The advantages of sampling from 1st pressing vinyl vs all other pressings

Xabiton

Xabiton

Cupcake God
A friend of mine were talking about a week ago about why he prefers 1st pressings and I did not really think much about it until now and its about the difference in sound. Generally various pressings after the 1st are remastered and do not sound as good or dirty depending on your preference as the newer pressings mostly due to technology which is a good thing i suppose. Are there any diggers here who look into which pressing of a record they have? I understand the difference conically but I couldn't tell just by looking at the record or the cover. Any tips on finding more 1st pressings?
 
All I found was that there should be some kind of letter and number code on the record. You can look that code up at a website like discogs.
 
Yeah, check out discogs. It separates every single release so you could find the specific one for sale.
 
Discogs doesn't always have correct information on first pressings. Keep in mind that every user can add releases to the database there and some later pressings/reissues are harder to distinguish from the og.

Some ways to figure out between og and repress:
- obviously take a look at the years on the label and back cover
- catalog number (may be different, not always)
- matrix number
- different pressings may have different styled/colored labels
- if it is an old record but yours got a bar code on it it's a repress
- cover's cardboard quality

Some of these would require experience/knowledge on the label the record is put out on. And of course you'd need to now the catalog & matrix numbers of the first press and if they are different on later pressings.
 
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I only cop 1st press'. It is something that's a lot easier when you buy certain record labels. You can research and learn how they do their matrix/cataloging or know their 1st press have a green label or a certain logo or something.

But ya

jyri pretty much hit the nail on the head.

It is something that takes time to learn. It's not as simple as it seems, although some labels make it easier... ie have different label colors or a different label design for different presses.

You can also do research on what labels never, or rarely, got reissued or pressed multiple times.

---------- Post added at 02:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:09 PM ----------

When it comes to common/popular records its tough because they were often pressed several different times and even reissued. With more rare records it's easy because most weren't repressed and if they were reissued its easy to tell
 
overall it sounds like it may be just hard as hell to figure this out without doing your research first. I tend to get records based on titles but i gotta figure this one out for me lol. Bar codes do sound like a dead give away though
 
Xabiton said:
overall it sounds like it may be just hard as hell to figure this out without doing your research first. I tend to get records based on titles but i gotta figure this one out for me lol. Bar codes do sound like a dead give away though
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It really is. You just have to know your shit. Sometimes they will have both years that it was pressed, the original and repress but not always. If it's a more modern reissue on a different label they sometimes have both labels listed as well on the back. It's tough to tell. I usually only worry about it if it's something that I think would be worth more as a first pressing or if the price is roughly the same as what I have seen. Sometimes the newer pressings are better because of the quality and sometimes it really sounds more modern and unfortunately worse. I'm not too picky though most of the time. If it's vinyl I'm happy. :)
 
Mannas said:
It really is. You just have to know your shit. Sometimes they will have both years that it was pressed, the original and repress but not always. If it's a more modern reissue on a different label they sometimes have both labels listed as well on the back. It's tough to tell. I usually only worry about it if it's something that I think would be worth more as a first pressing or if the price is roughly the same as what I have seen. Sometimes the newer pressings are better because of the quality and sometimes it really sounds more modern and unfortunately worse. I'm not too picky though most of the time. If it's vinyl I'm happy. :)
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When it comes to sound I am extremely picky if i can help it. I like that old dirty sound. I also want to see what I have that may be 1st pressing more so than buying 1st pressing records. Its always good to know what you have or are buying. But in 2011 sound isn't all that important so maybe I shouldn't stress it.
 
