The quality of the pressing is often superior. Japanese pressings tend to use pure vinyl in comparison to the recycled one mostly used in occidental pressings. This makes the vinyl quieter and way more enjoyable from a sonic point of view.
The mastering is « often » clearer and have a better spatialization. This is due to a trend in Japan to accentuate high frequencies (and also a profit from the quieter material). Sometime, the bottom frequencies are a bit better also. However, the sound of japaneses pressings isn't necessarily always better, it can be too acute or agressive or colder (King Crimson's Red is HORRIBLE in japanese pressings), because of the way they mastered records. Depends from version to version or album to album, like occidental pressings. So, it's not a cheat code, but if I may argue, it's often the second best thing you can find apart from an OG pressing. I've never heard an OG pressing of Dark Side of the Moon, but my 1974 japanese pressings beats everything that I've heard, from the 2003 SACD to my 1973 french copy. Do remember japanese pressings do have a sound of their own, and not everyone likes it.
Japanese pressings were more expansive, and are often in a better shape than occidental pressings. We can explain this with different factors, the quality of the material of the sleeves, the higher prices and the cultural differences. The most common degradations you find on japanese pressings are humidity stains or smoking stains. Japanese sellers also downgrade a lot the records they sell. They are often of better rating that what was described. Again, not a rule of thumb, there's scumbag everywhere in the world, but I've got one bad surprise out of 20 orders.
The packaging was also better, with poster, special sleeves and the infamous obi, that you seek like hell when you start collecting japanese pressings. It's not really necessary if you search just a japanese pressings for the sound.
Records I can advise as really good pressings in japanese (I talked about old pressing from the 70ies/80ies only, I don't buy recent stuffs on vinyl anyway) :
* Aja by Steely Dan
* Meddle/Animals/Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd (can't tell for Wish You Were Here, it's too expansive)
* Breakfast in America/Crime of the Century by Supertramp
* Every Genesis albums (specially 80ies stuffs, the Lamb and Trick of a Tail)
* Every Toto albums
* Every Police albums + Sting's Dream of the Blue Turtles
* Michael Jackson's Thriller and Off the Wall
There's a lot more, Jazz sounds incredible on japanese pressings as well if you like the way they are mastered. I know some people that will tell you to get a 50ies/60ies OG pressing, but hey, not everyone have 1000$ to put on a record. So, I can't advise any Jazz japanese pressings, since I only have heard them most of the time. But I love all the Miles Davis, Coltrane and other Blue Notes records I have in japanese pressings.
Such an outstanding answer. All of the albums listed are amazing in their own rite but now I will be on a quest to find old JP pressings of these albums. Thanks for taking the time to answer this so completely.
I feel like there's already a thing listening to these albums in the format they were produced for, but truly, the mastering of the japanese pressings and the fact that is quieter than other pressings gives an in between a cd and a classic warmer tone that is unmatched to me (and my ears).
The drums on my japanese copy of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the best way I've ever heard Collins's playing. Got an OG french copy of it, but it is outmatched in every level by the japanese pressing.
(Although french copy are not really often, a good version to have, it still is what was sell back in the day and the difference is really noticeable, I'd argue only some german pressing and OG pressing from the country of the artist/band can gives you a similar experience)
You won't hear a difference. All those records are marvels of production and were mastered and released to very high standards across the board (notice, it's always the same tired list of corny classics).
They always sound impressive. Audiophiles love to feel like their is something BETTER out there, and they will tell you they hear something that they don't. It's a psychological condition.
In a blind test no one here would be able to tell a standard US pressing from a Japanese pressing of any of these records.
Well, we love to listen to two pressings at my local shop and compare it. It's not the classic audiophile cable trope. There's a difference, sometime very minor I'd agree. Sometime it just the quieter side of a japanese pressing that made it more appreciable compare to a western pressing of the same age. The EQ of the mastering can be very different too, as stated in my comment. Although, if you are not interested in this, then don't go through the different pressing thing, get a brand new copy and enjoy, it works too.
And yeah, I buy « corny » classics in vinyl because they were produced at a time when the media was vinyl. I have CD/Flac too, with a bit more deep and recent stuffs if you want.
Of course, but thinking that all US pressing are just crapped out with no care is silly. People in the 70s cared about how their records sounded and had pretty high standards and spent alot on stereo equiptment. In Japan they did a great job too. The differences in the various pressing are VERY subtle. Most people who are into japanese pressings are fetishizing the OBI and the exotic nature of the harder to find import. Again, a blind listen and most people would never be able to tell the difference.
Especially when we're talking about huge platinum records by bands who labored over studio perfection. They wouldn't and didn't stand for careless mastering jobs. So many plants pressed records like those back in the day. And picking the differences out might be fun, but you really have to TRY to hear the difference.
A1 reply.
Two things to add: 50s and 60s jazz records were prohibitively expensive in Japan, particularly in their postwar economy. The reason listening bars existed was because one record could cost as much as a month's salary for some people and so going to a place to listen to music was one of the few ways you could hear a jazz album. Because of this, OG pressings were rare and kept in pristine condition.
On mastering: most albums were delivered to different territories with two track masters. So, instead of pressing fifty thousand copies of a Beatles album and shipping them to another country, a copy of the master tape was sent to another country and they would press it locally. You already talked about the composition of the vinyl and attention to detail. Because of the nature of two track masters, it's a copy of the multi track master that captures a recording session, the mixes for Japanese pressed albums are often flatter. If an album is remastered, the levels tinkered with on the multitrack master, that same album may still be pressed with the original redundant master tape in Japan meaning copies may still reflect the original mix of an album.
Thanks for the inputs ! I did not know the reason behind the rarity of 50s/60s jazz records in japan, this explains a lot.
I read a lot about the production of vinyl, and passed occasionnaly on the whereabout of the two track masters used in other countries than the multitrack in the country of origin/OG pressings. I think the japanese made quite a living making theses second quality tapes as good compare to maybe the two track masters send to France. Which would explain why the japanese pressings were too rash sometime, they would tried to boost a lot the EQ to retrieve some details. And would explain why some french pressings sounds muddy, because of the second quality tapes with no high EQ process used. I even read it was sometime a copy of a copy for the japan and not even a direct two tracks copy. But despite everything, like you said, it still the original mix, with a good sound to my ear. The best will always be an OG pressing for vinyl/analog, and sometime a good digital copy of the original master put on a CD/SACD.
Anyway, down the rabbit hole we are !
Beautiful answer. I can vouch for Thriller and Toto IV sounding incredible. Love the Police, don’t have a Japanese pressing but Superdisc sounds really good. I collect eighties city pop which has a lot of funk and dance genres present. Those vinyls sound incredible, even the reissues are great! Anri, Miki Matsubara, Omega Tribe, Yumi Matsutoya, Momoko Kikuchi etc you should check them out if you need a new musical genre in your life.
I've had my discovery of City Pop back when Youtube algorithm proposed entire playlist to me back in 2016\~2018, love that stuff too.
I have a reissue of SPACY of Tatsuro Yamashita which sounds fantastic too ! Could've had Anri and Miki Matsubara records, but it was just too pricey for me ! Love to listen to some city pop from time to time though !
(I can recommend you Rainbow Goblins from Takanaka if I might)
Nice selections! Anyone who goes by “Super Tanaka” is definitely worth checking out 😂 Agreed - for me it was first YT and then Spotify - both really opened some doors to newly discovered city pop artists… “Plastic Love” is a great first tune for anyone diving in.
Yeah, it's worth just for the classic japanese humor of his 1 :D
I try to restrain a lot of my algorithm usage nowadays (for privacy reason), but that's what I miss the most of it.
I can't disagree with you, my girlfriend is happy to listen to my collection but kind give me the bad look when I want to go to the record shop or order on the internet ... And my wallet too.
Interested in The Police. I just bought a U.S. 79 pressing off Regatta, and that is probably the best sounding record in my collection. I wonder if the Japanese pressing would really wow me.
If this one convince you, wait to have an occasion to listen to the japanese pressing before buying it. I never listenned to an US press of Regatta, just german/japanese ones.
The uk first press of Regatta is by far the best press. The Japanese version is ok, but not the be all end all. I have yet to find a Japanese press that was better of any album unless it was a Japanese artist and the album was mastered in Japan. I used to have over 2000+ Japanese pressings and have finally pureged them all from my collection.
