The Smiley Smile Message Board

I'm not much of an audiophile but was at Amoeba yesterday and thumbed through the vinyl reissues of the Brother years... Sunflower through KTSA.  And I must say, it was a trip to hold in my hands brand spanking new copies of albums on their first release.

I guess my question would be, how do they sound in comparison to the 24 bit CD reissues?  If I pick any of them up, I won't be listening on turntable anyway... just transferring to CDR for my truck system... but even under these constraints, is there a marked difference in the sound?

COMMENT:  You had your hands on a reissue, not an original. Big difference. Is there a difference in sound, Yes. but if you don't have a turntable with a pure analog system, the better sound would be a professionally produced CD.

Why not make your transfer from the Sunflower study-video? If you haven't been there, suggest you visit my website and press the button for the first part of my book which will include a pristine vinyl to digital transfer, etc. If you want an education and the best listening experience, go to http://swdstudyvideos.com.  HOWEVER, right now the website is down, pending preparation for release of a new study-video. Keep monitoring this Smiley Smile website. When the website is back up, I'll post a notice. It won't be long.   ~swd

Wow... I never thought I'd get an answer from Stephen Desper on my silly question.  Thank you, sir.

And may I just add that of all of the Beach Boys albums, Sunflower, hands down, is my all time favorite.  Just from a sonic perspective, I still discover new things in that album every time I listen.  And I've been listening since the fall of 1976.  Still nothing quite like it.  Magical.

This may have been discussed before, but has anyone else noticed on the bottom back cover of 20/20, it says "Originally released in 1964"?

Steve, you'll hear a pretty big difference on Sunflower when you hear the Matrix mix. Especially on the background vocals.

Steve, you'll hear a pretty big difference on Sunflower when you hear the Matrix mix. Especially on the background vocals.
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Matrix mix? What's that?

The best sounding vinyl is always going to be the originals - and I see the prices they are charging for the new stuff, you can find pristine originals for the same price.

Unfortunately the Brother/Reprise original of Sunflower can't be had cheaply.  It doesn't come up often on ebay.  I check regularly for that one.  I have the original "Thanks Marilyn" pressing of Surf's Up (2 copies) though.

Here's a nice conversation between Stephen Desper and CustomMachine about Sunflower on vinyl (you might have to scroll around on the thread to get the full gist)

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,16766.msg488916.html#msg488916

Nice catch, Coda - it has been mentioned before here (at least) - http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,16766.msg481611.html#msg481611 (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,16766.msg481611.html#msg481611) - and in a few other spots.

Check out the thread and feel free to chip in your thoughts.

Matrix mix? What's that?
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You'll find out when Stephen's study guide is back up and running and you check it out (a must do) - but by way of quick answer, Sunflower was recorded using innovative techniques that broaden the "sound image" beyond your 2 stereo speakers (left to right) and adds depth within the image (specific instruments or vocals can be moved forward or back).  However, the recordings are encoded in a certain way, and have to be decoded during mastering - otherwise it will be in standard stereo and you won't get the full experience of listening to the album the way the band intended.

Only the original vinyl pressings run from lacquers mastered at Artisan present the original intention.

Not always true. The best sounding vinyl Pet Sounds is the 1972 Brother/Reprise release. The Sunflower and Surf's Up original vinyl have the matrix/quad info that I'm not sure the reissues have.

The US pressed Capitol era originals pretty sound pretty middling (in my opinion) and I tend to look for the better sounding (in my opinion) Green label reissues.  But I do seek out first US pressings of the Reprise/Warners and Caribou/CBS eras.

The new Analogue Prod vinyl I have to date sound the best (opinion).

I agree with you Alan, Capitol Greens and Warner Reprise are fabulous, even the fake stereo Wild Honey and Smiley Smile if I remember correctly! These also sound great:

http://www.discogs.com/Beach-Boys-Surfin-USA/release/4285813

http://www.discogs.com/Beach-Boys-The-Beach-Boys-Christmas-Album/release/1527048

I'm with you guys, there are plenty of reissues that sound better than the original pressings. I find a lot of the originals have pretty bad run out groove distortion, so the audio quality dips the last song or two of the side (this is especially bad on my copy of All Summer Long).

Is it my faulty memory from 40 years ago, or did SPIRIT OF AMERICA contain the Duophonic mixes of mono tracks like 409, Do You Wanna Dance, Good to My Baby, Tell Me Why, Barbara Ann, The Little Girl I Once Knew, etc.?

Hey Amanda! - word, I have an original ASL, printed in L/A no less (not from the first run tho') and side 2 sounds like utter merda in general. Have you bagged any of the Acoustic Sounds reissues?

Hey MikeD!

No, I haven't. There's a local record store that was carrying them, and I'll probably pick them up eventually, especially since they've been getting such high marks here.

While we're talking about vinyl re-issues, I have a question about this particular reissue:

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/poprock/detail/-/art/the-beach-boys-surfer-girl/hnum/6800434

I bought this reissue on Rumble Records hoping to have the album in new condition for my collection. But this thing was a complete shock:
There is actually a misspelling of the song Surfers Rule on the back cover and on the lp itself. It's now called Surfer's Tule. This is a pretty terrible mistake. I mean, the worst part is that this lp didn't cost like 1 dollar, bur more like 20 dollars. This sucks pretty bad!
Is anyone familiar with Rumble Records and has made similar experiences?

At least I leaned something: next time I'll spend 15 dollars more for an Acoustic Sounds reissue.

Do not buy from these labels. Ask yourself...Would Rumble Records have access to the original source tapes of this album? cd rip probably

I believe they were fake stereo, but not Capitol's Duophonic, the same fake stereo of the Capitol Greens and, I beiieve, the early 1970s 2-Lp reissues with songs omitted, and Best of the Beach Boys Vol. 3. It's the bass on one side, treble on the other mixes. 409 might be an exception.

They are in fake stereo on my pressing - perhaps re 409, "they" pulled this from the LDC stereo master (where I think it got dinked with, but could be wrong there).

The '80's CD (Larry Walsh remaster) mono versions, including a mono presentation of Break Away, which was in stereo on the LP.

As for the Warner years LP's, I really prefer my White Label Promo Artisan pressings.   Both Sunflower and Surf's up sounded quite a bit better than the standard Retail issues.  Those are the only promo copies I have, but I also have an Artisan pressed Carl and the Passions/Pet Sounds that sounds incredible.   Really I think Artisan pressed 70's BB's are the way to go.

Check out the link I popped in at post 8 above (if you've not already) - you've done really well, as per Stephen Desper's detailed info!

Thanks for that link, I have seen Mr. Desper touch on some of that over at the Hoffman forums, but I hadn't known the Artisan pressings specifically had his and Carl's touch specifically. Great read!