I recently bought an AP45 Legendary of Son House. I have the 33 of same label and already like the album very much. Frankly I bought the 45 because the kid reviewer in Analog Planet gives a really high score rating on this 45. And I want to get a glimps of how he listens. Straight to the point. I like the 33 more and probably will not play the 45 again. The main differences are as follow:
- The presentation of 45 is more zoom in. I hear Son House like he is a giant. To me too up front presentation of a man with a guitar does not give a fool you real sensation. With the 33, I could feel the presence of him in life size.
- The closer hearing of a guitar and vocal feel as if the sound engineer tried to make you impress with enlarged details of strings vibrating, the hollow body of guitar and texture of vocal. In a revealing system you can hear all these more "naturally" without the need of zooming in.
- The 33 has more tail end tingling high of strings and more defined shape of sound. The tone of 33 is also more smooth, more shade and natural nuance to the ears. I think when you enhance sound more you have more chance of losing contrast. Tonal and dynamic contrast are among key attributes to natural sound imo.
I am sure many people will like or prefer the 45. It is a recording that is remastered to impress people. All that quietness is put into this pressing to win the quietness war too. Nonetheless I find the 45 has insignificant more quiet back ground than the 33. I am writing this as I am seeing more and more remastered vinyls with this approach of creating "impressive" sound.
View attachment 53920
33rpm.
45 rpm.