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Letter of the Week – “Holy Squatsauce, Batman! That is definitely the best-sounding Pretzel Logic I have heard.”

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One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently:

Hey Tom,   

Holy Squatsauce, Batman! That is definitely the best-sounding Pretzel Logic I have heard. I don’t remember the black label copy sounding like this one. It clearly eclipses my Pink Probe copy and the difference was not subtle. Lots more life and more dynamic, clearly better highs and bass, voices and instruments stand out from the mix. Makes me wonder what the master tape sounds like and how much the US music-lover is missing on all the pathetic-sounding pressings around. Thanks. (more…)

Letter of the Week – “Where do you find these copies? Really a tremendous difference in sound.” 

More of the Music of Steely Dan

More Reviews and Commentaries for Pretzel Logic

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently:

Hey Tom, 

We listened to Pretzel Logic that he ordered from you several times over the weekend – WOOF!!!

Good Stuff – Where do you find these copies????

Really a tremendous difference in sound. 

Sabine G.

The Parker’s Band Saxophone Battle Listening Exercise

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More Reviews and Commentaries for Pretzel Logic

Take three or four Pretzel Logic pressings, clean them up and just play the saxophone battle we discuss below. You won’t find any two copies that get those saxes to sound the same. We had twenty and no two sounded the same to us. 

By far the TOUGHEST test on side two is the saxophone battle at the end of the song. If you’ve got a badly mastered or pressed copy it’s sure to be an unmitigated sonic DISASTER: aggressive, hard, shrill, sour, irritating — pick whatever adjective makes you wince, because wincing is exactly what you will find yourself doing with the typical ABC or MCA LP on your table.

You need a copy with an extended top end to allow the harmonics of the saxes to be reproduced correctly. This is the only way they will sound balanced. Otherwise you will be left with a honky upper midrange aggressiveness that will no doubt be doing its level best to tear your head off. If the pressing in question has any added grit or grain, and they almost all do, you are in for even more trouble. Only the sweetest, most tonally correct, grain-free, full-bandwidth copies will let you dig those battling bopish saxes.

Ah, and it’s so good when they do.