Thanks for giving us content different than all the rest...... Great stuff

Wow thank you for your insightful video! I own a 1977 repress of the first Led Zeppelin album and always wondered why there was a capital A struck on the label on both sides. I pulled out the album today and yes it was pressed by Allied, mastered by Sheffield Labs, has the plus symbol, and has GP in the deadwax - George Piros.. I wouldn't have known it I hadn't watched your video. Thanks again!

Thank you Tim! Thank you for sharing this info.!

Very interesting ! i have some jazz records, 70's Sheffield Lab reissues, SLM is stamped in the deadwax, and they sound really, really good. - : Shelly Manne & His Men - At The Black Hawk Vol. 1; Benny Carter - Jazz Giant ; Sonny Rollins - Sonny Rollins And The Contemporary Leaders. Just to name three. All are Contemporary Records !! Here is an interesting comment by Tom Port : Remastering is not a dirty word when you know how to do it right. Lots of good records were remastered in the ’70s. Think of all the Contemporary titles that came out in the decade before Fantasy bought the label and put all their best titles out as OJCs. Lots of Sheffield Lab Mastering marks in the dead wax, and Sheffield Labs was recutting some great records back in those days. 😉

wowww how lucky do I feel for stumbling onto this vid. Thanks for all your enthusiasm and work.

Lot’s of hard work Tim. Thanks for your efforts in this👍🏻

I own Donald Fagen with Deadwax SLM RL 🔺️ + nm I bought it off ebay delivered $30 aud ... This pressing has very dynamic soundstage overall fantastic dynamics with dead quiet vinyl 👌

Awsome info. Great Theory. One of my favorite records is Sheffield Labs Dave Grusin Discovered Again.

As usual, Thanks Tim! I have developed my own diary with codes I look for in the dead wax when I am out hunting in the wild. I am in a mode now of not buying anything without the record matching a certain criteria! Thanks again!👍😂

Wow. Great info, Tim. I checked out my Nightfly copy, and it has it all. RL masterdisk and the cross + I paid $5 for this copy 3 years ago! Sounds amazing. Thanks again for the info.

Good stuff. Thanks. I have a 1982 Japanese pressing of The Nightfly. This also has RL in the deadwax. It sounds pretty good. Br, Claus

Great video Tim! I still kick myself for keeping my MOFI version of Nightfly and giving my OG to my son. Well, the MOFI sounds good too.

I live in the UK. Own 3 of these albums and agree with you on the amazing sound quality. Now going to see where they were pressed. Sheffield labs are a legend even here.

Thank you, Tim for this latest up. I bet certain tracks on PG4 like Rythm Of The Heat, San Jacinto and Lay Your Hands on me boom on your sassy Klipsch behemoth's? Happy new year from a very cold and windy east of UK. Here's to the next one. Stay safe.

Great video! I love them looking at my Discogs to see what versions I have! I have the Henley SLM but the SP pressing…gotta go spin it and see how it sounds!

Moscow sessions by Sheffield is fantastic Their chamber music lps were very good as well. Great angle Tim, the path of beautifully produced music is so complex.

Don Henley record. Totally agree with you. The quality is superb. I bought the cassette version. OMG. It just blew me away. The sound quality amazing

Great show Sir. I really like these specific informational video's. I checked my own copies of the 3 middle records you reviewed and I have them too. For Nightfly I've got a German pressing but it has al the deadwax information you showed ("RL" among others). So does my Dutch press for Love over Gold, but has "HW" along "MASTERDISK". Anyhow this one too sounds superb. I do hope you will give an overview of the Monarch pressings soon.

Thanks for the great video. After watching I went to my discogs to see what other albums have the same synergy you are talking about. Some stand outs that also have incredible sound: Fleetwood Mac- tango in the night Talking heads- stop making sense Steve winwood- back in the highlife again Van Halen- 1984 Queen- the game

Just played my QUIEXX copy of Love Over Gold last night. It is one of my best sounding records. Still can’t believe I bought from. Goodwill auction for $15. Other than some scuff marks it’s in great shape.

Tim excellent episode never knew that about Sheffield Labs Mastering. Those original pressings done by Doug Sax were top notch and he was so important among mastering engineers. My Donald Fagen Nightfly and Dire Straits Love over gold has the SLM and pyramid and +.

Great reflection on this history and the kitchen recipe ingredients it takes to make a great recording. Like any manufacturing process, controlling as much of it as possible “in house” is a critical success factor. Unfortunately, the last 50 years have been riddled with the value of outsourcing to reduce costs in many industries. Between the reduction in quality, increase in rework and scrap, longer lead times resulting in lost customers, it is a fools errand. Process Control is a key component to success and when you farm it out, you often buy the farm!

My 1982 Peter Gabriel Security Pressing with the purple Security Hype Sticker says it was Mastered Digitally. Check yours it says the same that's why it sounds so good. At least one of the reasons.

Absolutely riveting Tim, as usual 😁 I swear, I don't know what exactly your MOJO is, but damn if it doesn't grab me by the nutZ every time and hold my rapt attention (and trust me... I don't just let anybody do that) I do have a lot of pressings with those in the deadwax, but I was not aware of the Sheffield Matrax identifiers, the SLM and SH, very good to know! A lot of the Allied pressings also seem to sound quite good too with that little balloon in the deadwax. I'll hafta check my early US copy of Security to see if it has those, although it does indeed sound quiet good. I wonder if the other US pressings of Depeche Mode also have those in the deadwax, I'll hafta check. Another great one Tim, thanks Bro!