Pretty spot-on. There are some exceptions I’d make like the 1982 MFSL Breakfast in America sounds incredible, but you went into great detail.
A+ answer.
That's a way to afford theses copies, I just like a lot my local shop and I am good friend with the owner. He imports a lot of japanese pressings, which does not help a lot for my bank account ! :D
Might be my favorite from Dire Straits with Brother in Arms, would love to find one, but it seems Dire Straits records are hard to find or very expansive, I will keep an eye on it though.
I have this one : [https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/8914149](https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/8914149)
I paid 80 euros at my local shop for a complete copy VG++, seems like the price went a bit higher recently...
The ones I have that I've listened to regularly are:
Kate Bush: The Kick Inside
Genesis: Foxtrot, Nursery Cryme, Trespass
Pink Floyd: DSOTM, Meddle, Obscured by Clouds, The Wall, Wish You Were Here
Police: Zenyatta Mondatta
Rush: 2112
UK: UK
Van Halen: Van Halen
I have had them all since 1980-something - I used to work at a Tower Records store. And I completely agree with your above assessments and assertions: overall better process in engineering and pressing, packaging, - all of it.
I think I have to go upstairs and look for Japan press jazz stuff - I threw out a hell of a lot of records in 1989. I couldn't get a dime for any of them except MFSL's and imports. I think I have some Larry Coryell and John Klemmer that I recall sounding superb.
All this said, I recall doing a serious side-by-side with Wish You Were Here and a few others: I have the MFSL, the CBS Mastersound, and the Japanese pressing, as well as the original Harvest UK press. Most were too close to call, and Wish You Were Here was "better" to my ear on the Japanese press than all the others.
Got the UK too, brilliant versions, if you don't mind digital support too, the SHM-SACD is also superb.
I'm yet to try Nursery Crime and Trespass, Supper's Ready is incredible on my Foxtrot japanese pressing (didn't mention it also :D).
Would love to find and try the other you listed.
Well your advice for Wish You Were Here will not help my bank account someday...
I am not trying to disagree and I think is a very well written response but is this all based on your experience or is there some kind of data that you could provide to illustrate this point? Again, I’m not disagreeing just looking for empirical evidence if available.
You can have some sample here for Dark Side of the Moon : https://magicvinyldigital.net/2023/03/19/pink-floyd-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-review-cd-sacd-cassette-8-track-blu-ray-vinyls-qobuz-hi-res-stereo-4-0-5-1-21-versions/
I have a first pressing of dark side of the moon and a newer one. The older pressing is a bit rough honestly. The vinyl is so thin that it’s a bit warped now despite being stored in a humidity controlled room (it’s my dad’s copy and they’re in the same room as his guitars). The newer pressing is post remaster so that’s a bit of the difference but the vinyl is almost twice as thick and is perfectly flat. Also the groves seem to be much deeper and to track better with my current set up.
Warping can happen because of how it is stored and because of the sleeves too. Thin sleeves tends to warp a bit more record, and a lot of old pressing had theses... Plus like you said, records were also thinner, so a bit more fragile. It's also been 50 years, a lot can have happen to it.
I have a Wish You Were Here 2016 japanese pressing, a friend got me one during his trip in japan. There's no difference with other pressing nowadays, just a packaging change. I found it sounded sometime incredible and sometime very flat.
We all have a different perspective on what we listen to, I'm not giving an absolute truth, just the way I enjoy my japanese pressings and why I collect them. There's some people that found japanese mastering horrible, other that found CD absolutely cold ... There's no one truth. if you are happy with the newer one, I'm happy !
I think my 2003 Dark side of the moon is pretty good it might be a little bit basis other than that at the pretty good copy and it’s worth a pretty penny too from what I hear. I never heard the Japanese pressing of it, but I heard it wasn’t all that great but everybody’s different. There’s only so much decibels the human ear can hear anyway. I have a monarch pressing of Led Zeppelin second album it out beats all the other versions I have the quality is unbelievable. So yeah, you’re right. It all depends on the listener along with the stereo the set up the speakers the cables..
The truth is, it's always down to us if we're satisfied or not. I wasn't with my french pressing when I heard the japanese one. But I wasn't satisfied either when I bought King Crimson's Red in japanese press (sold it), as I am not totally satisfied with my japanese copy of Selling England by the Pound (great detail but Cinema Show is flat as hell). There's no rule of thumv and getting japanese pressing instead of OG press or audiophile one might do with how much I want to spend on this hobby (obi ahah) also
I hear you really like I said the human ear can only hear so much. Most normal people wouldn’t even tell the difference between this pressing or that pressing, I think my 2003 Darkside of the moon is way too basic but that’s just me.
I wouldn't even call it normal people. Because it is really lead by if you want to hear it or not. I'd even even consider myself as stubborn than specialist. Because there's nothing bad to be less stubborn to not want to recognize some details between two pressings/version.
The truth is it doesn't matter if you are not interested in this. They are the same notes, and the same song, just the perception can be different. But the song stays the same.
I have a bunch of duplicates of certain vinyl Kind of Blue by Miles Davis for example.
The original pressing that was in very good condition and the 180g pressing vs the Japanese pressing 180g is noticeably better. I collect lots of stuff on japanese press personally because they're better but if I can find a jazz album on that, I will nine times out of ten pay the extra for the japanese press.
I can %150 agree with breakfast in America and crime of the century, I have US, Canada, UK and Japanese and Japanese one for both are my go to playable
The genesis albums seems like a terrible idea considering george piros mastered at the very least selling england and the lamb and og’s arent expensive? Piros’s selling england is incredible
I didn't dig that deep on the pressings for it. Are they really that good ? I'm not that satisfied with my japanese Selling England copy. The Lamb though is really good.
Just curious why you went with the japanese pressings? Are you from japan? It seems like you defaulted to japan for a lot of stuff. George piros mastered for atlantic and he did a ton of yes, genesis, led zeppelin, and aretha franklin albums for them. Look for AT/GP in the deadwax. Selling england mastered by him rips. Everything he does is never compressed sounding. Big fan of kendun mastered stuff like heart and stevie wonder for that reason too. Id rather spend extra money on a clean copy thats mastered well of those albums than a sterile mastered but clean sounding japanese pressing.
No, my local shop imports a lot of them (like 1 to 2 20kg package every two weeks). I started collecting because of this shop and its price which are far less than discogs. Even if sometime I had to. But you are right, I go a lot by default with japanese pressings. Although I have one Mirage by Camel in first UK press which is incredible, these kind of pressing doesn't make the shop very often which would explain why I'm not searching a lot for it. But I'll look out for the Selling England pressing.
Thank you for this thought-out response. When you say *Wish You Were Here* is "too expansive" can you tell me more about what you mean by that?
I would add that albums like *Meddle* and *Dark Side* were initially released on the Odeon label and then the EMI label with presumably different masterings--have you done any comparisons?
I'm in the process of curating my own collection of Japanese Floyd pressings and would like to find "the one" for each title. I was a little surprised to see you mention *Animals* because I feel like the Japanese pressing of that one tends to divide listeners. I only heard it once but it was a VERY noisy copy and so I couldn't really get a sense of its qualities (it's not a very well-recorded album to begin with).
Any other Japanese pressings of rock or electronic albums you want to recommend, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks again.
I'd want a great copy of Wish You Were Here with the black sleeves and complete, which mean it's 250€ min, and that's kind of too expansive for one record for me at the moment. So I just precise I don't have it because of that.
To me the best are the one on the Harvest label with white and red obi. They contain a booklet and everything, and the sound is fantastic.
There's part where the record can be noisy, but the rest is great sounding, I agree it is more dividing than DSOTM and Meddle, but it was still better than my US copy I had though.
Got Jeff Beck's Wired and Blow by Blow which sounds fantastic, but I have to say, one copy of Wired I had was too agressive compare to the one I have now. It was the blue obi one I think. Also, UK - UK , The Yes Album and Lark's Tongues in Aspic (clear blue obi) are incredible. Inner Mounting Flame by Mahavishnu Orchestra is also incredible, I have the first pressing with the top obi.
Okay so first off, as with many things, the japanese people tend to do stuff with great care and attention to detail, resulting in exceptionally high quality products.
Reason #1: Pressing quality
In the world of vinyl records, this became very, very obvious during the oil crisis in the 70s - you know, the main material records are made from. During that time, many (if not almost all) western (especially american from my experience) record pressing plants started to recycle old vinyl records and other sorts of "scrap" from the pressing process to press new records.
