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Blue Note reissues

I became a serious vinyl convert less than a year ago and ever since have been buying records regularly to enlarge my collection. I listen almost exclusively to jazz and buy new reissues of jazz releases, most of them on Blue Note, but also Prestige, Riverside and Columbia.

To say that I am disappointed by the quality of the vinyl is an understatement. Virtually every record is warped, which I can live with, reluctantly. A bigger problem is the distortion that becomes more and more prevalent on reissues. It's a short buzzing sound, which sounds kind of like the sound of lost airwaves on the radio but higher in pitch. I know it's not my cart as I have records that sound perfect, and it's in the the same spot on faulty records so it must be a quality issue with transfer and manufacture.
I also own quite a few used original pressings or old reissues and none of them have a similar defect, which leads me to believe that it is a current problem with quality control. It is extremely frustrating as I've spent thousands of dollars on my rig and record cleaning machine only to spin warped records that sound distorted.

I know this topic has been discussed many times here on A-gon but I would actually like to do something about it. I know many designers and manufacturers read the forum, but it seems not record companies' reps as it's not getting any better. As a community of many thousands who pay a lot of money to indulge in our hobby and passion, I think we should be able to exert some level of pressure on companies like Blue Note to release products of high quality. I'm open to ideas and suggestions. Where I could, I emailed the record company, but Blue Note for example has not contact info at all. Also, I'm afraid single emails won't do much.
actusreus
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Actusreus, I don't think that is the same reissue that Sibelius is talking about. What we are talking about with the Music Matters reissues are different than the $10 reissues (Mosaic?) that have been burning many of us for a long time now.

Here is a link.

Music Matters, Ltd.
actusreus OP
733 posts
 
Thank you for the link, Sibelius and Dan_ed!
mikeyc8
174 posts
 
Actusreus, I think I'm the only one that agrees with you in this thread. I notice the distortion mainly in the cheap re-issues that sell for about $13 here in Canada. The ones with the free CD are also terrible, not only is there an imprint of the CD on the vinyl, the record sounds terrible.
actusreus OP
733 posts
 
Thanks Mikeyc8. I'm glad to hear that someone finally confirmed my negative experience! I knew it wasn't a coincidence but this gives at least some validity to our complaint.

I've never seen reissues with free CDs, but the $10 vinyl reissues are so hit-or-miss, it makes buying vinyl much less enjoyable than it should be. I recently bought Jackie McLean "Action" released by Blue Note and there is an audible distortion (like clipping) on sax solos on few tunes, plus the short buzzing sound I described before in other places. I returned two Coltrane records released by Atlantic Records recently as they were simply unlistenable. Not only warped but had the buzzing sound on virtually every tune. I could go on and on but it is obvious it's a common problem across the board and would not be acceptable with CDs.

On the other hand, I recently was given an original release of the Wall, used, and the surface noise aside, the records sound sublime. I also have several other used and older records that aside from the surface noise just sound great. There should be no excuse for bad sounding brand new records, whether $10 or $30 price sticker. I think it's absurd that the rule of thumb seems to be that one has to spend at least $30 to get a good sounding new record today.
mikeyc8
174 posts
 
Actusreus: I agree completely, I've noticed the buzzing sound on quite a few Bluenote cheapo reissues as well, but no problems on the older copies that I have. I guess the free CDs are only available to the Canadian market, but the lousy quality LPs are common to both markets.
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