Autechre Impressions of Oversteps on Vinyl

  On 4/9/2010 at 9:05 AM, ieafs said:

  On 4/7/2010 at 9:50 PM, Miblo said:

Likewise, the CD artwork for both of Slint's LPs, Tweez and Spiderland, bear the instruction "This recording is meant to be listened to on vinyl." What baffles me, though, is the fact that the magnificent Spiderland wasn't pressed onto 180g vinyl, but just a normal piece of the stuff. Simple monochrome packaging, normal weight of vinyl, but ecstatically beautiful music.

that's cause vinyl wasn't a fetish item in 1991

I'll have to trust you on that one, ieafs. You are referring to the weight question, aren't you? Did 180g records not exist around then?

  On 4/9/2010 at 10:13 AM, Greg Reason said:

[...] Didn't have too much trouble getting the sleeves out of the box, they're not too tightly squeezed in thankfully. Once you carefully slice the shrinkwrapping off the side you're set. [...]

You could really have done with receiving it a little earlier to post some instructions for old Xyrofen.

  On 3/25/2010 at 7:28 PM, xy_politics said:

My copy looks slightly scuffed, especially at the edges and there is too much surface noise, especially on my favourite side, B, where there is loud, persistent noise on the left channel for about the first 2 minutes.

I agree with the person who mentioned it might be a tracking weight/calibration issue. If there are issues in one channel in particular, it is usually because the stylus is slightly angled wrong such that it's only getting consistent contact with one side of the groove, thus the other side of the groove isn't, and causing noise or even silence in one channel.

As far as my opinion of the vinyl, I think it is superb. It does sound different than the digital media of course. But I hear a lot more dynamic range and less aliasing on the crisper high end transient sounds. I have a fantastic setup, though... An audiophile quality TT, a Music Hall MMF2.2 with an upgraded white acrylic platter which greatly betters the sound and lessens any static issues. I have that running through a Bellari VP130 Tube Amp which is then connected to a MOTU 828mkII soundcard so I can rip and archive my vinyl at 24bit/96. I've uploaded a few rips to our favorite music torrent sites and they seem to get positive review. I've been meaning to do a rip of Oversteps but haven't gotten around to it yet.

  On 4/20/2010 at 5:47 AM, serendipity said:

I've uploaded a few rips to our favorite music torrent sites and they seem to get positive review. I've been meaning to do a rip of Oversteps but haven't gotten around to it yet.

It's cool that you do that. The vinyl editions of Nine Inch Nails and Mars Volta sound far better than the CDs due to the digital versions getting compressed to within an inch of their lives and it's cool having vinyl rips to port over to mp3 players etc

Is the deluxe vinyl limited edition?

  On 4/20/2010 at 9:11 PM, xox said:

Is the deluxe vinyl limited edition?

doubt it. there was no mention of it being any more limited than the usual vinyl pressings.

  On 4/20/2010 at 9:11 PM, xox said:

Is the deluxe vinyl limited edition?

definitely not limited. there's some retailers saying that it is limited though. whether that's down to their own initiative, or disinformation from Warp, it's not clear.

The "deluxe" version is the only vinyl edition available and I guess due to this fact it would be subject to the same print run as the other more standard vinyl prints of prior ae albums. You can still get Quaristice pretty much everywhere and Untitled is only just getting tricky to locate but every album is found easily on Discogs (and not every copy is overpriced!)

  On 4/20/2010 at 10:07 PM, Greg Reason said:

The "deluxe" version is the only vinyl edition available and I guess due to this fact it would be subject to the same print run as the other more standard vinyl prints of prior ae albums. You can still get Quaristice pretty much everywhere and Untitled is only just getting tricky to locate but every album is found easily on Discogs (and not every copy is overpriced!)

Great heads-up, Greg. I'd seen the Marketplace before but never really explored it. eBay has been my place of choice recently, but I'll be contributing a little more to Discogs' server load from now.

Way is it called deluxe when there's no other? That's stupid! ...just because it's 180 g with a poster? Ooooo poster!

Deluxe is too big word IMO.

  On 4/20/2010 at 11:36 PM, xox said:

Way is it called deluxe when there's no other? That's stupid! ...just because it's 180 g with a poster? Ooooo poster!

Deluxe is too big word IMO.

My collection is far from extensive, but no other records I have come in some a sturdy "box". This alone makes it more deluxe than the others, I think. What would qualify as deluxe for you, xox?

i just remembered the last concrete proof that warp does a little bit of disinfo when it comes to 'limited' pressings. Remember Solo Electric Bass? Said it was super limited then people curiously started seeing it appear on every record store shelf and as far as anyone can tell there is no scarcity of the release.

  On 4/21/2010 at 12:22 AM, Miblo said:

  On 4/20/2010 at 11:36 PM, xox said:

Way is it called deluxe when there's no other? That's stupid! ...just because it's 180 g with a poster? Ooooo poster!

Deluxe is too big word IMO.

My collection is far from extensive, but no other records I have come in some a sturdy "box". This alone makes it more deluxe than the others, I think. What would qualify as deluxe for you, xox?

"Deluxe" in these circumstances normally implies the availability of a standard version. Using the term in relation to the ae record is a bit of a sham considering there is no cheaper/less deluxe version.

I own tons of records in fancy packaging and while this is a cool set it's by no means the most fancy. Check out Coil's Ape of Naples vinyl, the mail-order version of Radiohead's In Rainbows or even Portishead's lavish Third box.

btw I'm not saying that as in "I've got so many better records than you" I'm just saying that it's not that deluxe. But whatevs. It wasn't as expensive as any of the aforementioned LPs either so fair enough.

