Sound Quality & "The Last Mile" in Record Collecting

[@KS-yy2fu]

Congrats to your choices made and awesome presentation. Small correction: English settlement was not recorded at the Townhouse. XTC moved to the Manor Studios for six weeks to bring this masterpiece to birth. Fun fact: The producers build a stone wall room in their to get the drum sound alike. I own the white spine pressing and it still sounds unbelievable though my cover looks worn out as a result of heavy listening since 1982. I also own the deluxe version with 2LP and cd which sounds as phenomenal. Cheers from Germany Klaus

[@Universityofvinyl]

Thanks for that! Appreciate the clarification and comment...cheers, Tim

[@ricksendeavors]

Your videos on records that are excellent pressings on the cheaper side are so special to me. I used to have a high-profile career, but now I'm on a fixed SSDI income. In the late 90's my collection of 1400 albums, 3000 45s, tapes, cds, etc... was stolen by a so-called friend while I was recovering from a horrible tragedy. You help me either find or hold out for, a great-sounding, much-loved record that I can actually afford. I've been slowly replacing in the last few years, and adding a few new ones along the way. Thanks for going the extra mile, and doing this guy a solid 👍 OG Steely Dan GH is on my want list because of you. I remembered how amazing mine sounded when I owned it. So far only a VG+ in my price range, But I'm holding out for a NM or SS. Thanks again!!!!

[@tomdemaline8869]

I'm right there with you Tim. I was born in the late '50's and grew up with vinyl and 8-track tapes. And like many, when cd's came out I jumped on the band wagon and spent over 300.00 for a Sony single disk cd player and bought about a dozen cd's and I thought I had gone to the Universal Heaven's. But it didn't take me long to realize that the "connection" to the music was gone. That physical connection that comes from handling, cleaning, turning the record over, reading the album cover etc. You can't get that from cd's or streaming. The only other way you can get that connection is if you play a musical instrument. I own maybe 30-40 cd's, and I don't actually know where they are. It's difficult to explain our connection to someone especially if they have never experienced it. A little surface noise or a crack or pop here and there somehow adds to the connection in ways that I can't explain. Keep the videos coming Tim

[@jasonarsenault3791]

This was excellent Tim. Love those little sticky notes too 😉 Keep up the top notch content 🤘🏼

[@TheAgeOfAnalog]

Yep, I too have that DMM Tango. It's one of the best sounding OG records I own.

[@stephenschmitt8630]

Thank you for that last video. Would you be able to do a historical background and commentary on the 2 Traveling Wilbury’s albums. You are so good at that! What a great collection of artists. It would probably give you some great content for another video. Thanks much!!!

[@Universityofvinyl]

Possibly!

[@scotthouston6621]

Great presentation! You got me back into used vinyl!

[@brianmedeiros6845]

That was very enjoyable took some notes on the titles. One learning curve for me while inspecting records prior to purchase at my local shops is having proper lighting such as a bright halogen light source. I purchased a super bright pocket light works well. I learned this when I found out that one shop has a bright halogen overhead at checkout. As the clerk mentioned to me the light never lie’s. It’s like night and day. So my advice find a bright light source while inspecting records prior to purchase. I also take them to a sunny window works well just not as good as a bright halogen that can pick up lite hairline scratches which as you know is a major part of surface noise. Thank You

[@stephenschmitt8630]

Just picked up a copy of Kamakiriad , wow great pick! I am of course a huge Steely Dan Fan and Donald Fagen fan. This is a great recording! Thanks for reminding me to get this!

[@Universityofvinyl]

Very cool!

[@audiotomb]

I had to buy the Donald Fagen Cheap XMas box to get Kama (had the other lps already - plus a bonus disc I had on cd - other box)

[@IxMOODYxI]

I look forward to your videos! Currently I’m three albums into your steely Dan recommended pressings. Can’t wait for the next deep dive on an artist like that series. Maybe Bob Seger?

[@jonthurston8275]

Great to see Tim in the talking head segments bookended between 'Three Imaginary Boys' and 'Closer'. As an aside - and I wholly agree about the great Townhouse sound - mastering at Townhouse from about 1979 included a digital step (and a low bit one at that!) as the Ampex ATR102 tape machines they used fed the cutter head via a digital delay line. So 'English Settlement' on the UK OG pressing is, in truth, digital on the wax. Just goes to show!

[@gerardfletcher1203]

its the music that matters love ur channel keep up great work .

