What's the Latest MATRIX LP/CD Added to Your Pile? SQ, QS, RM, EV

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Staples Singers' Be What You Are is a rare Quad, but a great one.

FlatClinchMainXL.jpg
 
I'm on my third pressing so far, a VG+, an EX and a NM and they all sound weak and brittle to my ears. Let me know if you get a better one!

Oh crikey..! :yikes (steeling myself for a terrible sounding record now!) ..it's just come out of its shrinkwrap, so it might be alright.. could it be fourth time lucky..! I'll keep you abreast! :p
 
Oh crikey..! :yikes (steeling myself for a terrible sounding record now!) ..it's just come out of its shrinkwrap, so it might be alright.. could it be fourth time lucky..! I'll keep you abreast! :p

Well its not all grim but some of it is my fault and some of it is just unfortunate..

..the first boob I made was omitting to adjust the input level on Audacity from its default of 50%, so intiallly the transfer sounded very whimpy..

..also (mildly disappointingly) for what was sold to me as a "brand new" albeit 40-year old LP (it could have been re-shrinkwrapped having been used already..?) the beginning of the title track that opens side 1 is very snap crackle and poppy.. even after cleaning (I've taken to washing any LP I buy that initally sounds crackly etc in lukewarm water with mild detergent and a soft sponge, then rinsed throughly and left to dry.. the results so far have been amazing!) even so its still a rice krispies fest..

so I boosted the overall volume using the amplify tool, which helped.. then I (sacriligiously!) volume boosted the absolute quietest parts of the title track, they were just TOO dynamic in places (something I wouldn't ordinarily do but in this one instance it worked a treat).. now I'm onto manually decrackling track 1 (which is taking foreverrrrr) but none of the other tracks seem to need it.. so maybe it really is/was a new copy as described (and for 9 quid and a nice trip to the seaside.. I bought it in a record shop while I was down at Pride in Brighton on Saturday) I can't complain, though so far it is one of if not the most underwhelming of the SQ LPs I've been recording in lately from a sound quality point of view.. hmm.. I'll probabably give it a light sprinkling of EQ fairy dust at some point too.. meantime lots going on, new business venture, moving to a new place, my mid life crisis SQ folly (especially a disc like this that clearly needs some help!) may have to go on hold for a bit..!! :D
 
Musically, it's one of her best, IMHO. And I have them all! My favorite track is a Steely Dan song, even though this album came out a year before Can't Buy a Thrill. :yikes The track is I Mean To Shine. When I bought BJS, I had never heard of Becker or Fagen. But, I took notice of their great songwriting chops, I Mean to Shine never made it to an SD album. That's a shame. Yet, as good of performers as Becker & Fagen are, la Streisand's version would be pretty damn hard to top. And DF plays organ.
Enjoy!

Barbara Joan Streisand - Barbara Streisand (SQ LP).[/ATTACH]
 
Well its not all grim but some of it is my fault and some of it is just unfortunate..

..the first boob I made was omitting to adjust the input level on Audacity from its default of 50%, so intiallly the transfer sounded very whimpy..

..also (mildly disappointingly) for what was sold to me as a "brand new" albeit 40-year old LP (it could have been re-shrinkwrapped having been used already..?) the beginning of the title track that opens side 1 is very snap crackle and poppy.. even after cleaning (I've taken to washing any LP I buy that initally sounds crackly etc in lukewarm water with mild detergent and a soft sponge, then rinsed throughly and left to dry.. the results so far have been amazing!) even so its still a rice krispies fest..

so I boosted the overall volume using the amplify tool, which helped.. then I (sacriligiously!) volume boosted the absolute quietest parts of the title track, they were just TOO dynamic in places (something I wouldn't ordinarily do but in this one instance it worked a treat).. now I'm onto manually decrackling track 1 (which is taking foreverrrrr) but none of the other tracks seem to need it.. so maybe it really is/was a new copy as described (and for 9 quid and a nice trip to the seaside.. I bought it in a record shop while I was down at Pride in Brighton on Saturday) I can't complain, though so far it is one of if not the most underwhelming of the SQ LPs I've been recording in lately from a sound quality point of view.. hmm.. I'll probabably give it a light sprinkling of EQ fairy dust at some point too.. meantime lots going on, new business venture, moving to a new place, my mid life crisis SQ folly (especially a disc like this that clearly needs some help!) may have to go on hold for a bit..!! :D

Adam..."moving to a new place"...new digs?...maybe more space for all your music...just curious:lookaround
 
Musically, it's one of her best, IMHO. And I have them all! My favorite track is a Steely Dan song, even though this album came out a year before Can't Buy a Thrill. :yikes The track is I Mean To Shine. When I bought BJS, I had never heard of Becker or Fagen. But, I took notice of their great songwriting chops, I Mean to Shine never made it to an SD album. That's a shame. Yet, as good of performers as Becker & Fagen are, la Streisand's version would be pretty damn hard to top. And DF plays piano.
Enjoy!

