Over the past year I have added quite a few more public domain titles to my collection. So I thought it might be useful to do another round of listening tests to see if my initial impressions are still accurate.
In my previous post I went into quite a bit of detail about the legality and morality of public domain recordings, so I won't repeat any of that here. However, I will note that since I last checked, I've found five more public domain labels: Spellbound, Wax Love, Matchball Records, Spiral Records and Del Ray Records. The latter two are both spin-offs of the Barcelona-based WaxTime Records. WaxTime's stable now includes the lion's share of the public domain labels, including, in addition to Spiral and Del Ray, Jazz Classics, Jazz Wax, Pan Am, Vinyl Lovers, and WaxTime. I don't know why they keep creating more labels -- there must be some marketing or legal reasons. I would note that Del Ray Records is not a jazz label per se, but is reissuing vintage vocal records by artists such as Ray Charles, Connie Francis, and Nat King Cole. Several of the other public domain jazz labels have also added some early rock, blues, and vocal titles.
The Shootout, Part 2
I have selected ten more reissues and compared them to licensed digital copies of the same album. It would be really interesting to compare the public domain reissues to original vinyl releases, but the whole point of buying public domain releases (at least for me) is that they allow me to own mint vinyl copies of rare and expensive jazz albums that would be extremely hard to find and nearly impossible to afford.
As before, I list the public domain label, catalog number, artist, and title. Following that in parentheses are the label, catalog number, year, and country (if not the US) for each of the CDs I used for comparison.
(Columbia CK 65144, 1997)
Like the Jazz Images label, Matchbox uses alternative cover art. The CD has more air, more separation, and more high-end definition, particularly in the strings. The top end is smoothed off on the vinyl, and the strings sound like they are glued together. Holiday's voice is clearer and more natural-sounding on the CD. Holiday's wispy phrasing is a bit too burnished on the vinyl. I'll take the CD.
WaxTime 500 408735, Wynton Kelly, Someday My Prince Will Come; (Vee Jay - NVJ2-902, 1992)This is released on the WaxTime 500 sublabel, which claims to be "strictly limited" to only 500 copies. This is a great-sounding LP. It has wonderful tone and texture. The piano sounds natural and analog. The soundstage is superb, the rhythm section is tight and in the pocket. It sounds like a high-end US audiophile repressing. The CD, by comparison, is tinny and etched. The vinyl is a no brainer.
Interestingly, there at least three public domain versions of this on Pan Am, WaxTime, and Jazz Images. Level-matched and switching back and forth with the CD in my listening chair, I couldn't reliable say which version was which. Jim Hall's guitar sounds extremely natural and vibrant, with excellent definition and separation. Oddly enough, the LP has just a hair more high-end. Vinyl me, please.
This is another A/B comparison where I really can't hear any difference. Peterson's piano sounds natural and has great dynamics from the whispered trills to the solid bass notes. Peterson's humming accompaniment and the light background tinkling of glasses in this live recording from Toronto's Town Tavern makes you feel like you're sitting right down front. Get the LP since it has a bonus track, Jazz Wax JWR 4591, Nat King Cole, Welcome To The Club;
(Audio Fidelity AFZ-153, 2013)
The hybrid SACD was remastered by Steve Hoffman, and the stereo layer is fabulous. But, wow, so is the sound on the LP. On both, the soundstage is wide and deep and the horns are just perfect, alternatively sweet and brassy. The bass on the CD is a little tighter and more defined, but Nat's voice on the LP seems to have the slightest bit more texture. A toss-up, but the vinyl has a bonus track.
(Blue Note RVG Edition 7243 5 32141 2 8, 2001)
Compared to the CD, the vinyl sounds anemic -- thin with no bottom end. Switching back and forth on the cut Hymn Of The Orient, Art Blakey's kick drum just about disappears on the LP, and Brown's trumpet loses its luster. No contest. The Blue Note RVG CD remasters were not universally well received, but this one sounds very fine to me. Plus the CD has extensive new liner notes and a bunch of bonus tracks and alternate takes. No contest.
