It's not distortion. Its a double album, with the first LP offering the record in its original stereo form (speed corrected, of course) and a second disc featuring the first take of Flamenco Sketches on one side and a version of Green Dolphin Street on the other. And, indeed, they are an audiophile delight. Where? It is art after alland there is really only one master, and only one first pressing which Miles and Teo agreed on as being "finished". The difference between mono and stereo is the number of channels that they send to the speakers. The mono tapes have gone missing. Usually this meant speeding up the playback to keep things sounding tighter.he usually did this by wrapping the capstan of the machine with thin splicing tape. Or so Conventional Wisdom suggests. Pour a glass or cup of your preference and press play. I paid a grand total of fifty-cents for the album. Columbia went down the letters to a certain point and then started double letters (AJ) so I'd say that was fairly early. CBS overprint non-DG illustrated below (1962/3). I suspect the mono masters were damaged or very worn, and didn't meet technical standards. The presence of an 1Aor 1B on one side, and a higher value on the other, is not an early mono pressing, obviously. Either way he claimed that he hated the Sony releases. Since the mono tapes apparently no longer exist, recent monophonic reissues (yes, some people do prefer mono) were created by mixing down the three tracks on the backup stereo master to a single track. Those "pre-mixes" were specifically intended to blend together in the end into a single mono track. Though not documented as far as I have seen, Terre Haute appears to have used some sort of mother and stamper identifier a T followed by an alpha TA, TB, TC probably mother A, mother B, or mother C, then a simple hand etched line counter for the stamper identifier, shown here below: Having two or more lacquer sources, it is surprising mistakes were not made pressing a record with two Side 1s from side 1 stampers from separate laquers but this never seems to have occurred, so there is probably some other form of process control which we dont know about. The very few commercial mono copies were found with matrix codes in the range 1A to 1C on both sides (five records only in the sample, they are very rare), all had the Side 2 track-list error. It is a sort of rattling sound. More rock n roll. Do You Need a Mono Cartridge to Play Mono Records? If I'm reading this correctly, this mono vinyl reissue is an all analogue cut? Beatles 2022 Revolver Mono in the box: stereo jacket? | Steve Hoffman You may ask how a perfectionist like Miles Davis or one of the other members of the band did not notice the pitch shift. What is the slight distortion that is present in every copy of KOB I've ever heard? One of the quirks of jacket manufacture was the code used by the giant fabricator Imperial Packing, Indianapolis, changed according to the pressing plants it was supplying 4 for US Central (Terre Haute) and 6 when supplying West Coast (Hollywood). The four variations are offset pairs eg 1D/1H and 1H/1D.With D, G and H, and each letter is found as Side 1 and Side 2. With copies of KoB being pressed at three or four plants, it seems likely individual plants had their own work procedures. starbucks red cup campaign; best practice interventions debriefing; toni cornell height; shafer middle school staff; who are lester holt's parents; lift up the downtrodden meaning; . They occur in similar offset mirrored pairs: E/K, K/E, AC/AE, AE/AC. I believe that would be earlier. It has been lost and missing from the Columbia vaults for a very LONG, LONG time. Unanswered Question Conventional Wisdom does not explaintheasymmetrical pairing is Side 1 and Side2 lacquers. The lacquer code can in theory be matching both sides (1A/1A), but if two lacquers were supplied to a plant, four Side 1/ Side 2 permutations are possible: 1A/1A, or 1A/1B or 1B/1A or 1B/1B, depending on which lacquers came to hand when being mounted in a press. this can result in this site earning a commission. BJ 31st; BK 32nd; BL 33rd; CA 34th; CB 35th; CC 36th; Symmetrical (1A/1A) and sequential pairs (1A/1B) are actually a quite rare occurrence. That is 100,000 albums per lacquer. A small number of lacquers were responsible for generating mono and stereo promos, said to be manufactured in one plant, Bridgeport CT (WB New York, based on characteristics of centre label typesetting) though contradicted by local jacket manufacture codes accompanying promos. This is specially true for master tapes that are over 30 years old and are not the holly grail many believe them to be. Controversial in some quarters, but I agree. Guess I know what I'll be treating myself to. LP review by Andrew Cartmel). These identifiable early stereo pressingsare pictured below. Miles Davis Kind of Blue best sounding !? - Music - PS Audio A,B and C could have manufactured the lot. Which Beatles Mono Collection? - Music in General - Audiophile Style My guess is that at one plant alone, the press operators chose the stamper pair from one lacquer. The love and care taken by Music On Vinyl on this release even extends to the printing of the labels, which on these discs are a homage to the 1959 Columbia six eye design. Another great mono is Dave Bruebeck's "Jazz In The USA.". Twenty sevenlacquers of Kind of Blue were cut. The greatest issue of this album on vinyl. 