What does it mean when the vinyl pressing is labeled 'audiophile'?

[JohnMcC]

Agree about Audiophile pressings. Can be great, no guarantee. Just like all vinyl. What pisses me off is the way that some very thin old albums sound better than their audiophile reissues. I'd cite "Ziggy Stardust" as a good example. My original "Dynaflex" copy - so thin you can almost see through it - still sounds better than my recent copy. And that's despite its having been played many, many times over with all sorts of crude equipment, and in smokey boozy parties. For all the modern tech, I wonder if the cutting of decent masters is becoming a lost art.

[magiccarpetride]

Agree about Audiophile pressings. Can be great, no guarantee. Just like all vinyl. What pisses me off is the way that some very thin old albums sound better than their audiophile reissues. I'd cite "Ziggy Stardust" as a good example. My original "Dynaflex" copy - so thin you can almost see through it - still sounds better than my recent copy. And that's despite its having been played many, many times over with all sorts of crude equipment, and in smokey boozy parties. For all the modern tech, I wonder if the cutting of decent masters is becoming a lost art.

Yeah, it is observations like this one that make me a bit reserved toward purchasing new pressings. I too have a number of old worn out LPs that play brilliantly compared to the recent reissues. It sucks, because now I'm forced to do a lot of crate digging in search of LPs I want to listen to, instead of simply ordering new, shrink wrapped items. Can't justify that, what with current prices of new LPs going through the roof!

[Wakefield Turntables]

It means F*** all. Review each piece of vinyl on its own merits.

[magiccarpetride]

It means F*** all. Review each piece of vinyl on its own merits.

Life is too short for that kind of bullshit.

[Sherwood]

It's just marketing bollocks... same as when they call a vacuum cleaner "digital"!

I have just bought some gloves and I am glad I went with the digital option!

[alphaGT]

It means to own it you have to grow a beard and smoke a pipe

Reminds me of the episode of SpongeBob, where they decide to be an adult, you must wear sideburns, say words like "Tax Exemption", and listen to free form jazz.

I've got an "Audiophile" copy of Judas Priest Screaming For Vengeance, it is far and away better than the original cut, to which I have both. But while the word Audiophile is bandied about as costing more, the engineering is completely up to the engineer who engineered it! His call, if he likes dark and sanded off, then that's what you'll get! One might think something worth that kind of investment might actually be critiqued by a staff of golden eared individuals? What a novel concept? As it turns out, the ones putting up the money want their ears to be the golden ears, so you can always tell who has the golden ears, it's the guy with the most money!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Macca]

Reminds me of the episode of SpongeBob, where they decide to be an adult, you must wear sideburns, say words like "Tax Exemption", and listen to free form jazz.

LOL I like the episode where they want to find out what seaweed is made of so they put some through an analyser and it comes out as '50% Sea, 50% Weed.'

[alphaGT]

LOL I like the episode where they want to find out what seaweed is made of so they put some through an analyser and it comes out as '50% Sea, 50% Weed.'

I don't know who writes this stuff, but I'll have what they're having!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[cre009]

An observation that the cartridge/arm VTA setup is only an approximation that will vary for different record thicknesses. I doubt that many people will adjust their arm height setup for each record. It is a possibility that subtle variations in VTA could well account for a thicker record sounding a bit dull relative to a thin record. My suggestion would be to try a thinner mat to see if that helps.

[struth]

IMV VTA is not that important to the point that record thickness will play any part. Just my 3 penceworth.