David Bowie ‎– ★ (Blackstar)

Found it at a local store and its sounds great despite the occasional surface noise. Awful decision in packaging which explains the surface noise but its a heavy, flat and bass present record.

My copy is just a tad off-centered but this is not affecting playback.
The record is flat and clean without noticeable clicks or pops.

The sound is a way more dynamic that the digital version with full deep bass and huge soundstage.

Can anyone explain to me exactly why this is worth this much?

I found a used copy in excellent condition, but it skips in the middle of Lazarus. Visually looks fine. Anyone else have that issue? (U-Turn Orbit Custom)

I bought this album a day or two before the release date at a local shop and have owned it since. Recently had to re-catalog it because I had picked the wrong version to add to my collection. I don't put it on too often because I really have to be in the mood to play it.

In any case, I played my copy again today to refresh my memory of the sound quality. There is some compression built into the recording itself - probably an artistic choice. The LP is cut at Sterling which is a legendary mastering house, and I think it sounds pretty good overall. Maybe not the best sounding record I own but very good sounding compared to a lot of recent albums.

I hear no IGD on my system and never have since I owned this record. I should mention I'm very sensitive to IGD in general. Then again I use decent equipment, mainly vintage Japanese direct drive turntables over the past few years and cartridges with advanced stylus profiles. My current rig is a Technics 1200MK7 with some minor modifications and an Audio Technica VM95ML for the cartridge. Phono preamp is a Graham Slee Reflex M with PSU-1.

If you are playing this record on one of those cheapo plastic junkboxes, you likely will hear some IGD. Likewise, if your cartridge is a crappy tracker/tracer and has a cheap bonded elliptical or conical diamond, do not expect perfect playback. IGD in these cases is the fault of your gear, NOT the record itself.

I suppose there are people out there that would have mastering engineers cut every record to sound good on the cheapest all-in-one turntables out there but it's not what many of us want. I'd rather the engineer cut the record to sound as good as possible on decent gear of reasonable quality.

I own a CD copy of this album and the year printed on the disc surface is 2015, so my release is missing among the known ones.

I heard this first on a train to Leeds the day after he died and spent the time trying (and failing) to hide my tears, both for the loss and for the incredible life force that runs through this record. Listen to the end of 'Ti's Pity She's A Whore and tell me it doesn't make your hairs stand on end. Talk about raging against the dying of the light. Just, wow.