I love the new OJCs, it's amazing value, and they sound phenomenal. I do understand how someone would still want the UHQR or an original, but you could buy four OJCs for the price of one UHQR, and I would rather explore the other music. How many copies of Waltz for Debbie does one need? But I will not slight anyone for getting the UHQR. If you can afford it, why not?
I invested heavily in the AP 45rpm box set. 11 Bill Evans albums, all sounding wonderful. Compared to the UHQR, good value for money. Had I known Craft would start a fresh OJC series, I would have waited. Of course there are subtle sound differences but only in close comparison. The OJCs quality of mastering, vinyl choice, pressing and covers are all at a very high standard and complete bargain. Craft are doing a great job with all their reissues. It is such a shame some wonderful albums fall into the wrong hands (Verve by Request for example).
Its solid state system v.s. tubes, which creates way differ ambience and sound character. Just ask yourself, why Chad use Bernie mastering for UHQR instead of Kevin, however not sure if all UHQR were done bij BG, but still. On the other hand, if you listen to Kevin own record, you will get that samish kind of feeling you described. Why? Because he using tube stage for its own product he produce. As always, great fun, thx Dave!
Interesting: I had suspected a combination of their taste and their hardware (mastering systems) - to be honest I’d kind of assumed they both used valve rather than solid state. Quite a few of the UHQRs are cut by Ryan K Smith.
I realize subconsciously I do not like to turn over a record every 8 minutes. My 45rpm records barely get touched. AP45 releases a CD version at the same time and it’s a viable option for me. For the vinyl feel I can also get the OJC or some mono pressing as well.
Dave, thank you. I absolutely appreciate this video! My personal internal discussion is that if you have an audio system worth more than a automobile then $150 records are inexpensive; however, if you have a budget system (sub $10k) and still love audio it isn't justifiable to buy these $150+ records unless you intend to really upgrade your system going forward or are trying to speculate for profit later. I've avoided all but my very favorite known albums on these UHQR or MOFI One-step. And my system is pretty good, my turntable would cost me almost $10k new. I'm satisfied with these OJC and some VMP records etc....Think you might be surprised how much information is lost between your system and a "MidFi" system regardless of the source material. PS - Love the T-shirt!
Hi Brian, very good point: I think you’ve probably got it about right: just buy those ‘must have’ superior pressings & all the OJCs / Blue Note Classics / Tone Poets / Acoustic Sounds Series etc etc you can afford.
I’ve got both the Evans OCJ and I think that they are absolutely exquisite. With regards to the audience, it would be difficult to comment on unless we were at the Vanguard on that day at that time. Bet the tapes of Waltz for Debbie sound magical.
Thanks for the correction Andrew. I must’ve been having a ‘senior moment’. I have now edited the video to remove my mistake. Thanks once again for spotting the error!
Thanks Dave- these are one of the best, mellow jazz recordings. Engaging in every pressing. Please try an ojc that isn’t quite a premier recording Thanks for mention of overly punching recordings jumping out on a less resolving system Thanks
I also have the Evan’s OJCs and the sound is marvelous on these All of the OJCs I own sound fantastic Don’t understand why people who own these recordings would drop 300 dollars on the UHQRs The OJCs are 28 dollars in the states
Agree entirely that the new OJCs are great Dave. However I just have this incurable desire to discover the best, although of course in this case I already owned the UHQRs, and then bought the OJCs to see just how close they get.
Many thanks for the overdue comparison. Well done! Having curved my learning curve from buying cheapy and crapy sounding badly remastered e.g. halfspeeds and poorly pressed records I have arrived at the other extreme - many hyped „new emporer‘s clothes“ type overkill packaged One Steps, UHQRs etc., I have found in the likes of Craft, OJC, Rhino Fidelity, Tone Poet the sweeter spots. Mostly great to outstanding release choices, masterings, pressings, beautiful cover art and effective high quality packaging. Those are the true gofors and keepers. And their fair pricing allows to be able to buy more great records into shelf space which can be safed by avoiding to buy those monster boxes. The only ones I have kept are Kind of Blue and Love Supreme by AP for which I have not found a similarily good sounding alternative.
