Wow!!!!What a LOAD of records you've gotten Armien!!! :-D such a coincidence! I have just released my first out of 6 videos on my recent trip to Japan, hunting down vinyl-related hifi and classic turntables (I bought one on 18th Jan, the last day I was in Japan for this trip!). AND of course, Vinyl Records Hunting in Tokyo at the 2 biggest Vinyl Record stores in Japan! Such a great confidence you just talked about things you've gotten from Japan on this video!!:-) Sincerely, Ian.
Thanks for watching my friend! I am just about to watch your entire videos of your japan trip. I already watched the first one but wanted to keep the others for a relaxed sunday morning. Your trip is SOO cool! Will be back in a few moments. Armien
Another great video, my friend. I love your enthusiasm when talking about your records. And you seem like a really lovely man. Thanks for making these videos! I don't own any Japanese vinyl pressings, but I do own a couple of CDs that are Japanese releases :)
hello armien some really classic and solid Japanese pressings you have. I have very few Japanese issues but will be on yhe lookout for more. great stuff!
Awesome stuff! I have a japanese pressing of led zeppelin houses of the holy. Man the feel the look the sound is all superior. I agree about the classics. Alot of the times you will come across an album no one has heard of and it is an absolute gem. How could something so great be forgotten? Thanks for the videos.
Very nice collection of great records. I agree with purchasing the Japanese pressings when possible. The favorite Japanese pressing in my collection is Pink Floyd's 'Animals'. Thanks for your presentation !
Very nice assortment of Japanese pressings. Here in the States its difficult to find them, anything I have has come from private collectors. Being across the Atlantic has its advantages in the record collecting world. As the number of actual stores decline here, so does our collecting opportunities. Enjoy your new editions and nice to see you back in action. Kurt
Good to see you again, Armien. Some serious Japanese wax coming in. I think Japanese pressings are almost always "brighter" not always better but the packaging is great. If I could find them for cheaper around here, I would. I just got a Japanese pressing of Def Leppard's "Hysteria" and it sounds great. Thanks for another awesome video! -Stavros
Hello Armien, enjoyed your video on Japanese pressings. Regretfully there are none of aforementioned pressings in my own collection but that's sure to change in the near future. The Allman Brothers Band recording of Brothers and Sisters was recorded in 1973. I recently bought a new MoFi 180 gram copy of it at $45 Canadian. Our dollar has slid on the currency exchange recently so I consider myself lucky. Today it might have cost $55. I would also like to add that every time I see that record stand you own I wish I had one just like it. So much to look after when your a record collector. Armien your knowledge of music and records is very impressive. I bet you would do very well as a disc jockey at a radio station but for now record collectors are happy to have you on RU-vid. Cheers !
Hello James, thanks for your kind comment! I am sure the Mofi copy of Brothers and Sisters sounds beautiful! You may laugh but I used to DJ a lot in the last couple of years. At some point I stopped and just continued collecting records. Thanks again! All the best :) Armien
Nice collection...I prefer to get the Obi with mine and it adds to value a lot but nothing wrong with your collection. First pressings Japanese with Obi in good condition is very expensive! Keep enjoying and loving music and thank you for sharing your cool collection.
Great video mate. Have only got one Japanese pressing so far, Bleach by Nirvana. Must get more. I do know that my local second hand record store has a bunch of Japanese pressings in. Must check them out!
Hi Awesome collection of classics I've seen a lot of stuff on the VC about the Japanese collections and they certainly look damn fine I've not got any but definitely piqued my interest for my favourite bands The art of collecting Cool post and glad you got it through customs eventually
I live in China and my collection is only made of Japanese 1st pressing when possible and always includes OBI and inserts. For me, it is actually cheaper and faster for shipping.I have the impression Japanese have not only always released the best pressings (better quality of plastic, ink, cardboard, extra pictures inserts), they most of the time had access to the original masters for the record labels I'm most interested in (CTI, Columbia, Warner Bros... I'm a jazz fan), but also I guess the collectors usually kept their LPs in amazing good conditions compared to western collectors. Therefore, the Obi Strip is not only a very respectful addition to the untouched original album art but also a proof the LP has been kept very carefully under a protection sleeve for decades, otherwise it would be missing or heavily damaged. That's why I don't agree with your comment on it being mostly for diehard collectors. Of course you can get lucky and find a mint condition Japanese with Obi missing but it should be considered as some kind of seal, proof of condition.I know from some previous video you are a Herbie Hancock fan. Please get yourself a big treat and buy in first priority some copies of those late 70s Japan only release like Direct Step, The Piano, Five Stars, those are three Direct To Disk and those would arguably be the best audiophile LPs of whomever you would ever find. Just before the rise of Digital Recording..This would worth a whole video by itself, the Herbie Hancock Grail... There are also many more exclusive albums like Dedication, Flood, Live Under The Sky, Tempest In Colosseum, Trio '77, Trio '82Anyway, talking about Japanese LPs, Mini LPs (CDs in cardboard sleeve replica) and special edition CDs filled with exclusive bonus tracks is an endless conversation with me.