[@didiermarchant3024]

Interesting concept and demonstration Tim. Btbh, for me, I don't mind a tiny bit of noise or cracks here and there. It is typically part of the record world after all ;-) Cheers.

[@photogcw]

I have 5 or 6 vinyl pressings done on Quiex II formulation and only two had the hype sticker. Most times, the albums were stamped as promotional copies in gold on the cover.

[@Cookingwithsteveg]

Grammy Award winner masterpiece by Beck! I love mine. Yes sound quality is outstanding!

[@Universityofvinyl]

Thx Steve ✌🏻

[@Davidicus-m8c]

good video tim and who knew about that sammy hagar album,,im still on the hunt for his solo albums, his stuff with van halen, i can take some of it or leave it.

[@VintageStereoCollectorChannel]

Great vid Tim! Maybe another part of going the last mile would include a decent cartridge and stylus like a Micro line or conical. Of course like anything, this opens a can of worms with individual opinions👍

[@latheofheaven]

No, no... you are absolutely right! 😁 Perhaps the best stylus technology / architecture we have going now (very similar to the excellent Line-Contact they used to have)

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

I couldn't agree more. I'm a die-hard vinyl collector going on 45 years (I'm 55 now). I love the concept of Last Mile. That's where I am now. I've started to research modern pressing plants as well due to some of the QC issues I run into now. There are some wonderful plants (and some really bad ones). As I listen now it's with an ear of replacement or not. Fortunately I've taken pains for decades to take care of them, but failed in my younger years with some when I didn't know better. Everything goes through a Record Doctor VI and Spin Clean rinse before it hits my TT for the first time (used and new). I need to check out the HummingGuru someday. Last - where did you pick up those stickies for recording record info?

[@Universityofvinyl]

They’re pretty cool cards that I tuck into my outer sleeves. Available here- www.koeppeldesign.com

[@robertendsley8312]

Japenese Nightfly is hard to beat. Japanese Avalon is pretty good too. Agree on No Jacket Required. Your copy looks almost identical to mine. Shrink. Hype and all!

[@johndoyle7644]

Throughly enjoy your videos

[@Universityofvinyl]

Thanks 👍🏻

[@malco49]

don't all the items on placed on your speaker make you worry about vibrating or rattling noises?

[@Universityofvinyl]

Not really; they were only there for a couple of minutes while I taped that section.

[@tomsherwood4650]

I don't think I can go with the mad search for the perfect stamper and pressing of every record I might like to have. That is alot of money/time to spend. Finding records cheap is my primary goal. Finding excellent or at least decent pressings for cheap if possible. I also have tape and CD sources. Some media sounds terrible, some sounds astounding. More from recording or mastering in many cases. The further you get into minute aspects beware you may just lose the pleasure of hearing the music.

[@tomdemaline8869]

BTW Tim where did you pick up your MA-6100? I m looking

[@Universityofvinyl]

Hi Tom, got lucky locally - a friend purchased it as part of a record collection. Original owner with all paperwork, box etc.

[@tomdemaline8869]

WOW thats really nice@@Universityofvinyl

[@michaellitscher9456]

I have a recent "last-mile" fail. And it has the SRC logo stamp (S and smaller R and C in the loops of the S) and Artisan pressing plant logo scratched (drum with two drum sticks) in the dead wax: Peter Gabriel's "So" album. The sibilance on this album is unavoidable, especially given one of the singles is "Sledgehammer." It was $20 used, and the music is great, but the pressing leaves something to be desired. I apologize if I ruined anyone's enjoyment of their "So" album.

[@latheofheaven]

IIRC, I believe that is a known issue in the RECORDING of this album, not the pressing...

[@Universityofvinyl]

I recently picked up the UK original of So mastered at Town House London, incredible listen and not picking up any sibilance. I’ve also heard the double 45 rpm somewhat recent reissue is amazing.

[@michaellitscher9456]

@@latheofheaven That's a bummer.

[@latheofheaven]

@@michaellitscher9456 Well, I don't know for sure, but I thought I remembered something someone said about one of his albums on the Steve Hoffman Forums. As Tim said above the 2-45 of So might be good, but I do remember many saying that the first 2 or 3 of his in that 2-45 format were not very good.

