Mobley 1568 Shootout: Gunfight at the UK Corral

Sorry, no original 1568, send me if you have one surplus to requirements, ha ha. Four “affordable” editions of Mobley 1568: King, Toshiba-EMI, Classic Records, and Music Matters Jazz, a four-way shoot-out which addresses the perplexed, cash-strapped collector and audiophile questions of the day: Japanese or American pressings?  King or Toshiba? At the dials, Bernie Grundman or Kevin Gray? You be the judge.

The only test is what you hear, not what you think about the companies, how you expect them to sound. Explanations and Expectations are no substitute for Experience. Explanations can be wrong, Experience is harder to argue with. That is what this is meant to be about.Like many collectors, over the years, when I saw another edition of 1568, hope springs eternal, will it sound better than what I already have? You will never know unless you try, so you acquire. Then you find yourself running out of shelf space, and the real dilemma starts : more shelf-space, bigger house, or relationship counselling –

You have way too many records!

But… but, darling, there are 25 entries in Discogs. There are still 21 I don’t have!

Discogs Shmishcogs, either the records go, or I do!

I’ll call you a cab… your mother’s?

How they sound on the LJC home system:  British-built Avid turntable and World Designs amplification incorporating Chinese PS-Vane valves, selective Japanese Furutech rhodium components, Dynavector XV1-T cartridge, powered by largely-British generated electricity – with the assistance of a little French nuclear power (when the wind is not blowing), and Norwegian gas (it’s more afjordable)

Strictly-Vinyl contest, some of these records are leaving home, there can be only one winner, that’s the one you want, but you have to find out which. We haven’t had a shoot-out in a while so let’s do it (headphones essential)

Artists:

Hank Mobley, tenor sax;  Curtis Porter (Shafi Hadi) alto sax, tenor sax; Bill Hardman, trumpet; Sonny Clark, piano; Paul Chambers, bass;  Art Taylor, drums; recorded Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, June 23, 1957.

Ten months later, The Billboard review, April 1958 :

The Contestants Line Up to Play “Mighty Moe and Joe”

1. King Records, Japan (1981)

.  .  .

          2. Toshiba-EMI, Japan (1984)

.  .  .

3. Classic Records USA (2002)

.  .  .

4. Music Matters Jazz 33rpm USA (2016)

.  .  .

OK, the next part is down to you. I have no investment in the answer, I already got all four, it is down to you. Do you hear any differences? Decide  which is one better, the best, the differences are not huge but they are there, but first some small print:

Observations

It takes nearly as long to set up a short clip as the whole track, so I have ripped the whole track for each edition. You might want to check how Sonny’s piano compares a few minutes in, not just the opening bars, but whatever works for you.

These editions were all mastered 25 years or more after the original session, from the original tapes or from analogue copies of the original tapes. I’m not sure about the source of the Classic Records, to me it sounds different to the other three, the histograms look different, more compressed and lumpy. The other histograms look very fast dynamic response. What’s BG done? 

Our friends at  Music Matters honor us with sight of the original Mobley 1568 Van Gelder tape box. So interesting. Next time a re-issuer of any recording claims it is “from the original tapes” just say “OK, Show me”.  I don’t care who mastered it, or where, I want to know from what. If they can’t show you the tapes, they are quite simply lying. They have remastered a copy digital file for vinyl, but they can’t bring themselves to tell you that. When they say absolutely nothing about the source, you know what to expect: very little.

The box tells a story. Sticker says “Digitally archived by Capitol 192k/32 bit”, hi-res spec, no date. “Acetate DO NOT BAKE” (Microwave Instructions, three minutes at 800W, stir before listening). Barcode audit trail of tape movement dated 12-1-19, someone’s been busy. Rudy notes track-length totals per side and take number i.e. the Master tape is a selection (spliced, or copied?) from the actual session tapes.  A “stereo” tape is also available, used later by Toshiba-EMI (1987), though not mastered for release by Rudy. So much information from just a little 60-year old box. Technical Note: All four rips were run initially at the same input volume, captured “like for like”. However the resulting playback volumes differed markedly because the MM33 and Classic have been cut much quieter than the loudest, the King.

The US engineers have cut their grooves progressively narrower, quieter than the Japanese editions (compare size of trail-out groove areas). MM say the (narrower) grooves can be stacked more towards the outer circumference, away from the record centre where the faster vinyl spinning causes tracking issues, though I have never had tracking issue myself.

It is a common for listeners to favour the louder sample. It’s what they first notice, the quieter track is marked down. To compensate, I have increased the input gain on the Classic Records and the Music Matters 33 rips, to peak volume whilst avoiding clipping, to match the Japanese. This raises the noise floor, possibly other consequences of monkeying with dynamic range, but that is what happens when you turn up the volume on your hi-fi at home, a consequence of quieter cuts. All four rips should play back equally loud. Not perfect, but good enough. 

The four editions weigh between 120gm and 200gm vinyl weight. Does vinyl weight make any difference to sound quality?  Absolutely none, just hype-sticker window dressing, 180gm is a convenient but false proxy for audiophile quality.

Voting – bummer, my host WordPress no longer offers the old free embedded Voting Widget, Poll Daddy (now Crowd Signal). It’s now all about making money, Tech CEO-salaries to pay, complex external WordPress add-ins that require plan upgrades, paid options. Comment is free. For now just comment if you have any observations, even just the batting order, best first, or none. I’ve added my preference at the end of the post.

Well, whatever next, LJC, The Masked Saxophonist?               

