Amy Winehouse LP Sound Quality

Koegz,

So, it seems that you and I have the same version of vinyl.

As I said, the pressing itself is fine. Nice and quiet, no problems there.

However, the dynamics are compressed (to a degree I honestly have rarely heard on vinyl in fact!)

You don't find that to be true?
(Listen again to the LP, only this time, tune out her voice, and just listen to the instruments, and then tell me that the cymbals sound, well, like cymbals. There is no decay to them at all, and they are severely compressed to the point that you can barely hear them. The bass is also compressed to the point of being barely there as well. Her voice comes through nicely though, as her voice is at neither of the frequency extremes. And, yes, she has an interesting voice that I like too.)

As I said, it is a good album, except for the recording quality. The songs are good, as is her voice. (And the pressing itself is excellent.)

IMHO, this is a perfect example of how to screw up a recording by compressing the heck out of it!

I bought it from Elusive Disc and was so excited when it arrived. That excitement did not last. It sounded absolutely flat. The worst new album I've bought in the last year.

You people just need to leave Amy alone. I mean like stop picking on Amy.

Regarding the sound quality -- the production is intended to be highly compressed. They were going for a classic Motown sound. Compare The Winehouse to Sharon Jones' "100 Days, 100 Nights", same production team and band, where they go for a more modern sound. The Winehouse album is purposely designed to sound really good on lo-fi playback. That may lessen the album's audiophile appeal, but it's still good music.

The CD sounds fine. The LP sounds awful. And I love the music. It has nothing to do with AMy, Onhwy61. I just think people should save the $6 and go with the CD version on this one.

What label is the Winehouse LP? It was recorded at Daptone studio in Brooklyn as a live, direct to analog tape recording and all Daptone vinyl releases are pure analog recordings. I'm only familiar with the CD release, which to my ears, sounds fine, not great, but fine for what it is.