51 Comments

Cheers, Andres, for sharing your thoughts! Some albums have also been fantastically remixed, which helps bring the music to life. For example, Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree has lovingly remixed Jethro Tull's catalog. His remix of their 1971 album, 'Aqualung' is truly stellar. The band was limited by the technology of their day and subsequently unhappy with the original mix. Steven Wilson was able to beautifully unearth layers of detail in the instrumentation that is unheard in the muddy original 1971 mix. Honestly, it's a revelation and it sounds like hearing the album again for the first time. 

I also like how you mention "warmth." The cartridge and stylus can add warmth or brightness to the sound. As can hi-fi equipment and speakers. For example, I have often felt that British hi-fi equipment has a warmer sound compared to the brightness of Japanese equipment. I'm not saying one is better than the other, however. Ultimately, it comes down to the sound one prefers.

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Thank you, Michael! So true: a lot can happen in (and with) the mix. So much so that sometimes, a mastering engineer will need to send material back to the mixing engineer if something in the mix needs improvement or adjustment. I particularly like remixes that change or reprise, re-conceptualise, so to speak, the original (or main) version.

What you say about hi-fi equipment adding qualities to the sound is spot on. Especially speakers and styli.

Once again, thanks a lot for stopping by!

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100%! And I should have said above that a good remix can only truly be experienced on analog (as you point out!). Spotify or other streaming devices can't reveal the same level of detail.

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Mar 9
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Chrysalis remastered it in '96 or '97. The Steven Wilson remix, however, is from 2011, and he used the original recording as his source. To celebrate the album's 40th Anniversary, the band (most likely Ian Anderson) hired Steven Wilson to remix it. I have read interviews where Ian says he is very fond of the results and that it gets as close as possible to what he had envisioned the album sounding like back in 1971.

I don't have the 90s remaster to compare, but I do have a UK original and the Wilson remix, and they are night and day in sound fidelity comparison.

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Even with diminished hearing, I can still usually tell the difference. And if playing a record at home, I can sometimes “feel” it too.

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Aviation career to blame, I gather? Interesting that you can still tell the difference. I know exactly what you mean when you say you can "feel" it. Crazy how much (and far) the power of sound and music can transcend. Our souls always take over.

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"Our souls always take over." ❤️❤️❤️

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Mostly a combo of 30 years around planes, loud music, a lot of shows, and a short lived attempt to play drums.

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Yes! Just found out courtesy of Jacqueline’s podcast. Would love to hear you play someday!

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Oh man; it’s been so long… and I wasn’t even very good then! Lol.

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Fake it till you make it, my friend 😁

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Thanks for sharing. This is a strong ‘A,B,C’ explanation. Many people simply don’t understand this. While many may not care, some do, and it is nice to have good information for them that is non judgmental in a world where ‘vinyl snobs’ can make things a tad uncomfortable.

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Thank you so much, Scott. This was precisely my aim: to bring all this audio technology knowledge down to a level where most people could understand, without the typical snobbery that one often encounters in this type of conversation. Once again, thank you. Your comment means a lot to me.

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I think I mentioned before that even though I'm a musician and have spent a fair amount of time in recording studios, I can't really hear the difference. But like Kevin says, I think I can feel it sometimes, in some records over others. Although vinyl always feels better to me regardless, just because of the tactile nature of it, and the ritual of attention that goes along with playing a record.

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Yes I recall you saying. Perhaps — and this is pure speculation on my part but I’d like to do more research — precisely because of your experience/skillset, you’ve been trained to hear more nuance and detail than the average listener, in general, and regardless of format/quality of the source audio, so you can still hear stuff when listening to digital that others can’t. Does it make sense? I’ll see if I can dig more into this. I’m passionate about this kind of stuff.

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I had the same issue when I was a professional photographer. Some photographers swore there was a difference between high quality digital and film similar to the one there supposedly is between digital and vinyl, but I've never noticed it in any literal way in the digital/film debate either. Put two photos side by side and I don't see a difference between a digital image and a film image -- unless I know which is which, in which case suddenly I can magically see the difference. Same with digital vs vinyl. If I know something is playing on my turntable, it sounds different in all those ways we talk about, richer, warmer, etc. Otherwise, there's not much differnce to me. It's the knowing that changes it.

And that gives me the clue that it's psychological -- which does NOT mean I think it's not real, the way people often suggest when they say that. I think the difference is in something more ineffable, in the power of our experience, not the actual literal visual/sound characteristics.

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Yes, I see what you mean. It could also be related to focus/attention. Clearly our minds rule us. As a kid, my mum thought I had hearing issues because I listened to music and watched TV at very high volumes. She had my hearing medically checked. The doctor’s verdict was that it was attention/focus related, not hearing related. A few years later I was diagnosed (by a different doctor) with a mild case of ADHD, which my brain overcompensates by making me extremely focused on one thing at a time (I find it extremely hard to multitask, for example).

