Can we go back to 33's please?

The 45s do sound really good, but you've got to weigh both the PITA factor and the extra cost over a 33. I only buy them if its a particular favorite record of which I want the absolute best available pressing. Otherwise I stick with 33s. Out of several hundred albums I think I have about five of these things.

There are a lot of people who will buy - for example - all of the Blue Note reissues just to collect them all. But if you don't like that particular record why bother?

I have a number of these and almost all sound better and some sound stunningly better. If the best fidelity matters then these are the best.

Why collect them all? Well, at least as of now when they go out of print they tend to go up in value. That may not hold in the long term (remember beanie babies) and of course some titles are more desirable than others but you can make some money on them now.

Another factor is that some of us own turntables like the Linn LP 12 powered by a Naim Armageddon, which is not 45-capable. The new Impulse remasters seem to be at 45 only, which leaves us out of it.

LP = Long Play. I never had an awesome TT like you guys do but I used to buy roughly half of my music as 12" 45 RPM in the old days. Some of the best sound I EVER heard was from these 45 RPM's (perhaps I am being nostalgic). Part of the benefit is that a 12" single 45 is INTENDED to be played back on an awesome Dance Club system costing many tens of thousands of dollars more than average Joe at home, and more importantly, this soudn is never intended to be heard in a car (where most music is heard these days). This is partly why the sound quality was so good.

There is plenty of dynamic range in a dance club at 105 db SPL because there is little to no masking problem and the amplifiers and speakers can actually handle a large dynamic range without distorting. A lot of stuff mixed to sound good on radio anticpates that it needs to sound good in a car where you get terrible masking from background noise....not as bad as listening to music in the shower but nevertheless a compressed crap sound will be more audible in your car than a high quality recording.

Recently, I have confirmed that the "production and target market" does indeed mean that recording quality is very different. I have found that 12" singles made for dance clubs also sound much better on CD (where in theory there is absolutely no dynamic range advantage over the regaulr album CD like you get with a Vinyl 45 RPM versus the compressed LP, Long Play)

We've had, and will continue to have, a lot of 33rpm reissues: Speakers Corner, Classic Records, Analogue Productions, Pure Pleasure... All have done and will be doing 33rpm reissues. The 45rpm reissues are a special treasure. For most of us, these will be the best sonics in which we will ever be able to hear these recordings. I only wish we could have more classical music issued at 45 rpm with the same care as Music Matters is devoting to the Blue Note 45rpm reissue series. May they continue!
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