A turntable, finally?

[Diapason]

Can't easily listen to that link through the good system at the mo, but now that I check, I can certainly hear the issue on Qobuz as well. It's not as bad, but it's there. Now that I've heard it I can't un-hear it, IYKWIM.

Have played it for the missus as well, and she was of the "who cares?" view into she actually heard it. Now she's a bit shocked. It's good to know I'm ruining things for her too!! 😂

[Cyndale]

I can hear it on my desktop computer. Will play the track on my system when I get a chance. I have to say sibilance is generally not an issue on my system.

[Ivor]

Well it's funny you should say that, one of my other "problem" discs is Ella and Louis. Still, I can relax a little now I know it's not broken!

Did that copy of Ella & Louis come from.the same outlet as Graceland?

[Diapason]

It did (Golden Discs, new)

As mentioned above, Ivan's older copy of Graceland had the same issue and I can hear it on digital too so I think that might be a problem with the recording itself.

The Louis and Ella one is interesting. On "They can't take that away from me" for example, there's no problem on Ella's voice, but once Louis comes in it kicks off. He seems to be recorded REALLY hot on that one.

[Cyndale]

For me there are just two pressings to choose from, the original German or US release and this 2012 180 gram reissue. Any others are bright as Ivor has said.

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/ig ... wenty-five

[Diapason]

Thank you. I'm finding the whole thing of having the "right" pressing quite difficult, but given the price of new records it seems like some care is warranted.

[Cyndale]

Thank you. I'm finding the whole thing of having the "right" pressing quite difficult, but given the price of new records it seems like some care is warranted.

I hear you on the 'right' pressing. One example is Nirvana's Nevermind, there are SOOOO many variations of this pressing over the last couple of years. Rory Gallagher's catalogue has been released a couple of times over recent years and all of them are different.

[Adrian]

Very interesting journey there Simon! Glad to hear that the issue is not with the TT.

I had a look on the www and attempted to find some info WRT "Graceland" recording quality etc. Needless to say I did not find any, the album is hailed as one of the greatest of all time etc, so even if things could have been recorded better / edited better it is probably not going to be mentioned as it would be too un PC / against the grain.

There are some insights from the wikipedia page on "Graceland (album)",


"Recording and production[edit]

Initial recordings were made in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Later recordings, including mixing, were produced at The Hit Factory in New York City.
In February 1985, Simon and his longtime engineer Roy Halee flew to Johannesburg, intending their visit to be secret. Recording sessions took place at Ovation Studios. Halee had feared the studio would be a "horror show", but was surprised to find it "very comfortable".[8] The studio was reminiscent of a garage, which Halee feared would be a problem for recording, and none of the musicians wore headphones."

So it would appear they had their technical issues, in addition the album was edited numerous times and transferred from analogue to digital, so perhaps some errors / undesirable characteristics got though unintentionally?

[Diapason]

That's a good find, thanks Adrian!

In fairness, this is real "one lost sheep" stuff on my part (for an unexpected biblical analogy!) For the most part, the album sounds great, really alive and fresh, and I think of it as a good recording without a doubt. I guess it depends on your response to such things, but since I'm still finding my way along the wonderful world of vinyl it was important for me to figure out what was going on with those few small issues. It's much easier to listen past these issues when I know I haven't caused them myself.

At some later point I might share further musings on my vinyl experience as a long-time digital only listener who grew up with CDs. For now, though, the most interesting thing is the compulsion to collect recordings again. It's a very strange thing to say in a streaming era, but I actually missed it. I'm not sure what the psychological sense of ownership has to do with being able to listen to music, but it's there for some reason.

[Fran]

There are always some variety in the pressings, but there are a couple of well known examples where later remastered versions are noticeably worse. Graceland is one of them, and Rumours is another. Others are more different flavours - the 4 men with beards ones tend to be a little brighter (which can suit some recordings). Speakers Corner reissues are fantastic, but tend to be cut hot (loud) so you want to make sure your alignment is bang on to get the best out of them. I rarely buy new, and instead pick up secondhand stuff at low enough prices that if its crap I consider it a free frisbee. I love this because I buy stuff that I would pass by if it was more expensive, and doing so you find some gems. I do find it galling to pay 30e for one record. So its only something that I really want that I cough up for. A few recent ones are Stormzy, Public Service Broadcasting, and the half speed remasters from Abbey road.


The only way to find out is either read reviews or hear them yourself.....