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Btw, you probably know that no one can mulitask. It's an illusion. Our brains can only focus on one thing at a time and what people call multitasking is just a rapid shift from one focus to another -- and it's devastating for our creative work, as you also probably know.

I'm also fortunate that I "can't" multitask.

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No, I did not know that, so thank you! I feel less bad about my inability to “multitask” now 😃

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If you google "the illusion of multitasking" you'll find lots of good info on it.

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Right. And in our culture, we've been taught that anything that's "just" in the in the mind or in the emotional quality of the experience is somehow not legitimate or true, so we search for external "hard" science to justify our very real experience. (Because I have the same experience, I just don't know if it has a scientific basis. It might, but I don't think it necessarily needs one.)

The psychological/emotional component of an experience -- and perhaps especially of music, which is arguably one of, if not the, purest and most elemental form of sensory experience, along with touch and taste -- is arguably the single most important part of our experience of music, and stands on its own as valid regardless of any external science.

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This is so true. Music is so primal that it transcends whatever science we invent to make sense of it.

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I always say it's like trying to understand the power of music by studying how a radio works.

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I need to get better at remembering I wrote this piece:

https://www.beatlesabbey.com/p/fool-on-the-hill

Given your comment, if you haven't read it already, it might be of interest. It deals with how Paul's supposed "perfectionism" is really him being able to hear detail at a higher level than the other Beatles. It might be Of Interest in your musings on this.

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Thank you for remembering! This is very interesting. Thanks!!

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I finally have my studio back to usability and my 1500ish albums back where they belong. I also moved my turntable to a more secure spot. It is a very low end USB turntable, but I can connect it to both my computer and mixer so it’s worth it. And to my ear it all sounds great. Played Bob Marley’s Catch A Fire to inaugurate the new setup. The feeling of calm that overtook me was like slipping into a bath.

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That is so cool, Steve! Few things in life can top that feeling. Glad to hear you’re enjoying your setup!

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Great piece!

We just finished a second, all analog Adrianne Lenker record (written about here - https://www.instagram.com/p/C2xiGV2O76e/?igsh=ZDE1MWVjZGVmZQ==)

Hopefully more artists will have the means to do this in the coming years! It’s magical.

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Thanks, Ari! This is wonderful. Congratulations!!! This just put a big smile on my face

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Well presented, Andy, and may I say.......look who's now getting consistently large numbers (likes and comments)! Color me proud of you!

Your piece brought out new questions from me (that's a sign, too, of a well-written piece!).....I'm peering at the records in your vids, so my curiosity is piqued: (For our readers, I'm in the U.S., you're in the UK)......I'm guessing your Mariah collection (as the Carey completist I'm guessing you are) contains both import and domestic LPs (and I mean that from both our POVs)!!!!

To ME, the red label with "CBS" denotes the UK version, of course, and the equally-red label of the U.S. issue has "Columbia Records" (or just "Columbia"...I forget...and, I'm not about to check; I know it's one or the other!) encircling the label. Have you ever noticed any differentiation in either country's pressings (for any artist, at any time), generally speaking?

I've got my impressions and notions......wanna trade opinions? You first.😊

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Thank you so much, Brad! It feels me with pride if you feel proud! This means A LOT to me because you know how much I admire you.

You are spot on about the labels. The CBS one from the YouTube video is actually a Greek pressing which I don’t own.

I own the Dutch and UK pressings and they both say, as you correctly guessed, CBS. In fact, the Greek pressing from the YouTube video I linked to is very similar to the other European ones save for some additional Greek text.

I also own three US pressings of this album, and the three of them say Columbia, as you correctly point out. The one you see in my homemade video is the very first pressing which is actually a misprint: the album was completed and was already in the process of being pressed and printed, but the label (i.e. Don Ienner and Tommy Mottola) wanted her to write a poppy love ballad because they felt the album was too urban, so Mariah wrote Love Takes Time and the label loved it so much that they stopped the pressing of the album to include the song. This first US pressing doesn’t list Love Takes Time on the sleeve, but the record includes the song (and it is listed on the label) (with the first batch, they managed to amend the discs themselves, but not the sleeves!).

The other US pressings of this record that I own are modern reissues and they all imitate the original US label (i.e. Columbia).

The Dutch and UK pressings are very good but I hear more detail in my first US pressing despite the fact it has more wear and tear than the others.

Really curious to hear your thoughts! Sorry for the length of this comment but thought you might enjoy the detail!

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Don't apologize for length of comment....not after my mini-novel above!😁Your first pressing is valuable (for more than just monetarily....collectability), and what an amazing set of facts surrounding!