3 Modern Album of Long Island, NY Columbia maintained process and quality control of its print and packaging suppliers through these codes. These command a significant price premium at auction. It was remixed properly. By the early 60s, Columbia pressed vinylat several pressing plants of their own (and possibly made use of many others). Bridgeport (plant address: 1473 Barnum Avenue) remained in operation to the end of March 1964 (a luxury condo, called Columbia Towers, now are situated on those grounds). But's it not hybrid so for the Op I'd say the MFSL's redbook is sublime. Milestone and Round About Midnight were mono-only titles. Band 2so French. One of the interesting discoveries made in 1992 when the tapes were first exhumed, was that Side 1 of the stereo issue, consisting of the tracks recorded at the first session, So What, Freddie Freeloader and Blue in Green, had been playing at the wrong speed since 1959. It has cleverly placed itself between the high-end audiophile labels, whose LPs can be very pricey, and the cheap low-end labels, whose noisy pressings can sound like bacon frying. Is there any evidence to indicate that the mono was mixed from the same 3-track tape as the stereo? The problem is that nobody knows what happened to the mono master tape. Thanks. Cookie Notice I'd say 4th pressing since 1A,B,C were first pressings (A to NJ, B to Indiana, C to CA) and so D,E,F, would be second press, G,H,I would be third and J,K,L would be fourth (etc.). Maybe theyre in your garden shed. I was thinking about the 2x180g version by classic records, can anyone comment about the sound and QC on that one ? They were distributed to various plants in an arbitrary pairs,at least two laquers per plant, and those plants mixed Side 1 and Side 2 stampers from different laquers. Perhaps defective, or damaged, they were never put in service. are they all analogue process only? The Sonys don't sound bad by any stretch, I just prefer the MoFi's more relaxed sound. Around a quarter were code 2 (Brooklyn) , three quarters are code 4 (Indianapolis) and just one 6, (also Indianapolis when supplying jackets to West Coast pressing plants). Metal from 1A and 1B lacquers was still being used some years later, mix and match. My heart always sinks when I read those words. Unfortunately, the Kind of Blue mono master tape no longer exists. With 1D (different printer and pressing location?) Also what comes to trusting the recommendations of people on audio forums, I stopped paying any attention to what critics of any kind music, audio, or otherwise have to say years ago, but the people who write their opinions on audio forums I have equally low faith in. Some EQ was used as was a bit of limiting. They occur in offset mirrored pairs H/D D/H, D/G and G/D, just one exception a mono promo 1D/1D has been found, so matching plates did sometimes occur, though in every other case, they do not i.e there was a process and reason behind selecting unmatched pairs, not a random or chance selection. Press operators at this time have stressed that their two priorities were to ensure Side 1 and 2 were correctly matched, and that the labels were completely dry. I've inherited more than a few LPs that are "reprocessed stereo" or "electronically enhanced for stereo effect" and other words to that effect. Released 17 August 1959 on Columbia (catalog no. A further five lacquers account for the next quarter of all mono copies: A, B, AC, AD, and AJ. Macero wasn't even in the same time zone during the second KoB session; he was in LA producing Dave Brubeck's Gone With The Wind, his first production. That's a killer disc all right, and the 5(3).1 is a wonder to behold. The process-control system to keep track of lacquers, mothers and stampers did not require matching or sequencing, becauseit did not matter which lacquer was used, as they were all the same as long as you had a Side 1 and a Side 2 stamper mounted in the press. There's zero evidence the speed issue was anything other than a technical fault with one of the tape machines. I'd stick with the stereo, that's the version everyone raves about. It got me "in the room" or studio, with the guys, where mono just did not, so I find it kind of (sorry) bizarre that, under almost any circumstance, mono would be the preferred medium where stereo is available. Is there anything left to say on the most popular and arguably greatest jazz LP of all time? Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by youraveragevinylcollector, Mar 22, 2016. Seems a bit confusing with all these different pressings. I have an original copy of "Round Midnight" that I bought in Santa Monice back in the 70's. No other letters were found. When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, Stereo has always been the superior choice for me. The prime stereo tape recorder had been running just over one percent slow, so on playback and during the mastering of albums it ran a little fast. Is it the same as Columbia/Sony? I have an original mono pressing and I was a little unsure if it was a worn record or just the horn. He claimed back then that sometimes they would vari-speed tracks slightly to change the tempo. There is only one Mona Lisa and there is only one "The Starry Night".you may really like you're reproduction or lithograph, you can argue it's pros and cons over other versions, but just know it's not the original. Of course this did not affect the mono version, which was sourced from a different recorder, but for this mono reissue, the speed had to again be corrected. They can't find the tapes. I haven't had a chance to turn it up yet but it seems the instruments are further up in the mix and I could hear deeper into the background. you'Ll find love for music, intimate relations, well made drinks, and the likes. 1959, 2013 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment / Originally release 1959 / All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainement. The suffix -1B is visible on mono Side 1 and seller described both sides 1B/1B. The three-track recording produced three distinct channels and nothing you could legitimately call "stereo". How many times have I seen one of the most mediocre albums I've heard in my life be named the album of the year? Over the fouryears of the six-eye label, fresh pressing runs would draw on the stock of lacquers, a general chronological drift, but many mismatched stamper combinations. Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue (2013, 180 Gram, Vinyl) - Discogs He was making music..and he didn't care if it bothered someone trying to play along to the album later that it sounding sharphe was interested in the pocket. A Love SupremeMono or Stereo?? - Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo The aboveexamples of1A 1B and 1C labels (note, always1Aas Side 2) each feature the two line bold album title. The 81 is the only mono Pepper that impresses me. Does your copy say "Music on Vinyl"? Unless you can come up with one of those original LPs, this is as good a sounding Kind of Blue as you will find. It amazes me that so few hear or recognize the distortion present throughout, especially on So What. This could be a quite desirable source for early pressings. These recordings were made in the early days of "stereo". Photos not available for this variation. Mono or Stereo - is it really just a matter of preference? CD 37th; CE 38th; CF 39th; CG 40th; CH 41st; CJ 42nd; The mono original (and reissue) provides a better overall instrumental balance, with greater emphasis on the piano and more solid imaging. A stereo record contains separate left and right channel information on each groove-wall at a 45-degree angle from each other.The groove is a more complicated shape with both lateral and vertical information. Can someone enlighten me as to how it works? affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network, and Regarding vinyl it is felt that the 2014 mono vinyl release is the sane way to go if you want the best sound up til the White album. Miles Davis' The Original Mono Recordings: A Buyer's Guide OPENING HOURS MON-THURS: 16-00 FRI-SAT: 16-02 . On Blood on the Tracks the speed up was also done intentionally, and Teo Macero was known for his fiddling with the tapes, without him Bitches Brew would have come into being. I know that there are multiple versions of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, there are the MFSL, the original mono and stereo LPs, the 200 gram stereo remaster, and I have listened to the album on YouTube, and 256kbps isn't doing the material justice. Simon & Garfunkel Mono Vs Stereo Discussion : r/vinyl - Reddit 5 Modern Album of Terre Haute, IN Columbia CL 1193 Milestones Miles Davis, Recorded February March 1958. ), Forum Policies, Rules, and Terms of Service. Well.the mono has been the rarest version of Kind of Blue. Band 1. The vinyl isnow secondand the SACD is third on the list (IMHO). Based in Holland, Music On Vinyl uses the Record Industry plant in Haarlem the largest surviving vinyl