On Friday, my Cambridge pre-amp arrived. Woohoo....now I can get serious about listening to some vinyl. I had a bunch of questions I was just dying to look into. The following had been on my mind lately, and I addressed that weekend:
Which Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star LP was the best sounding? My first pressing RL copy, the repress in square cover, the German import, or the 180 gram reissue?
Todd Rundgren DMM LPs? Hoffman forums don't look kindly on them, but Seth talked them up. I've got standard and DMM of Faithful, and Initiation. How do they compare?
Steely Dan - CBAT - Standard Yellow Label LP vs. Japanese import (also on yellow label).
Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy - Black label vs. yellow label vs. MCA reissue.
So, for starters, I pulled out all my copies of A Wizard, A True Star listed above. The Standard reissue in square cover was the first copy I picked up for $2, I wasn't expecting much from that. The 180gram reissue was a find at a Rasputin. As my favorite Todd album, I had to grab it, hoping for a better vinyl experience of this album. I was rather disappointed to find side 1 slightly off center. The first issue LP was obtained from my co-worker friend's LP collection that came with the turntable, and was quite thrilled to own a first pressing of this, mastered by Bob Ludwig. The German import was a dollar bin find that I couldn't resist, although I was hesitant since I had read that the best vinyl copy was the first pressing, which suggested all other options, including my 180gram reissue, would be inferior. Right off the bat after first sampling, I eliminated the repress that came in a standard cover. I was already biased against that one. I had read that the best sounding LP is the first pressing, as all others were sourced from another tape or something to that effect. One thing that seems to always be a thing when it comes to Todd Rundgren albums is they tend to lack in bass. I noticed, the German import and 180gram imports had a bit more bass to them, which helped. I was surprised, I was liking these 2 better than the first pressing. Tried as I might, I wasn't hearing anything in the first pressing that would give it an edge over those. Between the 180gram and the German one, I couldn't easily make a decision, but I think the German one edged it out ever so slightly. Although, the German one wasn't in as nice shape. But, I would still have to deal with centering the 180gram one if I wanted to give this a serious listen. So, I decided to go with the German one. Unfortunately, side 2 had 2 or 3 jumps, which really bummed me out.
After this, I had to follow up with a good listening to Todd. I have a DMM copy of this, no other LP to compare it to, so I gave it a spin, and greatly enjoyed it.
Next up, was Faithful. A Todd album that I somehow have yet to pick up on CD. I guess it's because I only really like side 2. Side 1 is a fun and curious listen, but...meh...there's better Todd to listen to. My Standard LP wasn't a first pressing. I notice many of my Todd LPs have sterling stamped into the dead wax, some with the RL initials, some without, but this wasn't one of those. I found that I preferred the DMM copy, so I gave that one a listen. Side 1 was alright, but...wow, I really liked side 2 more than I remembered, totally makes this album worth it. I need to spin this one more.
At this point, I was burned out on Todd albums, so it was time to get back to figuring some things out with the Steely Dan catalog.
I grabbed my LP copies of Can't Buy A Thrill, and found that, I did prefer the sound on the Japanese LP. It was well pressed, and the low and high end were touched up a bit which filled out the sound nicely. I think I can sell off the standard LP copy, I won't be needing that.
Next, I grabbed my 3 copies of Countdown To Ecstasy. Between the black label and yellow label, I coudn't hear a difference, so I put the yellow label away....think I may sell that one as well. The MCA pressing was also touched up a bit in the high and low end, nicely. It's nice to have an original issue on the black label, plus it had the insert, so I think I'll hold on to the black label a little more, but I decided to listen to the MCA, and think this will be my go to version for this album on vinyl.
While I was at it, I grabbed my LP copy of Pretzel Logic, and had a nice listen. Just a standard yellow label of that, no others to compare it to.
Other records that I spun that weekend include Grateful Dead - Aoxomoxoa - 1st mix (few jumps on side 2, otherwise great. I preferred side 1 to side 2), Stereolab - First of the Microbe Hunters (record 2 off center :( Had to file the hole a bit ), Nazz (a little beat up, jumped a few times). All in all, a great Saturday of listening with the new preamp.
Sunday was busy, but I had a chance to spin a few LPs that evening, Argent - Nexus (British import), Utopia - Deface The Music, and Fripp-Eno - No Pussyfooting (Side 1 good, Side 2....ehhh....maybe skip that next time)
Questions to still be addressed:
CBAT CDs....my early CD that is preferred in the forum vs. Citizen box, best of those vs. Japanese import.
Countdown - CDs, and best CD vs. MCA vinyl
AWATS - Needledrops for more analyzing. Is the RL first press really not as great as I've been led to believe? Is the 180gram as good as the German, or do I need to seek out a cleaner German import? How does my Japanese CD compare?
Todd Rundgren - Initiation - DMM vs. Sterling
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