[@cougar1861]

How does one determine the pressing facility? Is that info routinely found on Discogs listings? Where? Thanks

[@Universityofvinyl]

Pretty easy to determine in the runout groove matrix or sometimes a suffix on the actual catalog number on the label. This is very helpful: londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/buying-records-online/us-pressing-plant-stamps-and-other-identifiers/

[@cougar1861]

@@Universityofvinyl Thanks. Great link, great video.

[@ega9831]

Thanks Tim - just wonder if you have any recommendation about how to get rid of the smell of old paper form old records. After a few hours of cleaning and handling old records it gets pretty intense. Any thoughts?

[@Universityofvinyl]

I guess you’re speaking about the mildew odor of some covers? Some people use a quick once over with a disinfectant wipe which can help. Be careful not to saturate the cover though.

[@audiotomb]

Outdoor fragrance bounce dryer sheets Try it on something replaceable first to make sure it works in your climate

[@latheofheaven]

👍 I always smile when I see these one-dimensional CD people absolutely discount vinyl, and even in this case, shockingly tubes! Wow... For the over 40 years that I've been pretending to be an Audiophile, I have been a strictly vinyl *ONLY* person. And, passionately so. BUT... just recently, primarily because of my over 7000 FLAC albums on my HDD's, I gave in and got my first DAC. It is a mid-level but very nice sounding one. And, I have to admit that although of course vinyl is preferred, there actually are some cases where the vinyl simply has not been recorded/mastered that well, where the CD/FLAC version bests it. Shocking, I know... Of course when the vinyl/mastering/pressing is done properly, on my system it always sounds best. But, I have been quite surprised once in a while... An excellent recent example is Jack White's Fear of the Dawn. I was quite dismayed how rather poorly the vinyl sounded, but the FLAC version actually sounded quite a bit better!

[@earl007]

Not one eyed. Done vinyl. Don’t like it.

[@jimbrock1441]

I'm afraid that I have gone to the dark side on this. When I started out with a modest system in college, everything sounded the same as far as quality of sound was concerned. As my system got better and apparent sound quality began to vary a decision was made to keep poorer recordings based solely on musical merit and live with it. ( I'm looking at you Harvest and Charisma pressings.) Now I find that I have fallen down the rabbit hole of critical self flagellation. I had an original Mastersound recording of Wish You Were Here. That half-speed pressing, from the original tapes, to me sounded glorious and was QUIET. My brother borrowed it when I was away and put a scratch on side two in three places. It drove me nuts .Pink Floyd is not for background listening. I recorded side one to a Maxell XL2S cassette tape with Dolby S and taped side two from the SACD. Now I could listen to the complete album glitch free. However, because of the compromise it was not the same. I bought the reissue and although good, it was not the same. The SACD is also not the same. There are a host of reasons that I haven't spoken to my brother in 25 years, but this one floats near the top when I play WYWH. Sometimes getting to where you were headed is not where you should be. Just sayin".

[@Universityofvinyl]

Jim, all I can say is ugggggh.If you’re willing to reinvest look for the 30th anniversary pressing from the tapes and cut by Kevin Gray. Glorious!!

[@OrangeandBlueBloodBrett]

I love Standing Hampton and by the way do you know what Standing Hampton means...look it up.😅

[@Universityofvinyl]

😂

[@rayredding72]

"Who's Dad talking to in the basement?"

[@latheofheaven]

Heh... You're terrible... 😁

[@Universityofvinyl]

Just talking’ to my peeps 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@ergloo6660]

There is a big BUT... many 1990's pressings are dire as the pressing and quality of vinyl was terrible. I have a Degritter and despite more 8 heavy cleans and a very high end system there can be a lot of surface noise. Record companies did not care about quality as this was the day of the CD, records were only pressed to meet legal obligations with the pressing plants. I have records from this period that look new, perfect, unplayed yet sound dire. Sadly records from this time period cannot in my bitter experience be visually graded

[@ergloo6660]

Streaming is theft, friends of mine are musicians, last year they had > 1 million hits on spotify, this earnt them £35.00 to be shared between 5 people. Streaming kills new music

[@davepounds8924]

If you’re into vinyl records that’s great I just don’t like it when people who like vinyl crap all over CDs and digital music I have vinyl records and I have digital to analog converter for CDS and they sound great Audiophiles go overboard in criticizing digital music

[@Universityofvinyl]

I don’t think I crapped on digital, I actually have a CD system set up in my office. The music comes first…

[@petekutheis3822]

More artists, labels should take more care. Tangerine Dream last several vinyl releases are awfully noisy.