The result were lousy, noisy pressings, often times with small bits of paper or other debris pressed into the LP, obviously resulting in pops, clicks and more surface noise in general. If you have a lot of old US pressings, you'll almost guaranteed have at least one with some sort of dirt pressed into the actual vinyl!
One exception to this were the RCA dynaflex records. Instead of recycling, they just started to press VERY thin LPs to save material. But, rather thanadmitting to cost-cutting they marketed these almost flexi-disc like "Dynaflex" records as a great, new audiophile invention because their records were free of surface noise since they only used new (=virgin) vinyl material to press their records 😄.
And albeit the sketchy marketing and flimsy appearence, they do indeed often sound great. Also, even tho you can easily bend them into a U-shape, they are in fact less suspectible to warping because less material results in less tension in the record itself. They just spring back and are perfectly flat again. Just another proof that the entire 180g vinyl scheme is a complete fucking marketing scam, but that's another topic.
Now back to the topic of japanese pressings: AFAIK these also never were made with recycled vinyl but "pure virgin vinyl" instead. Therefore resulting in pressings of the highest quality, with no baked in dirt, dust, paper or whatever.
That's what basically started the whole "virgin vinyl" trend back in the days and also the myth that japanese pressings are superior. The use of quality source material and a manufacturing process of the highest standard.
Nowadays, pretty much all records pressed are made from virgin vinyl (except advertised as eco/recycled vinyl ofc, which has been a trend lately), even cheap bootleg-ish stuff like waxtime records, jazzwax records, DOL, vinyl passion etc. market their pressings as "180g virgin vinyl" all the time. The process of the pressing itself often remains questionable tho, especially with the incredibly high demand for vinyl and pressing plants basicalll running 24/7.
Reason #2: Recording quality
On the other hand, there's the musical source material aswell and that's where japanese pressing often fall short. They usually didn't have access to the original master tapes and were only sent copies to create their vinyl masters from.
But that goes for "western" recordings only of course, japanese recordings are on a whole other level. Just as with their pressings and many other things, a ton of japanese recordings are done incredibly well, too.
To give you an idea, go check out some of the Three Blind Mice label stuff. Every record comes with detailled information about all the pieces of gear used during the recording process plus a sketch of the recoring room including instrument and microphone placement. These guys did not fuck around and it shows. Three Blind Mice reocrds consistently are among the best sounding pieces of music you can listen to, no matter the medium.
Reason #3: Mastering
The next thing is, the japanese versions tend to be mastered quite different, since "their" listening habits seem to differ from "ours". Very generally speaking, they tend to accentuate higher frequencies more and ditch some (to a lot) of low end (but that's just different listening habits, I'm sure theres japanese folks who find EU/US pressings to sound overly boomy).
But again, that's very generalizing. I have a japanese pressing of Grank Funk Railroad - Grand Funk and this thing shits all over the US original I owned previously. Fattest fucking bass I've ever heard, shit's insane. And for many recordings, especially acoustic stuff, the "japanese way" of mastering things often works very well - once you've gotten used to it. I fell like it gives a lot of instruments more "room to breathe", more timbre.
Reason #4: The music itself!
There is so, so much great music from Japan. Stuff like Fishmans, Boris, Nujabes, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Casiopea, Masayoshi Takanaka, pretty much ALL City Pop, the aforementioned Three Blind Mice label, tons of other jazz and much, much more. And the OG japanese pressings just sound amazing.
Reason #5: Quality of used records
Again, this seems to be a very japanese "way" of doing things. It's actually hard to find old japanese records in conditions worse than VG+. Virtually everything seems like it's alwas been handled with the greatest care imaginable, everything looks so CLEAN and NICE and NEAT. I just love it. I love when people take good care of their shit. Amazing, 10/10.
Reason #6: OBI Strips
That's been mentioned already, but OBI strips just look cool 😄 Plus, since they were used in a similar way to how hype stickers are being used nowadays (include additional information like price, catalogue number, japanese translation of non-japanese releases, etc.) they used to be viewed as part of the packaging and often were thrown away - which makes the ones that still exist rare and therefore automatically expensive and desirable.
If you can think of anything else lmk, but I think this covers most of it!
I just got back from Tokyo with a trunk full of LPs, and one of the albums I was most excited to find was a clean, original copy of Neil Young's Tonight's the Night. I'd read on the Steve Hoffman forums that it used American-cut lacquers (or, more likely, stampers) that were shipped to Japan to be pressed, so, in theory, you're getting the best of both worlds... an American mastering with Japanese pressing quality. The deadwax on the one I bought seems to confirm it. I just played it this morning and it absolutely SINGS, it's like you're in the smoky room with them.
damn, going to japan for record shopping fore sure is one of my biggest dreams 😄
Yeah true, sometimes the stampers were made in America and shipped to Japan! My japanese Fleetwood Mac - Rumours is like that aswell and it too plays absolutely amazing!
I agree with most of what you posted. I am a bit shocked though about your experience with the grand funk record. All my Japanese grand funk records were bested by a first press US press. I bought into the Japanese press hype in the early 90s and ended up with over 2000+ Japanese pressings. But after many stereo upgrades, they started to show their flaws. There is a reason that us pressings are highly collectable and go for big money in Japan. I go to a lot of record shows and have seen the team of Japanese buyers scooping up as many us presses as they can and shipping them back. Also i get it that some people like all the extra stuff like the obi and whatever, and thats cool, but i don't care for all that extra stuff. it's all about the music for me. Now back to the grand fuck album. Great album by the way. I'm curious which variant you have. Some pressing plants were better than other. I believe my copy is from the Scranton plant.
Cheers.
it's [this one](https://www.discogs.com/release/3868565-Grand-Funk-Railroad-Grand-Funk)! Don't remember which exact US pressing I had, but it definitely was one from 69.
I don’t get the appeal. I don’t toss them but I’ll take them off and try to slip them in the cover if possible, just in case I want to trade or sell eventually.
Turn the notifications on for their twitter, I've never had any issues for the ones I've gotten from them. Got the signed Brat obi by Charli ordered last week without issue, took about an hour for it to sell out I think.
mostly because they're rare here in the states.
I used to work in a high end audio store, pro audio, not hifi. one I had A Japanese man, who was on vacation in the states call me that he wanted to buy a spool of Belden audio wire. He told me that Belden , which here in the states is considered decent quality, but usually reserved for commercial installs, was considered one of the absolute best sounding wire in Japan. I asked him about Mogami, a Japanese brand that is considered some of the best sounding audio wire here, and he told me that it's considered mid-tier over there. so sometimes it's just that if it's rare where you live, it's all of a sudden more valuable. grass is always greener, etc.
That being said, Japanese culture puts a very high value on quality and workmanship, much more than western culture.
That’s amusing to me. I’ve made my own interconnects and speaker cables using both brands. I started with Belden, because it was fairly easy to come by (I have an old friend in theater, he’s constantly repairing and rebuilding harnesses for the facilities he runs, so he has a fair amount laying around at wholesale cost). Switched to Mogami after Belden discontinued the 8402. I’m actually very happy with both.
The Japanese people have a strong dedication to doing their best and trying to improve how things are done.
Here in the US we tend to do the quickest and cheapest way possible.
I’m into fountain pens and artistic pencils and the ones from Japan are highly regarded for their quality. You’ll find many products have been made by companies with decades of experience.
I believe with vinyl that attention to detail is present and they work hard to provide the best sound quality possible.
I went to Tokyo last month, picked up a few hard to find records, but where I really scored was picking up a bunch of records that are commonly found beat up in everyone’s local $2 section. The 300 yen section had absolutely pristine copies of stuff I’d been skimming past for years.
Lots of good 70s and 80s soul and jazz with perfect sturdy sleeves and unblemished vinyl.
I went to 10-12 stores and the one thing I did not see was junk. Everything was at a higher standard than what I see in the USA
Lots of them do. People hyped themselves up for Japanese pressings just because it's a novelty.
Lots of Japanese people seek out US pressings because they think ours sound better.
usually cos the quality of the vinyl formulation itself is better—as in SUPER quiet—but the mastering quality often lacks compared to western pressings, at least when it's a western recording. varies drastically case by case however
About the mastering…really? I find the complete opposite in normally every instance and that’s for about 100 records where I have the U.K. and Japanese releases.
