Just bought a Vitalogy LP (Single Vinyl)

Bu$chlager

I purchased it because I just find it annoying to listen to the re-issue vinyl as the album is spread on two records.

Can anyone tell me why they did this? I can only assume because it somehow improves the quality, but then why did they not do the same treatment for Ten/Vs.? I have those vinyl reissues also and they are one disc, which is a much more enjoyable listen than spreading them onto 4 sides apiece.

Looking forward to my single LP Vitalogy coming, but why did they do this?

- Dan

JimmyV

I don't blame you. I have the two LP version myself and it is annoying.

Bu$chlager

It seems to be a trend among all artists. I just don't understand who this is geared toward? I have a Springsteen album that they did the same thing to, and as a result I rarely play it. Now I won't purchase these anymore. Found Uke songs and Yield bootleg vinyls in a record store and bought them instantly. Saw the double-LP Avocado and passed.

- Dan

PJ_Soul

I totally agree. I got the reissue to preserve the original, played it once, and went right back to the original. No reason to change it to two when it sounds great on one. If anything, I wish they'd reissue the 2LP albums as 1LP albums.

Dr Emmett Brown

What about Sevens - a very annoying way to listen to Lightning Bolt...

cp3iverson

Dr Emmett Brown said:

What about Sevens - a very annoying way to listen to Lightning Bolt...

But it actually sounds GOOD on vinyl. Cant say that about a lot of their studio releases

GustieIII

I guess it's for the same reason I enjoy the way an LP is broken into an A and B side, compared to a CD or iTunes album.
It gives the album a sense of depth. Like how a play has many acts, an 2LP can have many moods and four sides helps to enable that.
Clearly some thought was put into the idea of breaking it up by the artist, and really that's good enough by me.

lolobugg

I

GustieIII said:

I guess it's for the same reason I enjoy the way an LP is broken into an A and B side, compared to a CD or iTunes album.
It gives the album a sense of depth. Like how a play has many acts, an 2LP can have many moods and four sides helps to enable that.
Clearly some thought was put into the idea of breaking it up by the artist, and really that's good enough by me.

def,
playing vinyl is a ritual
and they break it up because larger grooves = better freq response or so they say.
I don't own the reissue so I can't confirm any differences.

HesCalledDyer

PJ_Soul said:

I totally agree. I got the reissue to preserve the original, played it once, and went right back to the original. No reason to change it to two when it sounds great on one. If anything, I wish they'd reissue the 2LP albums as 1LP albums.

We've both commented on this before and it never hurts to reiterate it. I HATE unnecessary double LPs. They are simply a cash cow for the labels, manufacturers, and/or independent artists. Wanna charge the consumer $35 for a 40 minute album? Press it on 2 LPs. It's fucking ridiculous. Not only for the money aspect, but when I put a record on the table, I want to sit and enjoy for a while - not have to get up to change it every 10 god damn minutes.
I have no problem with a double LP if the run time on the album warrants it, but 99% of shit that's pressed today is roughly 45 minutes...it's completely unnecessary.

PJ_Soul

HesCalledDyer said:

PJ_Soul said:

I totally agree. I got the reissue to preserve the original, played it once, and went right back to the original. No reason to change it to two when it sounds great on one. If anything, I wish they'd reissue the 2LP albums as 1LP albums.

We've both commented on this before and it never hurts to reiterate it. I HATE unnecessary double LPs. They are simply a cash cow for the labels, manufacturers, and/or independent artists. Wanna charge the consumer $35 for a 40 minute album? Press it on 2 LPs. It's fucking ridiculous. Not only for the money aspect, but when I put a record on the table, I want to sit and enjoy for a while - not have to get up to change it every 10 god damn minutes.
I have no problem with a double LP if the run time on the album warrants it, but 99% of shit that's pressed today is roughly 45 minutes...it's completely unnecessary.

=D>

lolobugg

John Lennon always claimed that The Beatles intentionally kept their LP running time under 40 minutes because trying to squeeze anything more onto the disc would degrade the sound quality.

PJ_Soul

lolobugg said:

John Lennon always claimed that The Beatles intentionally kept their LP running time under 40 minutes because trying to squeeze anything more onto the disc would degrade the sound quality.