(Riverside Records - VICJ-61057, 2003, Japan)
These both sound outstanding, with realistic texture and a great analog feel. The CD is a Japanese XRCD copy and sounds as close to analog as any CD I have. Still, the feel of Roy Brooks's stick on the snare and Sam Jones's finger on the bass strings seems the slightest bit more "right in front of you" on the vinyl. No bonus tracks, but you do get the fabulous 12" photo of Mitchell on the cover.
Vinyl Passion VP-80803, The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vols 1 & 2; (Blue Note RVG Edition 7243 5 32143 2 6, 2001)If these two aren't mastered from the same source, I'll eat my hat. I literally cannot tell these apart. OK, the vinyl sounds a bit more analog -- because it is! And honestly, what it really sounds like is a digital file that's been cut to vinyl. Once again this RVG Edition CD sounds fine to me. However, the Vinyl Passion release is a double LP with both volumes for the same price. Fugetaboutit, get the vinyl.
(HD Tracks 24-192 digital download, 2016)
This acoustic Muddy Waters set is so intimate that if you close your eyes it feels like you're in the studio. It doesn't seem like a fair fight to compare a public domain reissue to the stunningly good HD Tracks 24-192 digital download. And yet, the vinyl only loses by a hair, with ever so slightly less air. On the other hand, the vinyl has a "Deluxe Gatefold" jacket (the original did not) with extra studio photos. There are five bonus tracks. My recommendation: get both.
Wow, what a great band! Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Shelly Manne on drums round out the quartet. The digital copy I have is the 1987 Mosaic Records 3-CD set of The Complete Pacific Jazz Studio Recordings with Russ Freeman. This session dates from November 6, 1956. I would wager that the 1987 Mosaic remaster is the digital source for the LP. The two sound identical to me. If you are a Chet fan, the Mosaic box set's extensive notes and session information are a goldmine, but you don't get the great original cover.
Conclusions
I now have about 50 public domain titles. With a couple of exceptions, they are all pressed by GZ Media (formerly gzvinyl) in the Czech Republic on 180-gram vinyl. Not one of the titles is warped, off-center, or has any surface noise to speak of. In terms of quality control, GZ is head and shoulders above all but the top few audiophile pressing plants in the U.S. Whatever sources the public domain labels are using, almost all of them are clean, quiet, and well-mastered. (There are a few clunkers that are compressed and just plain bad-sounding, but only a few.) The album art (or alternative art) on all of them is nicely reproduced on quality stock. Many of the albums have bonus tracks which are not on the original pressings. Nearly all of the albums include a nice poly-lined dust sleeve. Copies are readily available at many retailers and from Discogs and Ebay sellers. I am paying anywhere from $12-16 per LP (2021 update -- more like $20-25 now).
The vast majority of the public domain titles that I have purchased are produced using Direct Metal Mastering (DMM). DMM (as the name suggests) cuts the source directly to a copper disk, eliminating a couple of the steps needed to turn a lacquer disk into a stamper. You can read more about the process and lots of discussion of the pros and cons of DMM online. I'm almost certain I could not reliably guess which process was used by listening to a random record. In my experience, DMM records tend to have a slightly more pronounced and detailed high end. Purists would say that DMM sacrifices some of the warmth of vinyl, making LPs sound somewhat more digital. Like most people over 60, I can't hear much above 12-14kHz anyway, so I find a little high-end boost to be a good thing. To my ears, even LPs created with Direct Metal Mastering sound warmer and more pleasing than digital copies.
The bottom line is that I continue to believe that public domain reissues are a good value. And while it's instructive to compare these reissues to digital files, the real test for me is that when I'm listening to a public domain LP, I almost never find myself wishing I had a better-sounding copy.
Enjoy the music!