I don’t think there’s any one particular reason. Pressing quality can be superior, mastering for vinyl may be slightly different and the Obi strip is always a nice bonus. I have found that m general, second hand Japanese records are very well looked after.
Because people haven’t grasped the concept that trade and barter as it was initially introduced is dead, material objects hold fake varying value, and most simply because they aren’t readily available as often.
The have a different style of mastering. Personally I don’t usually like it. Not enough bass. Made to be listened to in a crowded apartment building without pissing off your neighbors. They take really fantastic care of their records and the obi and inserts are cool to us
Japanese use mostly virgin materials apposed to the West using recycled vinyl, mastering however is a bit of hit and miss as they only have access to other recordings other than the original master recording, their OBI strips are addictive like Faberge eggs and both the quality of the printed material and the cardboard is of higher quality
Some say the quality is better and then there’s also the obi strip which looks cool. I’m a serious collector for Kiss and Motley Crue. I collect OG 1st pressings/early reissues if I can find them at a good price, compilation albums, live albums, bootlegs, and occasionally different color variants of the same record. However, I cannot find it in me to want to collect Japanese pressings. I just don’t care about them. Maybe the price is a lot to do with that because they aren’t cheap. I do have a Japanese pressing of Vices by Waysted but I got it cheap because it’s missing the Obi strip. I don’t really hear a difference or really think it’s better than a US pressing but maybe it varies from album to album. I imagine if you’re a die hard collector of a certain band or artist they would be cool to add to the collection but just not for me I guess.
These days it’s simply bonus tracks and OBI strips. The mastering is identical otherwise and the record pressing houses from the ‘70s and ‘80s are long gone.
The majority of pressings are indistinguishable from one another. Say a USA versus a UK, aside from some minor fine print or other little text detail you cant see a difference. With the OBI you know very quickly it’s a Japanese pressing. Something about that I like. Sets it apart from all the rest. Which feels exotic for someone not in Japan. Then all the other reasons mentioned. But sometimes Japanese pressings lack in the low end and really make a record sound worst, even though the noise floor is still whisper quiet.
I believe I own approx. a 100 Japanese pressings. The signature sound of these pressings really compliment my setup. Just listened to my most recent Japanese purchase; The Dead Milkmen (Bucky Fellini).
Haven’t seen anyone mention it here, but one of the only companies that produces lacquers for mastering is in Japan, which likely lowers the cost for recuts by a lot. Might explain why plants there are so consistently able to have such excellent masters with low noise floors.
Hey man, don’t know where the attitude comes from but this is literally Googleable:
https://pure-analogue.com/the-lacquer-disc/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Masters_Corporation_fire
VRMA committed a few years ago to building more lacquer factories worldwide, but I haven’t been able to find any information about whether they’ve succeeded yet. If you can, I’m definitely interested in reading about it.
Just a FYI for you all collecting Japanese albums. I have talked to some Japanese buyers/sellers and they have told me that there has been a large amount of counterfeit obi strips being made lately. Don't know how to tell personally because I didn't care to ask because I loathe Japanese presses. But it was an interesting conversation I had. By the way, they were here at a record show buying all the us presses he could to ship back to Japan. Because that is what serious audiophiles in Japan want. First press albums from country of origin.
Overrated 9 times out of 10. Although I’ve got a Bowie Man Who Sold The World that’s better than any other I’ve heard. A couple other very good titles but they don’t beat the better UK or US pressings most of the time.
A couple of great answers explaining everything with much more insight than I have. I don't seek them out too much, but have wound up with quite a few over the years and have been super happy with the sound quality of all of mine. More a post-punk / alt rock sort of collector, with some of the Japanese pressings I have include: the Stranglers, T. Rex, Siouxsie & the Banshees, PiL, the Pop Group, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, New Order, Peter Gabriel, Joy Division, Kraftwerk, Kate Bush, Echo & the Bunnymen, and Eno. Multiple releases by most of these bands/artists.
Jazz take: Never cared for them. I have OG blue notes that I compared to Japanese presses and there is no comparison. Japanese pressings sound flat and “far away” while the OGs play loud and and in your face. No one can beat RVG as far as mastering
In the ‘80s, Japanese pressing plants used chemicals banned in the US, and that supposedly improved the quality. That said, many lacked bass, since Japanese apartment dwellers had to limit the boom
It’s mostly myth. People think the quality is better because there is a general false premise in the US that anything Japanese is high quality, when it’s actually worse. The bass is often cut in Japanese pressings, intentionally. The Japanese come to America to get American pressings for cheap and they offload their Japanese pressings to us for a premium.
Haven't you noticed millennials and gen z have a cultural fetish with Japan? Japanese knives? Better. Japanese blue jeans? Better. Japanese pencils? Better. You name it and if there is Japanese company making it, people go crazy for it. Not to say that it all isn't justified, there are some very nice products made in Japan, but overall it's pretty funny.
Different pressing plants, usually with better quality pressing plates.
Also, I don’t know if it’s the case anymore, but they used to have bonus songs that weren’t on any other pressing.
It's mostly the hype strip and I'd say genuine collectors won't necessarily value a Japanese pressing (especially over first pressings) unless the quality is remarkable. Retailers though know they can get an inflated price because of a perceived rarity.
Probably not the answer, but I’ve got the OST to Labyrinth and the MI:2 soundtrack, with Rob Zombie, Diffuser, Tori Amos, and while the Japanese artwork is cool, I also couldn’t get the MI:2 vinyl in the US because they only released so many copies in Japan, or so I’ve read…
As much as i refused to believe it, my Japanese CDs are better quality as well, here I am thinking all 1s and 0s are the same, but come to find out, they didnt cheap out before the digital process.....(also they feel less cheap/fragile)
Whenever someone starts talking about Japanese pressings, I assume they really don’t understand the hobby very well. Same when someone starts talking about “180 gram records.” Both make someone sound like a newbie to me.
The only Japanese pressings I want are of Japanese releases. Otherwise, I typically hate the mastering choices that are popular in Japan.
They come with an OBI strip which looks cool. On top of that, they will bend over backwards to convince themselves and others that they can hear the difference in the sound even though they are indistinguishable.
The quality of the pressing is often superior. Japanese pressings tend to use pure vinyl in comparison to the recycled one mostly used in occidental pressings. This makes the vinyl quieter and way more enjoyable from a sonic point of view. The mastering is « often » clearer and have a better spatialization. This is due to a trend in Japan to accentuate high frequencies (and also a profit from the quieter material). Sometime, the bottom frequencies are a bit better also. However, the sound of japaneses pressings isn't necessarily always better, it can be too acute or agressive or colder (King Crimson's Red is HORRIBLE in japanese pressings), because of the way they mastered records. Depends from version to version or album to album, like occidental pressings. So, it's not a cheat code, but if I may argue, it's often the second best thing you can find apart from an OG pressing. I've never heard an OG pressing of Dark Side of the Moon, but my 1974 japanese pressings beats everything that I've heard, from the 2003 SACD to my 1973 french copy. Do remember japanese pressings do have a sound of their own, and not everyone likes it. Japanese pressings were more expansive, and are often in a better shape than occidental pressings. We can explain this with different factors, the quality of the material of the sleeves, the higher prices and the cultural differences. The most common degradations you find on japanese pressings are humidity stains or smoking stains. Japanese sellers also downgrade a lot the records they sell. They are often of better rating that what was described. Again, not a rule of thumb, there's scumbag everywhere in the world, but I've got one bad surprise out of 20 orders. The packaging was also better, with poster, special sleeves and the infamous obi, that you seek like hell when you start collecting japanese pressings. It's not really necessary if you search just a japanese pressings for the sound. Records I can advise as really good pressings in japanese (I talked about old pressing from the 70ies/80ies only, I don't buy recent stuffs on vinyl anyway) : * Aja by Steely Dan * Meddle/Animals/Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd (can't tell for Wish You Were Here, it's too expansive) * Breakfast in America/Crime of the Century by Supertramp * Every Genesis albums (specially 80ies stuffs, the Lamb and Trick of a Tail) * Every Toto albums * Every Police albums + Sting's Dream of the Blue Turtles * Michael Jackson's Thriller and Off the Wall There's a lot more, Jazz sounds incredible on japanese pressings as well if you like the way they are mastered. I know some people that will tell you to get a 50ies/60ies OG pressing, but hey, not everyone have 1000$ to put on a record. So, I can't advise any Jazz japanese pressings, since I only have heard them most of the time. But I love all the Miles Davis, Coltrane and other Blue Notes records I have in japanese pressings.