I feel as far as copping 1st pressings for sound, is just nitpicking. Thats not to say that 1st pressings are not doperer than reissues. Its def cool to have the first pressing of an album but more so from a collector's standpoint. Just my $.02
 
SRM_HipHop said:
I feel as far as copping 1st pressings for sound, is just nitpicking. Thats not to say that 1st pressings are not doperer than reissues. Its def cool to have the first pressing of an album but more so from a collector's standpoint. Just my $.02
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i nitpick about sound to a good extent
 
Xabiton said:
i nitpick about sound to a good extent
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Yeah but thats a lil anal dont you think? Do you honestly think anyone would be able to tell the difference in a beat made with a first pressing vs. a reissue? I would love to hear a side by side comparison. For listening/collecting, its a different story tho when it comes to first pressings. For sampling....ehhh not so much.
 
SRM_HipHop said:
I feel as far as copping 1st pressings for sound, is just nitpicking. Thats not to say that 1st pressings are not doperer than reissues. Its def cool to have the first pressing of an album but more so from a collector's standpoint. Just my $.02
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For the most part it's not something I would search for. I mean if I've got the option to get one that's a 1st pressing of course I would take that but I'm not going to pass up something for the most part just because it's not. I think you're right. It's more of a collector thing and I'm happy with my collection.
 
SRM_HipHop said:
Yeah but thats a lil anal dont you think? Do you honestly think anyone would be able to tell the difference in a beat made with a first pressing vs. a reissue? I would love to hear a side by side comparison. For listening/collecting, its a different story tho when it comes to first pressings. For sampling....ehhh not so much.
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I actually agree it is anal but I still intend to find out. My biggest thought though is about the remastered editions. People have been known to remaster an album digitally and then press it onto vinyl. Big sound difference. Thats what I am looking to avoid. But either way its always a good thing to know about.

Nicro said:
I get it from a collector point of view but does it really impact the sound that much?
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Not sure its part of why I am trying to figure this out. If the sound is minimal then what ever but if its a major difference then of course getting the better sound is most important.

Mannas said:
For the most part it's not something I would search for. I mean if I've got the option to get one that's a 1st pressing of course I would take that but I'm not going to pass up something for the most part just because it's not. I think you're right. It's more of a collector thing and I'm happy with my collection.
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Im not saying pass on it if its not a 1st pressing but at the same time if you cannot hear the difference between the two how do you know? The best way to learn is to ask questions
 
the thing you want to avoid is REISSUES. 2nd, 3rd, 4th pressings of records you wont find a sound difference. They just didnt press enough the first time so they need to press more due to demand..

REISSUES is different...most reissues come from a digger diggin up a lost gem, like wax poetics does, and remastering it and re-releasing it..Or a reissuing company saying oh we need to get "insert album here" back on wax. lets buy the masters, remaster it and release it back on vinyl
 
Gilson said:
the thing you want to avoid is REISSUES. 2nd, 3rd, 4th pressings of records you wont find a sound difference. They just didnt press enough the first time so they need to press more due to demand..

REISSUES is different...most reissues come from a digger diggin up a lost gem, like wax poetics does, and remastering it and re-releasing it..Or a reissuing company saying oh we need to get "insert album here" back on wax. lets buy the masters, remaster it and release it back on vinyl
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Yep, reissues and remasters make a difference. A lot of rock stuff is being reissued now.
 
Does anyone know anything specific about the reissue of Marlena Shaw's Spice of Life or Lyn Collins Think About It? I am looking at both LPs on ebay but I think they are all reissues. I tried to look up the cat numbers on discogs for the Spice of Life but the reissue and the original are both the same.
 
The Spice of Life was reissued in 1977, it has an alternate cover and cat #. It was reissued again in 2004, this one is identical to the OG, will be hard to tell online unless it says OG. It person this would be easy to determine if it was made in 2004 or 1969.

I couldn't find a reissue date on Think (About It), going to assume it was in the 2000s though.
Reissue Identifiers...


  • Matrix Number (Side A, etched): S 34855 RE 3
  • Matrix Number (Side B, etched): S 34856 RE3
  • Other (Side A, etched): PE 5602-1(A)
  • Other (Side A, etched): PE 5602-1 B
And obviously if it was reissued somewhat recently you'll be able to tell just by appearance
 
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