📣 News Carpenters: "The Vinyl Collection"

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Here are the waveforms for the track Ticket To Ride.

Offering white label promo

Original TTR SP 4205

2017 TTR Vinyl Box Collection

TTR Collected White Vinyl

 

[Eyewire]

For those who have received this new vinyl set, on the MADE IN AMERICA LP, is Those Good Old Dreams the original 1981 LP mix with the extended synthesizer, or is it the single mix used on most of the Carpenters CDs that have ever been released? Just curious...

 

[tomswift2002]

Here are the waveforms for the track Ticket To Ride.

Offering white label promo

Original TTR SP 4205

2017 TTR Vinyl Box Collection

TTR Collected White Vinyl

I wonder if I’m 1998 Richard and crew were trying to get rid of some flatlining that might’ve occurred in the transfer from analog to digital whenever there were sections that, on the analog tapes, went peaking into distortion territory, but on digital were just being crushed because digital does not have anything above 0db.

 

[Rudy]

Here are the waveforms for the track Ticket To Ride.

Remarkably similar, at least in terms of dynamics.

 

[Karen Carpenter Fan 2012]

I'm going to have to get one a month but I'm not replacing all of them. I found Lovelines om target.com, $19. 13 free shipping....not bad

 

[Misael Castillo Lopez]

These were taken under a light, the box is really bright white in color.
This shot shows off the raised logo, really nice!!

Sticker before I opened the wrap

Before opening the wrap, notice the slight dent on the tan album, otherwise it's perfect.

The logo with that shade of sunset and relief is really beautiful, Regards

 

[Karen Carpenter Fan 2012]

The Set is going on Ebay for $160, free shipping. Maybe I could let my rent go for a month? Just kidding....

 

[jaredjohnfisher]

The Set is going on Ebay for $160, free shipping. Maybe I could let my rent go for a month? Just kidding....

Only if you can fit inside the box!

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I have opened the next album, Close To You and have given it several plays, comparing song by song to my original vinyl SP-4271. First I don't think I mentioned this but these Lp's are inside bright white rice paper sleeves, nice quality. I also wanted to mention again that these LP's are dirty, it's almost like I got them right off the press, in fact holding them I had detected very small bits of jagged plastic on the outer edge of the LP that fell off in my hand. All I can say is sound wise these things require proper cleaning and multiple times before play is an option (my opinion).

From the pics I've uploaded you can see that the artwork for CTY is fabulous, comparing it to my original, the whites are nice and bright and colors just pop from this water's edge photo. The back is also very clean and bright. It's hard to take pics because light gets in the way but I'd say the gray color is lighter than my original. The name and logo on front are almost a blue color while my original looks to have a purple/bluish color. I'm very happy with artwork thus far.

I have to say that I'm more impressed with sound on Close To You than I was on Ticket To Ride. For some reason and I hearing a bit more highs on this new CTY LP than I was hearing on the new TTR LP. I can only guess because I'm not sure how this was mastered but they sound like they were possibly mastered as individual albums. All I know is the sound is pretty darn close to the original. I will still say that there are more highs to the originals. I am thinking that this is probably as close as we are going to get to the originals and with Close To You it's pretty darn good. The vocals are crisp and clear and instruments like drums, cymbals, trumpets, piano and woodwinds are all nice and bright. Do they pop out a bit more on the originals, yes. I'm so use to the original Lp's that I can hear differences. However I'm quite impressed with this new pressing of Close To You. Noise wise, it's very quiet except for a few pops/ticks on We've Only Just Begun in the first min and Baby It's You also on the first min. That don't seem to be going away with each cleaning.

Here are some pics I took last night, the slight difference in color of the label is because I took pic of side 1 last night and realized I didn't take side 2 so I had to do that today, hence the difference in lighting. Can't wait to get to the Tan Album later....

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

In case there are some knowledgable viewers on run out #'s here are the #'s listed thus far. It basically looks like the same # on the label, not sure what the other #'s stand for. I don't see any other numbers or circled numbers or cymbals like I have on other run outs.
The only differences I see between TTR and CTY on the labels is that TTR has listed A & B after the #'s while CTY just has 01 for both sides, so slight differences to the labels.

Ticket To Ride run out
side 1 B0026334-01-RE-1-A G-1 RM
side 2 B0026334-01-RE-1-B G-1 RM

CTY
side 1 B0026336-01-RE-1-A G-1 RM
side 2 B0026336-01-RE-1-B G-1 RM

 

[Gustavo]

Great pics!! I can’t wait for the next ones. Thanks!!

 

[Walkinat9]

Here are the waveforms for the track Ticket To Ride.

