3 ms·

What am I missing? A pressing for this album can be had in Discogs for $3 in VG/VG condition?

jacquesm 4y ago
I don't think you're missing anything except for maybe that (1) I'm in the Netherlands, (2) a million of these were pressed, many of them low quality (this is fairly common with high volume records, essentially there was a strong incentive to run the negatives past their 'best before' date to meet production quota spending as little money as possible because the occasional million seller was a real money maker for the record companies), (3) that what lists VG/VG may not be the same thing once you get your hands on it and that sending records of unknown audio quality or issue internationally is always a bit of a gamble. So I was very happy to find a very good quality early pressing for pennies. The state of the sleeve left me doubtful about the state of the record but it is as good as it gets. Interesting tidbit I had held on to a record player for years to be able to digitize LPs, finally got rid of it (and the nice audio card that I used because it was no longer compatible with recent motherboards) and sure enough, within a year I find a whole slew or extremely rare Dinu Lipatti LPs and EPs (which have since gone to a pianist who also frequents HN because I think his is by far the better home for these) and that Wendy Carlos record as well as some other really nice ones. So I doubt I will ever play it, but still I'm super happy to have found it.
- Freak_NL 4y ago
  Looking at the Discogs offering now, I must say that I do see a surprising number of sellers in the Netherlands for this specific record, a number even offering near-mint condition. I did expect the usual problem of "$X plus $35 shipping and lots of annoyances with customs", but it seems to be much better than I expected.
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    Let's see what shows up :) Pressings can be wildly different. Also: beware of reissues, it was reissued several times.
    - mrWiz 4y ago
      What's the concern with reissued copies? More wear on the negative?
      - jacquesm 4y ago
        Possibly remastered (so different sound), possibly much later negatives made from the positive (positives wear too, a positive master for a million seller is a very precious thing (see below)). Far less valuable. Usually much thinner than the earlier ones so more prone to warping if not stored very nicely. And if you're very unlucky it was made through an intermediary set of positive/negative.

I don't think you're missing anything except for maybe that (1) I'm in the Netherlands, (2) a million of these were pressed, many of them low quality (this is fairly common with high volume records, essentially there was a strong incentive to run the negatives past their 'best before' date to meet production quota spending as little money as possible because the occasional million seller was a real money maker for the record companies), (3) that what lists VG/VG may not be the same thing once you get your hands on it and that sending records of unknown audio quality or issue internationally is always a bit of a gamble. So I was very happy to find a very good quality early pressing for pennies. The state of the sleeve left me doubtful about the state of the record but it is as good as it gets. Interesting tidbit I had held on to a record player for years to be able to digitize LPs, finally got rid of it (and the nice audio card that I used because it was no longer compatible with recent motherboards) and sure enough, within a year I find a whole slew or extremely rare Dinu Lipatti LPs and EPs (which have since gone to a pianist who also frequents HN because I think his is by far the better home for these) and that Wendy Carlos record as well as some other really nice ones. So I doubt I will ever play it, but still I'm super happy to have found it.

Freak_NL 4y ago
Looking at the Discogs offering now, I must say that I do see a surprising number of sellers in the Netherlands for this specific record, a number even offering near-mint condition. I did expect the usual problem of "$X plus $35 shipping and lots of annoyances with customs", but it seems to be much better than I expected.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  Let's see what shows up :) Pressings can be wildly different. Also: beware of reissues, it was reissued several times.
  - mrWiz 4y ago
    What's the concern with reissued copies? More wear on the negative?
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      Possibly remastered (so different sound), possibly much later negatives made from the positive (positives wear too, a positive master for a million seller is a very precious thing (see below)). Far less valuable. Usually much thinner than the earlier ones so more prone to warping if not stored very nicely. And if you're very unlucky it was made through an intermediary set of positive/negative.