| May 2001 33 1/3 vs. 45
Who was the audiophile to believe? I mean, how many of us could (assuming we were alive way back then) compare the two speeds on the same recording? We were at the mercy of the big record companies to make the right decision. And did they? Well, we all know by now that most records made were cut at 33 1/3. But wouldn’t it be educational, even at this late date, to be able to make that comparison? Sure it would, and it is possible today thanks to labels such as Groove Note Records. I just received the latest release from Groove Note, an album by Luqman Hamza (pronounced Luke-mahn Hahm-za) called With This Voice. Hamza, who used to be known as Larry Cummings when he was a singer with the group the Ink Spots, was a guest on a previous Groove Note album, Jay McShann’s What A Wonderful World. Due to the positive reception that Hamza received for that appearance, he was asked to record his own album, and With This Voice is the result. Groove Note, like most of today’s audiophile labels, issues a first-class product. Not only is their packaging of excellent quality and the vinyl itself flat, clean and quiet, but Groove Note also includes an added bonus. Combined with the regular 180-gram 33 1/3 record is another equally thick album cut to play at 45 rpm. It’s like getting two records for the price of one -- what a deal! And, as at least one of the songs on the 45-rpm disc is the same as the 33 1/3, you get the chance to hear for yourself what a difference the cutting and playback speed change makes. It’s quite an impressive offer, and upon listening, it almost makes me wish RCA had been successful in the early days of the LP, when they pushed for 45 rpm as the standard. I already own one of Groove Note's previous efforts, Jacintha's album Here’s To Ben (which also comes with the 45-rpm second album), so I was looking forward to listening to With This Voice. And since the Jacintha record was fabulous, easily one of the most realistic-sounding records I’ve ever heard (even at 33 1/3), the Hamza LP had a tall mountain to climb.
But, and it’s a BIG but, until you throw the 45 on the turntable and give it a listen, you ain’t heard nothing yet. The realness of the 33 1/3 turns downright spooky on 45. Now, while I’ve yet to hear any record trick me into thinking I was in the presence of an honest-to-goodness human being, this came much closer than I’m used to. This is what we should have had all along. This is also what I’d heard in my comparison of the Jacintha album too. Maybe I was onto something here. But how could I tell? I mean, it’s one thing to compare the Groove Note albums, but what other evidence is there that 45 rpm may very well be the vinyl Holy Grail? I dug out my Japanese 45 rpm copy of the Cannonball Adderley/John Coltrane album In Chicago and compared it to my original 33 1/3 rpm Mercury record. Once again, there were differences. But were they big enough to warrant making the statement that we should have been given 45s all along? Let’s see. This was a little harder to qualify. I love this music, so much so that I’d listen to it on eight-track tape if that’s all there was. The original 33 1/3 has that hard left/right soundstage, but does offer a fair amount of depth. The 45 improves somewhat on the soundstage, but also adds better and deeper bass, a more present saxophone and a closer perspective. All in all, while it’s not as huge a difference, it is one still somewhat noticeable. I then grabbed my copy of Classic Records 45 of Cannonball Adderley’s Something Else and compared the title tune with the 33 1/3 version. Again, the differences were fairly large. Once you get past the left/right stereo spread, the music itself leaps out of the speakers on the 45. The 33 1/3 version wasn’t bad to begin with, but it’s just that much better on the 45, and better in every way that’s important to audiophiles. To quote that paragon of audio knowledge, Sam Tellig, "There was more there there." I also pulled out from my bursting-at-the-seams record racks a 45-rpm copy of Jazz At Long Wharf by Mark Levinson (yes, that Mark Levinson) and a couple of friends. I realize that there is no 33 1/3 equivalent here, but still, I was wondering just how real would this record sound? Would it keep up with the other 45s I’d been listening to? Absolutely. Once again, it sounded soooo good, with each instrument coming more to life than I was used to. I also got more of a feel for the acoustic space the music was recorded in. All in all, a very satisfying experience. So yes, 45 rpm does make a significant difference in listening to vinyl, but maybe you knew that. I can understand, though, why it never caught on with the record-buying public. The playing sides are far too short; you’d be jumping up more often than you do now, with 3 1/3. Still, we should all be thankful that companies such as Groove Note and Classic Records (who now are offering 45-rpm reissues of the 33 1/3 reissues they’ve previously released) give us the opportunity to make the comparison for ourselves. It’s well worth your time and trouble to do so. And don’t be dissuaded by the cost either. Groove Note’s releases offer excellent music as well as the 33 1/3 / 45 rpm comparisons. We’ll never get all new vinyl releases at 45 rpm, but when you're given the opportunity to purchase any of our favorites done that way, don’t pass up the chance. You’ll hear your favorites in a whole new way. Sometimes serendipity needs a little nudge. Consider this yours. ...John Crossett GO BACK TO: |
Format wars. How
many times have we been through them? Beta vs.VHS, vinyl vs. cassette, vinyl vs. CD, and
now vinyl vs. CD vs. SACD/DVD-Audio. But hearken ye back to those glorious days of
yesteryear when vinyl was the new kid on the block and speed was the question. No, no, not
0-60, but 33 1/3 vs. 45, rpm that is. On the one hand we had great big Columbia Records,
that venerable old company, touting their new vinyl LP as the next great thing, and laying
claim to the 33 1/3 rpm playback speed as the way to listen. And on the other hand,
we had RCA, that redoubtable recording company, declaring that 45 rpm was the only
way to hear the full measure of what the LP could do. 
Well, I wasn’t
disappointed in the least. With This Voice is a sterling effort, one that should
cause even the most jaded of audiophiles to jump out of that well-worn listening chair and
kick up his heels in joy. (And you know who you are -- those of you who think that if it's
an audiophile recording, it just can’t be great music.) There is a presence
to both Hamza’s voice and his piano that I don't often hear. The soundstage is wide
and deep, and the instruments (bass, drums, guitar, sax and flute, in addition to Hamza on
piano) have that certain something that makes you sit up and take notice. Plus, all the
songs here are quality tunes, ones that will stick with you long after you’ve stuffed
the album back into your record cabinet. And here’s the most important aspect, so pay
attention: With This Voice is new music, not just another reissue. So here we get
audiophile-quality vinyl and good brand-spanking-new music all in one. Ya gotta
love it.