Offering white label promo

Original TTR SP 4205

2017 TTR Vinyl Box Collection

TTR Collected White Vinyl

Thanks for posting those waveforms, Rick! It's interesting to see how there appear to be slight differences already between the Offering and SP-4205 version, noticeable for example during the last chorus. Can you actually hear any difference between those two recordings? Maybe the drums sound a bit more to the front or something??

Also, as far as the 2017 releases go, the Collected White Vinyl waveform looks more like SP-4205, whereas the Vinyl Box waveform looks more like the one from Offering...

Greg

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Greg, I believe the difference in the first 2 are really more that my Offering Promo LP is just mastered louder in volume than the original pressing which of course makes everything louder including vocals and drums etc..

I can assure you that the 2017 vinyl has much better dynamics and a bit more highs than the Collected vinyl. Some of these waveforms are a bit deceiving until you actually listen to them side by side. On this particular track, I prefer the SP 4205 then the Offering then the new vinyl in that order yet this is considering this one track.

The white vinyl I'm just not crazy about how that one sounds at all, even the solo tracks from Karen and Richard, Karen's I was not that impressed with, too muddy and lacking any high in vocals, very flat, Richard's track is not bad on vinyl but it's also flat sounding and I can't say it's any better than the version's we have on CD. I was pretty let down with the white vinyl as I mostly wanted it for those solo tracks. This was a missed opportunity in the mastering of this white collectors vinyl in my opinion.

 

[CARPENTERS-COLLECTOR]

hi guys, new to the forum and a big carpenters fan and collector.
I`ve been trying to make up my mind whether to buy this set, because I was left rather disappointed by the new white vinyl `collected`album. when it arrived I couldn't wait to play it, but ended up taking it off before the first track even finished, because the sound quality was terrible. at first, I thought there could be an issue with my deck, but after trying at least 3 different black vinyls, it became obvious it wasn't. the white vinyl has this terrible `background rumble` which is really spoiling it, yet the black vinyls are beautiful to listen to ......... really odd!

reference this vinyl collection, imagine my shock tonight, when I looked on amazon for this and saw it at over £300
it also had 2 reviews, both of which gave one star ... wow
not sure I`ll be buying it, because apart from the obvious advantage of having brand new pristine copies of these albums, I don`t see the sense in having the same albums twice against that sort of money. I`m not sure if you guys agree, but I think they missed a trick by not going with the original `offering` cover on the first album, rather than the `ticket to ride` cover, but I guess they had their reasons.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I'm glad these albums are getting reissued in the middle of the "vinyl craze" but the original LPs can be found easily in great condition at very reasonable prices. I'm likely not the target for these reissues.

Ed

 

[Misael Castillo Lopez]

Greg, I believe the difference in the first 2 are really more that my Offering Promo LP is just mastered louder in volume than the original pressing which of course makes everything louder including vocals and drums etc..

I can assure you that the 2017 vinyl has much better dynamics and a bit more highs than the Collected vinyl. Some of these waveforms are a bit deceiving until you actually listen to them side by side. On this particular track, I prefer the SP 4205 then the Offering then the new vinyl in that order yet this is considering this one track.

The white vinyl I'm just not crazy about how that one sounds at all, even the solo tracks from Karen and Richard, Karen's I was not that impressed with, too muddy and lacking any high in vocals, very flat, Richard's track is not bad on vinyl but it's also flat sounding and I can't say it's any better than the version's we have on CD. I was pretty let down with the white vinyl as I mostly wanted it for those solo tracks. This was a missed opportunity in the mastering of this white collectors vinyl in my opinion.

Check these opinions in amazon, is it true that they sound so bad or did not clean the lp and arrived and put them like that on the record player? Even now it's cheaper at 134 dollars... Regards
https://www.amazon.com/Vinyl-Collec...4545&sr=8-1&keywords=Carpenters+lp+collection

 

[Rudy]

I'm glad these albums are getting reissued in the middle of the "vinyl craze" but the original LPs can be found easily in great condition at very reasonable prices. I'm likely not the target for these reissues.

Ed

Maybe it's area-dependent? No such luck in my travels. Any vinyl of theirs I have looked at locally have been poor, and I have had similar luck elsewhere (Columbus, Chicago, etc.). The couple I have bought that have looked good enough to purchase were unacceptably worn (groove burn) or noisy once they were cleaned and played.

I also don't trust buying any online unless they were factory sealed--most sellers grade visually, and visual grading to me is worth the value of a $3 bill (in other words, nothing), and some of that grading is rather on the optimistic side. Can't even count the number of VG and VG+ records I've purchased that sellers feel is NM.

In my travels over the past decade or so, used vinyl has been disappointing at best--as a whole, not just one specific artist or group. I've cut way back on buying it, as I end up rejecting at least half of it once I get it here to play it. Pop and rock music usually is the worst; I have better luck with some of the lesser-known music I tend to purchase. But I do buy used vinyl from friends and acquaintances who I know and trust, who have owned and lived with the record.