I basically consider this a vinyl myth and one that vinyl manufactures/sellers like to propagate because they can sell double LP albums for way more than the production cost of a second LP justifies. I don't believe that human ears can decipher the difference unless you're using a $20,000+ turntable to play it. I mean, yes, at some point an album is too long for 1 LP. But not at 41+ minutes. Also, the 3 sides option is great for longer but non-double albums. Just do an etching on the 4th side or leave it blank. NO need to spread it out across 4 sides even for longer albums unless you're talking double albums.

lolobugg

PJ_Soul said:

lolobugg said:

John Lennon always claimed that The Beatles intentionally kept their LP running time under 40 minutes because trying to squeeze anything more onto the disc would degrade the sound quality.

I basically consider this a vinyl myth and one that vinyl manufactures/sellers like to propagate because they can sell double LP albums for way more than the production cost of a second LP justifies. I don't believe that human ears can decipher the difference unless you're using a $20,000+ turntable to play it. I mean, yes, at some point an album is too long for 1 LP. But not at 41+ minutes. Also, the 3 sides option is great for longer but non-double albums. Just do an etching on the 4th side or leave it blank. NO need to spread it out across 4 sides even for longer albums unless you're talking double albums.

I consider myself pretty much a poor man's audiophile and yeah I can't say I can really hear the difference. Neil Young's Decade crams a ton of songs on each side and it sound fine. Now 180 vs. 150 gram vinyl... yes I can tell the difference.

but who am I to doubt John Lennon.

aurynsdad

I am not a great audiophile by any stretch and my hearing is far from perfect, but I can almost always tell the difference in sound on the innermost grooves vs. the outer grooves. Distortion seems to always be there when the innermost grooves are used. By spreading the album out onto more vinyl, they eliminate that problem. I can appreciate that. That said, it could have a lot to do with the tone arm and the stylus. I have a stylus that tracks very well and deep, but it is not perfectly compatible with my tone arm, so that may be a reason why this problem could be worse for me.

PJ_Soul

aurynsdad said:

I am not a great audiophile by any stretch and my hearing is far from perfect, but I can almost always tell the difference in sound on the innermost grooves vs. the outer grooves. Distortion seems to always be there when the innermost grooves are used. By spreading the album out onto more vinyl, they eliminate that problem. I can appreciate that. That said, it could have a lot to do with the tone arm and the stylus. I have a stylus that tracks very well and deep, but it is not perfectly compatible with my tone arm, so that may be a reason why this problem could be worse for me.

I think you're probably right about the tone arm thing. From what I know, it's pretty important for the stylus and cartridge to be compatible with the tone arm. Especially since I have never noticed any kind of distortion like that on any record that wasn't faulty.

lolobugg

could be a tracking problem, but recently I have got a lot of defective vinyl....
Jack White Lazzaretto
Pearl Jam Lightning Bolt
CYHSY Only Run
all defective. I think the pressing plants are rushing to catch up on orders.
quality is dropping.

aurynsdad

We need more pressing plants!! My business is shutting down and I need a career. Hmmm.

lolobugg

aurynsdad said:

We need more pressing plants!! My business is shutting down and I need a career. Hmmm.

\m/
I know. most of them shut down and now it's like oil refineries...not enough to meet demand.
I have never had three albums in row turn out defective.
Only good thing to come of it is that they sent me a red Lightning Bolt replacement. \m/

PJ_Soul

lolobugg said:

could be a tracking problem, but recently I have got a lot of defective vinyl....
Jack White Lazzaretto
Pearl Jam Lightning Bolt
CYHSY Only Run
all defective. I think the pressing plants are rushing to catch up on orders.
quality is dropping.

Just kind of randomly found this online:

"It’s no secret that the recent spike in vinyl sales has been a double-edged sword, mostly due to simple supply and demand issues. Long story short, the pressing companies simply can’t keep up with the growing number of orders they’re getting every week."

Maybe that's why there have been quality issues with a lot of new records lately.

lolobugg

PJ_Soul said:

lolobugg said:

could be a tracking problem, but recently I have got a lot of defective vinyl....
Jack White Lazzaretto
Pearl Jam Lightning Bolt
CYHSY Only Run
all defective. I think the pressing plants are rushing to catch up on orders.
quality is dropping.

