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Post by gagelle on Mar 8, 2015 20:44:09 GMT
I've noticed that European classical pressings are generally superior to American. The vinyl is not only thicker but the sound is quality is usually better.
So, I was wondering if anyone has compared a British pressing on "His Master's Voice," (which I think is a subsidiary of E.M.I.) to an original American "Impulse!?" I'm just interested in sound quality, not collectibility. Thanks in advance for any feedback.
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Post by DobermanBoston on Mar 15, 2015 20:30:41 GMT
I think the original and early reissue Imupulse! US releases (up until the neon logo in '72 or so) represented some of the best quality (pre-audiophile era) vinyl ever produced in the US. So I would say it is about equal in the cases where I have owned both HMV and early Impulse! pressings (Coltrane's Crescent, Archie Shepp's On This Night, and Benny Carter's Further Definitions).
Generally speaking though, aside from the excellence of Impulse!, and some mastering (not vinyl) related issues with the Prestige catalogue that our host has covered over at his blog, I've found European pressings from the 60s-80s in any genre to be quite superior to American ones.
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Post by gregorythefish on Mar 16, 2015 14:36:48 GMT
hello, and welcome! sorry for the snow situation you've had recently.
i am a known impulse fanboy around here, and i agree with your sentiment. i've a friend who is a bit of an anglophile and he tends to buy british pressing when he can and we have had some friends help us blind test and been unable to tell the difference. i just like the history, so i always buy US originals of any pressings i can.
60s-80s being better when pressed in europe makes sense, given that they would have felt the oil squeeze of the time a little less, and prooduced heftier vinyl, i'd posit. mostly towards then end. what do you like better about them? can you quantify it?
i'm not an audiophile, just a music and jazz history fan, so i am very curious how some folks' listening experience differs from my own. i have a nice middle-of-the-road home audio system, and i am quite pleased with it.
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Post by gagelle on Apr 17, 2015 3:54:55 GMT
Sorry for the long delay. I initially didn't realize anyone responded to my post. I finally received a number original Coltrane records pressed in the UK. They sound absolutely fantastic and I was lucky enough to get them from a gentleman residing in California. The shipping costs from Europe often make it difficult for an American to buy some great European records.
Note: I still haven't been able to find Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" in near mint condition at a reasonable price. Many may have been pressed but many must have been trashed.
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moko
New Member
Posts: 8 
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Post by moko on Apr 17, 2015 16:40:51 GMT
Ha you should try being European and buying from the US if you want expensive postage and customs charges......
Unfortunately most of the great jazz records come from the U.S. so we are doomed to paying out big bucks.
My HMV Love Supreme does almost make up for itself in the great sound department what it lacks in the cover department....how I wish they could have copied the Impulse gatefolds
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Post by alunsevern on Apr 18, 2015 10:18:13 GMT
Gagelle, I think you'll find several posts over on LJC comparing Impulse with licensed HMV issues from the UK. I have a good number of these HMV records because certainly here in the UK they are very cheap to buy. In fact, I don't think I've ever paid more than. GBP8.00 for one. But sadly I am unable to compare them with Impulse originals. To my increasingly elderly ears the HMV issues sound terrific.
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Post by DobermanBoston on Apr 25, 2015 19:46:07 GMT
hello, and welcome! sorry for the snow situation you've had recently. i am a known impulse fanboy around here, and i agree with your sentiment. i've a friend who is a bit of an anglophile and he tends to buy british pressing when he can and we have had some friends help us blind test and been unable to tell the difference. i just like the history, so i always buy US originals of any pressings i can. 60s-80s being better when pressed in europe makes sense, given that they would have felt the oil squeeze of the time a little less, and prooduced heftier vinyl, i'd posit. mostly towards then end. what do you like better about them? can you quantify it? i'm not an audiophile, just a music and jazz history fan, so i am very curious how some folks' listening experience differs from my own. i have a nice middle-of-the-road home audio system, and i am quite pleased with it. Thanks! Luckily, snow has dissipated since these posts. My preference for Euro vinyl of that vintage is twofold. First, I find that the pressings are mastered a little hotter, and have a little more "presence". Second I've found that well-cared for Euro vinyl stands up better than well-cared for US. This is evident both in how Euro vinyl takes longer to wear out, and how it is less likely than the US vinyl to develop random clicks and pops in spite of excellent care. |
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Post by gregorythefish on Apr 26, 2015 13:16:43 GMT
Second I've found that well-cared for Euro vinyl stands up better than well-cared for US. This is evident both in how Euro vinyl takes longer to wear out, and how it is less likely than the US vinyl to develop random clicks and pops in spite of excellent care. Hmmm... any theories on why this might be? I have a few off the top of my head, but what are yours? |
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Post by DobermanBoston on Apr 27, 2015 2:25:31 GMT
Second I've found that well-cared for Euro vinyl stands up better than well-cared for US. This is evident both in how Euro vinyl takes longer to wear out, and how it is less likely than the US vinyl to develop random clicks and pops in spite of excellent care. Hmmm... any theories on why this might be? I have a few off the top of my head, but what are yours? Just theories but... Audio engineering, at the manufacturing level, may have been a more respected and better compensated field in Europe than in the US at the time. The European pressing plants were smaller, and probably not laboring under the rigid efficiency regimes that ours in the US were at the time. |
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Post by gregorythefish on Apr 27, 2015 14:16:47 GMT
well the engineering on most impulses we love would have been done by rudy van gelder, and we know he cut no corners. in terms of manufacturing, impulse was done by ABC-Paramount, and often pressed at the Longwear Plating plant. their LW marking is the impulse version of the 'ear' on blue notes. again, a very high level of workmanship there.
my personal hypothesis is that british equivalents are not as old, pressed by broken-in stampers, probably played less (jazz in the UK was a classy thing in the 60's and 70's, as opposed to a being seen as a gutter thing the way it was over here at first), and probably treated better when they were played.
but that's just my idea.
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