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Tone Poet Blue Notes

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In the case of the Grant Green and Kenny Burrell these were available to order from 9th April. I got both for £67 from Amazon then. As the Universal and the Blue Note store set their price then I guess they are sticking with it. Amazon has hiked the Grant Green to £38. I can no longer find the Kenny Burrell there.
Fair enough. My local store will let me know the new dealers once they get the info through.
 
Interesting video from 45 RPM Audiophile today, featuring Joe Harley and Kevin Gray discussing the Blue Train LPs.


Thanks for posting. From the first ten mins this looks really interesting - I'll watch it properly over the weekend.

But I can't help but feel these channels increasingly feel like marketing to hype a ludicrously overpriced reissue by a $6bn company.
 
One thing that came out is neither variation is limited, so no panic buying required. They actually admitted the recent drought of Tone Poets was due to pressing up huge numbers of Blue Train prior to the release date. It is clear they are banking on this one being a big seller.
 
Of course it is hype. They depend on these 'influencers' to do their marketing for them, and why not?

Previously, Michael 45 rpm was hyping the MoFi before the digital 'scandal'. Now he's got a crisis of faith... I can't take these guys seriously.

But I can't help but feel these channels increasingly feel like marketing to hype a ludicrously overpriced reissue by a $6bn company.
 
Of course it is hype. They depend on these 'influencers' to do their marketing for them, and why not?

Previously, Michael 45 rpm was hyping the MoFi before the digital 'scandal'. Now he's got a crisis of faith... I can't take these guys seriously.

Just to be clear I really enjoy Michael 45's videos. And he's been clear about the fact that his 'day job' is running a marketing company!
 
Previously, Michael 45 rpm was hyping the MoFi before the digital 'scandal'. Now he's got a crisis of faith... I can't take these guys seriously.

To my mind Michael behaved with integrity throughout the whole thing. He liked the Mo-Fi albums before, and he still likes them now he understands they are digitally sourced. He’s just a music and audio consumer like the rest of us. He buys his records (I guess he’ll start getting sent some promos at some point as his channel grows) and he seems to speak honestly about what he likes. He’s never been deeply entrenched in the analogue/digital thing as he likes a load of electronica, techno etc. He’s just a music fan who is building up a good YouTube presence. Like everyone he is disappointed in Mo-Fi’s marketing and messaging, but the product still stands up to his mind. Mike at In Groove has behaved flawlessly too. Michael Fremer is the one who’s tied himself into all manner of unnecessary knots on this one.
 
To be clear on my end - I have no issues with Michael Ludwig or his opinion/videos. He's clearly just sharing his enthusiasm for audiophile reissues.

But at the risk of repeating myself, I am generally not a fan of most audiophile reissues and hence can't take the opinion of these guys seriously. I mean, how many of these guys went on and on about how great these MoFi records sound because they are all analog, from the original analog tapes. And now...they are feeling hurt because the source is actually digital. What, they couldn't hear it?
 
Interesting video from 45 RPM Audiophile today, featuring Joe Harley and Kevin Gray discussing the Blue Train LPs.


Thank you for the link - I very much enjoyed watching it.

Even though I already have Blue Train as an AP 45, I'm up for the new Stereo version with outtakes.
 
To be clear on my end - I have no issues with Michael Ludwig or his opinion/videos. He's clearly just sharing his enthusiasm for audiophile reissues.

But at the risk of repeating myself, I am generally not a fan of most audiophile reissues and hence can't take the opinion of these guys seriously. I mean, how many of these guys went on and on about how great these MoFi records sound because they are all analog, from the original analog tapes. And now...they are feeling hurt because the source is actually digital. What, they couldn't hear it?

Ludwig was clear in his comparisons - he didn't prefer the MoFis, as it happens, before all this blew up. I think he's doing the right thing in comparing different releases of the same title rather than raving about the latest Tone Poet or what have you.

He doesn't have the gravitas of somebody like Micallef to do a proper review if that's where you're coming from.
 
They are now on the UK Blue Note store, but at a big price increase over what until now has been typical Tone Poet UK prices. The Single Mono (incorrectly stated as the Complete Masters) is £49.99. The double Stereo (correct as Complete Masters) is £69.99.
https://shop.bluenote.com/*/Vinyl/

UK BN store prices seem to be about 50% higher than the US store.

qrp1wBn.png
 
Paul,
In the US the BN store seems be pricing all the single Tone Poets at $38.98 including the back catalogue, that is a 30% increase over what I believe was the $30 price they previously charged. Most people in the US seemed to be able to get them at a few dollars less than this though, even from local stores. The Classic Series seem to have a similar % increase as well and are now $27.98.

This certainly doesn’t bode well for the Blue Train prices in the UK being a one off exception and it seems likely that £49.99 will become the new standard UK Tone Poet price. :(

While some increase did seem inevitable due to increase costs, even 30% here would have taken them to just £43, not £50. I would expect sales to drop considerably in Europe if this is the new standard price unless it leaves other retailers a bigger margin to discount from?
 
I watched most of the Michael 45 video this morning. Interesting that Joe Harley claims RVG only used compression so the records sounded good on crappy record players - and that they compress less (or not at all?) because their market will have good quality equipment.

I really wonder about this. RVG stated that his approach was to try and replicate the excitement of sitting right next to the stage (not the specific sound - but the intensity of sensation) hence his use of close miking and recording hot. It makes sense to me that he would use limiting and compression when cutting the record to make it louder and punchier.

Looking online I've been reminded that he bought the very first Fairchild 660 - serial number 1!
 
I watched most of the Michael 45 video this morning. Interesting that Joe Harley claims RVG only used compression so the records sounded good on crappy record players - and that they compress less (or not at all?) because their market will have good quality equipment.

This is a common argument from audiophile labels. I’m not buying it as the RVG cuts sound so bloody good and to my ears far better than the more true to the master approach of most audiophile vinyl. There is an intent and directness on the original vinyl that is stunning IMO. It just leaps out the speaker at you. I also suspect RVG deliberately recorded bright so he could roll the treble back to taste at the cut. Kind of a manual noise/hiss reduction. So many audiophile reissues sound tilted up at the top to my ears.

My view on recording, based mainly upon a pretty good understanding and practical experience of the ‘80s rock market, is that a lot of the magic happens at the cut. I’m sure this is why so many CDs sound poor, the technology is there, they just lack the ear of someone like RVG, ‘Porky’ etc. I’ve heard it first-hand, I know what a good mastering engineer can bring.

To put it another way: I do not have a single Tone Poet, Classic Records, Analogue Productions, Acoustic Sounds or whatever Blue Note, Impulse, Verve etc jazz title I’d not swap blind for a mint RVG-stamped US first (or even later) pressing. The RVG stamp in the run-off is where the real magic lies. The artists just leap out the speakers at you. Coltrane in particular is astonishing. FWIW I actually think the Japanese pressings of the ‘70s get closer than modern Tone Poets etc
 


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