  On 4/21/2010 at 3:00 AM, Greg Reason said:

"Deluxe" in these circumstances normally implies the availability of a standard version. Using the term in relation to the ae record is a bit of a sham considering there is no cheaper/less deluxe version.

 

I own tons of records in fancy packaging and while this is a cool set it's by no means the most fancy. Check out Coil's Ape of Naples vinyl, the mail-order version of Radiohead's In Rainbows or even Portishead's lavish Third box.

Phew, 4x12" LPs! I'm not at all familiar with Coil, so this doesn't mean much to me other than that it is a huge-ish (relatively speaking) set. Allmusic gives it though, so it may be worth my while investigating. I'll let you know when I'm prepared to shell out £600 on it.

Oh, regarding your point on "deluxe" vs. "standard": I appreciate it, but I think Warp are justified in marketing Oversteps as deluxe because when you get it in your hands it clearly isn't a standard double-LP, as are Quaristice and Incunabula (two other Autechre doubles I know from experience).

yeah i think people are confusing the terms deluxe and limited.

the oversteps vinyl is certainly deluxe compared to the cd release, due to the packaging and the poster.

but as Awepittance says - it seems like some disinformation has been going round, at the hands of Warp, and that's quite shady.

  On 4/21/2010 at 3:26 AM, Miblo said:

Phew, 4x12" LPs! I'm not at all familiar with Coil, so this doesn't mean much to me other than that it is a huge-ish (relatively speaking) set. Allmusic gives it though, so it may be worth my while investigating. I'll let you know when I'm prepared to shell out £600 on it.

Yeah, a damn heavy-ass package with a hardback box containing four LPs in separate sleeves, three of which have one playable side/one etched side, a fold-out insert plus a CD copy (if you bought it from Threshold House)... And Coil are the greatest fuckin thing since sliced bread. £600 is ridiculous though, a good example of how overboard some Discogs sellers go.

edit: it's still available for £80.00 at Threshold House

i should give Ape of Naples another chance, if only i could turn Jhon's voice slightly down in the mix, same problem i have enjoying Bjork's newer music

  On 4/21/2010 at 7:32 AM, Awepittance said:

i should give Ape of Naples another chance

it's worth it just for 'Triple Suns', 'Amber Rain' and 'Going Up' imo

Going rather off-topic here but have you heard Peter's self-titled Threshold HouseBoys Choir album? The one he did the fancy amulet edition of? You would be well into some of that; half of it's more reminiscent of early '90s Coil than anything he's done in the last fifteen years.

the amulet edition has a few tracks on it i think are real gems. i was bedridden for a while this winter and pretty much listened to in on loop. the tracks don't change much, it's more about the coloring, er palette of the mixes. the vocal samples are really purdy. saw him in Boston when it was released back in 2008, great show too, he was looking like he was in a pretty intense mood that day

  On 4/21/2010 at 3:00 AM, Greg Reason said:

  On 4/21/2010 at 12:22 AM, Miblo said:

  On 4/20/2010 at 11:36 PM, xox said:

Way is it called deluxe when there's no other? That's stupid! ...just because it's 180 g with a poster? Ooooo poster!

Deluxe is too big word IMO.

My collection is far from extensive, but no other records I have come in some a sturdy "box". This alone makes it more deluxe than the others, I think. What would qualify as deluxe for you, xox?

 

"Deluxe" in these circumstances normally implies the availability of a standard version. Using the term in relation to the ae record is a bit of a sham considering there is no cheaper/less deluxe version.

 

I own tons of records in fancy packaging and while this is a cool set it's by no means the most fancy. Check out Coil's Ape of Naples vinyl, the mail-order version of Radiohead's In Rainbows or even Portishead's lavish Third box.

Been going through the entire ae catalog on vinyl and I really can't believe how good it sounds. I prefer the wax versions to the CDs and mp3s in every instance. I compared the 24bit Oversteps files to the vinyl print one after the other through the same system and the vinyl wins.

My gross generalization would be that digital versions are very clear but very flat while the vinyl versions seem more physical, more "three dimensional" if you will. The sounds seem to have body to them that isn't present in the digital versions. Particularly wicked for sounds like the main clunking/stretching sound in 'Pen Expers' and the high pitched flicking sounds in lots of their material.

The sounds seem to have more separation, more space between them. The beats in particular feel like they are actual physical objects. This isn't a placebo effect; this is by direct comparison from the files to the wax. Most of my ae records are in extremely good shape so only very few of them have any evident surface noise. I haven't heard any audible distortion on any of the ae records (although there is lots of that on other non-ae vinyls I've listened to over the past few days, double LPs seem to avoid it by not having to cram so much music on each side. Goldfrapp's Seventh Tree has particularly bad grittiness)

Yeah so I thoroughly recommend you guys doing the A/B test like this so you can hear the difference. The mp3s are great for portability but if you're indoors it's really worthwhile putting the wax on.

think this will ever get repressed? or should i just pay a fuck ton of money now and buy the damn thing before it gets even more expensive?

  On 5/15/2018 at 5:34 PM, species8472 said:

think this will ever get repressed? or should i just pay a fuck ton of money now and buy the damn thing before it gets even more expensive?

Buy it.  If it is repressed, it won't be as a boxset.

  On 5/15/2018 at 5:41 PM, NorthernFusion said:

 

Buy it.  If it is repressed, it won't be as a boxset.

good advice. i bought it, and am glad.

how much u pay?