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Japanese Vinyl?

I've picked a couple of Japanese imports over the last few weeks. A couple of the reissues are really spectacular pressings of old recordings. One is a Contemporary reissued on Nippon Columbia and the other is a Savoy reissued on King.

On the other hand I picked up an original Toshiba which, while very spacious, has some distortion on the louder passages that kills it.

Which of the Japanese labels are more consistent with their quality? I've seen King/Blue Notes going pretty high on e-bay. Any advise on what I should be looking for? Also, and good sources stateside? Shipping from Tokyo is a bit pricey.
grimace
opalchip
355 posts
 
The Japanese vinyl that is really great are the lp's that are recorded, mastered and manufactured in Japan. Labels like Three Blind Mice, Yupiteru, AudioLab, Toshiba Pro-Use, RCA Direct Cutting Series, etc. These tend to be jazz labels.

Everything else (IMO) is equal to original U.S. pressings at best, and often very sub-par.

The Yes issues are a good example. The Japanese pressings are awful - especially Close To The Edge. (For the record, my favorite Yes pressing is the UK original of Time And A Word.)
grimace OP
624 posts
 
I dod have one Toshiba pro label - Ray Brown, Shelly Mann and someone else... recorded, mastered and pressed in Japan. The sound is very spacious and the bass and drums sound amazing, but on any loud piano passages the record distorts. I don't think its my TT because I don't have this problem with any thing else.

Its a shame too, because it really has the makings of a great album.
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Grimace,
Piano is one of the most difficult instrument to reproduce on Vinyl. I believe the distortion you heard was caused by mis-tracking. It might be setup problem such as not enough VTF or dust accumulation on the needle. It is also possible that your cart is wearing out or it just simply can't track at that level.
opalchip
355 posts
 
I have some unbelievably dynamic Pro-Use Series' that reproduce piano amazingly (for example "Jun Fukamachi At Steinway" is the most dynamic piano recording I've ever heard). I don't think any compression or peak-limiting was used at all, which WILL reveal any TT/cartridge setup issues. Of course, it's also possible that if you bought the LP used and it had previously been played with a bad setup by someone else, that the more difficult passages were damaged by mistracking before.
grimace OP
624 posts
 
I think my tonearm is ok. Its an AQ PT-6 so it really only has two adjustments - VTF & skate - and I've got other piano recordings that sound fantastic. That particular record was purchased used, so it may just have some wear.

Buying vinyl is nothing if not a little hit and miss.
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