Third Man Records Vault

So I'm finally getting around to listening to this and well, it isn't quite as bad audibly as is being made out. It is clearly a SBD recording that lacks some bass and isn't balanced as well as it could be. My guess is that they didn't do much to the recording before pressing. Anyone who has spent time listening to live boots won't have any trouble listening to this and past Disc 1, it does sound better. Yes, it could be mixed better and yes, the audience participation doesn't come through all that well. Someone should have spent more time with the tapes before pressing it.

The pressing quality does leave a lot to be desired. Surface noise and clicks were common on my 1st disc and there was dirt and spindle issues. I join in the chorus that United shouldn't be allowed near anything promoting itself as a premium product.

All in all, not my favorite Vault but not the train wreck some are making it out to be on Discogs.
 
wmeugene said:
So I'm finally getting around to listening to this and well, it isn't quite as bad audibly as is being made out. It is clearly a SBD recording that lacks some bass and isn't balanced as well as it could be. My guess is that they didn't do much to the recording before pressing. Anyone who has spent time listening to live boots won't have any trouble listening to this and past Disc 1, it does sound better. Yes, it could be mixed better and yes, the audience participation doesn't come through all that well. Someone should have spent more time with the tapes before pressing it.

The pressing quality does leave a lot to be desired. Surface noise and clicks were common on my 1st disc and there was dirt and spindle issues. I join in the chorus that United shouldn't be allowed near anything promoting itself as a premium product.

All in all, not my favorite Vault but not the train wreck some are making it out to be on Discogs.
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well said - I've only gotten through the first two records this week and feel fortunate that those haven't had any issues a cleaning didn't take care of.

it's crazy because a lot of the early Vault stuff all came through United and is some of the best sounding stuff I have. I've even had a private tour of United and it's a fascinating operation with a ton of history in the building; just wish they had better QC these days.
 
Just got my Vault box and listened to most if the first LP.

Holy snap crackle pop, Batman! It’s BAD. The mix is... well not good. But not as bad as I was expecting it to sound based on comments here and reviews on Discogs.

But side B is pretty much unlistenable with the amount of pops and cracks throughout. Seriously one of the worst pressings I’ve ever heard. I couldn’t even finish it.
 
jfitzy said:
Just got my Vault box and listened to most if the first LP.

Holy snap crackle pop, Batman! It’s BAD. The mix is... well not good. But not as bad as I was expecting it to sound based on comments here and reviews on Discogs.

But side B is pretty much unlistenable with the amount of pops and cracks throughout. Seriously one of the worst pressings I’ve ever heard. I couldn’t even finish it.
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I've already asked for a refund. I know I won't get one but I had to make a point.
 
wmeugene said:
So I'm finally getting around to listening to this and well, it isn't quite as bad audibly as is being made out. It is clearly a SBD recording that lacks some bass and isn't balanced as well as it could be. My guess is that they didn't do much to the recording before pressing. Anyone who has spent time listening to live boots won't have any trouble listening to this and past Disc 1, it does sound better. Yes, it could be mixed better and yes, the audience participation doesn't come through all that well. Someone should have spent more time with the tapes before pressing it.

The pressing quality does leave a lot to be desired. Surface noise and clicks were common on my 1st disc and there was dirt and spindle issues. I join in the chorus that United shouldn't be allowed near anything promoting itself as a premium product.

All in all, not my favorite Vault but not the train wreck some are making it out to be on Discogs.
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Have to echo this. I have only listened to the 4th album (and 7in) and rather disappointed in the sound quality. I would say the sound quality is of a soundboard bootleg with minimal post-production to clean and separate the sound. In fact I have a couple of Jack White bootleg recordings that sound better. What I find disappointing is that most of the live Vault releases I have heard sound much better. I was expecting a better attention to final production.

Like I said, I have only listened to the 4th record but my copy cleaned up as good as I could hope for from a United pressing. Sadly I don't think this will get a lot of spins. Probably just put it away after listening to the 3 discs and look to sell it in the future. This was my first (and probably last) Vault purchase for a while.
 