Absolutely, the Pablos are great and many of the regular AP 45s are fantastic and do not need a UHQR 45 treatment for an enjoyable audiophile listening, in my humble personal opinion..
@@DaveDenyer Yup, it comes off on my birthday, December 6th, and Amazon says I should get it delivered that day. I haven't bought any of the other Contemporary Acoustic Sounds Series titles yet, but I'm planning on picking up some soon. I definitely appreciate that so many of the recent AAA jazz reissues are retail releases without strict price controls. It makes it a lot easier to catch up and build up a collection. I wish it also applied to the bulk of the Prestige reissues and also the old major label stuff, but those seem more the domain of Analogue Productions proper.
Hi, thanks for this very detailed review. THE question would be : have they used the same 'mastetape' copy to (re)master those 2 realeses ? In this case, tape would have travelled from Kevin Gray to Bernie Grundman (both in LA, I guess). Was it the case ? We would prbably never know. And which tape was used by Paul at TapeProject for the older TP release of Waltz for Debbie ? It was probably another one, like 10 years back.... It does not change the vinyl shootout anyway... J from Paris.
Hi Julien, another viewer pointed out to me that in fact, both the UHQR and the OJC are cut by Kevin Gray, so that kind of covers this question. I have edited the video to remove my error / 'senior moment'.
Thanks Dave, these OJC's have blown me away, utterly moved me to tears. Both the Bill Evans and the Miles have been perfect imo. Treasures in my collection.
Thanks for the feedback Marky, my copy of ‘Miles’ is ‘awaiting dispatch’, it’s the one I’m looking forward to most as I’ve never had a copy on vinyl before.
I understand the notion that videos discussing/warning of bad quality reissues (which is perhaps 90% of all reissues) is good for "the business" of having a youtube channel. I also saw commenters directly request that you do such videos because it will be good for the bottom line of channel ownership. I get all that and I wish you success for your channel (here comes the 'but'). Um..., However, speaking for myself (hopefully there are others who agree) I am interested primarily in the WHY. Why are reissues garbage? Why do they always (yes, yes, I'm aware there are exceptions) pale compared to originals? What directives and objectives are record companies and their employees (mastering engineers) stubbornly following whilst insisting, through slick marketing, that the Emperor is fully clothed and there's nothing untoward happening here! If you do some videos on the *core issue* , I would find that much more satisfying. It also would be diagnostic and not "negative", something you expressed concern about in the last video.
@@DaveDenyer I'm not talking documentarian type analysis. I mean a fuller explanation of some of the discussion/speculation you were having with commenters in the prior video. There were things I didn't understand. For example, the comments in the last video, you and a number of others stated that the bad quality of the reissues is due to "compression" (chopping off of highs and lows??) so that the vinyl will sound good to people who are listening to music on earbuds. For those of you who said that, I don't say that you are right or wrong. I simply don't understand the claim because it makes no sense to me. A consumer (even an ignorant one) went out and bought a vinyl record, which means that they have a stereo system. They played the record on a turntable and listened to the record through a bluetooth connection to earbuds instead of speakers!? That makes no sense. Bad quality _streamed_ music that is "compressed" makes sense. I see many, many, many, many young people listening to music through their phone with earbuds. That scenario and reality makes sense and is, in fact, taking place. That same scenario does not make sense as applied to records. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Some of my own observations so far, as I try to figure out the new nature of today's vinyl market, is that some of the reissue market is simply an explicit scam. Half speed masters is what I have in mind here. I heard an interview on youtube with a mastering engineer (I think his name is Grundman) who pointed out that 1/2 speed masters create a defective recording right away, that then has to be digitally corrected. This just sounds like a stupid waste of time. When you read the marketing "information" on the 1/2 speed "technique" however, it is made to sound like some elegant and luxurious recording process that you were cheated out of having 30 and 40 years ago, but is now at long last being provided to you. It sounds like total nonsense to me and simply seems to be a way to get people to rebuy an album they already have. My last trip to the record store I saw a "half speed master" of _Aladdin Sane_ . I stared, smirked and then just walked on. (I hope the long comment wasn't too painful.)
