Japanese Vinyl?

the japanese version of 'the yes album' actually has a volume change MID-SONG(!) - on one track. unbelievable! (but I do agree that, for jazz, japanese vinyl is almost always a good bet. a lot of the US jazz pressings were really bad.)

the bottom line is that you should try to research individual albums before shelling out the big bucks.

i like the victor pressing and king pressings which are a great value for jazz as they are usually clean and can sound great. Other stuff is hit and miss. japanese vinyl usually has quiet surfaces and a decent amount of detail, but the source material has to be questioned on a lot of the presings as they may be using generations down safety masters or digital masters, depending on what they could get.

Like anything, it's hit and miss.

Well there is no danger of me finding out about the Yes album first hand... just not my bag.

I am buying jazz ablums almost exclusively. The noise floor on these things is amazing, even compared to some more recent 180 or 200g reissues I've got.

Does anyone know of any good sources for this stuff here in the US?

I bought a p-vine boxset of Chuck Berry.Compared side by side to my Black Label Chess pressings they are thin and harsh.Yet the p-vine stuff seems to command high prices on eBay.

i have the same set. it is mastered a little funny but you know chuck's stuff is often thin. I don't know what masters they have but i know from my originals, that there are cut hotter in the mids and they sound better but i think p-vine commands high prices because they issue hard to find stuff in mono, and people in the states dont seem as interested in doing that, especially in mono. so the rock and roll stuff and r&b ike turner and ov wright things the japanese put out really has no competition. try finding a super clean little willie john early record and you see their market.

As for chuck, the mixes ar so all over the place song to song, i dont envy anyone mastering that stuff.