I think the most disappointing part is that there was no attempt to go in and touch up the recording. Unless they thought the first part of the recording was beyond help and any help would make it sound worse. I don’t know. Obviously the pressing issues are disappointing, but the sound should be the focus.
 
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Is this the first time they get such a negative response for one of their Vault releases? I'm assuming they're aware given the consensus pretty much everywhere on at least the sound (and hopefully the pressing too).
 
Turbo said:
Is this the first time they get such a negative response for one of their Vault releases? I'm assuming they're aware given the consensus pretty much everywhere on at least the sound (and hopefully the pressing too).
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The only other one I remember being universally panned at the time was the Under Great Northern Lights B shows where most of not all of the recordings were field recordings that sounded like the tapes were made in a toilet. Not sure if anything more recently had been panned.
 
spilledleche said:
I think this release has finally made me realize that outside of a few instances, I just don’t enjoy listening to live albums that are more than one or two LPs on vinyl.
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There are exceptions but that is definitely true for me as well. I went through a month of limiting myself to live records in my collection for the last N&G challenge month and this came up a few times. 2LPs is a good sweet spot. And while I can appreciate a well recorded show that can be put to wax without much work, I came to the conclusion that overdubs are just fine.

What I liked about the two XX live shows is that they're just a single record.
 
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spilledleche said:
People also hated the Greenhornes Boscobel Blues at the time because it was 1) not a JW band and 2) because it’s only like 8 songs but I love that one
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Getting back to this one, and it’s sort of an under the radar vault nowadays but this is exactly the kind of stuff I wish they did more. They took sessions the band did and essentially made a new album of the material, some of which is better than the officially released versions. No idea how much stuff is out there for them to do this but I’d much rather they do a white blood cells reimagined with alternate cuts where it’s thoughtfully sequenced and concise than “here’s all the rough demos in a nice package”
 
spilledleche said:
People also hated the Greenhornes Boscobel Blues at the time because it was 1) not a JW band and 2) because it’s only like 8 songs but I love that one
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Choice of content is not a big deal for me - if I don't like it, I skip out the month. I've only subscribed for the last 2-3 years, so I know The Go wasn't popular - but other than it would have been nice to get a slipcase to put the goodies together, the records were excellent for me.

But this month, I think most were excited for this JW show so the mixture of weak recording and bad pressing puts it in a different category of disappointment (I was so-so looking forward to this one, to be honest, which is probably why I'm less disappointed, although I am).
 
Mather said:
Can can deal with a bad master to a degree. But to me the pressing is what's inexcusable, it's one of the worst I've ever heard from any plant. And for a supposedly premium product it's disgusting.
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Yeah, that’s what puts it over the edge for me. I can live with the poor recording. But this pressing is shit.

I’m very disappointed. This was my very first time subscribing and I can’t see my self ever doing it again. I feel duped.
 
jfitzy said:
Yeah, that’s what puts it over the edge for me. I can live with the poor recording. But this pressing is shit.

I’m very disappointed. This was my very first time subscribing and I can’t see my self ever doing it again. I feel duped.
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Same, first time and likely last time.
 
Mather said:
Can can deal with a bad master to a degree. But to me the pressing is what's inexcusable, it's one of the worst I've ever heard from any plant. And for a supposedly premium product it's disgusting.
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I'm confused by the whole ordeal. I thought that TMR, one of the perks of their sub was that they printed their own stuff on vinyl but it seems it isn't this way(I saw United as the pressing plant a few pages back)? I thought JW was more hands on on the whole process so I supposed that quality was always top notch.
 
jfitzy said:
Yeah, that’s what puts it over the edge for me. I can live with the poor recording. But this pressing is shit.

I’m very disappointed. This was my very first time subscribing and I can’t see my self ever doing it again. I feel duped.
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Overall I’ve been really happy with my Vault Sub. Don’t let one bad experience completely do u in.

Isn’t there another pressing plant in Nashville 3rdMan could use? 🤔
 
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