Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Pink Floyd Available Now
This Japanese import is one of the dullest, muddiest, worst sounding copies of The Wall we have ever played. It is clearly made from a second generation tape (or worse!).
Is it the worst version of the album ever made? Hard to imagine it would have much competition.
And somehow this pressing, or one very much like it, ended up as on the TAS Super Disc List. I would hope that the copy Harry played sounded a whole lot better than this one.
The version on the TAS Super Disc list is EMI 4814, which I believe is the British original. Conventional wisdom? Is The Absolute Sound capable of any other?
And the CBS Half-Speed is every bit the mudfest that the Half-Speed is.
How is it that the worst sounding pressings are so often marketed to audiophiles as superior to their mass-produced counterparts? In our experience, more often than not they are just plain awful, inferior in every way but one: surface quality.
And the knock on these CBS Half-Speeds is that they are made from the same vinyl CBS used to press all their other records.
I remember buying them back in the late-70s at Tower Records. They were only $12.99 when Mobile Fidelity pressings were $17.99, garnering a premium price because they were pressed in Japan. Fool that I was, I bought plenty of both, not to mention those made by Nautilus, Direct Disk Labs and plenty of others too painful to think about.
Dear audiophiles, stop collecting crappy audiophile pressings with quiet vinyl and just switch to CD already. You’ll be getting better sound and saving yourself a lot of money to boot. You simply cannot defend analog with this kind of junk.
Further Reading
Hello
Curious if this blog post is about this version of The Wall:
https://www.discogs.com/release/1888407-Pink-Floyd-The-Wall
If not, pls disregard this reply.
If so, I’m wondering if you listened to more than one copy. I’ve heard one of your hot stamper copies of The Wall (a friend’s and I’m not sure which particular grade it was — but it was bought from Better Records), and I could tell why you considered it a “hot stamper.” It slammed when it needed to slam and was gorgeous when it needed to be gorgeous. Very engaging.
But I also own the JP version linked above and, while it’s not perfect, I can’t reconcile what I’m hearing with the “muddy” and “dull” characterizations, particularly “muddy.” Even in the busiest parts, my copy is nothing close to muddy, and quite the opposite in sections that aren’t the busiest.
Again, I’ve heard one of your versions and thought it was great and, generally, I agree with a lot of what you have to say about modern reissues. Likewise, I’m indifferent to whether you like this JP version.
I’m writing bc the specific language used here is so inconsistent with what I’m hearing that I’m taking the time to confirm we’re talking about the same record bc I’m genuinely curious!
Thank you.
Matt,
Thanks for writing.
I knew when I reviewed the album that there had to be plenty of different Japanese pressings of it.
The one I played was awful. The one you own seems to be fine.
My point with records on the TAS List is that one never knows exactly what pressing Harry (and those who came along later) was playing. The catalog number of the pressing is not much to go on, but rarely did we even learn what the label might have been.
A list with stamper numbers would be more help, but not really solve the problem, since the same stampers can sound so different.
Anyway, if you like the Japanese pressing you have, that’s all to the good. The only claim we would really want to make and back up is that whatever pressing you own, we can beat it or your money back.
Best, TP