Michael Hobson of Classic Records reissued many popular recordings in many variations: 33rpm, 45rpm double-sided, 45rpm single-sides, 180g, 200g, Quiex SV-P, SV-P II, Clarity vinyl, etc. Mike had Bernie Grundman perform a lot of the re-mastering. Mike had his LPs pressed at various pressing plants.
Then, when Chad Kassem of Acoustic sounds bought most of the assets of Classic Records he began pressing new LPs from Hobson's old master lacquers and remastering some of the old releases at Stirling Sound and pressing the records at QRP.
So we have the ability to purchase reissues remastered by different studios using tube versus solid-state electronics chains; we have LPs mastered from the same actual master tapes decades apart; we have LPs pressed by different pressing plants; we have different thicknesses of vinyl; we have 33rpm versus 45rpm we have double-sided LPs versus single-sided LPs; and we have different vinyl formulations. Have I missed any permutation?
I believe we can assume generally that 45rpm is better than 33rpm. I believe we can assume generally that single-sided 45rpm is better than double-sided 45rpm.
What are Classic Records' best reissues among all of the varieties which Mike released?
But there are vexing questions. For example, even if Chad's pressing plant is better than Mike's pressing plant, the tape used to remaster the Acoustic Sounds LP may well have deterioirated sonically in the 25 years since Mike made the Classic Records reissues.
It is likely we cannot generalize. A particular recent Acoustic Sounds reissue may sound better than a particular vintage Classic Records reissue for one or more reasons.
We are fortunate to have at WBF ZeroStarGeneral who quite likely is the world's leading authority on original vinyl pressings. Do we have a reissue expert?
Who has compared the best of the last series of vintage reissues from Classic Records (45rpm, single-sided, Clarity vinyl, 180g or 200g) to the best comparable recent reissues from Acoustic Sounds?
Then, when Chad Kassem of Acoustic sounds bought most of the assets of Classic Records he began pressing new LPs from Hobson's old master lacquers and remastering some of the old releases at Stirling Sound and pressing the records at QRP.
So we have the ability to purchase reissues remastered by different studios using tube versus solid-state electronics chains; we have LPs mastered from the same actual master tapes decades apart; we have LPs pressed by different pressing plants; we have different thicknesses of vinyl; we have 33rpm versus 45rpm we have double-sided LPs versus single-sided LPs; and we have different vinyl formulations. Have I missed any permutation?
I believe we can assume generally that 45rpm is better than 33rpm. I believe we can assume generally that single-sided 45rpm is better than double-sided 45rpm.
What are Classic Records' best reissues among all of the varieties which Mike released?
But there are vexing questions. For example, even if Chad's pressing plant is better than Mike's pressing plant, the tape used to remaster the Acoustic Sounds LP may well have deterioirated sonically in the 25 years since Mike made the Classic Records reissues.
It is likely we cannot generalize. A particular recent Acoustic Sounds reissue may sound better than a particular vintage Classic Records reissue for one or more reasons.
We are fortunate to have at WBF ZeroStarGeneral who quite likely is the world's leading authority on original vinyl pressings. Do we have a reissue expert?
Who has compared the best of the last series of vintage reissues from Classic Records (45rpm, single-sided, Clarity vinyl, 180g or 200g) to the best comparable recent reissues from Acoustic Sounds?