how're all you listening to these? filling a room with sound or headphones?

peedub said:

how're all you listening to these? filling a room with sound or headphones?

I've done both, headphones and on the 'proper' stereo in my living room...

all three sound fantastic, and so much richer, warmer (and without brickwalling/distortion) than the original CDs in all three cases that they almost sound like different albums... they're fantastic!

And yes, I can confirm, A/Bing between vinyl and (original) CD, that there's lots of bass here, particularly in the likes of Black Sweat, Musicology (the song), 3121 (the song), etc... a much better sound than on the CDs... it feels like these albums are at last available to be heard as they were meant to be...

I'm very happy with these reissues.... they've really done a great job with them - let's have every album reissued this way please!

[Edited 2/11/19 7:00am]

peedub said:

I got 'planet earth' and '3121'. Everything's got the right stickers. They sound like crap. NO bottom. The grooves are so shallow it hardly looks like a record. Save your money.

I don't know what source they used for these, but "No bottom" is definitely not how I would describe it. What kind of gear are you using? What's your setup? Particularly your turntable and stylus? Musicology had my whole house shaking.

There was a little sizzle on some of the high hats, but without A/Bing it back to the CD, I know prince sometimes recorded things a little hot (there is a lot of this on Rainbow Children), probably just a preference for overdriven analog sound. I'd have to go back and check. But there was plenty of low end on my system.

peedub said:

tomds said:

Don't know why musicology had to be a double album though. It could fit on a single album.

No that wouldn't have worked. It's 48 minutes worth of music. For something loud and dynamic like this, you're going to pretty much max at 45 or 46 minutes unless a lot of compromises are made. It CAN be done, but things start getting hairy in a hurry.

To start squeezing more than 22 - 23 minutes a side, they have to cut shallow and narrow. You can do it with something quiet, but not with booming drums and bass - needs a deeper cut and wider groove to give the stylus room to move. And if they tried to cut it quiet, they still would have a sequencing problem without breaking Cinnamon Girl in half across side 1 and 2.

It's annoying flipping every couple songs, but it is what it is. Not all albums work well optimally with the format. Prince just didn't have vinyl in mind when he did this one. Sounds great though.

[Edited 2/13/19 10:55am]

JAYJOE said:

All three records sound great and a bit more dynamic to me.

Planet Earth isn't my favorite album by a long shot, but it sounds especially fresh on vinyl.

Here is a new nice web advert going around:

There we go. Sounds great in here lol

johnnyribcage said:

tomds said:

I received all 3 lp's. My opinion, lot's of detail compared to the cd's. I heard things I did not hear before. Overall enjoyable and great to have the album covers.

The sound is a bit thin and too much high end, so no audiophile sound, which I also did not expect.

I did have the original Musicology lp and I think I remember it sounded better. Maybe someone on prince.org can compare the lp's?

[Edited 2/15/19 11:07am]

I really enjoy the The marrying kind and If eye was the man in ur life songs from the musicology lp.

It reminded me a bit about the deliverance cd, maybe because of the flow of the songs.

gamera said:

peedub said:

E319 said:

JAYJOE said:

How are the CD's compared to previous versions? Are the booklets the same does planet earth have a booklet, disc art etc?

Everything is the same as far as I can tell. PE has no booklet just like before.

so there's really no way to tell an original from a reissue? not even a copyright date ©2019 somewhere in a corner?

kev1n said:

E319 said:

JAYJOE said: Everything is the same as far as I can tell. PE has no booklet just like before.

so there's really no way to tell an original from a reissue? not even a copyright date ©2019 somewhere in a corner?

There is. The reissues all have 'The Prince Estate' and the symbol on them.

On the Top 40 Vinyls Chart

here are the debuts:

8. MUSICOLOGY

9. 3121

10. PLANET EARTH

Since there is no consensus here as to the sound quality. I decided to listen for myself and picked up my favorite of the three, 3121.