For me, I’ve only started getting into jazz the last few years. Except Herbie and VSOP for some reason i discovered 20 years ago and have been a fan ever since but never built on that into other jazz artists. So the last few years i started going off the big hitters from those 10 jazz albums you must own lists i would come across. And from that I have found what kind of Jazz i prefer and which musicians and have built on it from there. I do have both of these from OJC series and while i do really enjoy them, I’m not big enough into jazz and they are good enough for me. I am happy they are available on UHQR in case my appreciation for Jazz grows plus for those fans of the albums. But when it comes to other Genres I do fork out the bigger dollars for that last bit of improvement, i have the Marleys, Hendrix, White stripes and recently Doors UHQR’s and Linkin Park BSM one steps. If you’ve got the money and enjoy it. Go for it. But also sometime close enough is good enough.
It surprises me that you spend so much time describing the details in the difference between the UHQR and the OJC - but not once mention that the UHQR breaks the musical experience up due to its 4 record sides (since it’s 45 rom). It becomes technic over music…
It surprises me that you spend so much time describing the details in the difference between the UHQR and the OJC - but not once mention that the UHQR breaks the musical experience up due to its 4 record sides (since it’s 45 rom). It becomes technic over music…
I love the OJCs as the UHQRs are just out of my reach being over here in the UK. Although I do one day want to pull the trigger on KOB 45RPM to finally have the definitive version. Love the T Shirt by the way Dave!
Thanks Dave for the videos, I’ve bought the whole OJC reissues (latest) and love them. Looking forward to the next RC video. I’m cleaning since 3 weeks with the Degritter version II liquid and curious about your findings. Bye
Agree re the ending of notes, how any note decays adds to the air of spaciousness and depth in the recording. The OJC Eastern Sounds is stunning also listen to the OJC South Side Soul it's drop dead WOW
Nice one Dave a great copy of way out west was released in a three box set last year. Mastered by Bernie grundman and pressed at rti.and eastern sounds one step craft was excellent.
Thanks George. I contemplated that, but am waiting for the Acoustic Sounds (also by Bernie Grundman) version due out this December. I would like to hear the Eastern Sounds One-Step…
The OJC Saxophone Colossus (definitely, I just checked) and, I think, Way Out West (I don’t have it here) use the DCC stampers! You can see Steve Hoffman’s signature scribbled out. I have the AP ones too and you can definitely identify SH’s signature mastering. These new OJCs are fantastic too - thank you for the video!
@@DaveDenyer hi, there, if you really like Way Out West i would recommend the 1973 Contemporary Monarch D-2 / D-2 reissue ( original stereo metalwork !). I used to own the 1992 AP Reissue by Doug Sax (highly regarded); but the vintage Contemporary blows it out of the water !
I love the new OJCs, it's amazing value, and they sound phenomenal. I do understand how someone would still want the UHQR or an original, but you could buy four OJCs for the price of one UHQR, and I would rather explore the other music. How many copies of Waltz for Debbie does one need? But I will not slight anyone for getting the UHQR. If you can afford it, why not?
I totally agree: thanks for the feedback.
I invested heavily in the AP 45rpm box set. 11 Bill Evans albums, all sounding wonderful. Compared to the UHQR, good value for money. Had I known Craft would start a fresh OJC series, I would have waited. Of course there are subtle sound differences but only in close comparison. The OJCs quality of mastering, vinyl choice, pressing and covers are all at a very high standard and complete bargain. Craft are doing a great job with all their reissues. It is such a shame some wonderful albums fall into the wrong hands (Verve by Request for example).
Absolutely can't argue with the value of these new OJCs. Thanks for your feedback.
Its solid state system v.s. tubes, which creates way differ ambience and sound character. Just ask yourself, why Chad use Bernie mastering for UHQR instead of Kevin, however not sure if all UHQR were done bij BG, but still. On the other hand, if you listen to Kevin own record, you will get that samish kind of feeling you described. Why? Because he using tube stage for its own product he produce. As always, great fun, thx Dave!
