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Vinyl reissue labels to avoid?

There is a wealth of music being reissued on vinyl, but not all labels are equal.

There are some excellent vinyl reissue labels that use original anaolg sources and produce very good lps such as Analogue Productions, Speakers Corner Records, RhinOvinyl, Classic Records, Impulse!, Sundazed, etc.

Then there are some dubious EU labels that use cds as "remastered" sources from 50+ yr old recordings due to copyright loopholes (Doxy and WaxTime come to mind). I don't want 180g cds!

Some labels I now avoid:
WaxTime
DOXY
Not Now Music
Jazz Wax Records
Scorpio

Who should we be avoiding, and who should we be buying? I am only interested in 33rpm lps, which we flip as they were meant to (as opposed to the 45rpm reissues which may sound good but take us from sides A&B to 4 unnaturally truncated sides).

For 33rpm reissues, who are the good, the bad, and the ugly?

toronto416
hodu
316 posts
 
Was reading the following just the other night -- http://www.analogplanet.com/content/reissue-labels-avoid-and-some-best-proceed-caution
It may be of interest.
-- Howard
slaw's avatar
slaw
21,805 posts
 
Simply Vinyl did good on Nick Drake IMO.
ttbolad
42 posts
 
I have a Jazz Wax reissue of "Ben Webster meets Oscar Peterson" that is fabulous. Bought it off of ebay for $12. I compared it to the Bob Ludwig Verve reissue and I much prefer the Jazz Wax.

First, the pressing and vinyl quality are outstanding. No surface noise what so ever. Then there is a nuance and subtlety to the Jazz Wax that just draws me in. You can hear Oscar talking to himself as he plays, and you can hear every detail of the nuanced musicianship of Ben and Oscar - Ben's slurs and breath, Oscars delicate filigree, the unobtrusive but tasteful drumming, the studio reverb is intact and natural.

These may have been made from CDs. There is certainly no tape hiss, so someone did something to whatever the source is. I don't care. This particular record is so gorgeous that I just melt into the playing.

I realize the questionable origins of these releases. If they were made from CDs then all I can say is that the lowered noise floor and pressing process more than make up for what may have been lost in the CD. Sure that sounds counter intuitive, but I don't have any other explanation.

One other things, it does not sound unlike the Verve reissue. It just sounds better to me.

Just my opinion, but at least in this case, I am glad that I was not dismissive.
wrm57
1,054 posts
 

I am consistently impressed by the OJC vinyl.

I agree! Many of the earlier pressings sound terrific.
toronto416 OP
236 posts
 
"Ben Webster meets Oscar Peterson" sounds wonderful on CD, and the CD sourced Jazz Wax reissue probably also sounds good despite the compressed source material.
This same album was reissued by Speakers Corner, with analogue remastering, and it sounds stunning. It is still currently available.
If you buy it, it would be interesting to hear your impressions of how the Speakers Corner reissue compares to Jazz Wax. You might be pleasantly surprised.
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