+Pierre Pradat thanks for commenting! it's really interesting to hear your opinion! it's the first time that I hear about the theory with the missing obi strips. yes, it could be a possible reason. greetings from germany Armien
well my era in the 60s a lot of albums i had .. awesome stuff. and i think you have a great collection of music. and thanks for putting me on to rammstein .. like them a lot still trying to get a few cds of theres , sadly no vinyl all gone and no way to plat it .. but still like to have music . dont have or watch television .. cheers from uk x
I'm very surprised to know that japanese pressings are actually highly evaluated in foreign countries. A lot of people say that japanese pressings usually sound worse than US or europian pressings in japan. However I think it is because japanese people like western products and sometimes have prejudices. Anyways, I'm kinda glad you liked them as a japanese. Keep uploading great videos man!ツ
Hey, du machst echt tolle Videos und man kann richtig mitfiebern. Daumen hoch! Man merkt auch, dass du wirklich ein sehr umfangreiches und audiophiles musikverständnis besitzt! Von Kraut Rock Klassikern bis zu Kruder and Dorfmeister - echt cool und interdisziplinär. In einem Video erzählst du, das du nach Duisburg gezogen bist. Komme selber aus der Nähe und bin noch kein Hifi Urgestein (30 jahre alt) - kann immer dazulernen und hab Bock auf Flohmarkt und fachsimpelei - meld dich falls du Bock hast - Weiter so - audiophile ROCKS Greetz DON CHAOS
Mensch das klingt doch super! Danke für deinen netten Kommentar. Wir machen hier in Duisburg regelmäßige Vinylsammler Treffen - da musst du unbedingt mal dazu stoßen. Wir können aber auch gerne so mal ein bisschen diggen gehen. Vom alter sind wir sehr nahe beieinander. Schreib mich doch mal unter: audiophile.laws@gmail.com an dann machen wir was aus. Habe bald Urlaub. Armien
Armien Hello my friend. I see life is being good to you. I just wanted to add that Mobile Fidelity is releasing Alan Parsons Project's " I Robot", Janis Joplin's "Pearl and Cheap Thrills",Jefferson Airplanes"Surrealistic Pillow and Volunteers". Here in the US it is cheaper most times to just buy the MoFi records. Imports from Japan are usually much more money. Acoustic Analogue has some real good stuff coming out also. I would love too see the Police re release their catalog. I loved Synchronicity and Regatta DE Blanc. I can't for the life of me remember the other LP's they released. This is another very good video on Audiophile Records. I have a bunch of stuff to add in my video's. I haven't scratched the surface of my Hi Res vinyl or any of my SACD,DVD-Audio or HDCD Disc's yet. Be well and I am looking forward to your next video. Steve
Steve , indeed in US a lot of good pressings have good prices. BUT shipping prices (always increasing) to Europe, plus custom taxes, make the final price totally unattractive ...
so cool to hear that! Alan Parsons I Robot would be interesting to compare since it is such a good sounding album and there are various other good audiophile pressings like the old mofi, uhqr, classic records and so on.
