Electric Recording Company

I may have been a bit overt critical of the audiophile reissues, but ...

If OJCs aren't necessarily bad, then it's a shame to pay almost $100 for a 200g or double 45rpm 180 gram when a used EX/EX OJC is well under $20.

Moreover, even if the quality was slightly better than an OJC, but not as good as an orig pressing, but 5 times the price of an OJC, but 1/5 of the price of an orig, it's hard to decide if the quality and the price of an audiophile pressing is a reasonable middle ground or the worst of both worlds. Seems like a fine line that favors confirmation bias.

I agree, Rich -- cheap 70s and 80s represses are a God-send for collectors on a budget -- or, as we know them, cheapskate jazz enthusiasts

And I also agree, Arick, that deciding which offers best value -- an original or a high priced audiophile reissue -- is difficult. But one of the reasons it's a difficult choice is because as an economic choice it doesn't quite play by the rules you suggest. very few people, i think, look at the equation quite as you suggest -- is this reissue at one-fifth the price of an original but five times the price of a budget copy 'good value'?

The reason for this is that high priced reissues along the lines of the ERC ones are i think what classical economics calls Veblen goods. Demand for these goods -- unlike other typical forms of demand -- is proportionate to their high price. People buy them partly because they *are* costly -- like Porsches and Bentleys and Rolls Royces. Indeed, may even want them *less* if they were less expensive. (I think i have that right -- i'm no economist!)

They are also sometimes known as 'positional goods': what this means, i think, is that demand for them arises partly from their perceived desirability by *others* who want them but can't afford them.

I find this quite interesting -- even if it is (as i think is the case) just a posh way of dressing up what we know as conspicuous consumption.

With genuine, vintage original pressings i think some of this applies but it's further complicated by rarity value.

Anyway, back to OJCs. Yes, I've had a few dogs but astonishingly few considering how many I have. And some sound superb. I reckon that OJCs and similar -- which are themselves now 'vintage' if not 'collectible' or 'sought after' -- offer tremendous value. But more than this, because they date to a time when vinyl was the predominant format and producing it badly hadn't yet caught on as a way of making a fast buck, they offer terrific consistency.

I also love OJCs and agree with Rich that they are usually superior to other, newer higher-end reissues. On many of mine the bass and piano seem to come in much clearer and warmer.  I have an OJC of Waltz for Debby as well as an original (stereo), and the OJC easily beats it.  The original is a little scratchy but it's easier to hear the intrinsic sound quality underneath, and in my opinion it's inferior to the OJC.

Funny how this Electric Recording Company thread is turning into an OJC thread.

The OJC is stereo. I recall vaguely on the LJC website (or perhaps the forum) that original Riverside stereos are problematic. This may be the case, but I certainly have some great-sounding ones, so it may just depend. One of my prized riversides is a gorgeous stereo Portrait of Bill Evans.

As another Bill Evans example, I also have an OJC stereo of Everybody Digs and a MONO 1st (or 2nd) press on Riverside. Darned if the OJC stereo sounds great. This comparison is a bit harder due to mono vs.stereo but I believe that OJC is very competitive. Note that I treat my mono with respect, as I have a mono cart that I can switch in.

I've concluded that I very much like OJCs. They are a great value and satisfying to listen to, for my ears.

Watch out, bopmodal, Greg is a hard-lined original pressing enthusiast--no reissues for that cat!

I'm not a Riverside expert but my understanding is Riverside's earliest stereo recordings were done completely differently than the mono. Unlike stereo releases from other labels/studios that would use the same miking setup for both the mono and stereo versions of a record, early stereo Riversides apparently used a two-mic 'binaural' technique for the entire ensemble that results in a very roomy, old-fashioned sound...dunno if any of the Evans dates fall into that category. That being said, if the stereo OJC sounds good, this is not the case.

I find that originals, a great listening experience in their own right, occasionally lack the top end detail of reissues, be it from wear to the record or mastering choices at the time.

Anyway, to get back to the Electric Recording Company, I have been obsessing a bit lately over the prospect of them reissuing "Overseas". This is an album that has only been properly reissued on LP in the US with the original album artwork recently by Analogue Productions. Truth be told, I salivate when I watch this video of them making the jackets. They look so beautiful, and surely made with even more care than the originals! I'll probably settle for the AP reissue in the end (it will be my first AP reissue).