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Dangerous 2LP 33RPM & SACD announced

MJJuniorSinceMW said:
What the heck?
Buy it. Or don’t buy it.

But don’t clamor for a rip, if most of the people who bought this thing with there own money, don’t even hold it in their hands yet!

The nerve of some „fans“…
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You know... thiefs...
 
innuendo141 said:
For anyone in Europe and interested, shipping was on €5 to Ireland from jpc.de for the SACD. I'm pretty sure it was around €15 for Thriller and Off The Wall - it certainly was a nice surprise. Looking forward to listening for myself, hopefully I'll be a fan.

Has anyone else gotten it in the meantime?
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yup. sacd (40 Euro), vinyl (75 Euro). free shipping. from jpc.de
 
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After listening i am not happy with spending 40 Euro for an sacd, or 75 Euro for the vinyl, and they dont even fixed the errors from the original release.
Rating from 1 to 5 (5 is highest) Its a 3. Cause for me there is no improvement. just two items for the collection. another 115 Euro ^^
I am disappointed.
 
the vinyl is sealed in such an strange way...

wrROk6L.jpeg


first i thought it was already opened, and they sealed it with this cheap crap.
 
Any comments on the LP artwork? The MOV release from a few years ago was a TERRIBLE scan but I recall the red LP that was released last year or the year before was quite nice? I haven't looked at it in a while.
 
My SACD just arrived (very impressive stuff from jpc.de!). I won't get to listen tonight but I'm disappointed at the quality of the CD booklet? Looks great from front but it seems very shoddily cut/off centre from the back. I can see the inside white pages when I look at the back of it. Suprised with this, the booklets for OTW and Thriller were perfect. Anyone else have this? Looking forward to listening.

#001835
 
Oh, I should say, my previous comments from Thriller and OTW still apply, the SACD has terrible packaging. Cardboard is completely unacceptable for a release like this. I'm paying way over the odds for a product that is supposed to last for many decades, and you give me such garbage that will get damaged and deteriorate so quickly?
 
It's certainly a different sounding album, I'll give it that. It's odd not to be assaulted by the sound of the industrial noise on the Riley tracks as everything seems quiter and everything has more room to breathe. I really enjoyed listening, but the Jam issue is absolutely noticible on a decent pair of headphones - i slightly shifted the balance to the left by between 0.03 and 0.06 db and it certainly sounded better. If I'm honest I doubt I would have noticed through my speakers, but its clear as day through headphones. I did not pick up on anything else near as noticible.

All in all, very impressed and glad I got this but the Jam issue is a weird one and should have been addressed before release. Regardless of whether or not that is the way it was presented, it does not make sense to release it as it is because of how noticible it is.
 
Jam actually sounds great if you correct the balance issue yourself. This will be my go-to version for a while but IMO the album was supposed to sound as it was on the original CD release. But this is a fantastic alternative to have. Really enjoyable.
 
Another minor thing about the packaging for the SACDs - if you have Thriller and OTW on the shelf next to it, they have different colour stripes at the top.
 
It's really only hitting me just how much lower in volume Jam is compared to the other songs. I "fixed" (or what I'd consider to be a non distracting fix) the balance issue but Jam sounds way way too low compared to the other NJS songs. Its so bizarre.

Edit - referring to the SACD
 
innuendo141 said:
It's really only hitting me just how much lower in volume Jam is compared to the other songs. I "fixed" (or what I'd consider to be a non distracting fix) the balance issue but Jam sounds way way too low compared to the other NJS songs. Its so bizarre.

Edit - referring to the SACD
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I'm by no means anything close to an audiophile but when I listen to Jam on Apple Music it also feels a lot quieter than it should be
 
dam2040 said:
I'm by no means anything close to an audiophile but when I listen to Jam on Apple Music it also feels a lot quieter than it should be
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Oh thats interesting actually. I dont know anything about the masters on Apple Music or digital tbh. Ive always just stuck to the 1991 CD.
 
DJ_OXyGeNe_8 said:
technical stuff
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Really, that's just a guy complaining that he can't get his amplifier to work. Really labouring the point. Weird.

I've been following the SACD format since it was released 25 years ago, and I've never seen anybody with that take before. It's an easy format to use, smh.
 
I like this release. I agree with what Fuzball speculated that it isn't the biggest difference ever when compared to the original release. It is definitely more suited to detailed listening. Things are more layered, the original release is more in your face and attacks you. I did find myself enjoying the more "natural" sound though, it's a different experience even if it's not a massive departure from what people may be used to.

It probably goes without saying but you won't really appreciate this release unless you're gonna zone into it when you're listening to it. Then the differences become pretty clear.
 
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Ok, I finally sat down and listened to my vinyl (after much difficulty setting my turntable back up... I forgot how short the audio cables are so I had to move my speakers closer to it to use them). I'm no audiophile (at least, I don't really think of myself as one), so take my review with all the grains of salt.

Equipment:
Turntable: AudioTechnica AT-LP120 - It's been years since I've actually used this, and the stylus needle has never been replaced. Not sure if I'm overdue for that or not, but I do wonder if the lack of use/age of the stylus affected my experience in some way.
Speakers: M-Audio AV40 - Because the audio cables from my turntable are super short and hardwired into the thing, I had to place the speakers side-by-side on my desk rather than spacing them apart like they're meant to be in order for the audio cables to reach the one speaker. A long-overdue reminder that I need to buy extension cables... this placement may have also affected my experience.

