Mikey, Can You Hear...
Me?
You don’t need one of our admittedly expensive Hot Stamper pressings to determine who is on the right side of a disagreement between the well-known Stereophile writer (and favorite target of ours) and those of us who promote what we consider to be Better Records.
Finally, Fremer and Better Records Can Agree on Something
The short version of our review of the new Rubber Soul vinyl would simply point out that it's awful, and, unsurprisingly, it's awful in most of the ways that practically all modern Heavy Vinyl records are: it's opaque, airless, energyless and just a drag. I was looking forward to the opportunity to take Michael Fremer (the champion of thick vinyl dreck from sources far and wide) to task in expectation of his rave review, when to my surprise I found the rug had been pulled out from under me -- he didn't like it either! Damn it all.
MoFi Debunked
A Hall of Shame pressing and another MoFi LP debunked. The MoFi pressing of this album is a joke. It’s so compressed, lifeless, and lacking in bottom end that it would hardly interfere with even the most polite conversation at a wine tasting . I consider it one of the worst sounding versions ever made. It’s an Audiophile Record in the worst sense of the word. Michael Fremer actually -- I kid you not -- still defends the sound of the MoFi pressing. In one of his reviews earlier in 2008 he used it to test a piece of equipment he was evaluating (!). more Info
The MoFi pressing of this album is a joke. It’s so compressed, lifeless, and lacking in bottom end that it would hardly interfere with even the most polite conversation at a wine tasting . I consider it one of the worst sounding versions ever made. It’s an Audiophile Record in the worst sense of the word.
Michael Fremer actually -- I kid you not -- still defends the sound of the MoFi pressing. In one of his reviews earlier in 2008 he used it to test a piece of equipment he was evaluating (!).
Your Guess Is As Good As Mine
I received an email recently from a customer who had gone to great pains to do his own shootout for a record and in the end come up short, with not a lot to show for his time and effort. It had this bit tucked in toward the end:
Some of [Better Records'] Hot Stampers are very dear in price and most often due to the fact that there are so few copies in near mint condition. I hate to think of all the great Hot Stampers that have ended up in piles on the floor night after night with beer, Coke, and seeds being ground into them. Can you imagine all the 1A 1B or even 2A 2B masters that ended up this way or were just played to death with a stylus that would be better used as a nail than to play a record!
As it so happens, shortly thereafter I found myself on...
Fremer Vs. Better Records -- You Be the Judge
Classic Records Debunked
A Hall of Shame pressing. Michael Fremer loved it, we of course hated it, so what else is new? If you think this record sounds good, one thing is certain: you don't own many good sounding Neil Young records! You might not own any, but don't feel bad; not many audiophiles do, if the experience of my audiophile friends is any guide. The average Neil Young record is nothing special. In fact, it's pretty mediocre. But that certainly doesn't excuse Classic's release of this dead-as-a-doornail hack job. The sound of these Classic LPs barely passes the laugh test. Who besides Michael Fremer can take this kind of sound seriously? My Neil Young CDs (Harvest in particular) sound better than this. more Info
Michael Fremer loved it, we of course hated it, so what else is new? If you think this record sounds good, one thing is certain: you don't own many good sounding Neil Young records! You might not own any, but don't feel bad; not many audiophiles do, if the experience of my audiophile friends is any guide.
The average Neil Young record is nothing special. In fact, it's pretty mediocre. But that certainly doesn't excuse Classic's release of this dead-as-a-doornail hack job. The sound of these Classic LPs barely passes the laugh test. Who besides Michael Fremer can take this kind of sound seriously? My Neil Young CDs (Harvest in particular) sound better than this. more Info
Thoughts on MoFi's Midrange Suckout
At some point in the early '90s I got hold of an early British pressing of the album. Comparing it to my MoFi I was shocked to hear the singers in the band so present and clear. Having only played MoFi's remastered LP I had never heard them sound like that. The MoFi had them standing ten feet back; the Brit put them front and center. There was no question in my mind which presentation was right. Around that time I was noticing that many Mobile Fidelity pressings seemed to be finding that same distant-midrange sound, and finding it on wildly different recordings.
Capitol Records Debunked
Flat, compressed, no top end, no Tubey Magic, this is Ron McMaster’s work at its worst, helped along by the fact that he does not have the original master tape or even a copy of it to work with, but instead the new remix that was made a few years back because the original tape had been lost. And somehow Michael Fremer likes it!
When you see that little RM in the dead wax of one of these new Heavy Vinyl reissues, you should get the sinking feeling that you’ve probably just flushed your money down the toilet. There ought to be a warning label on the jacket: Mastered by Ron McMaster. (On some records there is! I saw one not long ago with his mastering credit right on the front of the jacket.)
Wiped Away in an Instant!
"I have come to a conclusion - no matter whether I had the best $50,000 amps in the world or a $29,000 phono supply or the $150,000 Wilson Alexandria speakers or all that other incredible stuff that audiophiles lust for - not one of those items can make a shit record sound anything but like a shit record. There is no overcoming the original source material that you play on your stereo system."
Heavy Vinyl Jazz Debunked
Newflash!
Just dug up part of my old commentary discussing the faults with the orginal series that Doug Sax cut for Acoustic Sounds, viewable below.