I wouldn't say there's no bottom, there is. But it is thin sounding to me, too bright as well. But not bad. I agree with those that hear more dynamics in the soundfield.

Better than I expected but not as good as I would hope. I'll probably pick the other two up eventually.

[Edited 2/16/19 11:49am]

kev1n said:

E319 said:

JAYJOE said: Everything is the same as far as I can tell. PE has no booklet just like before.

so there's really no way to tell an original from a reissue? not even a copyright date ©2019 somewhere in a corner?

I can only assume you don't yet have the reissues.

All reissues very clearly have the original copyright and publishing date as well as the 2019 date of the reissue.

They all have the Estate logo, and the Legacy logo and the princeestate.com web address.

All reissues are also noted as being released by Sony Music Entertainlment (local and international).

All reissues also have new and unique catalogue numbers.

Lord knows if anyone needs anything further to differentiate the reissues!!!!

djThunderfunk said:

Since there is no consensus here as to the sound quality. I decided to listen for myself and picked up my favorite of the three, 3121.

I wouldn't say there's no bottom, there is. But it is thin sounding to me, too bright as well. But not bad. I agree with those that hear more dynamics in the soundfield.

Better than I expected but not as good as I would hope. I'll probably pick the other two up eventually.

[Edited 2/16/19 11:49am]

What are you listening to your LPs on? Turntable, stylus, and system? And what are you comparing it to? (earbuds, same system but with a cd player, etc?)

Please don't take that the wrong way, just wondering!

johnnyribcage said:

djThunderfunk said:

Since there is no consensus here as to the sound quality. I decided to listen for myself and picked up my favorite of the three, 3121.

I wouldn't say there's no bottom, there is. But it is thin sounding to me, too bright as well. But not bad. I agree with those that hear more dynamics in the soundfield.

Better than I expected but not as good as I would hope. I'll probably pick the other two up eventually.

[Edited 2/16/19 11:49am]

What are you listening to your LPs on? Turntable, stylus, and system? And what are you comparing it to? (earbuds, same system but with a cd player, etc?)

Please don't take that the wrong way, just wondering!

Technics SL-D303

Pickering XV-15 / 625E

Peavey CS800
Peavey Black Widow 18"

CD on Pioneer PD-TM1 through same Peavey system

Earbuds are for podcasts.

[Edited 2/16/19 21:49pm]

djThunderfunk said:

I can’t comment on 3121 since I didn’t pick it up, but musicology is pretty much equivalent for me in terms of frequency response from cd to vinyl. I’m running an Ortofon Super OM 40 on a Technics SL-1200 MK2, Marantz 2275, with Monitor Audio Bronze BX-2’s and a Yamaha YST-SW 315 active sub. Yamaha CD S300 for CDs.

johnnyribcage said:

djThunderfunk said:

Interesting. I have to ask about earbuds or whatever since we’re not on a gear forum and who knows what folks are listening to these records on.

I can’t comment on 3121 since I didn’t pick it up, but musicology is pretty much equivalent for me in terms of frequency response from cd to vinyl. I’m running an Ortofon Super OM 40 on a Technics SL-1200 MK2, Marantz 2275, with Monitor Audio Bronze BX-2’s and a Yamaha YST-SW 315 active sub. Yamaha CD S300 for CDs.

Yeah, I don't understand how people can listen to music on earbuds (or phones, or computer speakers). Like I said, they're fine for podcasts, I use them all the time for that. But if I'm listening to music I need better. Even if I'm listening on an iPod I have to at least have a decent pair of headphones.

I use some £50 over-ear headphones when I'm out and about which is fine for listening to stuff on my phone but when I'm at home I have an Audio-Technica AT-LP120 turntable connected to an ancient but reliable Denon PMA-350SE amp (which I also have my PC connected to) and Acoustic Solutions AV-120 floorstanding speakers. It's not the most high-end setup but it's solid for a mid-range setup.