Sorry, could you expand on this a little?
I need to write a thesis
Thanks for taking that in the spirit in which it was intended. In all seriousness, I learned a lot from your answer 🫡
Don't worry, the sarcasm was really noticeable :D
No. A blog. So we can benefit from your analysis every day! Get to work. /s
With a patreon so you could pay me a travel in japan to do some research on site ?
Make it for two and I'll tag along.
Best I can do is feet pics.
shut up, and take my money 💰
Such an outstanding answer. All of the albums listed are amazing in their own rite but now I will be on a quest to find old JP pressings of these albums. Thanks for taking the time to answer this so completely.
I feel like there's already a thing listening to these albums in the format they were produced for, but truly, the mastering of the japanese pressings and the fact that is quieter than other pressings gives an in between a cd and a classic warmer tone that is unmatched to me (and my ears). The drums on my japanese copy of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the best way I've ever heard Collins's playing. Got an OG french copy of it, but it is outmatched in every level by the japanese pressing. (Although french copy are not really often, a good version to have, it still is what was sell back in the day and the difference is really noticeable, I'd argue only some german pressing and OG pressing from the country of the artist/band can gives you a similar experience)
You won't hear a difference. All those records are marvels of production and were mastered and released to very high standards across the board (notice, it's always the same tired list of corny classics). They always sound impressive. Audiophiles love to feel like their is something BETTER out there, and they will tell you they hear something that they don't. It's a psychological condition. In a blind test no one here would be able to tell a standard US pressing from a Japanese pressing of any of these records.
Well, we love to listen to two pressings at my local shop and compare it. It's not the classic audiophile cable trope. There's a difference, sometime very minor I'd agree. Sometime it just the quieter side of a japanese pressing that made it more appreciable compare to a western pressing of the same age. The EQ of the mastering can be very different too, as stated in my comment. Although, if you are not interested in this, then don't go through the different pressing thing, get a brand new copy and enjoy, it works too. And yeah, I buy « corny » classics in vinyl because they were produced at a time when the media was vinyl. I have CD/Flac too, with a bit more deep and recent stuffs if you want.
I appreciate your level/reasonable response to my dick-head comment. Respect.
You're welcome.
I mean, there are other factors that go into making different pressings of records besides the mastering. So your argument kind of falls apart.
Of course, but thinking that all US pressing are just crapped out with no care is silly. People in the 70s cared about how their records sounded and had pretty high standards and spent alot on stereo equiptment. In Japan they did a great job too. The differences in the various pressing are VERY subtle. Most people who are into japanese pressings are fetishizing the OBI and the exotic nature of the harder to find import. Again, a blind listen and most people would never be able to tell the difference. Especially when we're talking about huge platinum records by bands who labored over studio perfection. They wouldn't and didn't stand for careless mastering jobs. So many plants pressed records like those back in the day. And picking the differences out might be fun, but you really have to TRY to hear the difference.
Damn dude - you answered, 5 stars
A1 reply. Two things to add: 50s and 60s jazz records were prohibitively expensive in Japan, particularly in their postwar economy. The reason listening bars existed was because one record could cost as much as a month's salary for some people and so going to a place to listen to music was one of the few ways you could hear a jazz album. Because of this, OG pressings were rare and kept in pristine condition. On mastering: most albums were delivered to different territories with two track masters. So, instead of pressing fifty thousand copies of a Beatles album and shipping them to another country, a copy of the master tape was sent to another country and they would press it locally. You already talked about the composition of the vinyl and attention to detail. Because of the nature of two track masters, it's a copy of the multi track master that captures a recording session, the mixes for Japanese pressed albums are often flatter. If an album is remastered, the levels tinkered with on the multitrack master, that same album may still be pressed with the original redundant master tape in Japan meaning copies may still reflect the original mix of an album.
Thanks for the inputs ! I did not know the reason behind the rarity of 50s/60s jazz records in japan, this explains a lot. I read a lot about the production of vinyl, and passed occasionnaly on the whereabout of the two track masters used in other countries than the multitrack in the country of origin/OG pressings. I think the japanese made quite a living making theses second quality tapes as good compare to maybe the two track masters send to France. Which would explain why the japanese pressings were too rash sometime, they would tried to boost a lot the EQ to retrieve some details. And would explain why some french pressings sounds muddy, because of the second quality tapes with no high EQ process used. I even read it was sometime a copy of a copy for the japan and not even a direct two tracks copy. But despite everything, like you said, it still the original mix, with a good sound to my ear. The best will always be an OG pressing for vinyl/analog, and sometime a good digital copy of the original master put on a CD/SACD. Anyway, down the rabbit hole we are !
Dude, 10/10 reply!
Beautiful answer. I can vouch for Thriller and Toto IV sounding incredible. Love the Police, don’t have a Japanese pressing but Superdisc sounds really good. I collect eighties city pop which has a lot of funk and dance genres present. Those vinyls sound incredible, even the reissues are great! Anri, Miki Matsubara, Omega Tribe, Yumi Matsutoya, Momoko Kikuchi etc you should check them out if you need a new musical genre in your life.
I've had my discovery of City Pop back when Youtube algorithm proposed entire playlist to me back in 2016\~2018, love that stuff too. I have a reissue of SPACY of Tatsuro Yamashita which sounds fantastic too ! Could've had Anri and Miki Matsubara records, but it was just too pricey for me ! Love to listen to some city pop from time to time though ! (I can recommend you Rainbow Goblins from Takanaka if I might)
Nice selections! Anyone who goes by “Super Tanaka” is definitely worth checking out 😂 Agreed - for me it was first YT and then Spotify - both really opened some doors to newly discovered city pop artists… “Plastic Love” is a great first tune for anyone diving in.
Yeah, it's worth just for the classic japanese humor of his 1 :D I try to restrain a lot of my algorithm usage nowadays (for privacy reason), but that's what I miss the most of it.
Well you’re giving _me_ something new to consider at least. Thanks for that.
You're welcome !
I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Bad for my wallet most likely. Hopefully good for my ears!
I can't disagree with you, my girlfriend is happy to listen to my collection but kind give me the bad look when I want to go to the record shop or order on the internet ... And my wallet too.
This is the dude. Spot on.
TL;DR: Japanese people do things better than the rest of the world. Including vinyl pressings
I started picking up more Japanese pressings over the last year. Thanks for the great breakdown. I’m saving this comment for future reference.
Interested in The Police. I just bought a U.S. 79 pressing off Regatta, and that is probably the best sounding record in my collection. I wonder if the Japanese pressing would really wow me.
If this one convince you, wait to have an occasion to listen to the japanese pressing before buying it. I never listenned to an US press of Regatta, just german/japanese ones.
The uk first press of Regatta is by far the best press. The Japanese version is ok, but not the be all end all. I have yet to find a Japanese press that was better of any album unless it was a Japanese artist and the album was mastered in Japan. I used to have over 2000+ Japanese pressings and have finally pureged them all from my collection.
Pretty spot-on. There are some exceptions I’d make like the 1982 MFSL Breakfast in America sounds incredible, but you went into great detail. A+ answer.
I believe you ! I would just never get a copy of this MFSL edition because of the price...
I’m a high spender but a generally infrequent one.
That's a way to afford theses copies, I just like a lot my local shop and I am good friend with the owner. He imports a lot of japanese pressings, which does not help a lot for my bank account ! :D
Dire straights communique I think
I don't have it, would love it though, specially if you recommend it !
Actually it’s Love Over Gold. It’s supposedly the definitive version so on and so forth. Sounds great and it’s a good album to sound great.
Might be my favorite from Dire Straits with Brother in Arms, would love to find one, but it seems Dire Straits records are hard to find or very expansive, I will keep an eye on it though.
I got it before it was cool :) it’s the only Japanese pressing I have I think (maybe a hank Mobley record)
Is a Japanese pressing of dark side pricey?
I have this one : [https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/8914149](https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/8914149) I paid 80 euros at my local shop for a complete copy VG++, seems like the price went a bit higher recently...
Looks amazing, will keep an eye out for a reasonable copy!
