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Steely Dan's "Aja." MoFi vs UHQR.

Mr Boochie

Mr Boochie

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Settings the same. Flat EQ. Subs on.

Steely Dan - "Aja." Mobile Fidelity. MFSL 1-033. Second variant. 1980.
Runout: MFSL-1-033-B3 A SR/2 ORTOFON 30MAY80 1 31 ☼☼.

Steely Dan - "Aja." Analogue Productions. UHQR 0014-45. 45 RPM. Clarity Vinyl, 200 grams. 2023.
Run-out: APP 139-45-B (RE 2) Bernie Grundman [signature] ▽
 
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noogies said:
Well, they sound about the same on my phone.
Click to expand...
They sound pretty similar to me, too. Maybe, highs a bit clearer on the UHQR. But, that LP is 45 RPMs, which tends to have some advantages over 33RPM --- everything else being equal. :)

I like the drum intro on the MoFi better.
 
Okay, I recorded "Peg," while I still had the camera set up. Direct recording from phono pre-amp.

Peg.
Steely Dan - "Aja." Analogue Productions. UHQR 0014-45. 45 RPM. Clarity Vinyl, 200 grams. 2023.
Run-out: APP 139-45-B (RE 2) Bernie Grundman [signature] ▽

Steely Dan - Aja (UHQR cover) SMALL.jpg
 
Just a note of interest.....perhaps?

Good friend of mine and I did a comparison yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, between the MoFi Aja, the original ABC Records AB-1006, and a Japanese pressing. All three were superb, just sublime! However, there were differences, especially between the MoFi and the other two. I had been waiting to do this comparison after he told me that he and another good friend had done one between the MoFi and a Japanese pressing a couple of weeks ago and they both had determined the Japanese pressing to sound better.

After doing our test, he told me that again, he preferred the Japanese pressing (he didn't know which was which while we were doing the test). I asked him if he thought we were comparing "apples to apples" and he said he thought so, just different pressings.....not so!!! If you have a look, you will see that the MoFi was remastered by Stan Ricker (and Gary Giorgi), so in essence this was a completely different "take" on it as it changed the original mastering done by Bernie Grundman. So, I suggested, this was not a real straight across the board comparison and it kind of surprised him. I thought it might.....the devil is in the details.

So, @Mr Boochie, once again you amaze me with your devotion and contributions to this forum! No small feat you performed there with those recordings and I much enjoyed listening to them! Had you given any consideration to the aforementioned differences in mastering?

The back-story on this is that on Thanksgiving Day, 1977, same friend whom I had just met that year a few months earlier, arrived for dinner with a couple of albums in hand that he couldn't wait for me to hear. One was......you guessed it, Aja!!! So, after 46 years, to the day in fact, we were again listening to this same album and enjoying it just as much......not to mention our friendship!

PS - The other clear difference between the Japanese pressing and the original ABC Records AB-1006 is that the Japanese pressing was pressed using slightly less gain, which Japanese pressings in my experience seem to have in common with their US counterparts.....so it didn't play as loudly at the same settings on the preamp. The MoFi, also pressed in Japan, was similarly lower in gain. I imagine others have long-since discovered this too?
 
Fishead said:
Just a note of interest.....perhaps?

Good friend of mine and I did a comparison yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, between the MoFi Aja, the original ABC Records AB-1006, and a Japanese pressing. All three were superb, just sublime! However, there were differences, especially between the MoFi and the other two. I had been waiting to do this comparison after he told me that he and another good friend had done one between the MoFi and a Japanese pressing a couple of weeks ago and they both had determined the Japanese pressing to sound better.

After doing our test, he told me that again, he preferred the Japanese pressing (he didn't know which was which while we were doing the test). I asked him if he thought we were comparing "apples to apples" and he said he thought so, just different pressings.....not so!!! If you have a look, you will see that the MoFi was remastered by Stan Ricker (and Gary Giorgi), so in essence this was a completely different "take" on it as it changed the original mastering done by Bernie Grundman. So, I suggested, this was not a real straight across the board comparison and it kind of surprised him. I thought it might.....the devil is in the details.

