45RPM reissues: really better one-side pressing?


Hello friends,

a lot of Classic Records reissues, Jazz and classical, was made on double sides pressing (two LP's from an original LP) and a lot of other was made on one-side pressing version (four LP's, from 1 original title, with one side blanck).
The common opinion is the one-side press sounds better, due to minor stress of vinyl surface during the pressing step.
What's your opinion about? Audible diferences?
Rushton, are you on line?..:-))

Best
Ezio
eziodoc
Ezio, without hearing the same mastering pressed both ways, there's no way to know. I'm not convinced that single-sided pressings are better. It's hard to imagine better sonics than coming from the Music Matters Blue Note 45rpm reissue series - and they are two sided pressings.
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You can charge more money with that.
We should be - very - lucky, that "they" don't do "1-Song-Per-Side" pressings
I do have in my possession somewhere in my record shelves a 1-song-per-side pressing.

Dusty Springfield singing Burt Bacarach's The Look of Love.
One side is 33 1/3rd and the other is 45.
Bought it used and very cheap, played it once, sounds very good.

Ezio, I do have a Classic Record 45 rpm box set of one side pressing.
After I had a slight warp cooked out of all 8 Lps I found no better then other well recorded 45 rpm Lps.

However I do like the one side pressing only because I can drop and remove the Lp on the platter without turning off the table's motor speed control each time.
Dear Ezio: +++++ " without hearing the same mastering pressed both ways, there's no way to know. " +++++

this Rushton statement makes a lot of sense, anyway this is what you can read on a Clarity Recordings LP ( one of the one side LP I own. ):

" Most reords are produced from a set of stampers that press the groove structure onto both sides on the vinyl disc. When the needle traces the grooves on the top side of the dis, it is affected by the vibration of the groove structure on the reverse side.

In disc reproduction, sound is produced by the vibration of the stylus in the grooves cut in the disc. Extremely minute signals are amplified by the cartridge and than sent to the phono equalization circuit of the pre-amplifier where a tremendous amount of gain and equalization is required to produce a line level signal for the amplifier. Any small amount of signal degradation or unwanted information, which is sensed by the tip of the stylus will be amplified enormously.

Another problem in conventional double sided records is that the reverse side of the disc has areas with and with out cut grooves. There is also a variation in sensed areas with land ( or flat surfaces ) and areas with air pockets ( caused by the cutting of the grooves ). This results in a constant variation of information that is being sensed by the stylus and added to the basic information from the groove structure on the top of the dis. The end result is an audible blurring of all reproduced sound.

Single sided records also have an extremely flat reverse side. They bond much more accurately to the surface of the platter of the turntable and provide the most stable platform for the tracing of record grooves cut on the top side of the dis. "

Well, unfortunately I don't own/have the same Clarity double sided recording.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
Dear friends: Well, last night I play the one side Clarity LP ( Mary Stallings ) and I play too a two sided Clarity LP ( Claudia Gomez ), both have the same: producer, engineer recording and Disc mastering and certainly there are differences ( other than the artist and kind of music ), the main one is that the two sides Lp sounds a little on the hi-fi side against the one side LP that sounds " so natural " with no " electronic signature " in anyway.
I have to tell that both are very god recordings and only when you have ( in front of you ) the one side LP you can hear that hi-fi signature of the other ( that is very good ) that you can't " sense " if you don't have something ( like the one side LP ) to compare it.

Well, that is not a very precise/strict test but is " something ".

regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
The Mary Stallings Clarity recording was sold as one sided and two sided versions. I don't know that these two versions were widely released or available together, but some were made available locally in the SF Bay Area. Clarity wanted to show just how superior the single sided was over the two sided. I have bought both at the Audible Difference (Palo Alto, CA) years ago. The single sided was my first $50.00 LP, ouch! I listened to both today to compare if I could hear any differences. My listening conclusions exactly track Rual's, but I will emphasize (IMHO) the single sided was far more natural than the other. Music is very good, not remarkable, but Mary's voice is outstanding.

Thanks Raul for making think to find/listen to these recordings. Fun time.
Very interesting. The two copies of the Mary Stallings LP (one single sided and the other double sided) that Gerrym5 listened to would be the best comparison to make. Thanks for taking the time to listen and report what you hear!
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As you all know here, a 45 rpm recording the groove spacing is wider spaced which puts less stress on the cartridge giving a overall relaxed presentation.

Classic Records did a "absolutely spectacular" job with Harry Belafonti's 1959 Carnigie Hall concert re-issue on single side 45 rpm box set.

Many of Music Matters Blue Note 45 rpm re-issues are another contender for top re-issues on the Planet.

Would a single side release of these Blue Notes exceed the dual side's ?

I like the single side release and wish all my 45 rpm's were done this way, for cleaning and playing.
An interesting thread. In my experience all 45s are outstanding but a great pain.

Thanks for the information, guys.
Dear Stiltskin: Yes, I really like the 45rpm: I wish it can have more " playing time " on each 45 LP, sometimes it has only 8-10 minutes on " program ".

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
Raul,
A full evening of nothing but 45 rpm Lps is good for your cardial vascular system....
Hello Rushton, hello Raul, hello friends,

thank you for all answers: I thought this thread would not have been interesting and would not have had replies, but I met enthusiastic lovers of the great music reproduction, a lot of friends answering and all quick responsive !
So, thank to you, now I know a bit better the wonderful world of 45RPMs reissues.

Thank you for help me to exit from my ignorance and for your patient work of comparing different records..

Thank you again.
Ezio

P.S. All other experiences of comparison of different 45RPMs reissues will be welcome, of course.