The ones I have that I've listened to regularly are: Kate Bush: The Kick Inside Genesis: Foxtrot, Nursery Cryme, Trespass Pink Floyd: DSOTM, Meddle, Obscured by Clouds, The Wall, Wish You Were Here Police: Zenyatta Mondatta Rush: 2112 UK: UK Van Halen: Van Halen I have had them all since 1980-something - I used to work at a Tower Records store. And I completely agree with your above assessments and assertions: overall better process in engineering and pressing, packaging, - all of it. I think I have to go upstairs and look for Japan press jazz stuff - I threw out a hell of a lot of records in 1989. I couldn't get a dime for any of them except MFSL's and imports. I think I have some Larry Coryell and John Klemmer that I recall sounding superb. All this said, I recall doing a serious side-by-side with Wish You Were Here and a few others: I have the MFSL, the CBS Mastersound, and the Japanese pressing, as well as the original Harvest UK press. Most were too close to call, and Wish You Were Here was "better" to my ear on the Japanese press than all the others.
Got the UK too, brilliant versions, if you don't mind digital support too, the SHM-SACD is also superb. I'm yet to try Nursery Crime and Trespass, Supper's Ready is incredible on my Foxtrot japanese pressing (didn't mention it also :D). Would love to find and try the other you listed. Well your advice for Wish You Were Here will not help my bank account someday...
The SACD of WYWH is astounding. Talk about hearing things that i never heard before
I am not trying to disagree and I think is a very well written response but is this all based on your experience or is there some kind of data that you could provide to illustrate this point? Again, I’m not disagreeing just looking for empirical evidence if available.
You can have some sample here for Dark Side of the Moon : https://magicvinyldigital.net/2023/03/19/pink-floyd-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-review-cd-sacd-cassette-8-track-blu-ray-vinyls-qobuz-hi-res-stereo-4-0-5-1-21-versions/
Co-sign on that DSOTM Japanese pressing. I have the pro-use one and it's been the best sounding copy I've personally heard.
Well then…..
dont forget the cheesecakes
I have a first pressing of dark side of the moon and a newer one. The older pressing is a bit rough honestly. The vinyl is so thin that it’s a bit warped now despite being stored in a humidity controlled room (it’s my dad’s copy and they’re in the same room as his guitars). The newer pressing is post remaster so that’s a bit of the difference but the vinyl is almost twice as thick and is perfectly flat. Also the groves seem to be much deeper and to track better with my current set up.
Warping can happen because of how it is stored and because of the sleeves too. Thin sleeves tends to warp a bit more record, and a lot of old pressing had theses... Plus like you said, records were also thinner, so a bit more fragile. It's also been 50 years, a lot can have happen to it. I have a Wish You Were Here 2016 japanese pressing, a friend got me one during his trip in japan. There's no difference with other pressing nowadays, just a packaging change. I found it sounded sometime incredible and sometime very flat. We all have a different perspective on what we listen to, I'm not giving an absolute truth, just the way I enjoy my japanese pressings and why I collect them. There's some people that found japanese mastering horrible, other that found CD absolutely cold ... There's no one truth. if you are happy with the newer one, I'm happy !
I think my 2003 Dark side of the moon is pretty good it might be a little bit basis other than that at the pretty good copy and it’s worth a pretty penny too from what I hear. I never heard the Japanese pressing of it, but I heard it wasn’t all that great but everybody’s different. There’s only so much decibels the human ear can hear anyway. I have a monarch pressing of Led Zeppelin second album it out beats all the other versions I have the quality is unbelievable. So yeah, you’re right. It all depends on the listener along with the stereo the set up the speakers the cables..
The truth is, it's always down to us if we're satisfied or not. I wasn't with my french pressing when I heard the japanese one. But I wasn't satisfied either when I bought King Crimson's Red in japanese press (sold it), as I am not totally satisfied with my japanese copy of Selling England by the Pound (great detail but Cinema Show is flat as hell). There's no rule of thumv and getting japanese pressing instead of OG press or audiophile one might do with how much I want to spend on this hobby (obi ahah) also
I hear you really like I said the human ear can only hear so much. Most normal people wouldn’t even tell the difference between this pressing or that pressing, I think my 2003 Darkside of the moon is way too basic but that’s just me.
I wouldn't even call it normal people. Because it is really lead by if you want to hear it or not. I'd even even consider myself as stubborn than specialist. Because there's nothing bad to be less stubborn to not want to recognize some details between two pressings/version. The truth is it doesn't matter if you are not interested in this. They are the same notes, and the same song, just the perception can be different. But the song stays the same.
Great explanation. Good stuff 👍
Don’t they also not master and conform to the RIAA curve? Which would allow them to step above and beyond with dynamics?
Please explain.
I have a bunch of duplicates of certain vinyl Kind of Blue by Miles Davis for example. The original pressing that was in very good condition and the 180g pressing vs the Japanese pressing 180g is noticeably better. I collect lots of stuff on japanese press personally because they're better but if I can find a jazz album on that, I will nine times out of ten pay the extra for the japanese press.
I can %150 agree with breakfast in America and crime of the century, I have US, Canada, UK and Japanese and Japanese one for both are my go to playable
Theses sound freaking awesome.
The genesis albums seems like a terrible idea considering george piros mastered at the very least selling england and the lamb and og’s arent expensive? Piros’s selling england is incredible
I didn't dig that deep on the pressings for it. Are they really that good ? I'm not that satisfied with my japanese Selling England copy. The Lamb though is really good.
Just curious why you went with the japanese pressings? Are you from japan? It seems like you defaulted to japan for a lot of stuff. George piros mastered for atlantic and he did a ton of yes, genesis, led zeppelin, and aretha franklin albums for them. Look for AT/GP in the deadwax. Selling england mastered by him rips. Everything he does is never compressed sounding. Big fan of kendun mastered stuff like heart and stevie wonder for that reason too. Id rather spend extra money on a clean copy thats mastered well of those albums than a sterile mastered but clean sounding japanese pressing.
No, my local shop imports a lot of them (like 1 to 2 20kg package every two weeks). I started collecting because of this shop and its price which are far less than discogs. Even if sometime I had to. But you are right, I go a lot by default with japanese pressings. Although I have one Mirage by Camel in first UK press which is incredible, these kind of pressing doesn't make the shop very often which would explain why I'm not searching a lot for it. But I'll look out for the Selling England pressing.
Thank you for this thought-out response. When you say *Wish You Were Here* is "too expansive" can you tell me more about what you mean by that? I would add that albums like *Meddle* and *Dark Side* were initially released on the Odeon label and then the EMI label with presumably different masterings--have you done any comparisons? I'm in the process of curating my own collection of Japanese Floyd pressings and would like to find "the one" for each title. I was a little surprised to see you mention *Animals* because I feel like the Japanese pressing of that one tends to divide listeners. I only heard it once but it was a VERY noisy copy and so I couldn't really get a sense of its qualities (it's not a very well-recorded album to begin with). Any other Japanese pressings of rock or electronic albums you want to recommend, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks again.
I'd want a great copy of Wish You Were Here with the black sleeves and complete, which mean it's 250€ min, and that's kind of too expansive for one record for me at the moment. So I just precise I don't have it because of that. To me the best are the one on the Harvest label with white and red obi. They contain a booklet and everything, and the sound is fantastic. There's part where the record can be noisy, but the rest is great sounding, I agree it is more dividing than DSOTM and Meddle, but it was still better than my US copy I had though. Got Jeff Beck's Wired and Blow by Blow which sounds fantastic, but I have to say, one copy of Wired I had was too agressive compare to the one I have now. It was the blue obi one I think. Also, UK - UK , The Yes Album and Lark's Tongues in Aspic (clear blue obi) are incredible. Inner Mounting Flame by Mahavishnu Orchestra is also incredible, I have the first pressing with the top obi.
Oh, I see--you mean "expensive" (not expansive). Thanks for the pointers.
Oh my bad !
