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Blue Note Classic Vinyl Reissues

Out To Lunch just arrived. Sounds magnificent, no QC issues this time :)
Some people on the SH forum are saying this has even better sound quality than Maiden Voyage. It must be good then, I was well pleased with that one. Hardly any complaints about poor pressings this time either. I have not seen a comparision to the Music Matters that I have by anyone yet though.
 
Some people on the SH forum are saying this has even better sound quality than Maiden Voyage. It must be good then. I was more than pleased with that one. I have not seen a comparision to the Music Matters that I have by anyone yet though.

I passed on MV so I can't say. There's a very big dynamic range across all the tracks, I think that sets this one apart compared to, say Chicken Shack and certainly Idle Moments.
 
I just received the BN Classic Out To Lunch. After the disaster that was the Kenny Burrell LP blighted everywhere with ripping non-fill, I was rather nervous putting it on the platter. To my relief this one was much, much better. However, it's still not perfect - Optimal, you have a problem and you need to fix it. I could detect one or two moments on side one of non-fill but it was quite light and just about within acceptable limits.

Tonight I'll give Maiden Voyage a spin...
 
@Mignum

What does non-fill sound like? I played my Horace Silver - Song For… last night and it seemed perfect for 75% of it until on the last track there were three moments of strange distortion like a scratchy buzzing. Also I noticed the last few piano chords had a lot of distortion audible from both speakers.
 
However, it's still not perfect - Optimal, you have a problem and you need to fix it.

One of the reasons Joe Harley gives for preferring RTI is that they have the highest pressure presses compared to other plants. I have yet to come across the non fill problem with RTI, or Pallas for that matter. Pity Optimal can’t fix their problem.
 
@Mignum
Also I noticed the last few piano chords had a lot of distortion audible from both speakers.
The sound of non fill is as described. If it is non fill then it should be near the outside edges and if bad can often be seen as 'the string of pearls', a line of white dots. If further in it is probably 'stitching', but the sound is just the same.

If the piano cord distortion is on the last track - Lonley Woman then it a well known problem with the master tape. It has been corrected on some digital versions and by the plagent process (digital) on just that track on the otherwise all analogue Music Maters version.
 
If the piano cord distortion is on the last track - Lonley Woman then it a well known problem with the master tape. It has been corrected on some digital versions and by the plagent process (digital) on just that track on the otherwise all analogue Music Maters version.

Ah, I thought it was a tape issue. Good to have it confirmed. Sometimes I get paranoid with my cartridge over these sort of things.
 
Think my copy of Something Else had non-fill on the first track.

Cool Struttin' for me, not too bad but certainly disappointing. I think it's caused by uneven cooling of the melt before it's fully formed so that would be expected on the outer edges. I think some presses are temperature controlled and I can certainly believe that higher pressure would help to squeeze the vinyl more rapidly. 180g plus are a problem and there's a genuine skill to it in setting up and using the press. I've no idea how parallel the press needs to be but I can guess that would be an issue too.

Fremer did a tour video of the optimal plant a couple of years ago but you don't get too much insight.

 
Yes, non-fill sounds like a fairly high pitched zipping or ripping noise - horrible.

I just played my copy of Maiden Voyage - perfect. No non-fill, lovely quiet vinyl, perfectly centred and warp-free. So, Optimal it seems you are perfectly capable of doing it right (sometimes).
 
Yes, non-fill sounds like a fairly high pitched zipping or ripping noise - horrible.

I just played my copy of Maiden Voyage - perfect. No non-fill, lovely quiet vinyl, perfectly centred and warp-free. So, Optimal it seems you are perfectly capable of doing it right (sometimes).

I think they definitely can. It took me three copies of Midnight Blue before I got a good one, and my Maiden Voyage was really badly dished, but the replacement is fine.

I've bought all of the Classic series and I've only had to return a few, although it has got a bit more frequent on more recent releases.
 
Good thread. I thought I'd weigh in on the pressing quality/ consistency.

Lonnie Smith - Think! (BN80): aside from the silly paper sleeve, about as perfect as vinyl gets. A keeper.
Herbie Hancock - Takin' Off (BN80): was ok until some stitching distortion on Side B, so going back.
Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage (Classic): non-fill distortion both at the start and end of Side B, so going back.
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Moanin' (Classic): absolutely spot-on. A keeper.

So that's a 50% success rate thus far. FWIW I also have a couple of Tone Poets (Katanga! and The Witch Doctor) both of which are fine...
 
Duke Pearson is in the house! Kept me & Mrs Springer company this morning while she was making the Christmas cakes, funnily enough. Yet again, an absolutely flawless pressing in this series. A weird release, given what's gone before, but it's put me right in the festive spirit and no mistake....:D
 
After getting lucky with Idle Moments and Midnight Blue I’ve had two copies of Out to Lunch with nasty non-fill, one from Amazon one from Ray’s Jazz. Shame because otherwise it sounds superb - much more enjoyable in proper stereo than the near-mono of my DeAgostini copy. Really well balanced tonally and in terms of the stereo mix.
 
Seems a bit pot-luck as to whether you get a good'un with these. I'm hoping my replacements for the two Herbie titles I mentioned are good'uns as I don't think I could be arsed trying third copies...
 
Seems a bit pot-luck as to whether you get a good'un with these. I'm hoping my replacements for the two Herbie titles I mentioned are good'uns as I don't think I could be arsed trying third copies...

Idle Moments was in short supply and it went so quickly I couldn't get a replacement. They gave me it for half price in the end. These should all be repressed though.
 


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