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Thread started 10/09/10 5:44pm

unheard

The Black Album on vinyl

Any collectors out there that happen to have various pressings of the Black Album on vinyl? Any version of the US 94 version, the Noir 69 bootleg or an original 87? I'm wondering about the quality of those pressings and their frequency reproduction as you would see in audio spectrals. Is the Noir 69 pressing a high quality pressings or just an average bootleg? If examined above the frequency range of 44.1khz, are there other signals or does it look like the vinyl was mastered from a digital source that cuts off at 44.1? Any information regarding this would be truly appreciated. If you'd like to discuss it in further detail you can always drop me a line about it.

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Reply #1 posted 10/09/10 11:51pm

jtfolden

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I have several of the Noir 69 vinyl releases but have never examined them in detail. I haven't listened to one for years but remember being quite struck by the fact that it was an exceptionally clean sounding edition that, ultimately, didn't sound much different than the final release.

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Reply #2 posted 10/10/10 12:17am

squirrelgrease

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I have a black vinyl copy of the Noir 69/Erotic City Records (gloss black on matte black cover art) and a Noir 69 pressed CD of the Black Album boot. The CD sounds a ton better. I think the vinyl was probably sourced from a tape and the boot CD from an original legit CD.

If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot.
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Reply #3 posted 10/10/10 12:59am

cinnamonboy

I have an original vinyl (and cd! woot! ) from 1987. The vinyl sounds very fresh and clear to me, but I know that's just my opinion. The 'problem' is really, that everybody likes to hear their music in a different way: I, for instance, like to hear the high tones clearly, so I tend to turn up the treble a bit. Other people don't like it and grab for their ears. I do also have a boot-vinyl of the 1987 BA which is clearly not as good as an original. It does sound a bit more bleak, as if there was no background noise reduction, i.e. more hiss. If you want, I'm willing te help out and make an audio-spectrum MP3 of any of the tracks which I can pick from the cd (yes, it is really an original from 1987). Or are you particularly interested in the vinyl only?

[Edited 10/10/10 1:07am]

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Reply #4 posted 10/10/10 1:25am

ufoclub

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I want to hear what a "needle drop" cd of the real record sounds like next to the official cd (87 or 94).
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Reply #5 posted 10/10/10 1:48am

MikeyB71

unheard said:

Any collectors out there that happen to have various pressings of the Black Album on vinyl? Any version of the US 94 version, the Noir 69 bootleg or an original 87? I'm wondering about the quality of those pressings and their frequency reproduction as you would see in audio spectrals. Is the Noir 69 pressing a high quality pressings or just an average bootleg? If examined above the frequency range of 44.1khz, are there other signals or does it look like the vinyl was mastered from a digital source that cuts off at 44.1? Any information regarding this would be truly appreciated. If you'd like to discuss it in further detail you can always drop me a line about it.

http://www.theblackalbum.info/

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Reply #6 posted 10/10/10 6:52am

unheard

ufoclub said:

I want to hear what a "needle drop" cd of the real record sounds like next to the official cd (87 or 94).

That would be awesome to hear!

By the way, MikeyB71, I'm familiar with that site and it's fantastic, but I don't think there is anything on it regarding the quality of the sound between various pressings. Nonetheless, thanks for sharing that link.

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Reply #7 posted 10/10/10 2:41pm

dualboot

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unheard said:

ufoclub said:

I want to hear what a "needle drop" cd of the real record sounds like next to the official cd (87 or 94).

That would be awesome to hear!

By the way, MikeyB71, I'm familiar with that site and it's fantastic, but I don't think there is anything on it regarding the quality of the sound between various pressings. Nonetheless, thanks for sharing that link.

That's correct. It is not on there.I never covered that, mainly because I didn't want to focus on the boots to much with the I-net hounds.

I remember many quality differences and it seemed that all bootlegs suffered of something. Hiss, missing ends, errors in titles. It's hard to do it right without an original around.

Still looking to for numbered grey and white ones for the list.

[Edited 10/10/10 14:43pm]

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Reply #8 posted 10/10/10 7:10pm

unheard

Hey dualboot, just out of interest, how many vinyl copies of the black album do you actually own? Have you compared an original 87 vinyl to a 94 vinyl? Any quality difference between the varying colors?

dualboot said:

unheard said:

That would be awesome to hear!

By the way, MikeyB71, I'm familiar with that site and it's fantastic, but I don't think there is anything on it regarding the quality of the sound between various pressings. Nonetheless, thanks for sharing that link.

That's correct. It is not on there.I never covered that, mainly because I didn't want to focus on the boots to much with the I-net hounds.

I remember many quality differences and it seemed that all bootlegs suffered of something. Hiss, missing ends, errors in titles. It's hard to do it right without an original around.

Still looking to for numbered grey and white ones for the list.

[Edited 10/10/10 14:43pm]

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Reply #9 posted 10/10/10 8:12pm

ufoclub

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unheard said:

Hey dualboot, just out of interest, how many vinyl copies of the black album do you actually own? Have you compared an original 87 vinyl to a 94 vinyl? Any quality difference between the varying colors?




dualboot said:




unheard said:




That would be awesome to hear!




By the way, MikeyB71, I'm familiar with that site and it's fantastic, but I don't think there is anything on it regarding the quality of the sound between various pressings. Nonetheless, thanks for sharing that link.




That's correct. It is not on there.I never covered that, mainly because I didn't want to focus on the boots to much with the I-net hounds.


I remember many quality differences and it seemed that all bootlegs suffered of something. Hiss, missing ends, errors in titles. It's hard to do it right without an original around.




Still looking to for numbered grey and white ones for the list.


[Edited 10/10/10 14:43pm]





From what I know the 94 issues should be exactly the same as the 87 issues since they did not remaster and used the same master acetate and digital file.
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Reply #10 posted 10/17/10 3:02am

dualboot

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unheard said:

Hey dualboot, just out of interest, how many vinyl copies of the black album do you actually own? Have you compared an original 87 vinyl to a 94 vinyl? Any quality difference between the varying colors?

dualboot said:

That's correct. It is not on there.I never covered that, mainly because I didn't want to focus on the boots to much with the I-net hounds.

I remember many quality differences and it seemed that all bootlegs suffered of something. Hiss, missing ends, errors in titles. It's hard to do it right without an original around.

Still looking to for numbered grey and white ones for the list.

[Edited 10/10/10 14:43pm]

I have had several copies of all the 94 versions.

I missed out on the 87 original by one phonecall in 1988 so I cannot compare the 87 to the 94.

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Reply #11 posted 10/20/10 6:56am

unheard

Just wanted to share a quick update, I got a copy of the 94 German vinyl version the other day in great shape. It sounds a little better than the CD but not by much. I get the impression that the master was supposed to be flat, like the Camille tracks. Still though, very nice to have. Anyone else's impressions about the various official vinyl versions of the Black Album?

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