pressing plant in Europe and one of the top three in terms of quality, along with Pallas and Optimal in Germany. Les enregistrements s'effectuent en deux sessions avec le sextet de Miles Davis, compos des saxophonistes John Coltrane et Julian Cannonball Adderley, des pianistes Bill Evans et Wynton . :-). Anyone who thinks this has never been in a proper recording session and doesn't know any real recording engineers. lacquer letter progression rapidly stops being a useful guide to the very earliest pressings. Your phrasing that mastering did the fold down is incorrect. Best Sounding Version of Kind of Blue - Steve Hoffman Music Forums I'd like to thank you for all the valuable advice that I've been able to glean from your Stereophile column over the years. That, and . To be fair, some are done better than others (I say this only having listened through speakers - I don't want to think about what the . Kind of Blue Mono & Stereo Collector's Edition 2LP Set 180 gram, 33 rpm, Collector's Edition, Gatefold, Mono. One of the few samples found where the matrix codes Side 1 and Side 2 are taken the same lacquer. kind of blue mono or stereo hoffman The mono Pepper has always struck me as sort of staid but I'm a stereo guy. There was a reason why plants chose asymmetrical pairs, Side 1 and Side 2 stampers, deliberately from different lacquer sets. One was selling in the marketplace but asking a question about something for sale is apparently a 'conversation.'. A possibly dumb question about reprocessed stereo and mono switches Every tape machine in a proper recording studio is calibrated directly before the recording session to make sure it is performing to spec using alignment tapes and an oscilliscope. Both mixes on HDTracks are completely NEW remasters. A further four lacquers BB, BG, AL and BH, take us up to the three-quarter mark of all stereo copies manufactured. The SACD always sounded kind of tubby/boomy but the CD is awful compared to these new files. Again, I'm very happy with my Columbia RSD pressing. I appreciate the help. UPDATE 12/08/19: a copy with 1F has been found, with track listing error Side 2 1D/1F with TA etching (Conn. plant). I know the company doesn't forcibly place them in anyone's hands. Its one of my reference mono recordings that I love to pull out to demonstrate just how great mono records can be to initiate those who are new converts from digital to vinyl. I'm not going to write about the modal music here. I'll be grabbing this mono version! My 6 eye copy isn't a 1AJ, it's just a 1J (both sides). [TR24] [OF] Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (Mono) - 1959/2013 (Jazz) In preparation for the commercial release, Columbia engineers cut at least 27 identical lacquers from the first master tape mix, one set mono, the other stereo. Hence promos are all proven pre 11/59. Kind of Blue is one of wonders of this World Miles and the group were all in their prime. I don't hear it throughout the record. The stereo versions are mixed in a similar fashion with center mixed into both left and right channels. During these sessions both a mono and a three-track stereo master were created, using a total of four tape recorders running in synchronisation one prime recorder and one safety backup each for mono and stereo. Crosley tables do chew grooves, but the company doesn't forcibly place their products into anyone's hands. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. It looks like all of these were mixed at 24/192k (not in the analog domain). 1AL/1A, 1AK/1A and 1AC/1A, 1AC/1B 1AE/1B), all with corrected Side 2 listing. That is not really being "in the studio with the group". Those who have recognized it have shared many wild theories. There is some evidence to indicate that an actual mono tape wasn't made, though I understand that it was customary to run both machines simultaneously during the time that KOB was recorded. Do you know if the original issue was cut using the Columbia EQ curve? The mono playback was a wonderful remembrance of the old LP we all knew and loved. Flamenco Sketches is a 6/8 12-measure blues form that produces its mood through only a few modal changes and Miles Davis' free melodic conception. There must be a mechanical reason why they are mostly though not always offset mirrored pairs (Side 1 stamper from one lacquer, side 2 stamper from another lacquer)and not symmetrical pairs (e.g.1E/1E), possibly to run two presses simultaneously, or to ensure metal sets from each lacquer wear equally, but that is for another day. In the case of KOB, you would need to at least hear the mono before rendering a judgement as to which you preferred! (After completing the second take, which is the one used on the album, Miles Davis reportedly turned to the producer Irving Townsend and said, That was terrible, Irving.). I