So, @Mr Boochie, once again you amaze me with your devotion and contributions to this forum! No small feat you performed there with those recordings and I much enjoyed listening to them! Had you given any consideration to the aforementioned differences in mastering?

The back-story on this is that on Thanksgiving Day, 1977, same friend whom I had just met that year a few months earlier, arrived for dinner with a couple of albums in hand that he couldn't wait for me to hear. One was......you guessed it, Aja!!! So, after 46 years, to the day in fact, we were again listening to this same album and enjoying it just as much......not to mention our friendship!

PS - The other clear difference between the Japanese pressing and the original ABC Records AB-1006 is that the Japanese pressing was pressed using slightly less gain, which Japanese pressings in my experience seem to have in common with their US counterparts.....so it didn't play as loudly at the same settings on the preamp. The MoFi, also pressed in Japan, was similarly lower in gain. I imagine others have long-since discovered this too?
Click to expand...
Thanks, for the nice response. Great story about your friend!

Stan Ricker's mastering does sound different. I'm not sure if his studio source (tape) was the same as Bernie Grundman's. There were a few, correct?

I have not heard the Japanese pressing of "Aja." I only have "Pretzel Logic" on the ABC-Probe (EMI-Toshiba pressing). It is very good.

I do have the original AA-1006 Santa Maria pressing. Not AB-1006. I haven't heard it in a while. It's pretty worn out.

Any Major Dude.
Off Steely Dan's - "Pretzel Logic." ABC-Probe Records IPP-80988. Toshiba-EMI (Japan) pressing. 1974.
Run-out: ABCD-808-A 1S 3 〄 5-7

Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic (Probe-label) SMALL.jpg
 
markd51 said:
Just curious, did either seem to have that "simley face eq" applied? i don't have either, but have the original release.
Click to expand...
All my tunes have the smileyface eq
Skyaudio Labs on YouTube just went and visited a recording record pressing museum and The guy running it had 20 pressings of AJA and he concluded the original pressing / mix was the best.

"I want a name when I lose....."
 
As good as they may be, I can't bring myself to pay the $130+ for a UHQR pressing of anything.

As an aside, the TAS just 'inducted' (?) Bernie Grundman into their 'Hall of Fame'. I find his original works about good as anything on vinyl.
 
I don't know about the future of UHQR LPs, but MoFi pressings have more-or-less kept their value.

I remember my wife would always question why I bought a MoFi LP for $20, when the regular LP were selling for $5. Now, I'm kinda glad I did.

:idea: ;)
 
I only have a copy of the Cisco pressing of Aja and have never really compared it directly to anything else. It has always sounded very good on the various incarnations of my system.

A few weeks ago, I heard a system with Avid turntable, Cary Audio amplification, and Piega Coax floorstanders playing the new UHQR pressing. I don't know how much the system contributed vs. the UHQR pressing but I can say I've never heard that LP sound like that.

Alan
 
SmileyFaceEQ said:
All my tunes have the smileyface eq
Skyaudio Labs on YouTube just went and visited a recording record pressing museum and The guy running it had 20 pressings of AJA and he concluded the original pressing / mix was the best.

"I want a name when I lose....."
Click to expand...
You know, I agree. There has to be a great original master, to make a good remaster.

Even among the originals, there are better ones. The pressing plant can make as much of a difference as the engineer and masterer.

I like Monarch, Terre Haute, Pitman, Santa Maria, SRC pressings...
 
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Steely Dan - Aja (UHQR label) SMALL.jpg
So, I listened to the entire album. It's a good pressing, for sure.

Only thing I didn't like was the 45 RPMs. Flipping every 10 minutes. Two discs.

Excellent quality vinyl and cover.
 
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