Universal Back To Black 180 gram vinyl *

This 180 gram was $15 and has the correct cover art. I would recommend it.

 

Just been listening to my new copy of Back To Black Who's Next. I'm no audiophile, (I wish I were so I could give a more valid opinion,) but it sounded impressive enough for my ears. But again, I've never heard this album on vinyl before so maybe i'm missing a trick. I'm eager to hear other views of this particular release.

I'm also tempted by the Traffic 'Low Spark' release if I can get it at a decent price. Has anyone heard it compared to other Traffic vinyl releases?? I'm not really interested in any other albums in this backtoblack catalogue but these Traffic and Who records were ones that I definitely wanted on vinyl.

By all means re-direct me if you think i'm making a mistake.

 

Seriously dont bother

 

Care to expand on that?? Reasons?? Seriously, how much better is the sound quality on other pressings?

 

As I believe someone already mentioned, your opinion is as valid as anyone's here. Different people define "audiophile" in different ways, but if it sounds good to you, that's the essential part of it.

However, hearing other pressings may help give you more experience as a listener and help you make better choices. A couple of evenings ago I listened to my Simply Vinyl copy of Supertramp's Breakfast in America, which I'd read somewhere was possibly sourced from CD. When I compared it to two other used pressings I picked up that were definitely original from analog sources, the difference was painfully clear. While the SV version sounded "good" on its own (I listened to it first), both of the used LPs possessed a sense of air and depth that was missing completely from the SV version. They both made it sound brittle and dry.

Likewise, my first copy of Abbey Road after re-entering the vinyl world was a US reissue from the remastered digital sources. It actually sounded very good, much nicer than the 1987 CD but when I found a clean used Canadian Capitol copy from an analog source, it had a slight edge in terms of depth and air.

Digital sources can sound good on vinyl (Heck, even Steve mentioned recently that one of the best sounding records he knows of is the original motion picture soundtrack of THE
COTTON CLUB LP on Geffen) but if they're not carefully mastered for vinyl and just rushed to the market to catch a slice of the "vinyl resurgence pie" then problems arise. It's good to hear that not all these Universal releases sound bad, but I have to admit I'm leery about spending money on them, especially in cases where good used copies are readily available.

Folks from Universal, if you're reading this (and I'm sure some of you are), get your act together!!! If Warner can do it, why can't you?

 

I got the Aerosmith Pump and it sounds like a bad CD. They are not doing this campaign right. WB/Rhino are actually mastering their reissues from a new remastering session. Universal is not doing this. It sounds like they took it from the last CD master they did and threw it onto LP. There are reissuing like 100's of vinyl titles in a short amount of time. There is no way they expensed a new remastering session for these.

 

+1

Universal have so many artists in their catalogue that I just love and would buy in a heartbeat if only the records (and CD's) were mastered better! Come on, guys, if you want to make money, you have to spend it! So spend some money on doing decent transfers - even digital if it must be - and you will get more sales! Especially from me as I am constantly (permanently more like!) in the market for new LP's

 

That's fair enough and a good point. I saw the initial ad on the back of the UK magazine 'Record Collector.' It sold itself to me. I have been buying up my fave albums on vinyl (secondhand) over the past six months. Now i'm spending anything from 1 to 20 UK pounds on a record. Sometimes its nice to buy a brand new one - particulary Who's Next and Low Spark. They're the only 2 in this catalogue I was interested as for 10 UK pounds it sounds a good deal. Maybe not in the long run. As much as I think it sounds okay (alright, even my lack of audiophile sense did detect a slight lack in overall "Ooomph" when 'Wont Get Fooled Again' started but I was willing to overlook it,) I'll hold back from the rest of this series and will keep an eye out for the other labels you've mentioned.

For me the one way I could really tell if these were really poor would be to hear the Layla and Disraeli Gears Universal reissues. Now those I do have on vinyl from my first time around in the 80's. I can detect the different remasters so that would really spell the quality out to me.

I will hand it to Universal, they have got their ideas right with the promotion as it has and will generate interest. But maybe they've sacrificed in other areas.

 

My CD of Pump sounds better than the new LP.

 

The free MP3 download I received with my Back To Black reissue of "Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs" sounds better than the LP.

To be fair, it's a nice, smooth-sounding, high bitrate download (it's about 175 Mb for the whole double album, which is certainly larger than the file size I get - ~2Mb a minute - when ripping CDs at 256kbps). But why couldn't Universal package the whole album as a zip file, rather than force me to download the 14 tracks individually? Grumble.

But the LP, though...it makes my ears itch. The first disc is particularly bad: there's some nasty distortion accompanying the guitar solos towards the end of sides one and two. The second disc isn't quite so bad, but that's not a particularly ringing endorsement. Makes Simply Vinyl look like Speakers Corner.

And did the photographs on the cover always look so, uh, sepia, or have Universal made it worse there as well?

 

Tell me is Layla on the Motown label? I see it listed as such on AcousticSounds.com but I've nver heard of that album being in any way connected to Motown!

 

Sounds like an error in the listing. My copy has Polydor labels throughout.

 

Dang. Why didn't I see this thread before picking up the Breakfast in America LP.
I guess I will have to check if I can exchange it.

 

Any comments on VU & Nico?

 

Yes I have it and it's not good. It sounds pretty lame. And It had some vinyl pressing defects and they also went with the tan desert labels instead of the blue/smoking man labels.

 

All the original issued Kiss LP’s sound really good.

 

The ones I have were cut by Sterling.

Robert Ludwig cut Alive!

 

Universal is hard to understand IMHO, I have many of their various re-releases and sadly have not had the time or ability (I am still on crutches due to a broken ankle that is NOT healing well) to play all of them. I have listened to the very expensive Japanese Universal re-releases and they are dead quiet and sound fine to me as far as mastering goes and at $40 a pop they should be. I have also listen to several that sold for $30 which I believe were all done in Europe and they sound fine. I have not had the chance to listen to the $20 ones yet (BTB) which I now expect will be less than satisfying based on this thread

 

The Rhino Joy Division remasters were the best sounding new vinyl I got last year.

I would also recommend the 4AD reissues being made by Vinyl 180. I have In The Flat Field and Dead Can Dance and they sound great! They are advertised as remastered from the original analogue tapes and they do sound like it.

i suspected Universal's were quickie CD source pressings when I saw the rack at Best Buy. I'm glad I checked here before I bought any. They are mostly classic rock titles that can easily be found used much cheaper and much better sounding.

 

I agree with you. Both the Japanese and German LPs sound fine. That's why I had such high hopes for this new series. Sadly the first batch was disappointing. I've heard that a couple of the newer ones sound better. Hopefully this is the case.

 

anyone seen the Serge Gainsbourg re-issues? i noticed they had the Back To Black on them. but the sales guy said they were made in France. wonder if they're new re-masters or just the cds from the same series by Universal France?

 

I picked up Sublime's 1996 S/T release, which is part of this Universal reissue program, and noticed that Kevin Gray did the cutting. Is he involved with any other releases from the Back to Black series? (Erick Labson did the vinyl mastering.)

 

Same with the releases that I bought in Japan. I bought two, the Carpenters' Now & Then, and Stevie Wonder's Innervisions. I felt that the old CD's sounded much better.

 

Anyone picked up KISS Alive?

 

I'm good w/ my 1st pressing. No way they will beat that.