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Audiophile pressings: waste of money?
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Analog Kid View Drop Down
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    Posted: 12 Nov 2009 at 4:04pm
Question: Is 42 Euros (38 GBP) too much money for one album (sealed & new), even if that album is a limited edition on vinyl spread across four 45-rpm 180-gram LPs?

The album in question is Metallica's "...And Justice For All", re-issued in 2008, and half-speed mastered at Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs (MoFi). It is supposed to be the ultimate audiophile edition. The thing is,
I already have a re-issue of this album from 2001 as a 33-rpm double LP, which is why I want to know whether it is really worth paying 42 Euros for the new 45-rpm 4 LP audiophile edition. I am not sure if the difference in sound is worth 42 Euros...that is, if there is any difference to detect at all. Maybe I could justify this purchase if I did not already have the album, but since I do, it smells like a waste of money.

Anyone want to offer me their opinion?


Edited by Analog Kid - 12 Nov 2009 at 4:56pm
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ServerBaboon View Drop Down
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I would think that there is enough music you do not own before you start duplicating stuff you already have.

Could you tell the difference besides having to get up more often? my personal prejudice says not with Metallica and I would probably more likely get Metallica for Enter Sandman anyway.
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Analog Kid View Drop Down
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Originally posted by ServerBaboon ServerBaboon wrote:

I would think that there is enough music you do not own before you start duplicating stuff you already have.

Could you tell the difference besides having to get up more often? my personal prejudice says not with Metallica and I would probably more likely get Metallica for Enter Sandman anyway.




Good observation. Thanks for the advice. You are right, it is better to get music I don't own yet instead of wasting money on buying special pressings of albums I already have.

I am not sure about the difference in sound, since I have never heard the new edition, but I assume there is a difference. It might even sound worse. And getting up to change sides after each song is not very convenient.
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Lucabeer View Drop Down
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And after all, AJFA is quite well known for having a "weird" sound to start with: quite lacking in low frequencies, and the bass is almost absent (legend says that the band didn't like newcomer Jason Newstead's playing... and they mixed his instrument so low that it can barely be heard!!!!!)
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Originally posted by Lucabeer Lucabeer wrote:

And after all, AJFA is quite well known for having a "weird" sound to start with: quite lacking in low frequencies, and the bass is almost absent (legend says that the band didn't like newcomer Jason Newstead's playing... and they mixed his instrument so low that it can barely be heard!!!!!)


Lacking in low frequencies? Are you sure? I always found AFJA to be somewhat boomy. The drums and guitars pump out so much low-end, there is barely any room for the bass guitar in the mix.

The virtual absence of bass guitar on AFJA, has little to do with Jason Newsted's playing. The real reason the bass was mixed so low is because the band members thought they were honoring their deceased former member Cliff Burton by turning his replacement's bass down low in the mix. It was nothing more than a symbolic statement, one that however negatively affected the sound of the album.

The overall weird sound can be blamed on Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero, the two engineers who mixed the album - two of the worst recording engineers ever. The horrible sound on AFJA is not an isolated case. Every single album I have ever heard who these two audio criminals touched (=ruined) suffers from disastrous sound.


Edited by Analog Kid - 19 Nov 2009 at 7:07pm
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Lucabeer View Drop Down
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Well, I find AFJA to be rather "empty-sounding", tinny and flat... lifeless, almost. Which is a shame, since it probably is the most intricate Metallica album from the point of view of the music itself.

I prefer "Ride the lightning" and "Master of puppets" much more sonically and content-wise, and the black album still is the absolute best sonically (but not content-wise).
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Originally posted by Lucabeer Lucabeer wrote:

Well, I find AFJA to be rather "empty-sounding", tinny and flat... lifeless, almost.


It does indeed sound lifeless and flat. The album suffers from a very poor mix, made worse by being mixed on digital tape. The low-end always sounded to me very "plastic-like", for lack of a better expression, a typical trademark of many 1980s albums that were recorded on analog multi-track tape and mixed on digital tape. If you look at the back cover of AFJA on CD, you will see it says "ADD" (=Analog Recording, Digital mixing, Digital Mastering). The black album however was mixed on analog tape, as were "Ride The Lightning" and "Master Of Puppets".

I am considering getting the 4 LP 45-rpm version of the black album, but it's expensive: 50 Euros.
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