The pressing and the printing happen at different plants and, mostly, clear across the country (any country)! Which is why they were able to successfully coordinate pressing new slabs with the new song, but not get hold of the printers in time! Apparently, CBS had printing abilities to print the labels (and glue them onto discs) in-house, which makes sense, given your account.

From the time I was "in the biz," '70s'n''80s, we statesiders always felt our vinyl was like hot dogs......made and pressed with a lot of ingredients, some having nothing whatsoever to do with the final product (like our hot dogs)!!

British vinyl, we felt (and thought we heard....plus, it looked cleaner!!) always seemed so better-pressed....made with less-polluted PVC, if that's possible and a thing. Along with collectability, we often coveted the UK pressing over the domestic....but, like with Bowie product, say, we completists "had to" get the import, regardless....not to mention the releases not even issued here due to lack of domestic label deal (looking at you, Showaddywaddy, Alvin Stardust, Arrow, Mud, ad infinitum)!!!

But, like the old saying, and seeing your comments about our domestics......I guess the vinyl is always cleaner on the other side of the turntable!!😉

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This is very interesting. Now that you mention it, I realise that, for many albums I want to buy, I end up getting the UK pressing after reading comments from (mostly) US collectors/audiophiles. An old rule I sometimes go by is trying to get a pressing from the country of the artist/band. My Beatles and Queen UK pressings are apectacular. Thinking about it, I do have some EWF and Stevie Wonder pressings from the UK that sound crystal clear. Mariah is an outlier, I think, for two main reasons:

1. In the 90s as you well know no one was really investing in vinyl capabilities anymore; and

2. Tommy was literally throwing money at everyone and everything in his vicinity to pump Mariah’s career and take it to the stratosphere.

With Mariah’s records and singles, especially from the early nineties, the US pressings were done with SO much quality that even non-fans would reconsider!

Even the American editions of her CDs (the “main” editions, obvs) have booklets that are twice as thick as any other edition I’ve come across (and I’ve seen plenty… records, that is 😅).

Mariah and the peculiar circumstances of her early releases aside (clearly strategised by Tommy to propel her and the label to new heights), it’s interesting how the grass is always greener on the other side.

Most UK-based collectors I know will place German pressings over and above anything else.

I think 60s and 70s may have been the UK’s golden period. I love 80s pressings from the US because of how punchy the bass is (but this is of course a matter of taste). I could talk about this all day! Thank you, as always, for sharing the madness! 😅😘

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Now that you mention other EU countries, we 'Mericans have always heard good things about Germany, also (DG label....don't ask me to spell it.....it ends with Gramophone)....plus the German BMG (Bertelsman Music Group), longtime parent, now, of RCA, which is, stunningly, now merged with CBS/Sony (my '70s record label sensibilities are having palpatations!!!),

Plus, I seem to recall boutique jazz labels like Germany's ECM, various new age labels, and others (whatever labels they were on) seemed to go out of their way (if not country) to press high-quality wax, and usually (as you can see by this short list of finely-tuned genres) for music-quality reasons.

As they say in the aviary's kitchen: Different storks for different forks.🍽👍

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It’s fascinating that you got to see all of that there and then during THE golden days!

German and American pressings tend to be my favourite but this also might be a little bit of “I want what I cannot (easily) have” syndrome. I love the German precision and the boldness of the US masters. What would we do without our music, eh? 😅

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Well, also know that back in that day ('70s), we WERE aware of those differences, and talked about them from time to time, and some of us read the tech mags, etc. I read "Stereo Review," and whatever they may have had about audio fidelity, etc, I only read that mag for its reviews (Steve Simels comes to mind as a fave reviewer from SR).

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I had an experience last week listening to a 2011 record I hadn’t heard in years. I remembered it being crystal-clear, but actually found mastering quality quite muddy. Not a well known or celebrated record so will probably never get a remaster. But at least it still sounds great in my head!

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That’s interesting! What record is it? And when you heard it crystal clear, was it also on vinyl or another format?

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It’s “Quilt” by the band Quilt, on Mexican Summer. I think the crystal clear version was only in my fallible memory! Although I do have a digital download, I haven’t compared.

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There are apparently three LP editions:

https://www.discogs.com/master/389865-Quilt-Quilt?format=Vinyl

I haven’t checked the comments, but sound may vary between them, especially the coloured one. Who knows! Sometimes there are slight variations.

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Wow, I had not looked into it further - that’s wild!

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Well done.

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Cheers, Bob!

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Thank you and sharing!

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Thank you, Thea!

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Mar 9
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Thank you so much, Bret! This means a lot to me. Really appreciate your kind words. Thanks again!

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