2. analog
  3. 136165-104219

Audiophile LP's

That title sounds pretty general but I didn't know how else to name it to attract some attention. For several decades in the production of vinyl the sound quality has widely varied due to recording process, pressing, and other factors. I remember years ago that some commonly available LP's were also available in a much higher quality (and a higher price) than the standard LP and offered superior sound quality. Can't remember all the terms to describe these records but direct-to-disk, master recording, and probably a few others I can't recall. Back then I never purchased any of those since when the needle dropped and music was there what else mattered? To buy a record at 2 or 3 times the standard price didn't make sense to anyone I knew at the time.
My question....I know that numerous sellers on the web list LP's for sell as "mastered", "audiophile", and the like. Back in the day were current sellers offering these truly superior records just trying a ripoff? If not, are most of the ones still in existence only are owned by private collectors?


jrpnde
amg56's avatar
amg56
666 posts
 

@edgewear You make sense to me, though I an 40-50 years behind the era where LPs were cheap, like housing, petrol and jobs were a plenty.

it's an interesting world we live in.

harold-not-the-barrel
799 posts
 
^ ^ Great and very informative post. For jazz fans I highly recommend the ECM label German pressings, Pat Metheny etc.
In general, the quality of vintage records is higher, 50´s, 60´s and 70´s. "Dynamic compression" kinda nailed the opposite. The first pressings practically are much better than later editions, and the label´s country of origin usually are better. There are exceptions, like a certain Pink Floyd album from Germany, and even not the very first edition, has the best sound quality of them all, including Japanese audiophile editions.
Yes it´s so fun to find these cheap surprises. What a wonderful hobby this is : ) Good luck for all !
tzh21y
1,377 posts
 
Many times and most of the time, the originals if you can find them in decent condition will be the best sound.  On earlier records everything was very analog and the recorded tapes were new.  Many used tubes through the whole mastering process, something lacking dearly these days.
More to discover