Now that is an idea! Moneypenny, get Spotify on the line, a sponsorship opportunity. And then Netflix, people must be bored with Ginger by now.

Harry/s Place

Harry M grabbed this shot of Bill Hardman with Art Blakey, Expo1968

Photo credit © Harry M

Collector’s Corner

Original 1568 labels, with the contentious long NEW YORK 23 address Side 2.

Popsike Top 1568 Latest Auction Results

In mid to late 2022, another two buyers joined the  $7,000 Plus 1568 Club, bringing membership to four. Two perhaps suffering from “Long-Cohen”, a rare post-COVID diagnosis whose symptoms include keeping Fred Cohen’s Guide to First Pressings to hand at all times, Popsike permanently on screen, real time Dollar-to-Yen and to-Yuan tickers, and Emergency Cardiac Defibrillator paddles within arms-reach.

Doctors believe Long-Cohen is related to Obsessive Compulsive Ebay-Bidding Disorder (OCEBD), which scientists hope one day to find a cure for, though I wouldn’t bet money on it.

The 1568 auction below tested the strongest willed – a promo copy (allegedly, label stamped “NOT FOR SALE”) from a Korean seller with unusual taste in pink posing-backcloth, vinyl pictured on an incorrect 1964 inner sleeve. It clocked over $7,000.

As a member of the Second Best Will Do (as long as it’s Not Digital) Fraternity, I have to admire the steadfast commitment of the First Pressing Fundamentalists, you know who you are.

Mobley 1568 seems to be holding its $7,000 value, I suspect soon emerging Panda-Power. Trips through London’s Mayfair since China opened borders and New Year, sees Chinese super-rich elbowing out the Middle East Oil-State royals, consuming the finest of everything: fine wines, luxe hotels, designer clothes and accessories, a Harrods Account.  ♪When Xi Rules The World ♫… 

Comments welcome on Mobley Shootout, its open mic. Comment your batting order, sound best 1st. If they are all the same to you “=” but caution., if you had to get rid of three, and keep one, would you really not care which you kept? If you don’t care which is best, why have you bothered to read this far? Pretend. Just do it.

It is an equal contest – more or less

The Japanese pressings sound fuller (but weigh less).

Sorry, BG didn’t make it to my top three.

The music is wonderful, that’s not the issue,  getting it on vinyl is something else, not all records sound the same. My order of preference (on full hi-fi) is 1, 2, 4, and then 3.  The King is overall stronger than Toshiba-EMI, then the 2016 Music Matters 33 (shock! gasp!) and last, the 200gm Classic, which sounds to me like a pile of pants, sorry Bernie.

When first I reviewed my 1568 copies (ten years ago), I concluded that, for this title, the King bettered the Toshiba, and that opinion still stands. It does not necessarily apply generally, to every title in the Blue Note catalogue, nor other Music Matters or Classic Records editions of other titles. King is best except when it isn’t. The MM33 (2016) I think predates the significant  improvements made by Cohearent in the last couple of years (those great Tone Poets). I haven’t got any other Classics to comment.

“We’ve  come  about the Mobley  Shoot-out.  Bernie sent us. Easy, don’t make any sudden moves. He’d like you to reconsider your ranking”.

You are welcome to disagree, someone always will. Warning, this test could infect you with Audiophilia, an untreatable condition which causes permanent state of comparative thinking, potentially ruinous spending on audio equipment, with debilitating side effects, such as record cleaning OCD. However, I think it’s worth the price of admission.

Science-guys, I know I should have run a randomised double blind trial, but I don’t get “Big Audio” funding, Phd students or interns. Forget expectation bias, just listen, I have done the heavy lifting, end of the day it’s only mp3 quality. If you want to post your own shootout, I’ll listen, open mind. 

My thanks to fellow Audiophilia sufferer, Bill D, for prodding me into this shoot-out.  Yeah. Thanks…

More On The Horizon : Classic Vinyl Reissue Series – 2023 Release Schedule:

Any money left after pre-ordering Tone Poets, consider these “themed” candidates for your pocket (LJC review links inserted)

January 20, 2023 – The 70s

• Grant Green – Green Is Beautiful (1970)
• Bobby Hutcherson – San Francisco (1970)

February 17, 2023 – Hard Bop

• Jackie McLean – Bluesnik (1961)
• Horace Parlan – Speakin’ My Piece (1960)

March 17, 2023 – Post-Bop

• Herbie Hancock – Empyrean Isles (1964)
• Sam Rivers – Fuchsia Swing Song (1964)

April 21, 2023 – Hidden Gems

• Dizzy Reece – Star Bright (1959)
• Johnny Coles – Little Johnny C (1963)

May 19, 2023 – Bebop

• Miles Davis – Volume 1 BLP 1501 (1952-53)
• Fats Navarro – The Fabulous Fats Navarro, Vol. 1 BLP 1531 (1947-49)

June 16, 2023 – The Rebirth

• Robert Glasper – In My Element (2006)*
• Madlib – Shades of Blue (2003)*

*mastered from a digital source. Definitely not on my list.

July 21, 2023 – Soul Jazz

• Ike Quebec – Heavy Soul (1961)
• Lonnie Smith – Turning Point (1969)

August 18, 2023 – The Avant-Garde

• Anthony Williams – Spring (1965)
• Cecil Taylor – Unit Structures (1966)

The Classic Series runs alongside the Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series which is produced by Joe Harley. Unfortunately I have almost all of them, but an upgrade of Dizzy Reece Star Bright is a possibility, an inspired choice, fabulous album, super-rare, a winner for me. But dependent on finding that extra shelf space … 

LJC

Advertisement