Interesting: I had suspected a combination of their taste and their hardware (mastering systems) - to be honest I’d kind of assumed they both used valve rather than solid state.
Quite a few of the UHQRs are cut by Ryan K Smith.
Dave, I see Acoustic Sounds is quoting you to sell the LA WOMAN UHQR. You have arrived as a vinyl authority, my friend. It was a great review.
Thanks Austin!
I realize subconsciously I do not like to turn over a record every 8 minutes. My 45rpm records barely get touched. AP45 releases a CD version at the same time and it’s a viable option for me. For the vinyl feel I can also get the OJC or some mono pressing as well.
I used to feel like that (and still do with some albums), but in the case of the Bill Evans LPs it really doesn’t bother me.
Please sir, buy a decent microphone 🙏
It is something I’m looking into…
I like the fact that you respond to your messages. To me it adds a personal touch to a channel. Great content Dave
Thanks so much for the feedback. I appreciate that!
Dave, thank you. I absolutely appreciate this video! My personal internal discussion is that if you have an audio system worth more than a automobile then $150 records are inexpensive; however, if you have a budget system (sub $10k) and still love audio it isn't justifiable to buy these $150+ records unless you intend to really upgrade your system going forward or are trying to speculate for profit later. I've avoided all but my very favorite known albums on these UHQR or MOFI One-step. And my system is pretty good, my turntable would cost me almost $10k new. I'm satisfied with these OJC and some VMP records etc....Think you might be surprised how much information is lost between your system and a "MidFi" system regardless of the source material.
PS - Love the T-shirt!
Hi Brian, very good point: I think you’ve probably got it about right: just buy those ‘must have’ superior pressings & all the OJCs / Blue Note Classics / Tone Poets / Acoustic Sounds Series etc etc you can afford.
I’ve got both the Evans OCJ and I think that they are absolutely exquisite. With regards to the audience, it would be difficult to comment on unless we were at the Vanguard on that day at that time. Bet the tapes of Waltz for Debbie sound magical.
The tape does sound magical, and provides the best reference, besides as you rightly say, being there!
Nice comparison, but the UHQR's were also cut by Kevin Gray, not Bernie
Thanks for the correction Andrew. I must’ve been having a ‘senior moment’.
I have now edited the video to remove my mistake. Thanks once again for spotting the error!
Thanks Dave- these are one of the best, mellow jazz recordings. Engaging in every pressing. Please try an ojc that isn’t quite a premier recording
Thanks for mention of overly punching recordings jumping out on a less resolving system
Thanks
I’m looking forward to doing more OJC videos. I’ve the three in my ‘in-pile’ one more on order, and I’m sure many more to follow.
I also have the Evan’s OJCs and the sound is marvelous on these All of the OJCs I own sound fantastic Don’t understand why people who own these recordings would drop 300 dollars on the UHQRs The OJCs are 28 dollars in the states
Agree entirely that the new OJCs are great Dave.
However I just have this incurable desire to discover the best, although of course in this case I already owned the UHQRs, and then bought the OJCs to see just how close they get.
Many thanks for the overdue comparison. Well done!
Having curved my learning curve from buying cheapy and crapy sounding badly remastered e.g. halfspeeds and poorly pressed records I have arrived at the other extreme - many hyped „new emporer‘s clothes“ type overkill packaged One Steps, UHQRs etc., I have found in the likes of Craft, OJC, Rhino Fidelity, Tone Poet the sweeter spots. Mostly great to outstanding release choices, masterings, pressings, beautiful cover art and effective high quality packaging. Those are the true gofors and keepers. And their fair pricing allows to be able to buy more great records into shelf space which can be safed by avoiding to buy those monster boxes. The only ones I have kept are Kind of Blue and Love Supreme by AP for which I have not found a similarily good sounding alternative.
Thanks for the feedback Thomas! I do think that AP are reliably good too. Their Pablo series, for example, at $40 a record, are stunning.
Absolutely, the Pablos are great and many of the regular AP 45s are fantastic and do not need a UHQR 45 treatment for an enjoyable audiophile listening, in my humble personal opinion..