At the end of the day though, given used vinyl prices today, do I shell out $5 or more each for six or more worn copies of A Song For You (not including wasted time, gas or postage) or just buy one brand new 180 gram pressing at $20-$25 that at least starts off on the right foot? If there is clean, undamaged used Carpenters vinyl out there, it hasn't crawled over to my corner of the nation yet.

I don't doubt there still may be a few clean copies out there, but clawing my way through piles of poor quality used records to find those few good ones is not worth the effort. Are my standards high? Maybe, but all I really ask is that it not be worn or overly noisy (and much of that noise goes away after a good, thorough cleaning...as long as it was a good pressing or there isn't hidden damage).

I've purchased used vinyl in the past that has played like new (literally hundreds). In my experience lately, that is a rarity. And I am betting if I had looked for these Carpenters titles over a dozen years ago, I would not have had this dilemma... Hindsight being what it is, I would have purchased new copies right when vinyl was being phased out.

YMMV, as they say.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Wow $136.00 must be Cyber Monday lol excellent deal!!

 

[Rudy]

Wow $136.00 must be Cyber Monday lol excellent deal!!

Prices are all over the place. I am going to start a separate thread for these releases so it is easier to seek out the bargains.

 

[Rudy]

I should mention, I have another recent Universal vinyl release (Styx: The Mission) and the vinyl is clean and dead quiet. (I will still clean it though.) Pretty nice sound considering they recorded this on all-analog equipment.

It makes me wonder where these Carpenters LPs were pressed. @Rick-An Ordinary Fool do you happen to see a (U) in the dead wax anywhere, apart from the matrix/master numbers you listed...or any other markings? Your "RM" would be Ron McMaster on those numbers you posted, BTW...

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I should mention, I have another recent Universal vinyl release (Styx: The Mission) and the vinyl is clean and dead quiet. (I will still clean it though.) Pretty nice sound considering they recorded this on all-analog equipment.

It makes me wonder where these Carpenters LPs were pressed. @Rick-An Ordinary Fool do you happen to see a (U) in the dead wax anywhere, apart from the matrix/master numbers you listed...or any other markings? Your "RM" would be Ron McMaster on those numbers you posted, BTW...

I have taken a magnifying glass to the dead wax on both sides of TTR and CTY and there are no other markings except for the ones I noted above. It's very strange there are no marking to signify what plant pressed these LP's. Perhaps Chris could find out from whoever he got those first off pics of the box?

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Slightly off topic but relevant....like I mentioned I don't play my original LP's that often so this new vinyl set has been really fun thus far because it's allowing me to compare and listen to my old vinyl and these new ones. I'm not looking to buy old vinyl (since I already have all the originals in great shape) and I'd say in the past 10-20 yrs I have replaced some of my old vinyl with sealed copies always hunting down the original pressings and not re-issues or CRC issues) so I have not looked at all to buy any old vinyl.

So today for kicks I went to ebay and typed Carpenters LP sealed and well....I was completely shocked, what on earth has happened? At what point did sealed copies of original Carpenters LP's go skyward? Seriously. I know some titles like MIA, A Kind of Hush, Passage or VOTH can be had for about $20-30 however I see the Tan album (original pressing) sealed for $375.00 and others like A Song For You sealed $125.00, Close To You sealed $89.00, Lovelines sealed $80.00, The Singles Sealed $69.00 and $375.00 (with hype sticker) Christmas Portrait sealed $150.00, An Old Fashioned Xmas sealed $100.00 and that's not even talking about Offering which is already sky high unsealed.

Wow...this is crazy....I have replaced some of my old worn out original LP's with sealed original ones probably 10-15 yrs ago but most were only $20.00 at the most. The only ones I paid $80.00 to $100.00 was for an Offering Promo LP and Lovelines but that was quite a while ago.

I'm wondering if the price for sealed copies are due to many online record dealers (ebay) are just running out of supply that they have held since the 70's? Or is this new vinyl collection box set just caused old vinyl to go up?

 

[Rudy]

Pressing plant identification isn't something that is too common in the deadwax, but a few of the pressing plants do have their unique markings. United is one of them. Monarch Records back in the day used an "MR" in a circle--many of A&M's earlier records were pressed at Monarch, among others. There is probably a listing of common pressing plant

Deadwax markings for mastering engineers or studios is more common. "BG" is Bernie Grundman, yet for some of the 45RPM audiophile releases, he actually signs his name in longhand in the deadwax, which is kind of cool. "TML" was The Mastering Lab. "RL" was Robert Ludwig. "KG" is Kevin Gray; "SH/KG" is Steve Hoffman/Kevin Gray (Steve did the mastering, Kevin the cutting). A stylized "AZ" is Allen Zentz. There are dozens more. Some are detailed here:

Dead wax inscriptions