Record 1 Side 1:
Jam - Seemed to peak a bit throughout the song, but I couldn't tell if that was just my speakers or not. May have to give this another listen.
WYWTOM - One of the instruments in the instrumental bit near the end of the song sounded distorted/warped compared to what I'm used to. I dunno what you call that thing... it's like a guitar or something? The thing that goes "doo-doo-doot"... I don't remember it sounding warped like that on any other version of the song I have. Not sure if it's the record or, heaven forbid, the turntable itself.
In the Closet - Sounds okay

Record 1 Side 2
She Drives Me Wild - This one sounded SUPER clean. Like, whoa, I don't remember this sounding so clean before. O_O Was it always like this?
Remember the Time - No issues other than I wish it was longer like the video version lol
Can't Let Her Get Away - Also clean, no complaints I could find.
Heal the World - Also sounded very clean... hell, this whole side of the record sounds so much cleaner than side 1... what gives? I mean, I'm not complaining but it's very interesting.

Record 2 Side 1
Black or White - Sounds great
Who Is It - Holy damn this is fantastic... like, whoa....
Give in to Me - Definitely peaking/blowing out/extra loud during the chorus. A shame, cause the rest of the song sounds great.

Record 2 Side 2
All four songs on this side sounded great.

Others:
The gatefold design of the album itself is beautiful. Unfortunately, somehow the binding of the album got a tear in it. :( Maybe I opened it too far? Or did it come like that? I can't remember now... Oh well, I just have to live with it. Sigh...
Each record comes in a sleeve so that'll help keep these in good condition.
There's an insert in the same pocket as record 2 that has the lyrics/songwriting credits on it that's pretty neat. The Planet Earth poem is also included.

Overall, I liked it, but in hindsight I probably should not have pre-ordered it. Someone mentioned being able to fix the flaws in the songs though I'm not entirely sure how one does that. I know my way around Audacity okay but I'm not that skilled. I'm more disappointed by the physical album case being damaged/torn at the binding than the mixing of the album. It's too late for me to return this so if I decide I don't want it down the line I'll likely sell it, but the damage to the gatefold is going to cause whatever listing price I make for it to take a big hit. Oof... such is life.

Now that that's done, I'm going to move my speakers back and buy some damn extension cables lol.
 
Amaya said:
Ok, I finally sat down and listened to my vinyl (after much difficulty setting my turntable back up...
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Yeah, this is partly why I was confused by that video above with the guy complaining "SACD is too difficult to use". It's literally insert a disc and press play - contrast with turntables which are notoriously hard to set up.

Amaya said:
I forgot how short the audio cables are so I had to move my speakers closer to it to use them)
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Typical advice here is to spend about 10% of the total cost of your system on cables.

Amaya said:
Turntable: AudioTechnica AT-LP120 - It's been years since I've actually used this, and the stylus needle has never been replaced. Not sure if I'm overdue for that or not, but I do wonder if the lack of use/age of the stylus affected my experience in some way.
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I just googled, and standard advice is to replace it after 500-1000 hours of use, which is roughly every year if you're listening to a couple of albums a day. If you leave it much longer, not only does the sound quality drop, but you also risk damage/increased wear to the records.

Amaya said:
this placement may have also affected my experience.
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Yeah, a bit - especially with stuff that has a wide soundstage like these MoFis.

Amaya said:
The gatefold design of the album itself is beautiful. Unfortunately, somehow the binding of the album got a tear in it. :( Maybe I opened it too far?
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I dunno. Even if you're super careful, something made of cardboard will eventually suffer some sort of damage.

I'd say the packaging is the only thing letting this down. It's especially frustrating that the SACD version is trying to look like a vinyl gatefold, considering that the 1991 original album was something most people bought on CD!
 
R1chard said:
Yeah, this is partly why I was confused by that video above with the guy complaining "SACD is too difficult to use". It's literally insert a disc and press play - contrast with turntables which are notoriously hard to set up.


Typical advice here is to spend about 10% of the total cost of your system on cables.


I just googled, and standard advice is to replace it after 500-1000 hours of use, which is roughly every year if you're listening to a couple of albums a day. If you leave it much longer, not only does the sound quality drop, but you also risk damage/increased wear to the records.


Yeah, a bit - especially with stuff that has a wide soundstage like these MoFis.


I dunno. Even if you're super careful, something made of cardboard will eventually suffer some sort of damage.

I'd say the packaging is the only thing letting this down. It's especially frustrating that the SACD version is trying to look like a vinyl gatefold, considering that the 1991 original album was something most people bought on CD!
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Thanks for your advice. Can't say for sure how many hours I've put in on this turntable... it's been years since I've actually used it. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to replace the stylus anyway... except the stylus for my model has been discontinued.... ****.
 
An explanation why Jam does sound "weird" on the sacd:


"Jam" — One thing that was always evident with the original mix and mastering of this album was that even though Heavy D's feature performance vocals resonated perfectly, Jackson's vocals are heavily suppressed under the programmed music over the entirety of the track, and we hated it. The correct fix for an issue like this would be to ultimately do a bona fide remix of the song (and that is unforeseeable). Nevertheless, the engineering team at Mobile Fidelity seemingly was able to pinpoint the frequencies that represent the lead vocals and enhanced the dynamic range between the backing track and Jackson's voice. Not drastically (because there is only so much that can be done without a remix), but enough to make this a much more pleasurable listen, arguing that it is by far the best version we've ever heard, with more depth and clarity all around.
 
Edit - Realised its just a repeat of what I've posted 3 or 4 times already!
 
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