Japanese pressings of vinyl

madmax

I know there are a bunch of vinyl newbies here who may not have heard about these so I thought I would post about it.

Japanese pressings are supposed to be of the highest audiophile quality. You know it is this type of pressing because they put a little sleeve around the outside cover which is called an OBI. See the picture of a Pink Floyd example.

I only have two of these. One is Fleetwood Mac Mirage which I bought in mint condition for $45 and the other is a very talented Chinese singer who is performing with an orchastra (sp). I only paid 75 cents for it at a goodwill over the weekend. It is actually quite interesting and had never been played before.

In my vast experience (two LP's ) there is a definite difference between these and the rest of my collection. They sound more lifelike than my other audiophile class recordings. The backround noise is minimal except for tape hiss and they are very clean sounding, most likely because the treble is exceptional. I notice with MFSL recordings normally the bass and treble are somewhat boosted which I dislike and many of the other high quality pressings have a bit more surface noise or distortions of some sort. I need to find some more of these Japanese pressings before making blanket statements but if the two I have are any indication then I'm thinking they will be worth the extra $$.

madmax

I think I am going to start collecting these.

audiobliss

So, what does a Fleetwood Mac album sound like in Japanese?

madmax

audiobliss wrote:

So, what does a Fleetwood Mac album sound like in Japanese?

You know, I found it odd that on the lp with the chinese girl singing, she talked to the audience in chinese (it is a live performance) but sang all the songs but one in english. Weird. I kept thinking if I were at a live show in china and I spoke chinese I would be a little annoyed if the artist sang in english. Especially after talking in chinese.
madmax

organ

That's cool. At first, I thought you got a Japanese version with extra songs. Maybe the trend will catch on to North America.
Kinda off topic here, but why do Japanese releases always get extra songs? I once paid $60 for a Japanese version of a cd for just 1 extra track.

fredv

madmax wrote:

You know, I found it odd that on the lp with the chinese girl singing, she talked to the audience in chinese (it is a live performance) but sang all the songs but one in english. Weird. I kept thinking if I were at a live show in china and I spoke chinese I would be a little annoyed if the artist sang in english. Especially after talking in chinese.
madmax

Can you post a pic of the album cover? I wonder she is one of those that I know ...

Danny Tse

fredv wrote:

Can you post a pic of the album cover? I wonder she is one of those that I know ...

Let's see....Japanese vinyl of a Chinese female vocalist....live album....I am betting it's an album by Teresa Teng.

Danny Tse

madmax wrote:

You know, I found it odd that on the lp with the chinese girl singing, she talked to the audience in chinese (it is a live performance) but sang all the songs but one in english. Weird. I kept thinking if I were at a live show in china and I spoke chinese I would be a little annoyed if the artist sang in english. Especially after talking in chinese.
madmax

There are plenty of Chinese singers and singers/songwriters, particularly those from Hong Kong and grew up during the 60s/70s, who sing/write music in English. The demographics of Hong Kong (now part of China) from that era should be plenty familiar with music of Beatles, Rolling Stones, Eagles, Elton John, etc. To go into why and how would require a long post though.

fredv

Danny Tse wrote:

Let's see....Japanese vinyl of a Chinese female vocalist....live album....I am betting it's an album by Teresa Teng.

She is my favorite female singer of my era. Her voice is just plain sweet. I bought a couple of re-master CD's of hers while I was in Japan in June, very high quality, a lot better than those manufacturered in Hong Kong.

Danny Tse

fredv wrote:

She is my favorite female singer of my era. Her voice is just plain sweet. I bought a couple of re-master CD's of hers while I was in Japan in June, very high quality, a lot better than those manufacturered in Hong Kong.

Some of the earliest CD ever released by Hong Kong Polygram, her record company, was made in West Germany (circa 1984/85). However, according to rumors, the master tapes stored at HK Polygram vault (now HK Universal Music) were destroyed in a big fire several years back. What her Japanese label, Taurus Records, has as source tapes could possibly be even higher in quality than what's available in Hong Kong.

Without a doubt, the biggest selling Chinese vocalist ever. Time magazine quoted her sales at the time of her passing at over 100 million records....not counting counterfeits. Ironically, she has never set foot onto mainland China and vowed never to do so until the Communists leave.

BTW, Mark Levinson (yes, that Mark Levinson) just remastered some of her songs for a new German-pressing audiophile LP for a mainland Chinese label. Yes, I know, I know....but I got an e-mail confirmation from Mr Levinson himself confirming his involvement when I contacted him via his Red Rose Music "Contact Us" link.

TroyD

The Japanese pressings are desireable but, I've found German pressing to be the shiznit. Many were Teledec pressings, MUCHO good stuff.

BDT

Danny Tse

Generally, Japanese pressings have very nice packaging.

cmy330go

Here is a good site for import vinyl and other hard to find copies.

EIL.COM

cmy330go

Just stumbled across THIS on the EIL site. Wouldn't mind having this someday. Definitely the ULTIMATE collection for Beatles fans!!!

fredv

Danny Tse wrote:

BTW, Mark Levinson (yes, that Mark Levinson) just remastered some of her songs for a new German-pressing audiophile LP for a mainland Chinese label. Yes, I know, I know....but I got an e-mail confirmation from Mr Levinson himself confirming his involvement when I contacted him via his Red Rose Music "Contact Us" link.

Please let me know if you have any more info of this LP. I will love to get one!!

Danny Tse

fredv wrote:

Please let me know if you have any more info of this LP. I will love to get one!!

Released by ABC Records of China and pressed in Gernmany on 180g vinyl, with production by Mark Levinson.....




You can get the Teresa Teng LP from Malmusic.com of Canada for US$45.00. Don't know how it sounds though. All this talk of vinyl makes me want to pull out my original "Teresa Teng 15th Annivesary" double LP....

sucks2beme

I used to go down to a little shop down from the base in Okinawa.
I bought albums by Led Zeppilin, Blue Oster Cult, Deep Purple, etc.
Typical stuff for the era. Very heavy pressing(thicker). They always had
a banner wrap in Japanese, English and Japanese lyric sheets to all the songs,
and the store owner would hand out all sorts of extras, like posters of the band. All stuff I still wish I had!

cmy330go

sucks2beme wrote:

I used to go down to a little shop down from the base in Okinawa.
I bought albums by Led Zeppilin, Blue Oster Cult, Deep Purple, etc.
Typical stuff for the era. Very heavy pressing(thicker). They always had
a banner wrap in Japanese, English and Japanese lyric sheets to all the songs,
and the store owner would hand out all sorts of extras, like posters of the band. All stuff I still wish I had!

More Cowbell!!!!:D

Wardsweb

The "OBI" contains information about the album in Japanese for that market. In general it does not improve the album any. What you do get from Japanese pressings are a meticulious attention to detail both in the pressing and packaging. Overall I find Japanese pressing superiour to their US counterparts.

Even better, as Danny Tse shows, are direct metal masters. These albums are awesome. My latest is "B&W BOWERS & WILKINS - VERY AUDIOPHILE NEW RECORDINGS" on 180g vinyl.

Danny Tse

Wardsweb wrote:

My latest is "B&W BOWERS & WILKINS - VERY AUDIOPHILE NEW RECORDINGS" on 180g viny.

Didn't know this was released on 180g vinyl. I have it on SACD though....



Seeing that Eagles album makes me want to dig out some of my vinyl LPs. Need phono pre-amp....

Wardsweb

You can see my vinyl copy on top of the DIY horns I'm building.