Hello and welcome to whatishifi blog. Inspiration for this post came from the purchase of two Japanese LP pressings.
For a long time me and Panos were wondering if Japanese pressing is one condition that would guarantee high levels of listening pleasure from an LP. Up to know I didn't have any experience, the only Japanese LP I had listened was an old mono recording that Panos had, but of course this is not a good example.
Soon the opportunity for a comparison test knocked on the door. There was an old LP from the 70's that Panos had (Satch and Josh, Oscar Peterson and Count Basie, 2310722, Pablo, Made in Germany) and one day I was listening to. I really liked it and wanted to get a copy, but it was no longer produced. Panos also wanted to buy it again, since his copy was actually his father's and it has been played a lot, so you could hear some clicks and noise coming from years of usage. On the other hand, the digital (16/44.1 flac) version of this album was no good, it was one of these cases that if you liked the album, you had to get it in analogue, like Dire Straits and Michael Jackson.
Eventually the album was found and by coincident it was a Japanese pressing (MW 2138, Pablo). It was purchased as used, together with Intercontinental, Joe Pass (ULX-25-P, MPS / BASF) and as it turned out, both LPs were at a really mint condition.
Of course, the first thing we were curious to do was to compare the Japanese Vs. the German pressing of Satch and Josh. And so the testing begin, we repeated the test in both our systems in order to be sure that our conclusions would not be based on something like a matching or a preference of a system to a particular recording. For first time readers, one system has a Technics MK2 turntable with a Stanton 681EEE / Jico Shibata cartridge and the other system has a Dual 505-4 Audiophile edition turntable with an Ortofon Super OM 30 (Nude Fine Line) cartridge.
Let me just say that our German copy, even though it had been played for several times, can still sound marvelous due to the fact that the stylus we are using now go deeper in the grooves of the LP in comparison to the stylus that this LP was played back up to now. So our stylus is reading from an area that is not worn out, sound quality is high but there are the problems I mentioned with some clicks and pops due to microscratches and dirt that can not be cleaned even after a liquid wash.
We started our listening with the Japanese pressing. The recording was very good indeed and satisfying. Surface and recording noise was impressively low. Listening to it, there seemed nothing more to be desired. It was until we listened to the German copy that we understood that there was something that we were missing at the Japanese pressing. The sound coming from the German one was more holographic, the piano was more natural and the low end had more energy. Overall, listening to the German LP was more involving. Japanese pressing was a very good recording, however the German one was more like an entry level reference. We soon noticed that the Japanese recording was a little lower in volume so we adjusted our listening levels accordingly; this helped especially in the low end energy, the gap was smaller but it still existed.
Moving on to the Intercontinental LP immediately we understood that this is nothing less than an absolute reference recording, capable of communicating the emotions of the music directly to us. If you like the music of Joe Pass, this LP is highly recommended.
Our conclusion is that Japanese pressing can sound amazing, but it is not necessarily always the best. It is not something you need to become obsessed with. It is sure impressive, the cover is made of high quality paper, the sleeve is printed at a high quality machine and the OBI strip is exercising a mystique attraction to you. But if all you care about is sound quality, Japanese pressing by itself is not a guarantee of superior sound. The issue of pressings is awkward, we have even witnessed a Greek Pink Floyd pressing sounding much better than a German one. It depends from the LP album and the appetite of the production engineer. Good pressings are not an exclusive privilege of one single country. The same stands for bad pressings.
As always, happy listening sessions!
Chris
For a long time me and Panos were wondering if Japanese pressing is one condition that would guarantee high levels of listening pleasure from an LP. Up to know I didn't have any experience, the only Japanese LP I had listened was an old mono recording that Panos had, but of course this is not a good example.
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| Do OBI strips sound better? |
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| Do Japan pressings sound better? |
Of course, the first thing we were curious to do was to compare the Japanese Vs. the German pressing of Satch and Josh. And so the testing begin, we repeated the test in both our systems in order to be sure that our conclusions would not be based on something like a matching or a preference of a system to a particular recording. For first time readers, one system has a Technics MK2 turntable with a Stanton 681EEE / Jico Shibata cartridge and the other system has a Dual 505-4 Audiophile edition turntable with an Ortofon Super OM 30 (Nude Fine Line) cartridge.
Let me just say that our German copy, even though it had been played for several times, can still sound marvelous due to the fact that the stylus we are using now go deeper in the grooves of the LP in comparison to the stylus that this LP was played back up to now. So our stylus is reading from an area that is not worn out, sound quality is high but there are the problems I mentioned with some clicks and pops due to microscratches and dirt that can not be cleaned even after a liquid wash.
 |
| Different stylus types come in contact with different areas in a LP groove. If a LP is worn out from a spherical stylus, an elliptical stylus can extract new juice from the very same record. |
Moving on to the Intercontinental LP immediately we understood that this is nothing less than an absolute reference recording, capable of communicating the emotions of the music directly to us. If you like the music of Joe Pass, this LP is highly recommended.
Our conclusion is that Japanese pressing can sound amazing, but it is not necessarily always the best. It is not something you need to become obsessed with. It is sure impressive, the cover is made of high quality paper, the sleeve is printed at a high quality machine and the OBI strip is exercising a mystique attraction to you. But if all you care about is sound quality, Japanese pressing by itself is not a guarantee of superior sound. The issue of pressings is awkward, we have even witnessed a Greek Pink Floyd pressing sounding much better than a German one. It depends from the LP album and the appetite of the production engineer. Good pressings are not an exclusive privilege of one single country. The same stands for bad pressings.
As always, happy listening sessions!
Chris
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