Thanks Richard,
It certainly sounds as though this is the one to get, now I just need to work out the practicalities of getting one from the US.
Yes, agree re the sleeves, particularly when this is a bit of a ‘premium’ product, a few extra pence/cents would not go amiss and would give a good caring impression of the record company.
The best way to identify a Kevin Gray cut is to look at the rear sleeve; if it has a small “Made in Czech Republic” sticker signifying a GZ pressing then it should be the Kevin Gray one.
Thanks very much, a very useful tip.
Thats good to hear, there appears to have been some mixed reports on the GZ Pressings for the US edition.
Fwiw Miles Showell first transfers to digital and does his half speed mastering from the file.
That can often work very well, but in the case of the AR half-speed of What’s Going On either something went very, very wrong when transferred or else the tape that he had to use was either not in great shape or later generation copy, or perhaps a combination of the two.
GZ have gone up in my estimation. My most recent GZ pressings have all been excellent.
I have previously jumped to GZ’s defence on this thread as you may recall. They did have an appaling reputation but ime improved a lot in recent times whilst Optimal started going downhill. As I’ve pointed out before there is an interesting Analogue Planet/Mikey Fremer video tour of GZ well worth a watch.
In the case of this Marvin Gaye there has been a lot of complaints about the GZ pressing on Hoffman, however I do wonder if a lot of people are being a bit prejudicial towards GZ based on past issues and have a bit of a snobbish agenda to malign them going forward.
Hopefully, you werent just lucky and others will report recieving clean pressings.
I agree. I dont dismiss digital masterings to vinyl if done well.
Theres much more to mastering than simple digital = bad, analogue = good
And just to add, on this occasion maybe MS didnt work from a file he created himself from tape but a file supplied by Universal, who knows
The weird thing with it is that the Detroit Mix LP from the deluxe set is excellent, full of all the life and dynamics that seemed to elude the first disc.
Different sources no doubt, so difficult to compare I guess.
Whats the difference between the Detroit and regular mix, not sure if Ive heard the Detroit
The Detroit Mix is the one that Marvin originally wanted but was rejected. It was then remixed in LA (a bit more production and polish applied), and that’s the one that made the album as we know it.
Listening to the Detroit Mix on Qobuz now and I hear what your saying. Maybe the official remixed version robbed the music of some vitality. To be honest I never found Whats Going On to be a particularly great sounding record in terms of SQ (I havent heard any of the recent “audiophile” pressings though), does the KG cut significantly improve it?
It’s a huge improvement on the AR half-speed as well as a 70s/80s reissue I had and one from the late '90s or early noughties (this one was dire). I haven’t heard the MFSL One-Step, but potentially I have issues with that one for breaking up the flow of the album.
I wonder if there are ANY AR half-speed albums which show an improvement over the original! I’ve not been particularly impressed by the ones I’ve purchased so far.
Thanks Richard
I just listened on Qobuz to the Detroit, then the officially released version, then the Detroit again and I have to say I much prefer the Detroit from both a musical and SQ point of view (the Detroit was at CD res and the official in HiRes).
I may save some money on this new 40th Anniversary and just see if I can get the Detroit mix.
The only AR half speed I have is John Martyn Solid Air
I agree. I find many albums I’ve bought that have been split to 4 sides from 2 just don’t get played. Like you say, they don’t flow, plus you’re up and down too much to really settle down and enjoy. My best sounding LP is the One Step of SRV’s Couldn’t Stand The Weather. However I generally play my old copy as having just Voodoo Chile on side two is akin to playing a 12" single.