Thanks for the excellent video and valuable information Tim. I have Peter Gabriel - Security promo translucent (same), Donald Fagen - Nightfly (Quiex) and Dire Straits - Love Over Gold Quiex. Love Over Gold has the + sign that you showed on the video. Most importantly I think I have understood the complete process chain of vinyl records (including technology and actors) and explains many things. Here is what I understand (for an AAA chain). 1. Recording: Recording Engineer in a Recording Studio (Example Geoff Emerick at Abbey Road). Different recording studios have different technologies at any time. Multitrack tapes are produced. 2. Mixing: Mixing Engineer in a Mixing Studio (usually the same recording studio but not necessary the same). Individual stereo tapes for each song are produced at this step. 3. Mastering - Part 1 - Mastering Engineer in a Mastering Studio. The Mastering Engineer produces the Master Tapes for vinyl with the sequencing of the songs, fade in fade outs, volumes and other adjustments. Two sequenced 1/4" at 15ips reels (Master Tapes) are produced at this step. Example: Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk. The objective is to create a cohesive sounding side that can be transferred to lacquer as close to flat as possible. 4. Mastering - Part 2 - Lacquering - Mastering/Lacquering Engineer that uses the sequenced Master Tapes on a Lacquer Cutting machine and cuts the lacquer applying adjustments if required while doing the transfer to the lacquer. Lacquering technology has evolved over time and there are different processes including DMM. Recently in an interview Bernie Grundman has confirmed his lacquer cutting system used today in Aja is far superior than the one he used 45 years ago to cut the same record. Example: Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. At this step when the lacquers were finally tested and approved and EQ Master Tape copy is generated for worldwide distribution (this happened back in the 70s,80s). 5. Plating/Stampers in a Plating facility. This was the step you explained in the video and now clear to me. Sheffield Lab Matrix is the facility and again different facilities have different technologies to produce the best stampers. 6. Pressing plant. Famous plants from the past are Allied, SRC and today we have QRP, RTI in the US, Pallas and Alsdorf in Germany, GZ Media originally in the Czech Republic (now I think have plants in the US and Canada). Again the pressing plant technology matters and as we know the type of vinyl material used. In the past we had the Quiex II and others and today we have the Clarity Vinyl, Super Vinyl used by Quality Records or MoFi. Many conclusions you can get from this. For example if you are looking for the best sounding pressing of an album you need to consider all these steps and factors. In the past an EQ Master Tape copy was distributed worldwide after the initial lacquering happened (mentioned above). For example a Genesis album recorded in England. The EQ Master Tape copy was sent worldwide to the US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, etc. In the case of Genesis most of my best sounding pressings are from Italy. I have Selling England from US, Canada, Classic Records, Italy and the best is the italian. I have the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway US, Classic Records, Austria, UK Porky Pekko and Italy and again the italian is the best sounding for me. This happened because even when the italian manufacturing received the EQ Master Tape from England there was still a long way to go before having the final product. They needed to produce the laqcquer on their facility, plating and stampers at a local facility and press the records with their own vinyl material. Bottom line...there are so many combinations that have an impact on a specific edition from different countries. The other day I watched a recent review on Selling England and they included the new 2 x 45 RPM of Atlantic 75 QRP. In that review the comparison was with 3 UK pressings, Classic, and German. The conclusion was the German was the best sounding and the new 75 QRP also is outstanding. There were different qualities on both editions. The did not compare with the italian....I mentioned on the review the Italian beats the german! :) And of course I still have some more questions after your video. For example there are Phil Collins and Genesis records from Canada and US that have TOWNHOUSE on the runout. I was thinking that Townhouse was sending the stampers to the US and Canadian pressing plants but most probably they send lacquers for the plating in US and Canada. I will need to review what is in the runout of these Townhouse mastered editions! Hope this is useful!

Very insightful video. Thank you. You touched briefly on a subject that is not often discussed, and that is production runs. I wonder how many records can a stamper stamper produce before succumbing to vinyl fatigue. A record early in the production run would naturally sound better than one later in the production run. Just like with any mold, the stamper will start to wear due to abrasion from stamping the vinyl. I believe some of the magic that Tom Port finds is in early production run records.

Thanks Tim, big fan of your channel! Will you be going over any of the now closed recording studios such as Muscle Shaols or Sound City? And where did they send those recordings off to back in the day line Aretha Franklin stuff etc. ? Also, on the video you did with the Steely Dan “The Bear” song, is that intro filmed on Hollywood Blvd or Santa Monica Blvd? Thanks

Tim, a great job explaining a pretty complex concept. That said, REM's Life's Rich Pageant was done at Sheffield Labs, Mastering Lab and pressed at Allied Metal Works. I know you are a big REM fan, do you have a copy of this and how does it sound. Considering picking one up on DISCOGS.

The TML of The Wall from PF is quite snazzy.

Just an incredible historical amount of information explained so well wow! I noticed the Peter Gabriel Quiex II Hype digitally mastered? Any difference from an original 1982 1st press? Also found a Quiex II Promo copy for sale that comes with a 2 page 8x11 release from Geffen and a 3 1/2x8 brochure of credits along with original inner sleeve. I assume complete with all inserts? Happy New Year! Thank You

For Love Over Gold what if it is a Club Press from RCA? When I scan the barcode it credits Sheffield + Masterdisc but there are only numbers in the dead wax.

Beatles sgt pepper (WALLY) analog 1986 ALLIED SP IS VERY GOOD -- ever hear that one?

Dang it. This video is going to cost me money.