The Alan Parsons Project: Tales of mystery and imagination Edgar Allan Poe Sept, 2019
Mobile fidelity ½ ips master #277: flat sound, lacks bass, too much top end, shrill sound. Much inferior to the other two pressings.
Japanese pressing, Polygram 1976: 3D sound, much better, organic bottom end. Way more details, and much better sound in every aspect than MOFI.
Charisma records: the Jap edition has a mid-hf boost in comparison. Jap seems to have more extended top end, but it’s more artificial as well. Jap also has occasional haze in the top of the midrange. This has best bass. Also best tonal balance in general.
LP, Arista 1988, 209149
31 year anniversary review Released October 18, 1988 - Reviewed October 21, 2019.
Hard to believe that this record has been issued already 31 years (that is, over 3 decades!) ago. In the past, I have listened to it on occasion, but it never has been one of my favorite Vangelis records. It largely has been the exclusive niche of headphone lovers, listening to it through tape transfers. Actually, it never left a as deep impression on me such as Antarctica, Soil Festivities or Blade Runner. While those are absolutely fabulous on a good sounding setup, they can be also appreciated on a low fidelity system. However, this album absolutely requires either quality headphones or a very revealing system that has both high resolution and imaging. If you try to give it a shot with a low resolution system then headphones are an absolute necessity as you need the immersion into sonic space for this album. Systems with highly sculpted sound, or sound that tries to break free in vain from your speaker cabinets will not work. On the other hand, if you have a very transparent and holographic system then this might be the ultimate record to show how far your system can go in creating an illusory, fully immersive world.
My setup is finally at the level where I can truly appreciate this album. This album is all about the exploration of the universe of sound. It takes you to through the veil to a dimension of the universe where only sound exists. It is a radically different experience from plain music listening. You will get a full immersion, and have an overflowing appreciation for sound - not just sound as in the "sonic envelope of a particular instrument". Rather, an almost mystical experience what it is to exist in the world of sound, a universe with a different level of existence.
My cats react to very high quality recordings. When I play one of those they always come and listen. With Direct, Kintaro was not just listening in for a few minutes as he does often with music he likes, but he was in a deep trance for the entire album. He sat in front of the turntable and seemed to be praying to it. First time he did that - he usually sits in front of the left speaker when the music interests him. (He's a mono cat!) Machi is the stereo girl, she always finds the sweet spot and listens from there. This time, Kintaro also went for the sweet spot. A few times he turned towards me and I could see in his eyes that he was very, very far away lost in his thoughts, drawn into the music. For those, who think animals are plain dumb creatures, it is a great eye opener to observe them listening to music. However, you need a transparent and musical system (my definition of high fidelity), otherwise they will just ignore it as background noise. When they run away, that's the true danger sign, because that is their reaction to ear-damaging high frequencies. Very little to do with SPL, but all to do with distortion in the sound. When your stereo starts to fool your cats and dogs, that's when you know that you are on the right track. On the other hand, even though you might consider your system very much high fidelity, but your animals (and children & wives) can have quite a different perception of it. In that case, you can count on (with 99.9% probability) that they are the ones providing an accurate feedback on the systems fidelity, and the system has underlying issues that escape your attention due to hearing damage or strong personal preferences.
We have listened to two versions of Direct at this sitting. One a regular Arista, another a promo copy (both NM+). Started with the promo, and it sounded absolutely spectacular. However, the regular copy had even more top end definition, and better image focus.
At this time, I'm shining an IKEA LED light onto the cartridge, and the intense light significantly increases the level of midrange and top end energy. It also increases the level of intrinsic noise, a real fine haze with very fine grit, as if the sound is getting super-charged or electrified. The physics behind this phenomenon affecting the cartridge's output is that the bombardment of photons aid the electron flow, as it takes less energy to dislodge an electron from the metal matrix when we are increasing the electrons energy levels by bombarding the conductors with photons. The effect is not subtle, the difference is quite noticeable between switching the lights on / off. In addition, the lights shining through the rotating acrylic platter create a light-and-shadow show on the wall, producing a mesmerizing apparition, a visual hypnotic kaleidoscope to go with the sound at night.