I was sick of getting local copies of records off evilbay AU listed as "very good" or "excellent" and ending up with something that looked like a cats scratch pole! So I started buying Japanese discs a couple of years back. As Bon Jovi is my favourite band (despute the non-The Circle garbage of the last decade) so I of course have Bon Jovi through to my fav album, New Jersey to go along with my original Au pressings from my childhood. One copy I have of Slippery is THE quietest vinyl I have ever heard in my life! It is amazing! The Japanese version also has the longer cut of Without Love. My original "West German" made CD had the longer version, I always wondered back then where it came from. I also have other discs, mainly 80's. The original press I have of Rumours is also amazingly quiet considering it is older than me! Nothing beats Japanese vinyl. I just finally got around to buying Thriller, Off The Wall, She's So Unusual, TOTO IV and Make It Big Master Sound versions. I already had a copy of Make It Big but it is in bad shape and is noisy as hell. My Au copy I got when I was 5 sounds better.
Hey Armien, good to see your selection of Japanese pressings. I must say i agree with you that generally the audio and packing quality is far superior than anything else out there, also in my experience the second hand quality seems to be a lot better as well, it's almost as though they store them in sealed safes!! When it comes to the OBI, I'm afraid depending on the artist, Iron Maiden for instance i HAVE to have the OBI strip, for others it's maybe not as important, but always a nice to have. Cheers Dean
+Dean Everest back in the early days of the vc there was this crazy video by duane. he had all maiden releases as japanese pressings including all obis. thanks for watching! Armien
Hey what Zeppelin Japanese pressing is that? I've had a few of the zeppelin japanese pressings, and I've found the AMJY series from the 90s to be a big step up from the Warner/Pioneer editions from the 70s that you see more often. Keep a look out for the Classic Records pressings of the Zeps, they are pricey but by far the best.
AudiophileLaws See you again Armien. Great to see you doing well!!! :-D Let's go and continue to keep the Vinyl dream alive, the flame burning on strong. Sincerely, Ian! :-)
Lately I've gotten a few Japanese pressings through eBay. I've filled in the gaps for my Pink Floyd, Miles Davis and even Jimi Hendrix (Axis Bold as Love) collections. Also got some "Red Wax" varieties such as Cannonball Adderley and Nat King Cole just to see if it was true that they were even quieter and less prone to crackling. They're not! But what I really wanted to get were quadraphonic (SQ/QS) pressings. In that regard they were quite cheap even with the horrendous postage! And just missed out on Pink Floyd's DSOTM QS Japanese version. Next time. Can't say all of them were superior to local pressings and not all Japanese people seemed to have "cared" for them the way you hear on the web. But still, it was fun and I don't regret it for a moment. Thanks for sharing.
I only have 2 Japanese pressings, a 7inch of Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive and I just bought Leppelin 4 this past weekend. Does that Japanese Nebraska pressing not include Atlantic City? I didn't see it on the back cover when you showed the album... weird. Can't wait to see the next 90s update as always. happy 2016!
I checked the cover again. Atlantic City was hided behind the obi strip. I bought some more 90s stuff in the last couple of weeks and just finished reading Kim Gordons biography. I also picked up some more Sonic Youth, Mad Season, Alice in Chains and Temple Of The Dog. What about you? Can't wait to see you back on youtube! Thanks for watching! Armien
Welcome back. I only have one Japanese Pressing a copy of Wes Montgomery's So Much Guitar. Probably one of the best Jazz albums I own. The remasters of the Zeppelin albums are fantastic, I've heard many people say they sound better than the Japanese pressings which is something. I only have II and it's the remaster. I'm curious about the Japanese pressing as I hear as good as it is, it sounds muddy compared to the remaster. SInce you're on a 90s Kick, I don't know if you have the album or are a fan. But there's a very limited white vinyl run of Sublime's Self titled that sounds absolutely amazing only 1500 copies pressed and there are a few on Ebay right now for about $60 US which for something that sounds that good and is that limited isn't too bad. I got my copy in the wild from the chain this pressing was made for. If you're a fan of Sublime or don't have that album yet, check it out.
yes the recent Led Zep reissues are fantastic indeed. they sound so good! I still need to get coda. I would love to get that sublime album since I don't have any album by them on vinyl. need to check that out. thanks for the recommendation! Armien
AudiophileLaws Self titled is probably the most affordable Sublime Album on Vinyl Right now as 40 oz and Robbin the hood were very VERY limited. Hopefully they get more wide spread reissues because 40oz is an amazing album.
