Japanese pressings!

[Johnny Vinyl]

I have a bunch of them, but I'm far from being really knowledgeable about the product being mastered, pressed and made available from our Asian friends, and that includes Korean pressings as well. Generally speaking they have an excellent rep and I'm not dissatisfied with any of the pressings I have, however.......do they appear to you to sound a little bright? Maybe it's my ears or I'm gravitating towards enjoying a more subtle sound, but at times I feel they sound a bit over-extended in the upper registers.

I'm excluding the early MoFi's and A&M+ (Audiophile) releases in this, as they sound fine (they both used the old JVC pressing formula).

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

[Rob]

Johnny, its not your ears they are bright! Its been discussed ad nauseam between collectors with an audiophile bent that Japanese mastering is generally considered inferior to the home market version. The pressing quality on the other hand is generally superior in terms of quiet surfaces. I know what's more important to me and that's why as a general rule I don't collect them. If you must, don't pay primo bucks w/o the OB sleeve.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Thanks for that Rob.....now I know I ain't dreaming or that my ears are failing me. I usually stick with country of origin first pressings, but if I can't find them (or they're too expensive) I'll pick up a Japanese copy (with OBI always).

[allenh]

I've been mostly satisfied with the Japanese LPs I have. I don't recall thinking they were overly bright, vivid maybe. I thought some of my CR reissues were brighter. The Japanese pressing of The Yes album however, I could not listen to from beginning to end.