Just kind of randomly found this online:

"It’s no secret that the recent spike in vinyl sales has been a double-edged sword, mostly due to simple supply and demand issues. Long story short, the pressing companies simply can’t keep up with the growing number of orders they’re getting every week."

Maybe that's why there have been quality issues with a lot of new records lately.

Yeah,
I was talking to the owner of my local store,
he said that URP in Nashville(who press all the Third Man stuff)
are like the Walmart of record pressing plants.
They do it cheap, fast and they will take anyone's order including independent pressings.
I agree that this is the downside, but I am willing to deal with it to keep my addiction going.

now about the prices of some of the major label releases.......that needs some attention.

*edit- I guess I could get the damn name right.*

HesCalledDyer

Perhaps if they pressed 40 minutes of music on 1 disc instead of 2, they could keep up with orders more efficiently.

bone

I think it is because the length of Side B on the original is very long (almost 32 minutes) as artistically they wanted Corduroy to start Side B (good choice). 32 minutes is too long for vinyl. As a result, you'll notice the sound levels on Side B are actually lower than Side A (hard to notice to the naked ear though).

That said they screwed up the order anyways and bumped Corduroy to the end of the first record, so we'll just call it bad judgement.

PJ_Soul

bone said:

I think it is because the length of Side B on the original is very long (almost 32 minutes) as artistically they wanted Corduroy to start Side B (good choice). 32 minutes is too long for vinyl. As a result, you'll notice the sound levels on Side B are actually lower than Side A (hard to notice to the naked ear though).

That said they screwed up the order anyways and bumped Corduroy to the end of the first record, so we'll just call it bad judgement.

But the reissue doesn't sound as good as the original, lol.

BrianLeonard

Spreading it out between 2 lps makes the album more “dynamic”. Highs are higher. Lows are lower.  More space for the needle to contact = more range. If you don’t have an audiophile set up(get one now!! You’re wasting money on analog vinyl without one) you may not be able to hear the difference. 

Zod

I think I read the optimal length of a record on vinyl is around 40 minutes (give or take).  Something about having to fit more grooves on a single record lowers the quality.  I agree I sort of lean towards the single record part of it.    I bought a blue ride the lightning set that is a 12" record but recorded at 33rpm for super audio quality.  It's pretty good, but damn annoying to flip every 2 songs.  I've thought about buying a regular version of that album.

Tim Simmons

BrianLeonard said:

Spreading it out between 2 lps makes the album more “dynamic”. Highs are higher. Lows are lower.  More space for the needle to contact = more range. If you don’t have an audiophile set up(get one now!! You’re wasting money on analog vinyl without one) you may not be able to hear the difference. 

this is absolutely correct, but it helps when its cut well, and who ever cut it didn't do that great of a job. The 1994 pressing sounds way better. 

Unless its been re cut since the Anniversary box set. 

Tim Simmons

But also, complaining about 2 records vs 1 is silly. Theres user labor involved with every record. Getting up to flip 3 times isn't that big of a deal. If it is, you are listening to the wrong media format. 

JimFletcherPearlJam

Speaking of listening to a different format, I saw a couple new Vitalogy CDs at FYE for $4.99 each. I think I might have to spend about $11 (with tax) for a couple spare copies. Why not, right? 

Zod

Tim Simmons said:

BrianLeonard said:

Spreading it out between 2 lps makes the album more “dynamic”. Highs are higher. Lows are lower.  More space for the needle to contact = more range. If you don’t have an audiophile set up(get one now!! You’re wasting money on analog vinyl without one) you may not be able to hear the difference. 

this is absolutely correct, but it helps when its cut well, and who ever cut it didn't do that great of a job. The 1994 pressing sounds way better. 

Unless its been re cut since the Anniversary box set. 

I think one of the issues is modern mastering of albums.   With cranking up loudness across the board.   I get a little nervous when I see "remastered" and have done for about 20 years.     I think it degrades the sound of an album so much, that everything you can do with a record to make music sound better is undone with modern mastering methods. 

Loujoe

A ways back picked up bad brains rock for light. I knew it sounded strange. It was sped up 1/4 speed. If bb really needs that. No way. it ruined it. Since scored an early pressing and pure punk speed rasta rock joy. Traded in the newer one for pennies and some other dumb records!