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Sade This Far

I purchased this set with great anticipation. I have been a Sade fan for nearly 38 years and own multiple compilations and albums. I was so excited thinking finally her voice will be treated as it deserves. Half speed mastered, the works. I waited for months. This is seriously the biggest let down I’ve had since I got into vinyl in 2014. I have a $100k analog front end so it’s not the gear (Ortofon MC Anna, Kuzma 4Point, SMARTractor, etc.). The sound on these albums is dull, lifeless and simply nothing to talk about, I couldn’t even get through one album before getting fatigued. 
The packaging is also cheap!

Two hundred of my dollars gone for this poorly remastered cheaply packaged mess. You would do far better to just go to eBay or discogs and seek a clean copy of an original pressing. I usually treat my new albums to a new hi-end record sleeve after I clean them in my KLAudio ultrasonic record cleaner. Not these, I put this mess back in their original cheap paper sleeves.

If I seem bothered, I am as this stinks of just a rush to push something out there with little regard for quality just to make a quick buck.
audiofun
audiofun OP
799 posts
 
audiosaurusrex:

Glad you found it useful. I just wanted to save at least one person the money and aggravation.  
To be fair one of my buddies just told me he had two copies he thought the one he sourced from the UK was great while the one he got here sucked and he gave it away. My dead wax says Abbey Road 1/2 speed mastered room 30, so go figure. 
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whart's avatar
whart
2,967 posts
 
I had the impression that these 1/2 speed masters cut at Abbey Road used digital source material. Discogs shows that the pressings for EU, UK and US were done at Optimal, which can put out a good product. Don't know what her original albums, when released, were recorded or mixed down on but it should be easy enough if you are a fan to compare.
Sometimes, the newer reissues can be a revelation, but I think it is more common than ever for the non-audiophile houses to use a digital file-- it can be fine with some music. On the other hand, some stuff natively recorded in analog has an ambience that isn't quite the same when sourced from a digital copy. And in many cases, sometimes with somewhat misleading taglines ( "sourced from the original master tapes"), it's hard to know. Not that I want to stir up an analog v digital debate. 
wingnix
2 posts
 
She is and always will be the most remarkable sensual voice of an era. She transcends time and trends. Classiest woman ever! Thank god for Sade - where would we be without her precious voice to soothe us all.

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geof3
1,124 posts
 
Wow, I couldn’t disagree more. Listening to it right now... I received my set, and short of the paper insert sleeves (they get ditched anyway) I think the entire collection is excellent. The casing is pretty standard, though basic, for these types of sets as well. Not much different than my Pink Floyd and Zepp boxed sets. Granted, I don’t have original releases of the albums. Perhaps you received a bad copy...
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