Thanks for the great info, Linda, amazing as always! (y)

Which would you say is the best of Barbara's Quads from a discrete mix point of view?
 
Adam..."moving to a new place"...new digs?...maybe more space for all your music...just curious:lookaround

Yes! Almost twice the size of my current place but as I'm in a London matchbox its hardly going from plebian to palatial.. there may be a bit more space for all my shhh.. err, stuff.. but it's all happened very suddenly so not much is too clear at the moment other than we're on the move very soon!
 
All the Columbia Quads are about the same, mixwise, EXCEPT Live Concert at the Forum, which is kind of non-Quad. Of the Quads, musically, I like BJS & Stoney End the Best, followed by Lazy Afternoon and The Way We Were.

Sadly, my fave album of hers was the first after the Quad era that was 2ch only: A Star is Born. With Paul Williams, Tom Scott and the Chicago horn section, that album is pretty hard to beat, IMHO.


Thanks for the great info, Linda, amazing as always! (y)

Which would you say is the best of Barbara's Quads from a discrete mix point of view?
 
All the Columbia Quads are about the same, mixwise, EXCEPT Live Concert at the Forum, which is kind of non-Quad. Of the Quads, musically, I like BJS & Stoney End the Best, followed by Lazy Afternoon and The Way We Were.

Sadly, my fave album of hers was the first after the Quad era that was 2ch only: A Star is Born. With Paul Williams, Tom Scott and the Chicago horn section, that album is pretty hard to beat, IMHO.

Good to know, thanks again! :)
I have Stoney End and The Way We Were SQ on their way in the mail, Lazy Afternoon SQ is on the shopping list (with a gazilllion things as ususal). I've seen a number of Columbia label Live Quads for artists such as Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis etc.. are their Quad mixes similarly lacking like Barbara's Live Quad?

Edit: A great shame "A Star Is Born" missed out on the Quad treatment.. Streisand and Kristofferson had quite a few Quads between them (is it as many as 9?) but Quad all but pegged out by the time they'd come together, so to speak.. I have it on LP and CD and it is a lovely album.. Evergreen always has me welling up, beautiful song and magical performance and arrangement.
 
Johhny isn't. I love Andy and have quite a bit of his stuff on old LP's and CD's. It's his 50's & 60's stuff that I love. In fact, the first 45 I ever bought was the House of Bamboo by Andy. Not many 4 year olds were buying 45's that weren't children's records. Most other folks bought that 45 because of Hawaiian Wedding Song. Likely, I'll buy his Quads one of these days.

Oh, and it wasn't my first single. That was when I was 3, a 78 of a sea shanty by a folk group that the (then unknown) Allan Arkin was in.

Oh..! :yikes Not your cuppa tea?
 
Well its not all grim but some of it is my fault and some of it is just unfortunate..

..the first boob I made was omitting to adjust the input level on Audacity from its default of 50%, so intiallly the transfer sounded very whimpy..

..also (mildly disappointingly) for what was sold to me as a "brand new" albeit 40-year old LP (it could have been re-shrinkwrapped having been used already..?) the beginning of the title track that opens side 1 is very snap crackle and poppy.. even after cleaning (I've taken to washing any LP I buy that initally sounds crackly etc in lukewarm water with mild detergent and a soft sponge, then rinsed throughly and left to dry.. the results so far have been amazing!) even so its still a rice krispies fest..

so I boosted the overall volume using the amplify tool, which helped.. then I (sacriligiously!) volume boosted the absolute quietest parts of the title track, they were just TOO dynamic in places (something I wouldn't ordinarily do but in this one instance it worked a treat).. now I'm onto manually decrackling track 1 (which is taking foreverrrrr) but none of the other tracks seem to need it.. so maybe it really is/was a new copy as described (and for 9 quid and a nice trip to the seaside.. I bought it in a record shop while I was down at Pride in Brighton on Saturday) I can't complain, though so far it is one of if not the most underwhelming of the SQ LPs I've been recording in lately from a sound quality point of view.. hmm.. I'll probabably give it a light sprinkling of EQ fairy dust at some point too.. meantime lots going on, new business venture, moving to a new place, my mid life crisis SQ folly (especially a disc like this that clearly needs some help!) may have to go on hold for a bit..!! :D

Thanks for the insight! I am not going to pursue another copy given the detail you've provided - thanks for saving me from that :smokin

Good luck with everything else btw, my move out here following a severe life laundry was pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me. I wish you all the best!
 
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