Shout out for Better Records

Rlawry

I agree. ABC Dunhill put out some incredibly bad copies of Steely Dan. Along with RCA and Bowie, I can't tell you how many poor copies I have heard.

I am personal friends with Skunk Baxter and he told me that their albums rarely approximated the level of playing in the studio. I have heard copies of the masters at his home and they are exceptional. I am glad to hear you have a great copy--I seem to only find the less than great ones. I have a Platinum Plus reissue that is the best one (probably B+) in my possession but I keep believing that there must be better copies out there. It appears one lies in your collection!!!:)

Bongo...If you don't mind exposing that info, who is you dad? Also, thanks for the encouragement.

Like Rlawry I too do not have the quite the time Tom does, so I would only do such a thing for certian special albums that I adore. There are artists that I value having great sound with but just have not found that copy that says "oh yeah!!" Like Dylan for example. He is someone who I might consider spending money on to let Tom fnd the ones that sound "just right" Something that so far has availed me.

Maria: he was a crack alto sax man who died in 2004. He started playing in 1943 in NYC with Glen Miller, came West with Nelson Riddle and Sinatra, played on many seminal Jazz albums in the 1950's, then transferred over to live TV in the 1960's, and was active until the day he died at 78. You can probably put two and two together. Because I have his last name, I prefer to remain anonymous.

PS: none of his three sons inherited his gift. I have had a very successful event and staging career to stay close to live music. Like you, I have love to dig. Don't buy the hype--it is very hard to find great recordings with vinyl. Best to trust your ears and make friends. My album collection averages $4 per record and I have many West Coast store owners who know my tastes and set aside nice product.

I just wanted to say that I am not at all closed minded. Some pressings always sound better than others. The information to determine this is generally available to everyone and is right there in the dead wax on the records. All of the major mastering houses put their logotypes in the dead wax. TML for The Mastering Lab, Van Gelder for Rudy Van Gelder, etc. Often the mastering engineers initials, or signature, is there as well. RL for Bob Ludwig, GK for Gilbert Kong, Bilbo for Denis Blackham, etc. Additionally, most records also encode the matrix number there as well. What irks me is not that I do not believe that some pressings are better than others, but that Tom has mystified the process and created this nebulous marketing term, "hot stamper" that has no real meaning beyond whatever he wants it to have. It plays on the ignorance of his buyers and does a disservice to the community by confusing rather than illuminating.

Viridian, I agree that Tom makes it sound as if he has the market cornered on the best-sounding pressings of a title. I sometimes wonder if he is treating records in some way to enhance their sonics. It just seems strange that he finds these great-sounding copies of records that have absolutely wretched sonics, but I have proof that he has done so. I remember going to several used record stores and buying a bunch of Heart Dreamboat Annie LP's. One of them, which appreared to be an original pressing based on writings in the trail-out, had bass extension and dynamics not found on other copies. Later I found a white label promo with the same stamper numbers and was surprised to find it sounded rather ordinary. Who knows why one record sounds better than another? Another thing that irks me about Tom is that he pushed DCC big-time until he had a falling-out with Steve Hoffman, and now of course, DCC is sonic garbage and killed by his hot stampers. Still, all in all, I have been impressed with most of the hot stampers.