Listening to Direct the idea occurred to me to bring back the salt. We figured this out with Stu before, that shining light on salt changed the sound of the stereo system. At first, this was a Himalayan salt lamp: when the light burned out, the sound suddenly became dull, lost some shine and top end definition. Afterwards, I started experimenting with different kinds of salts, and other crystals. Stu tried out crystal sugar, and even candied sugar. Might sound ironic, but crystallized sugar (especially the candied sugar Stu got from Chinatown) really sweetened the sound, impacted the midbase pleasantly - brought more definition and drive to it. On the salt front, I tried lots of different table salts, and they all were similar to the Himalayan salt lamp. I also tried 100% pure lab-grade NaCl, and that was a huge jump - much bigger effect than any of the other salts or sugars. This salt / sugar experience was at around 2010, when I lived in Waipio, and Stu had his Algaroba street store closed due to his illness. Afterwards, as I went through several moves, I have not used the salt trick much. However, it has been bugging me for a while to try out Epsom salt. So, that's what I did. Filled the most transparent glass jar I found with Epsom salt (unscented, pure Epsom salt from Walmart), and placed it on the turntable, right in front of the IKEA light. This way, the direct light was blocked from the cartridge. The cartridge only got the reflections that came through the salt crystals. The haze completely disappeared from the midrange and top end, but the soundstage also became flatter, it did not extend to the top of the living room, only to about 5ft high. Also, the very top end disappeared. Nevertheless, the presentation became vastly more clear and defined! Moved the salt around, and found a good compromise: the salt between the turntable and the motor. This way, the cartridge gets the direct light from the IKEA lamp, and the salt gets part of the light exposure. This way, the top end stays, yet the whole presentation is clear from that undefined white-noise-like haze. The effect was huge on this recording! Machi noticed the difference in sound, and made a very perplexed face that expressed: what did you do?!
Two small and cheap things - a lamp and a bottle of Epsom salt, and they gave that missing focus and clarity that transformed a very good experience to a transcendental experience. After the album I felt as if the entire house has taken an invisible Epsom salt spa soak! Everything felt fresh and charged with life. Certainly, this has been my most remarkable listening experience in the last 10 years. Direct with a grain of Epsom salt....
Close to the edge (Nov 4 2019)
1972; SD19133 US pressing: Track A1: Very pinpoint, every sound is highly defined, super clear. Stays clear with complexity.
Japanese pressing: B3: very clear, instruments best separated in space, superb spatial definition. Much better than previous in quiet passages, but gets combobulated when it becomes complex.
1972, sd19133 US pressing, second copy: mastered by PR. Very good sound, full and balanced. Not as clear in quiets as Jap, but stays well defined with complexity. Overall best!
Fragile (Nov 4 2019)
Sd19132 1972 US A4: quite combobulated.
Sd7211 1972 earlier US A4 : much cleaner, but not as clean as Close to the edge.
P110102A 1972 Japanese: A4: wind and effects seem much more impressive. Vocals very washed. Bass line is clear. Cyns are washed together with singing. Sounds weird to me. When there’s quiet passages it’s very good and clear, but complexity falls apart, gets mushed and washed together really badly.
Relayer (Nov 4 2019)
*SD18122 Atlantic records, 1974:
Copy 1, mastered by PR. Just as good as the Close to the Edge mastered by PR! Much better than any of the Fragile albums.
Copy 2: mastered by AT. Less top end and less dynamic than PR. Has more compression. Little more dirty as well.. vocals not as clear. Speed sounds unstable.
Copy 3: PR/PELCO : best sound. Not as hi def as PR, but best ambience, best feel to it.
*Distributed by WEA K50096 mastered by PELCO. Not as defined as PR, more grunge. Much less top end. Better than AT.
Yesterdays (Oct 20, 2019)
Atlantic records, SD18103. Two copies, both mastered by AT. sound very similar. Ok sound, but not spectacular as The Yes Album.
The Yes Album (Oct 20, 2019)
Atlantic / WEA 1972. Powerful, gutsy spectacular bass as in Drama. Vocals muddy and distorted. Did I say the bass is KICK ASS!!!!! This record ROCKS. Although, it’s a nice acoustic contrast between powerful and dynamic guitar and faint and washed vocals. The bass guitar absolutely rules. Beats any other sort of addiction.
Atlantic SR8283 1971. Much better sound! Drums are more prominent, they groove together with the bass guitar. Voices are not distorted nor veiled! Not just LF energy, but HF power as well. Much more energized. Both versions supercharge cats to chase imaginary mice and each other.
The lamb lies down on Broadway (Oct 20, 2019) ATCO SD2-401 US pressing vs Charisma VJL10-11,12 Japanese pressing. Japanese has much better image, focus, cleaner bass. Harder on the ears though. Japanese pressings are usually lighter sounding, but the bass guitar on this Jap pressing is way more gutsy. Japanese pressing seems to have more musicality as well.