
EWizard said:
My reference record at this point is:
Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lions Skull

Great laid back blues rock with Bill Frisell on guitar.
I've got the first edition with translucent yellow vinyl (honey) and leather bound cover. Bad ass rare release.
The sound is AWESOME!
Click to expand...

That album is soooo killer! Would love to hear it on vinyl some day. Whenever that is up for auction online, it always goes for stupid prices. I've never even seen the leather bound version.
 
"Sea Change" is way up there at the top of my list...

Also way up there is Dire Straits "On Every Street"....the CD sounded awesome the first time I heard it at my local high-end store (Wilson Audio, Metairie LA), but I was very fortunate to find a sealed copy of the LP (Warner Bros. original U.S. pressing), and it blew the CD away.
 
DrDarkFish said:
We all have those 'digi-friend-naysayers' that believe that Vinyl is old and inferior technology.

Every once and a while we sit them down, warm up the system and blast their ears with so much analog goodness they scream in fidelity mercy..
Click to expand...

We do? They do?
 
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For a while, my go-to comparison LP used to be Rubber Soul, because the song "Girl" has a lot more depth and benefits from vinyl's inherent warmth (John's little hisses in the chorus especially).

Now, however, I use a relatively new album because the first three tracks are like one mini symphony that is just beautiful. The album is Synthetica, by the band Metric. The three songs that start off the album are "Artificial Nocturne," "Youth Without Youth," and "Speed the Collapse." Do yourself a favor and give those a listen. Artificial Nocturne starts with this wonderful rising tide of music that just cuts through whatever else is going on and demands your attention.
 
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