FWIW, Way Out West and the other Contemporary Acoustic Sounds Series reissues retail for $30 each and can often be found for less on sale.
Agreed. I’m looking forward to December… i think that’s when it’s due.
@@DaveDenyer Yup, it comes off on my birthday, December 6th, and Amazon says I should get it delivered that day. I haven't bought any of the other Contemporary Acoustic Sounds Series titles yet, but I'm planning on picking up some soon. I definitely appreciate that so many of the recent AAA jazz reissues are retail releases without strict price controls. It makes it a lot easier to catch up and build up a collection. I wish it also applied to the bulk of the Prestige reissues and also the old major label stuff, but those seem more the domain of Analogue Productions proper.
what a cool birthday present! 😎
Hi, thanks for this very detailed review. THE question would be : have they used the same 'mastetape' copy to (re)master those 2 realeses ? In this case, tape would have travelled from Kevin Gray to Bernie Grundman (both in LA, I guess). Was it the case ? We would prbably never know. And which tape was used by Paul at TapeProject for the older TP release of Waltz for Debbie ? It was probably another one, like 10 years back.... It does not change the vinyl shootout anyway... J from Paris.
Good question Julien. I honestly don’t know the answer to that but it certainly would be very interesting to know.
Hi Julien, another viewer pointed out to me that in fact, both the UHQR and the OJC are cut by Kevin Gray, so that kind of covers this question. I have edited the video to remove my error / 'senior moment'.
Thanks Dave, these OJC's have blown me away, utterly moved me to tears. Both the Bill Evans and the Miles have been perfect imo. Treasures in my collection.
Thanks for the feedback Marky, my copy of ‘Miles’ is ‘awaiting dispatch’, it’s the one I’m looking forward to most as I’ve never had a copy on vinyl before.
OJC's are great. No need for the UHQR versions here.
The OJCs are great. Thanks for your feedback.
I understand the notion that videos discussing/warning of bad quality reissues (which is perhaps 90% of all reissues) is good for "the business" of having a youtube channel. I also saw commenters directly request that you do such videos because it will be good for the bottom line of channel ownership. I get all that and I wish you success for your channel (here comes the 'but').
Um..., However, speaking for myself (hopefully there are others who agree) I am interested primarily in the WHY. Why are reissues garbage? Why do they always (yes, yes, I'm aware there are exceptions) pale compared to originals? What directives and objectives are record companies and their employees (mastering engineers) stubbornly following whilst insisting, through slick marketing, that the Emperor is fully clothed and there's nothing untoward happening here! If you do some videos on the *core issue* , I would find that much more satisfying. It also would be diagnostic and not "negative", something you expressed concern about in the last video.
Very good point. If I knew the answers I would certainly share them.
I do have my suspicions, but nothing more…
@@DaveDenyer
I'm not talking documentarian type analysis. I mean a fuller explanation of some of the discussion/speculation you were having with commenters in the prior video. There were things I didn't understand.
For example, the comments in the last video, you and a number of others stated that the bad quality of the reissues is due to "compression" (chopping off of highs and lows??) so that the vinyl will sound good to people who are listening to music on earbuds.
For those of you who said that, I don't say that you are right or wrong. I simply don't understand the claim because it makes no sense to me. A consumer (even an ignorant one) went out and bought a vinyl record, which means that they have a stereo system. They played the record on a turntable and listened to the record through a bluetooth connection to earbuds instead of speakers!? That makes no sense.
Bad quality _streamed_ music that is "compressed" makes sense. I see many, many, many, many young people listening to music through their phone with earbuds. That scenario and reality makes sense and is, in fact, taking place. That same scenario does not make sense as applied to records.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Some of my own observations so far, as I try to figure out the new nature of today's vinyl market, is that some of the reissue market is simply an explicit scam. Half speed masters is what I have in mind here. I heard an interview on youtube with a mastering engineer (I think his name is Grundman) who pointed out that 1/2 speed masters create a defective recording right away, that then has to be digitally corrected. This just sounds like a stupid waste of time.