imagine that at source, they had 20 parallel-wired mastering lathes, A 1st cutting; B 2nd; C 3rd; D 4th; E 5th; F 6th; G 7th; H 8th; J 9th; K 10th; L 11th; AA 12th; AB 13th; AC 14th; AD 15h, the Columbia Six-Eye label was in use over five years. I just got the 2LP Classic Records stereo today and have had the blue 50th so I'm anxious to see how this compares. This was corrected (ie order reversed) on the label of commercial release pressings, at the instruction of Teo Macero, around November 1959. The stereo presentation revealed more air, more detail and more sheer life than the mono. They were only on CD or SACD at that point since vinyl was done by Classic. All rights reserved. Apparently it is the one that Miles Davis actually approved and gave input on. One of these assumptions is wrong by a factor of ten, crazy, but we find what we find. Mono vs. I can understand why people rave over immense Klangfilm field coil open baffle loudspeakers in a single mono configuration. Kind of Blue est un album de jazz de Miles Davis sorti le 17 aot 1959 sur le label Columbia Records (rfrenc CL 1355).Il a t enregistr la mme anne, du 2 mars au 22 avril New York. Unfortunaltely everyone is issuing the same LP's and no does a review comparing them all. Dynamic range doesn't seem terribly reduced, more that the overall level has just been raised. I dont know if this was the case during the original release, but seeing that sometimes it was intentionally done to get a different result it brings in to question the validity of the subsequent remasters. Light VC, but there. Click here if you want this pressing without paying 4-20x retail (Come on now, you really should be ashamed of yourselves). If the covers were merely manufactured centrally at Indianapolis and supplied to Bridgeport for the promo pressing, why is there both 4 and 2, AND 6. I'm very happy with this pressing. There is a recordwhich is perfect to test the theory of Columbia matrixes to see how well it explainsand dates the manufacture ofColumbia records in practice the immortal Kind of Blue. The Radio Museum website lists several Hoffman consoles from 1959 which is a plausible year for one of the early stereo "two-box" style consoles. I found 20 sufficiently sharp pictures of back covers acompanying promos. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Beatles, Sinatra) that I can compare to modern vinyl or CD releases, but admittedly that doesn't help with Piper since it's a case-by-case thing. Click the answer to find similar crossword clues . At the beginning or throughout the record. 2 sense. It is not staid, especially side 2. A 1st cutting; B 2nd; C 3rd; D 4th;E 5th; F 6th; When Sony announced the RSD release I assumed it would be similar to how they rolled out Milestones and Round About Midnight (a few months after)? Stereo promos were produced from four lacquers: E, K, AC and AE. I don't know a lot about record store day. Read John Marks' account of hearing the three-track master tape at Sony Studios. Taking anything anyone sayson the Internet or otherwise, but especially on the Internetwith a grain of salt when it comes to sound is more than a healthy approach and ultimately the one you can trust the most (hopefully) is you yourself and your own ears. The LondonJazz News Team / Contact Details, PREVIEW/ INTERVIEW: Ian Bowden, Rye Internatonal Jazz & Blues Festival, (Aug 21-25), REPORT AND PHOTOS: Gareth Williams/ Trish Clowes at the Watermill Dorking. Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" Monophonic Reissue From Sony/Legacy: An Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. Nothing is sold at gun point. It is a twice a year event. No point now crying over degaussed tape or whatever happened. Featuring Evans at his most mellow and cheery, moody bass modulations by Chambers, notable fast-shuffle boogie drums by Cobb, rich slabs of Coltrane sax, and slalom-sliding trumpet by Miles in joyous Surrey With a Fringe on Top style it might come from a different sound world to the lonely, modal Kind of Blue tunes, but Green Dolphin Streetis nevertheless a blue ribbon bonus track. Columbia was a major, not the sort of small operator that would use up wrong labels to save money. You are using an out of date browser. Unlike say Liberty and their West Coast distribution of Blue Note by copy tape and local re-mastering, Columbia ensured every plant had the same 1st generation acetate from which to manufacture metal parts locally, no grunt re-mastering 2nd generation tape Kind of Blue how they preferred it. the holy grail 1A/1A. The promos were thought to be both pressed at Columbias Bridgeport Connecticut plant, according to W.B.s update, given the consistent label print and type-setting on the two versions. affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network, and