I love your channel but some of your recommendations are expensive! I am looking at 399 Euros for a Japanese pressing of the Cheap Thrills album on Discogs right now. The UK CBS pressing will have to do for me and hopefully I won't hear the surface noise to much under Janice's voice. :) Edit: or the Mofi version is even cheaper... decisions!
Do you use headphones to compare the same album from the different countries/release dates for the possible differences in the mixing of the records. I don't mean mono versus stereo. I mean stereo for stereo, and mono for mono mixes. hope this question makes since. The question could also be applied to playing CDs also.
no, most of the time I am comparing them on my normal Bowers & Wilkins speakers. first I play record 1 - then 2 - then 1 again and so on until I can find my preference.
I just saw a pro use copy of abbey road at my local store. the obi was missing and the price tag said 59 euro. didn't buy it although I would love to have it in the collection. Thanks for watching :) Armien
AudiophileLaws Mine cost 38€, has the insert and the obi. I haven't played it yet, but there are absolutely no scratches on the record, just a few fingerprints.
Dude I love watching your videos, and I agree with your praises of Japanese pressings...BUT when you get to the point where you own 3 different copies of the same Jefferson Airplane album you are entering into reckless vinyl-crazed territory LOL...
Nice overview of your pick ups. It's the shipping from Japan that kills the prices from time to time. I wouldn't pick up the Mofi for 70 Euro, that's far to expensive and I figure the prices are only going to go up. Mofi is increasing the pricing here in the US by $5 per LP.
Hi Paul, yes thats true! Actually it's funny that the Mofi albums are "cheap" in the states while they are expensive in Germany and the shipping from Japan to Europe is cheaper than the shipping from Japan to the US. A strange world :D Thanks for watching my friend! Armien
Question. If you had the option of filling up 60% of collection with album press by Mofi OMR or Japanese pressings of the same albums...which would you prefer?
+mrhoffame that's a very hard question. You have to keep in mind that Mofi has three different generations of pressings. The early, thin ones (which to my mind are the best of all), then there are the 90s 200g anadiscs and the modern ones. To my mind the modern ones became WAY to expensive, at least here in Europe. I am also not a big fan of their album choices. Of course there are some good ones but I would like to see some more "risky" stuff. I am a huge fan of Japanese pressings. I love that they have such a good pressing quality and also took a lot of care for the covers and jackets. A good mixture is the way to go. We can't have an audiophile pressing for every album. I came down to collect more original pressings in the last few months. Specially early German and UK pressings.
Ha ha! Maybe a better question to get to what I was trying to ask you. If you have one of your favorite albums and you could ONLY have a Japanese pressing or a mofi pressing. Which would you take? I have never really purchased any Japanese pressing on vinyl. I have quite a few on cd, but not vinyl so for someone like yourself who has really experienced both, and you HAD to pick one (lol) ..would you take your favorite album on JP or Mofi?
love Japanese pressings. It's a bit hard here in Canada. I've ordered on Discogs a couple times. And it never fails. There just so good. Do you care if you buy a first press Japanese or reissue Japanese. Do you think they sound different.
well they do sound different. often japanese pressings are a good way to go if the og is too expensive in NM condition. Usually I say: buy what you can get :) thanks for watching! Armien
some pressing on Japanese are most likely to be the same as jefferson are as like bowie scorpions are on best buy from rca and like rest on green label rca international but, as other mid price they on blue label best buy from rca.
+AudiophileLaws Imma record collector/dealer from Japan Hit me up if you need help on any Japanese pressings. Check my Discogs www.discogs.com/user/Tyke4evr
Great vid, Japanese vinyl is second to none, very quiet BUT!!! not always the best mastering, a lot are boosted in the high end and that can be overly bright sounding bordering on un listenable. Do your research before you pull the trigger on expensive Japanese pressings.
Hey man, I'm new to the VC, haven't posted videos yet, but I will soon. I've been trying to look the the VC Facebook page, but I'm having trouble finding it. If you could somehow lead me to the page, that'd be great. My Facebook is Stan Plewak. Love your videos
I got about 2000 records and would say that 75% of my collection are either Japanese music or Japanese pressings...benefit of living most of the year in Japan. If you want to check my collection check www.discogs.com/user/MusicSnob/collection Happy Holidays and Happy New Year already !