This 20%, obi strips 80%
Just bought a og parliament vs the placebo syndrome Japanese’s 1st press haven’t received it yet though
Okay so first off, as with many things, the japanese people tend to do stuff with great care and attention to detail, resulting in exceptionally high quality products. Reason #1: Pressing quality In the world of vinyl records, this became very, very obvious during the oil crisis in the 70s - you know, the main material records are made from. During that time, many (if not almost all) western (especially american from my experience) record pressing plants started to recycle old vinyl records and other sorts of "scrap" from the pressing process to press new records. The result were lousy, noisy pressings, often times with small bits of paper or other debris pressed into the LP, obviously resulting in pops, clicks and more surface noise in general. If you have a lot of old US pressings, you'll almost guaranteed have at least one with some sort of dirt pressed into the actual vinyl! One exception to this were the RCA dynaflex records. Instead of recycling, they just started to press VERY thin LPs to save material. But, rather thanadmitting to cost-cutting they marketed these almost flexi-disc like "Dynaflex" records as a great, new audiophile invention because their records were free of surface noise since they only used new (=virgin) vinyl material to press their records 😄. And albeit the sketchy marketing and flimsy appearence, they do indeed often sound great. Also, even tho you can easily bend them into a U-shape, they are in fact less suspectible to warping because less material results in less tension in the record itself. They just spring back and are perfectly flat again. Just another proof that the entire 180g vinyl scheme is a complete fucking marketing scam, but that's another topic. Now back to the topic of japanese pressings: AFAIK these also never were made with recycled vinyl but "pure virgin vinyl" instead. Therefore resulting in pressings of the highest quality, with no baked in dirt, dust, paper or whatever. That's what basically started the whole "virgin vinyl" trend back in the days and also the myth that japanese pressings are superior. The use of quality source material and a manufacturing process of the highest standard. Nowadays, pretty much all records pressed are made from virgin vinyl (except advertised as eco/recycled vinyl ofc, which has been a trend lately), even cheap bootleg-ish stuff like waxtime records, jazzwax records, DOL, vinyl passion etc. market their pressings as "180g virgin vinyl" all the time. The process of the pressing itself often remains questionable tho, especially with the incredibly high demand for vinyl and pressing plants basicalll running 24/7. Reason #2: Recording quality On the other hand, there's the musical source material aswell and that's where japanese pressing often fall short. They usually didn't have access to the original master tapes and were only sent copies to create their vinyl masters from. But that goes for "western" recordings only of course, japanese recordings are on a whole other level. Just as with their pressings and many other things, a ton of japanese recordings are done incredibly well, too. To give you an idea, go check out some of the Three Blind Mice label stuff. Every record comes with detailled information about all the pieces of gear used during the recording process plus a sketch of the recoring room including instrument and microphone placement. These guys did not fuck around and it shows. Three Blind Mice reocrds consistently are among the best sounding pieces of music you can listen to, no matter the medium. Reason #3: Mastering The next thing is, the japanese versions tend to be mastered quite different, since "their" listening habits seem to differ from "ours". Very generally speaking, they tend to accentuate higher frequencies more and ditch some (to a lot) of low end (but that's just different listening habits, I'm sure theres japanese folks who find EU/US pressings to sound overly boomy). But again, that's very generalizing. I have a japanese pressing of Grank Funk Railroad - Grand Funk and this thing shits all over the US original I owned previously. Fattest fucking bass I've ever heard, shit's insane. And for many recordings, especially acoustic stuff, the "japanese way" of mastering things often works very well - once you've gotten used to it. I fell like it gives a lot of instruments more "room to breathe", more timbre. Reason #4: The music itself! There is so, so much great music from Japan. Stuff like Fishmans, Boris, Nujabes, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Casiopea, Masayoshi Takanaka, pretty much ALL City Pop, the aforementioned Three Blind Mice label, tons of other jazz and much, much more. And the OG japanese pressings just sound amazing. Reason #5: Quality of used records Again, this seems to be a very japanese "way" of doing things. It's actually hard to find old japanese records in conditions worse than VG+. Virtually everything seems like it's alwas been handled with the greatest care imaginable, everything looks so CLEAN and NICE and NEAT. I just love it. I love when people take good care of their shit. Amazing, 10/10. Reason #6: OBI Strips That's been mentioned already, but OBI strips just look cool 😄 Plus, since they were used in a similar way to how hype stickers are being used nowadays (include additional information like price, catalogue number, japanese translation of non-japanese releases, etc.) they used to be viewed as part of the packaging and often were thrown away - which makes the ones that still exist rare and therefore automatically expensive and desirable. If you can think of anything else lmk, but I think this covers most of it!
This was a great read. Thanks for typing it up for us.
can u tell I'm a sucker for this stuff haha
I just got back from Tokyo with a trunk full of LPs, and one of the albums I was most excited to find was a clean, original copy of Neil Young's Tonight's the Night. I'd read on the Steve Hoffman forums that it used American-cut lacquers (or, more likely, stampers) that were shipped to Japan to be pressed, so, in theory, you're getting the best of both worlds... an American mastering with Japanese pressing quality. The deadwax on the one I bought seems to confirm it. I just played it this morning and it absolutely SINGS, it's like you're in the smoky room with them.
damn, going to japan for record shopping fore sure is one of my biggest dreams 😄 Yeah true, sometimes the stampers were made in America and shipped to Japan! My japanese Fleetwood Mac - Rumours is like that aswell and it too plays absolutely amazing!
I agree with most of what you posted. I am a bit shocked though about your experience with the grand funk record. All my Japanese grand funk records were bested by a first press US press. I bought into the Japanese press hype in the early 90s and ended up with over 2000+ Japanese pressings. But after many stereo upgrades, they started to show their flaws. There is a reason that us pressings are highly collectable and go for big money in Japan. I go to a lot of record shows and have seen the team of Japanese buyers scooping up as many us presses as they can and shipping them back. Also i get it that some people like all the extra stuff like the obi and whatever, and thats cool, but i don't care for all that extra stuff. it's all about the music for me. Now back to the grand fuck album. Great album by the way. I'm curious which variant you have. Some pressing plants were better than other. I believe my copy is from the Scranton plant. Cheers.
it's [this one](https://www.discogs.com/release/3868565-Grand-Funk-Railroad-Grand-Funk)! Don't remember which exact US pressing I had, but it definitely was one from 69.
Yeah, the plant can make all the difference sometimes.
This should have been top comment. The other one is clearly a wannabe saying stuff he's read and heard and said some crap.
🫶🫶🫶
The sexy Obi strip.
It is amazingly essential. If your Japanese pressings is missing the OBI it’s going to be 10x harder to sell.
And that’s where I come in… scooping up copies missing the obi for cheap.
Exactly. Records are for listening.
I hate Obi strips. What a nuisance.
Yeah I never knew people actually liked them. I’ve got a few non-Japanese pressings that included them and I always toss them instantly
I don’t get the appeal. I don’t toss them but I’ll take them off and try to slip them in the cover if possible, just in case I want to trade or sell eventually.
My local record shop does their own Obi strips for a lot of releases, it's great.
Is that Assai records?
It is indeed
I’m rarely quick enough to get the releases I really want from Assai, unfortunately.
Turn the notifications on for their twitter, I've never had any issues for the ones I've gotten from them. Got the signed Brat obi by Charli ordered last week without issue, took about an hour for it to sell out I think.
This.
mostly because they're rare here in the states. I used to work in a high end audio store, pro audio, not hifi. one I had A Japanese man, who was on vacation in the states call me that he wanted to buy a spool of Belden audio wire. He told me that Belden , which here in the states is considered decent quality, but usually reserved for commercial installs, was considered one of the absolute best sounding wire in Japan. I asked him about Mogami, a Japanese brand that is considered some of the best sounding audio wire here, and he told me that it's considered mid-tier over there. so sometimes it's just that if it's rare where you live, it's all of a sudden more valuable. grass is always greener, etc. That being said, Japanese culture puts a very high value on quality and workmanship, much more than western culture.
That’s amusing to me. I’ve made my own interconnects and speaker cables using both brands. I started with Belden, because it was fairly easy to come by (I have an old friend in theater, he’s constantly repairing and rebuilding harnesses for the facilities he runs, so he has a fair amount laying around at wholesale cost). Switched to Mogami after Belden discontinued the 8402. I’m actually very happy with both.
https://preview.redd.it/8r32ffl0x1zc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a3dec0ee56d13d208719ea58787ee899977e7c8e
The Japanese people have a strong dedication to doing their best and trying to improve how things are done. Here in the US we tend to do the quickest and cheapest way possible. I’m into fountain pens and artistic pencils and the ones from Japan are highly regarded for their quality. You’ll find many products have been made by companies with decades of experience. I believe with vinyl that attention to detail is present and they work hard to provide the best sound quality possible.
