4th street orchestra - Yuh Learn ! opinion on press quality

[sicosound]

Hi All,

I am new to the forum but I have been reading and "using" RA a lot along the years.
Good job and thanks all for the contributions..

I recently bought the Rama LP Yuh Learn by 4th street orchestra.
It was graded NM and it looks like it but then when I've played it more than one tune sound quite bad.
The look of the vinyl is excellent, no scratches etc but the sound of few tunes is like when the needle has dust accumulated and the quality of the music is quite low...

I was wondering if anyone out there has the same issue with their copy. I wrote to the seller which consider himself not responsible for this problem as he thinks it's because of the way it was recorded - therefore all copies should sound like that...?
I have to add that it is an original press, I have checked matrix no etc and it all match.

I have a pretty good sound set up so it's not an equipment problem and all other vinyls I have in NM conditions sounds perfect.

A friend of mine who used to buy and sell records for years told me about this trick done by certain people of polishing the surface of lower quality records to make them look shiny and in better conditions but the "problems" in the grooves remains so the quality of the sound stays low...too bad that you find out after you've paid for it..

thanks

ss

[mikemodi]

I don't know...sounds like maybe what your friend said about polishing may be the case, because even though I have the cd re-issue, it sounds really clean to me. I guess that doesn't really count, though, huh!?
Anybody here with a vinyl copy should reply to this post I suppose.

[jayb]

Must admit I tend to agree with you - bought my copy a while ago as EX and some tracks sound a little "worn" - this could be because they have been played a lot - or - just because that's they way the sounded originally. Sort of pleased you've got the same problem! However somewhere along the way I'll get another copy to compare with the hope its an improvement. And yes the CD sounds fine!

[sicosound]

thanks for the replies !

ok...quite interesting to know that another copy has this issue.

I gave the record to my friend today to spin on his set up and give me an opinion.
His judgment was that it doesn't seems like it has been polished but more that some tunes have been played a lot like jayb mentioned.
I find a bit unfair, within the vinyl market, that sometimes grading is based only on visual.I understand that, from a seller point of view, you maybe can't listen to everything end to end of what you sell but at the same time it's a bit of a surprise to get a NM record which half of it sounds rough but "looks" good...

I'm now looking for another copy in some store in London just to check if it's a press batch problem...

it's a shame because I really like this album !

[blackarkrock]

You may want to seek out the CD version - great sound!

http://www.discogs.com/Dennis-Bovell-Pr ... se/1966755


...and why not this, as well:

http://www.discogs.com/Dennis-Bovell-Pr ... se/1991792

[sicosound]

Yep that's a nice backup...it doesn't have the same flair of a spinning vinyl but I think it will cover the listening experience where my vinyl is lacking...

cheers

ss

[Funky Punk]

I don't have the CD version handy at the moment, but I believe it actually said in the liner notes of that that Bovell purposefully had the records pressed at a lesser quality, and actually wanted pops/noise to be there.

At the time he was trying to make people believe that the 4th Street Orchestra was a real Jamaican band and that their records were rough pressings from JA...

[Don Julian]

I don't have the CD version handy at the moment, but I believe it actually said in the liner notes of that that Bovell purposefully had the records pressed at a lesser quality, and actually wanted pops/noise to be there.

At the time he was trying to make people believe that the 4th Street Orchestra was a real Jamaican band and that their records were rough pressings from JA...

Yes I have the cd's too, it says Bovell used to press the records in Ireland "where the finished product didn't come out as sophisticated as it did in England" and some even in Jamaica so they looked and sounded 'authentic'.
(To me one of the reasons I'd rather have a properly mastered cd release over many vinyl releases, but that's neither here nor there...)
Peace,
DJ

[Lost Shoe]

YUH LEARN must get the title "worst pressing quality" from all Reggae records in my collection and there is no need searching for a better copy. I chased 3 copies in the hope to find one delivering some listening pleasure. Forget it. They all seem to be the same. This is not a matter of sounding authentic. The annoying thing isn't "authentic" pops and noise, but very bad distortion.
2 of my copies were looking great, almost mint. But all 3 sounded more or less the same. Of course there are enjoyable tracks on it, but too much bad ones so I don't care to listen anymore.

Moreover I tried with different cartridges to no effect. This pressing is crap.

By the way, this is the only record of the 4th Street Orch. having this problem. All others are proper products.