Any serious audiophiles out there who can commend on vinyl reissues?

Solo4114

Master Member
Just got myself a nice new turntable (just one, though, and no microphone), and I'm looking to start picking up vinyl. In addition to trolling the used record stores, which I'll obviously do, I'm noticing that there are a number of reissues out there. I'm curious as to which reissues are actually good, since I've heard that a lot of reissues are, in fact, based on digital masters or digital intermediate copies (e.g., analog master to digital file to vinyl pressing), which seems freaking pointless to me, since...that's what CDs are for.

So, I'm curious as to whether anyone knows of reissues that they KNOW are good and are, in fact, analog-to-analog pressings, so to speak.


Anyone? Bueller?
 
Picked up most of the Iron Maiden reissues from the past few months. All from their original sources and they sound great.
 
Most the newly released vinyl is still mastered digitally which theoretically negates the "warmth" an analog turntable provides. (However, most of us can't tell the difference anyhow).
 
Be ready to plunge into your wallet for extremely good records (and recordings of course) Denon makes some fantastic ones and many others too (names are escaping me:confused)
Look for some French recording of some of the re-issue (small quantities but crazy recording methods with high quality audio).
Good luck!
 
Subscribe to The Absolute Sound and Stereophile. They mostly have gear reviews but have articles about superb vinyl as well.

What electronics & drivers are you running?
 
I have great luck at garage sales and thrift stores. I get near mint records for anywhere between $1-$3 and most are original releases.
 
The Classic Records SV-P 200 Gram re-issues are generally regarded as top quality. I only have one, a copy of the John Coletrain album Blue Train and it sounds fantastic. I also have a 200 Gram re-issue of In The Court of the Crimson King from Discipline Global (Robert Fripp's label) which is cut from the original masters and sounds equally fantastic.

Aside from those two, I generally prefer to collect original pressings and don't spend too much time on re-issues anymore.
 
Most the newly released vinyl is still mastered digitally which theoretically negates the "warmth" an analog turntable provides. (However, most of us can't tell the difference anyhow).

Yeah, that's what I'm seeing. Some, apparently, still sounds pretty good (e.g. the Ziggy Stardust reissue), but a lot of it I gather is a mixed bag, to the point where, even if it sounds good, you might as well just get the CD for 1/3 of the price.

Have to ask, what turntable did you get and what are you running it through?

Subscribe to The Absolute Sound and Stereophile. They mostly have gear reviews but have articles about superb vinyl as well.

What electronics & drivers are you running?

I'm running a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB (DC) through an Onkyo TX-8020, out to Sony SS-B1000 speakers. I wanted to get something that would sound solid, but wouldn't break the bank. I figure I can upgrade other parts over time, but for a starter setup that's just in my living room, this was perfectly fine, based on the reviews I saw.

I have great luck at garage sales and thrift stores. I get near mint records for anywhere between $1-$3 and most are original releases.

Yeah, I'm definitely gonna hit up some thrift and used-record stores and see what I can find as far as original releases go. I'm still curious about the reissues, though. I managed to swipe the following albums from my folks:

- Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison
- The Grateful Dead -- Workingman's Dead
- James Taylor -- Sweet Baby James (my girlfriend LOVES his stuff, so it was a safe bet)
- Miles Davis -- Kind of Blue

So far, the first three sound fantastic. They'll need to be cleaned, but on the whole they're in great shape. Not pristine, of course, but for physical records that are actually older than I am, they sound terrific. Unfortunately, Kind of Blue was kind of warped, to the point where the record would kick the needle out of the groove, and you could actually see the tonearm move side to side while it tried to play. I turned that one off quickly.
Vinyl is making a huge comeback, I build these:) http://www.vinyldiscovery.com/

That's INSANE, and I love it. I think it may be a bit much of an investment for me at the moment, though. ;)

The Classic Records SV-P 200 Gram re-issues are generally regarded as top quality. I only have one, a copy of the John Coletrain album Blue Train and it sounds fantastic. I also have a 200 Gram re-issue of In The Court of the Crimson King from Discipline Global (Robert Fripp's label) which is cut from the original masters and sounds equally fantastic.

Aside from those two, I generally prefer to collect original pressings and don't spend too much time on re-issues anymore.

Cool! I'll check those out. I've heard Rhino does some decent stuff, or at least gives you the info to determine if what's there is just a digital-to-analog conversion, or is analog-to-analog, but I'm looking for customer testimonials. Otherwise, I think I'm gonna stick with vintage.
 
So, yesterday I went a little nuts at the local record shop, and picked up original versions of:

- David Bowie -- The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
- The Allman Bros. Band -- Live at Filmore East
- Pink Floyd -- Wish You Were Here
- Crosby Stills & Nash -- their first album (aka "Crosby Stills & Nash" or "The Sofa Album")
- Miles Davis -- The Complete Birth of the Cool

I think that's it. I almost grabbed Dark Side of the Moon, The Court of the Crimson King, Neil Young's Harvest album, and some Edith Piaf, but they were a wee bit pricy on top of everything I got already. Listened to CSN when I got home. It sounds generally good, but the record was a little played out to the point where the louder parts sounded kinda "staticky." I'm guessing that's just the age of the record. But I figure for $6, it was worth it.
 
Just got 14 of the Kiss reissues, am happy with them, some sound amazing, but I have all my original pressings. I just liked the idea of opening up albums like alive 2, love gun, dynasty, unmasked and the solo's and having all the cool inserts, books and posters new again.
 
I have great luck at garage sales and thrift stores. I get near mint records for anywhere between $1-$3 and most are original releases.

Same here. And most of the stuff my Dad and I pick up are from thrift stores like Goodwill. In fact, a Sam Goody in the Tallahassee Mall actual have started to sell used vinyl records (which I was able to replace a Journey album I had that I accidentally broke while trying to put it back in the cover). And I recently picked up a couple of records from a small local record store in Valdosta called Red Door Records. But all and all, the most I've spent for a vintage vinyl is $8 for a record (the cheapest record I've bought was for $.10, and yes, it's from a known artist), and normally, I've spent anywhere between $1 to $4, some of them being in pretty decent and playable condition.
 
Any recommendations on a reasonably priced, stand alone (doesn't have to be hooked up to a system) turntable/record player? I got a Crosley for Christmas - but, the reviews on it were horrible.

I've got about 100 pieces of Metallica vinyl - I can't say I'd play some of the rarer, collectible stuff - but, there's enough there that's playable... and I'd like to add to it.
 
Depends on your budget. So far, I'm quite happy with the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB.

I gather for entry-level turntables, there are basically three models worth looking at new:

Pro-Ject Carbon DC (try to find the newest release, which I gather reduces some hum that the previous models had).

Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB (very, very similar to the Technics 1200, which has become prohibitively expensive since Pioneer stopped making them).

Musichall MMF 2.2

You can find plenty of reviews on any of them. Ultimately, I went with the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB, because it was newer and had reduced hum, and also came with an acrylic platter and a speedbox so I don't have to switch belts to play 45s if I want. (Of which I have a couple.)
 
Thanks for the recommendations... unfortunately all are out of my budget at the sec and none seem to be "stand alone" (it looks like they all need to hook up a receiver and speakers. Space is tight for me and I haven't been able to hook up my receiver/speakers (I do have an older Sony turntable to go with that).
 
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