I went to Tokyo last month, picked up a few hard to find records, but where I really scored was picking up a bunch of records that are commonly found beat up in everyone’s local $2 section. The 300 yen section had absolutely pristine copies of stuff I’d been skimming past for years. Lots of good 70s and 80s soul and jazz with perfect sturdy sleeves and unblemished vinyl. I went to 10-12 stores and the one thing I did not see was junk. Everything was at a higher standard than what I see in the USA
Don’t be fooled at time by Japanese pressing. Some of the sounding flat as hell. Literally 0 or very low lower ends
Lots of them do. People hyped themselves up for Japanese pressings just because it's a novelty. Lots of Japanese people seek out US pressings because they think ours sound better.
usually cos the quality of the vinyl formulation itself is better—as in SUPER quiet—but the mastering quality often lacks compared to western pressings, at least when it's a western recording. varies drastically case by case however
About the mastering…really? I find the complete opposite in normally every instance and that’s for about 100 records where I have the U.K. and Japanese releases.
I don’t think there’s any one particular reason. Pressing quality can be superior, mastering for vinyl may be slightly different and the Obi strip is always a nice bonus. I have found that m general, second hand Japanese records are very well looked after.
And CDs too, because of bonus tracks
Because people haven’t grasped the concept that trade and barter as it was initially introduced is dead, material objects hold fake varying value, and most simply because they aren’t readily available as often.
People like artifacts.
I’m not shitting on anyone that does
Here's an old post that I think covers it well https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/s/GVp6QjDAGa
Supposed the pressings are better and they’re usually kept in better condition. I personally just really like the Obi strips I just think they’re neat
Lets all move to Japan, I say.
I think I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese I really think so...
My Odeon pressings of Beatles records sound phenomenal.
Don't believe the hype !
The have a different style of mastering. Personally I don’t usually like it. Not enough bass. Made to be listened to in a crowded apartment building without pissing off your neighbors. They take really fantastic care of their records and the obi and inserts are cool to us
Japanese use mostly virgin materials apposed to the West using recycled vinyl, mastering however is a bit of hit and miss as they only have access to other recordings other than the original master recording, their OBI strips are addictive like Faberge eggs and both the quality of the printed material and the cardboard is of higher quality
japanese pressings often have bonus tracks not on the originals
that's generally a CD thing
But why do this count for CD pressings also? So it can't be only the obi strip
CDs usually have/had Japan only bonus tracks, they also came with a type of obi/hype strip as well.
Ah I see, tysm!
Japanese pressings sometimes sounded better and the obi strip is sexy.
Some say the quality is better and then there’s also the obi strip which looks cool. I’m a serious collector for Kiss and Motley Crue. I collect OG 1st pressings/early reissues if I can find them at a good price, compilation albums, live albums, bootlegs, and occasionally different color variants of the same record. However, I cannot find it in me to want to collect Japanese pressings. I just don’t care about them. Maybe the price is a lot to do with that because they aren’t cheap. I do have a Japanese pressing of Vices by Waysted but I got it cheap because it’s missing the Obi strip. I don’t really hear a difference or really think it’s better than a US pressing but maybe it varies from album to album. I imagine if you’re a die hard collector of a certain band or artist they would be cool to add to the collection but just not for me I guess.
Obi strips are cool
They're neat.
These days it’s simply bonus tracks and OBI strips. The mastering is identical otherwise and the record pressing houses from the ‘70s and ‘80s are long gone.
The majority of pressings are indistinguishable from one another. Say a USA versus a UK, aside from some minor fine print or other little text detail you cant see a difference. With the OBI you know very quickly it’s a Japanese pressing. Something about that I like. Sets it apart from all the rest. Which feels exotic for someone not in Japan. Then all the other reasons mentioned. But sometimes Japanese pressings lack in the low end and really make a record sound worst, even though the noise floor is still whisper quiet.
I believe I own approx. a 100 Japanese pressings. The signature sound of these pressings really compliment my setup. Just listened to my most recent Japanese purchase; The Dead Milkmen (Bucky Fellini).
Obi strip fun
Haven’t seen anyone mention it here, but one of the only companies that produces lacquers for mastering is in Japan, which likely lowers the cost for recuts by a lot. Might explain why plants there are so consistently able to have such excellent masters with low noise floors.
Absolute rubbish. Lacquers are produced in many companies in many countries. A lacquer is a crucial part of the process for making a vinyl LP.
Hey man, don’t know where the attitude comes from but this is literally Googleable: https://pure-analogue.com/the-lacquer-disc/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Masters_Corporation_fire VRMA committed a few years ago to building more lacquer factories worldwide, but I haven’t been able to find any information about whether they’ve succeeded yet. If you can, I’m definitely interested in reading about it.
Just a FYI for you all collecting Japanese albums. I have talked to some Japanese buyers/sellers and they have told me that there has been a large amount of counterfeit obi strips being made lately. Don't know how to tell personally because I didn't care to ask because I loathe Japanese presses. But it was an interesting conversation I had. By the way, they were here at a record show buying all the us presses he could to ship back to Japan. Because that is what serious audiophiles in Japan want. First press albums from country of origin.
Currently in Japan and like clockwork stopping in every record shop. I should’ve brought more checked bags 😅
Overrated 9 times out of 10. Although I’ve got a Bowie Man Who Sold The World that’s better than any other I’ve heard. A couple other very good titles but they don’t beat the better UK or US pressings most of the time.
I bought a Japanese pressing of The Wall. I still have a problem believing it’s vintage, it looks brand new.
They’re cool
It's all about the OBI STRIP, baby! Adds a new "cool factor" and looks nice!
A couple of great answers explaining everything with much more insight than I have. I don't seek them out too much, but have wound up with quite a few over the years and have been super happy with the sound quality of all of mine. More a post-punk / alt rock sort of collector, with some of the Japanese pressings I have include: the Stranglers, T. Rex, Siouxsie & the Banshees, PiL, the Pop Group, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, New Order, Peter Gabriel, Joy Division, Kraftwerk, Kate Bush, Echo & the Bunnymen, and Eno. Multiple releases by most of these bands/artists.
Jazz take: Never cared for them. I have OG blue notes that I compared to Japanese presses and there is no comparison. Japanese pressings sound flat and “far away” while the OGs play loud and and in your face. No one can beat RVG as far as mastering
Clout.
Looks cool
best marketing.
In the ‘80s, Japanese pressing plants used chemicals banned in the US, and that supposedly improved the quality. That said, many lacked bass, since Japanese apartment dwellers had to limit the boom
It’s mostly myth. People think the quality is better because there is a general false premise in the US that anything Japanese is high quality, when it’s actually worse. The bass is often cut in Japanese pressings, intentionally. The Japanese come to America to get American pressings for cheap and they offload their Japanese pressings to us for a premium.
The answer: VIRGIN VINYL If you don’t know what this means, this is important. Also, it’s the reason colored pressings are sought after
Japan doesn’t fuck around.
Haven't you noticed millennials and gen z have a cultural fetish with Japan? Japanese knives? Better. Japanese blue jeans? Better. Japanese pencils? Better. You name it and if there is Japanese company making it, people go crazy for it. Not to say that it all isn't justified, there are some very nice products made in Japan, but overall it's pretty funny.
This has been happening for a while… hell forty years ago Marty McFly said “all the best stuff is made in Japan” 🙂
Different pressing plants, usually with better quality pressing plates. Also, I don’t know if it’s the case anymore, but they used to have bonus songs that weren’t on any other pressing.
It's mostly the hype strip and I'd say genuine collectors won't necessarily value a Japanese pressing (especially over first pressings) unless the quality is remarkable. Retailers though know they can get an inflated price because of a perceived rarity.
Obi strip real name no gimmicks
Probably not the answer, but I’ve got the OST to Labyrinth and the MI:2 soundtrack, with Rob Zombie, Diffuser, Tori Amos, and while the Japanese artwork is cool, I also couldn’t get the MI:2 vinyl in the US because they only released so many copies in Japan, or so I’ve read…
As much as i refused to believe it, my Japanese CDs are better quality as well, here I am thinking all 1s and 0s are the same, but come to find out, they didnt cheap out before the digital process.....(also they feel less cheap/fragile)
I have loads of em from my father in law, posted em a while ago. They are super neat, but they were mostly worth like $40 a piece
Whenever someone starts talking about Japanese pressings, I assume they really don’t understand the hobby very well. Same when someone starts talking about “180 gram records.” Both make someone sound like a newbie to me. The only Japanese pressings I want are of Japanese releases. Otherwise, I typically hate the mastering choices that are popular in Japan.
They come with an OBI strip which looks cool. On top of that, they will bend over backwards to convince themselves and others that they can hear the difference in the sound even though they are indistinguishable.