45 rpm...

[longgone]

do you think vinyl is going to be mostly 45 RPM in the future? I know there is lots of 33 around. But...

[Loop4fun]

I dislike having to flip the record over every three songs, but who knows. The LP play quality at 45 is usually really good from my experience.

[Josquin des Prez]

I think we will continue to see both. I collect both 33 & 45. I have a subscription to the 45 RPM Verve reissues from Acoustic Sounds, but they are $50 each. I think theRe is a limited market for these when there are still great albums coming out on 33, such as the excellent Speakers Corner albums at $30 or so. At the lower end, everything will continue to be 33 RPM.

[Rilands]

Are 45's for the younger generation? I have noticed them selling at the local record stores but i didn't recognize any of the bands thus leading me to believe they are coming back for the younger people. Am i wrong?
I have a stack and have never used them. LoopForFun, you mentioned that you hate changing sides every three songs. I thought they only have one song per side. Have things changed?

[Josquin des Prez]

Originally Posted by Rilands

Are 45's for the younger generation? I have noticed them selling at the local record stores but i didn't recognize any of the bands thus leading me to believe they are coming back for the younger people. Am i wrong?
I have a stack and have never used them. LoopForFun, you mentioned that you hate changing sides every three songs. I thought they only have one song per side. Have things changed?

Things have indeed changed. We're talking about the audiophile 12" 45RPM 180 and 200 gram vinyl remasters of various sorts. Much of it is jazz. For example:

Analog Productions for Blue Note, Fantasy, Verve, etc
Music Matters for Blue Notes

and so on. They typically are produced in limited number (say, 2500 copies worldwide) and run $50/album, with two disks per album for the same material found on the corresponding 33.

[f1 fan]

Originally Posted by Loop4fun

I dislike having to flip the record over every three songs, but who knows. The LP play quality at 45 is usually really good from my experience.

1...

Dave

[Myles B. Astor]

Love the new 45 rpms LPs, only problem is that they take up 2X the amount of shelf space as a normal LP And considering basically have all the new reissues, that's a lot of space

[Myles B. Astor]

Originally Posted by longgone

do you think vinyl is going to be mostly 45 RPM in the future? I know there is lots of 33 around. But...

Good question. I think the bulk of the "new" LP releases, since they will be of rock music, will be 33 1/3 rpm. IMHO, most classical people switched over to CD a long time ago.

Only the exceptional, reference class, and "older" recordings will be released at 45 rpm. Interesting, there were a few companies like Connoisseur Society that issued a few of their releases in both formats. And the CS 45 rpms, when there's not a pressing defect (and for some reason the Q/C of the 45 rpms left something to be desired), are exceptional. One relatively unknown 45 rpm LP from Connoisseur that will knock your socks off is Master Music of India featuring Ali Akbar Khan!

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[bakerman]

I too have noticed these "audiophile quality" 45's. What is it about that make them so desirable? Is the sound quality better, are they easier to press, does it have to do with the weight of the disc? Why not just release these albums as 180 gram 33's? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Josquin des Prez]

Originally Posted by bakerman

I too have noticed these "audiophile quality" 45's. What is it about that make them so desirable? Is the sound quality better, are they easier to press, does it have to do with the weight of the disc? Why not just release these albums as 180 gram 33's? Inquiring minds want to know.

Yes, there is an advantage in terms of sound quality. Faster speed allows more information to be distributed across a larger groove area, resulting in higher resolution (like running a tape at higher speeds), and there is less distortion due to the curvature of the groove. The 45 RPM audiophile reissues sound fantastic, and are some of the best sounding records I have. I probably have 30-40 of these, including the complete Bill Evans Riverside recordings, which is simply amazing to hear.

Two of the best records I've heard are 45 RPM. Muddy Waters "Soul Singer" and Oscar Peterson "We Get requests," both from Analogue Productions/Quality Record Pressings.