When you read the marketing "information" on the 1/2 speed "technique" however, it is made to sound like some elegant and luxurious recording process that you were cheated out of having 30 and 40 years ago, but is now at long last being provided to you. It sounds like total nonsense to me and simply seems to be a way to get people to rebuy an album they already have. My last trip to the record store I saw a "half speed master" of _Aladdin Sane_ . I stared, smirked and then just walked on.
(I hope the long comment wasn't too painful.)
For me, I’ve only started getting into jazz the last few years. Except Herbie and VSOP for some reason i discovered 20 years ago and have been a fan ever since but never built on that into other jazz artists.
So the last few years i started going off the big hitters from those 10 jazz albums you must own lists i would come across. And from that I have found what kind of Jazz i prefer and which musicians and have built on it from there.
I do have both of these from OJC series and while i do really enjoy them, I’m not big enough into jazz and they are good enough for me. I am happy they are available on UHQR in case my appreciation for Jazz grows plus for those fans of the albums.
But when it comes to other Genres I do fork out the bigger dollars for that last bit of improvement, i have the Marleys, Hendrix, White stripes and recently Doors UHQR’s and Linkin Park BSM one steps.
If you’ve got the money and enjoy it. Go for it. But also sometime close enough is good enough.
Thanks for commenting. I couldn't really argue with your sentiment: if you're into the music and have the money, then why not go for it!
It surprises me that you spend so much time describing the details in the difference between the UHQR and the OJC - but not once mention that the UHQR breaks the musical experience up due to its 4 record sides (since it’s 45 rom).
It becomes technic over music…
It doesn’t really bother me on these two. It does on some 45s - the fact that the UHQR draws me further into the music more than compensates.
It surprises me that you spend so much time describing the details in the difference between the UHQR and the OJC - but not once mention that the UHQR breaks the musical experience up due to its 4 record sides (since it’s 45 rom).
It becomes technic over music…
It's a fair point: on some records I really don't appreciate having to get up after 'half a side', but on this one I really don't mind.
I love the OJCs as the UHQRs are just out of my reach being over here in the UK. Although I do one day want to pull the trigger on KOB 45RPM to finally have the definitive version.
Love the T Shirt by the way Dave!
Thanks for your comments!
Thanks Dave for the videos, I’ve bought the whole OJC reissues (latest) and love them. Looking forward to the next RC video. I’m cleaning since 3 weeks with the Degritter version II liquid and curious about your findings. Bye
Glad you like the videos. Thanks for the feedback. I look forward to chatting about cleaning again.
Agree re the ending of notes, how any note decays adds to the air of spaciousness and depth in the recording. The OJC Eastern Sounds is stunning also listen to the OJC South Side Soul it's drop dead WOW
Thanks for the feedback: South Side Soul is now on my radar!
Nice one Dave a great copy of way out west was released in a three box set last year. Mastered by Bernie grundman and pressed at rti.and eastern sounds one step craft was excellent.
Thanks George. I contemplated that, but am waiting for the Acoustic Sounds (also by Bernie Grundman) version due out this December.
I would like to hear the Eastern Sounds One-Step…
I too like the new OJCS
and an another inoformative vide thank you
Thanks for the comment Mike!
The OJC Saxophone Colossus (definitely, I just checked) and, I think, Way Out West (I don’t have it here) use the DCC stampers! You can see Steve Hoffman’s signature scribbled out. I have the AP ones too and you can definitely identify SH’s signature mastering.
These new OJCs are fantastic too - thank you for the video!
That’s very interesting info: thanks. I’ll check my Way Out West’s dead wax…
@@DaveDenyer hi, there, if you really like Way Out West i would recommend the 1973 Contemporary Monarch D-2 / D-2 reissue ( original stereo metalwork !). I used to own the 1992 AP Reissue by Doug Sax (highly regarded); but the vintage Contemporary blows it out of the water !
@@lucullus6127 thanks. This is great feedback. Discogs here I come!
I would not buy new or used records without my Degritter
I’ve been cleaning records since the 1980s. The Degritter is in daily use!