Van Morrison – Moondance

Compared this direct disk to the orange UK 1st, W7 US 1st, and Gray/Hoffman 2008 AAA cut. This one has the best mix of freshness, detail, and balance. UK has hot vocals, which could be cool for your set up. First US sounds nice, natural, not quite as detailed. Gray/Hoffman is strong, detailed, balance, just not quite as fresh as the Direct Disk. They all sound good.. for me, this one is slightly better, the best combo of all the qualities.

Well worth the $0.50 CDN I paid for it to be sure.

I have a tambourine press with the palm tree label. Can anyone help me find the relevant release page for it on Discogs?

Outstanding recording and pressing, classic album. Thick cardboard sleeve. Oozes quality. Buy with confidence.

Got a clean copy of this , it is an awesome sounding pressing. Hard to imagine another sounding any better to be honest.

Not much else to say about the music, this an acknowledged classic 'must-have' album for good reason, and this is an excellent original pressing with tremendous warmth and richness to the soundstage. My copy is in great condition, with virtually no surface noise.

I've read that newer reissues have more bass in the mix, but there's plenty here already. Honestly, some of the other reviews here sound like they're written by a bunch of entitled nincompoops. Do people realize that there is only one master tape? Do people consider the fact that these master tapes are getting old? Do people understand that every time you use the master tape for any reason, you're degrading it? There is nothing wrong with hi-res files, people. And your own ears probably can't even tell the difference, you're just going by what you read (or misread), not what you hear (or misheard). Just enjoy the damn music and be glad it exists.

Wow this pressing sounds absolutely stellar. Van Morrison's voice is very punchy and the cymbals and acoustic guitars sound especially brilliant. This would be hard to beat. Pick this up if can still find a clean copy!

To anyone wondering- Steve Hoffman himself confirmed that the masterings are IDENTICAL whether or not it has one/both initials in the deadwax. 'KPG+SH', 'KPG', no difference, same thing.

“On this W7 pressing (and all first pressings, whether W7 or WB logo) is featured a mix of 'Into The Mystic' in which Van Morrison can be heard playing tambourine.”

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I must add that the tambourine mix is not limited to “first pressings”, which I take to mean specifically the 1970 release. I have the following 1976 release with palm tree labels and “-1A” matrix on Side 1 which matches the original 1970 release. Into The Mystic on my 1976 copy indeed plays the tambourine mix. So my cp. of the 1976 release is a rare(?) repress of Side 1 of the 1970 release.

Here: https://www.discogs.com/release/5332160-Van-Morrison-Moondance

Cps. of the 1976 are cheap. Just ask the seller to confirm that Side 1 matrices show “-1A”.

Sounds pretty dark in comparison to an original early pressing. I suspect the master tape has seen better days.