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Japanese Vinyl Pressing

I just returned from Japan and I must say I have fun at the Disk Union stores in Tokyo. They have a Disk Union store for all Genre. I spent hours at Jazz and R&B stores. I also like the fact that they clean the records and add new sleeves, at least the ones I went through. I ended up buying 30 LP's after going to the stores three days straight. But here is the interesting thing. It seems to me that the Japanese pressed records sounds better than most of the ones I bought here in the USA. The Japanese pressing sounds clearer and crisper, no darkness in the sound, and the bass not bloated at all. I am wondering if anyone have any comments on this, or have the same experience with Japanese pressing.......
almandog
t_bone
1,182 posts
 
Yes. Same impression, especially for 70s reprints of jazz albums I have. The
pressings by King, Toshiba, and Victor beat the US versions I have of a similar
age. Of course that's just me...

That said, some of it may be that Japanese people took better care of their
records once upon a time... The cost of a record in Japan in the 70s and 80s,
measured as a percentage of average monthly salary or disposable income,was
significantly higher than the US ratio at the time.
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,993 posts
 
I have a huge collection of Japanese vinyl and agree. Most do sound better. I think it might also be because they used virgin vinyl or at least a better vinyl compound mix.
jdaniel13
129 posts
 
Hmm. Disagree in that some Japanese pressings don't have the "boogie factor" (such as King Analog or some of the early Japanese Columbia pressings of Stravinsky for instance. Half-speed mastered? Second Generations tapes? OTOH--as mentioned in a post earlier--Japanese "New Remix Masters" of Walter's stereo Brahms and Mahler sound infinitely better IMHO. I believe pressed in the '80's.
Quiet vinyl though.
justlisten's avatar
justlisten
489 posts
 
just curious, what were LPs selling for in Japan?

I collect Japanese vinyl and yes, 90% sound better than my other pressings. I believe the vinyl used is superior, hold it to light and you can see thru it, the process used to cut the Lps, and that due to living space constaints, most were played once, taped and stored away.
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