"I want to compliment you on the mastering and pressing for Tim Weed's Light and Dark album. Tim and I are very happy with the sound of the test pressings...I have been recording, mixing, and mastering music since the early 70's, first in LA where I built my first recording studio, Spectrum Studios, Venice Beach in 1973 and in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1988 at my studio The Plant Studios in Sausalito...I have worked with many labels and with many mastering engineers such as Bernie Grundman, Doug Sax...Some of the "audiophile" labels I worked for were Telarc, Mobile Fidelity, Varese-Sarabande, Wyndham Hill, Pablo, Discovery, Concord Jazz, and a few others...I've been fortunate to work as a recording/mix engineer on many large orchestral works for pop artists such as Prince and Paul McCartney, and also many big band jazz records (Count Basie, Gerald Wilson, Bob Florence) during my career. In all the symphonic works I've recorded, I have never heard an album like Light and Dark and your team did it justice." - Arne Frager, Owner of The Plant Studios (http://plantstudios.com)
"Hi Gary, The pressings are perfect. I couldn’t be happier. Thanks so much for your care and attention to this recording.
Best regards,
Michael"
Michael Weiss, pianist/composer Soul Journey on 180-gram vinyl, pressed at Quality Record Pressings
"We have been such huge fans of everything that Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions and Chad have stood for these last few years. With helping keep vinyl alive, demanding perfection in everything you do and improving on the technologies to make vinyl pressing even better. If there is a Mount Rushmore of People who have helped this indestry stay afloat over the years Chad would be on it." — Joe Crowell & Victoria Hamza @vinylgurl.com
"The pressings sound incredible. I bought a new turntable. I monitored on my B&O headphones. I listened to many records first, vintage and new and in between. This records sounds better than all of them. I am thrilled and I am grateful. Thank you. Best, Trina." — Trina Shoemaker, Grammy-winning record producer, mixer, and sound engineer (Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Queens of the Stone Age)
"I am so incredibly pleased with everything you and QRP did for Let's Be Frank. The vinyl is stunning, and sounds amazing. THANK YOU!" — Trisha Yearwood, regarding her Frank Sinatra tribute album Let's Be Frank. Pressed at Quality Record Pressings on 150-gram vinyl. Order here.
"I love them!!! I am not just saying this...I have used a few pressers and now I wish I had always used QRP for everything. Beautifully packed as well, so they are all in good shape. The etching looks great, the black label is fine. My mom is gonna be so moved, this is a poem my dad wrote for her, when they started courting. He passed away five years ago, and this past month was their 60th wedding anniversary. Thanks so much, and hopefully I'll need more records!" — Amy Ray (Indigo Girls) speaking about Holler, her September 2018 solo album, pressed on double LP by Quality Record Pressings.
Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest
"These are rich guitar and banjo textures and harmonics that are almost orchestral in nature. ... The recorded sound here is everything you'd wish for on an album of acoustic instruments and vocals. It's artifact-free, harmonically and textually rich and complex and spatially three-dimensional. ... The QRP pressing is dead quiet too. (Note: the first pressing has sold out but do order now. It's worth the wait!)." — Music = 10/11; Sound = 10/11 — Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com. Read the whole review here.
"Guys, I just received from you and listened to test pressings of Steve Van Zant's 'Soulfire' album, which I mixed. I actually never thought vinyl could sound this good, especially a record as dense as this one! I'm more of a digital man myself, especially considering my wife, Betty Bennett is founder, owner and president of Apogee Electronics, a digital audio converter company. We got a few TP's from various other plants that were rather disappointing, losing most of the drum and percussion transients. I rejected all of them. The Quality TP's simply sparkle on the transients, while maintaining a clear, firm bottom end. I miss absolutely nothing from my mixes-the pressings sound absolutely flawless to me, even when A/B'ing them to the digital mastered ref from Bob Ludwig at Gateway.
"To be honest, I've never been much of a fan of vinyl, even back when that was all there was (other than cassettes, which I'm quite glad are gone for good) but now you guys have made me the vinyl fan I never was. You also pressed the Lori Lieberman record I mixed last year with which I was equally impressed. I hope you guys do the vinyl pressing of all my current and future mixes. I will certainly be recommending you!
"Now I wish my car had a record player in it!" Regards, Bob Clearmountain
I'm listening to the Mosaic release of Louis Armstrong Newport '56 and '58, which I mastered. Just wanted you to know that the pressing sounds phenomenal. As good as it gets! Great job! Best, Kevin Gray Cohearent Audio, LLC
"I’d had Quality Record Pressings recommended to me by several colleagues; mostly mastering engineers that have been satisfied with the results. I can say that the records exceeded my optimistic expectations. I’ve never heard a quieter, better-sounding pressing than what I got back; the LPs themselves are extremely impressive visually as well— beautifully-printed labels, perfectly flat records, no audible errors anywhere, and really just an inspired level of quality all around. I feel like they will make a statement to anyone who plays them—this is truly high-end stuff. As long as QRP continues to operate at this level of quality, I honestly can’t imagine a reason to have anyone else press records for me in the future, outside of special time constraints or severe budget restrictions. If my most recent project is any indication, I’d consider it highly possible that QRP are managing to produce some of the nicest pressings ever made. Additionally, Kandi and everyone else I dealt with were extremely professional and helpful; helping me be assured of meeting a tight deadline with my distributor, and gracefully handling a couple of curveballs I threw with the packaging." -Brad Allen Williams
"You guys sure chose the right name for your company! I am amazed at the quality of the tests." - Scott Merritt, QRP Customer
"I just got some TPs back from Quality Record Pressings. I've got to say-- holy shit. They're just test pressings and they're already some of the quietest records I've ever heard. I'm very impressed.
I cued up side one, copy 1 and started my stopwatch. And my stopwatch kept going, and going, and going... there was one little spot toward the end that sounded like it might have been a hint of non-fill, or some gunk stuck to the stamper. Checked on another TP and it wasn't there so the metal is fine.
I cued up side B and forgot to pay attention. I got so immersed in the music that I couldn't manage to concentrate on whether or not there was any noise or errors. I'll have to scrutinize again later, but I take that very much as a good sign. This was an all-analog project start to finish, sequenced on the quarter-inch reels, mixed off of 24 track. The sound on these TPs is just so damned involving.
I hope they can keep their quality at this level in the long term. If this is what the TPs are like, I can't wait to hear the final production run. Very, very high-end stuff." — Brad Allen Williams
"Just wanted to congratulate you on Quality Pressings. Chad, the fidelity is way beyond anything I thought possible! Thanks for making the music SING!" — Mike Oltz, XtremeFidelity - Exceptional Two-Channel Audio For The Home
"Congratulations on another superb pressing job! This program may have the widest dynamic range of any Reference Recording, with a lot of music right down at the bottom. Any groove noise would mask it, and I'm happy to say I hear none. Surfaces are 'spooky quiet,' hooray! Centering and other aspects are fine, too. Thanks!" — Tam Henderson, founder of Reference Recordings, regarding the 200-gram, 45 RPM QRP pressing of Elgar: Enigma Varations / Vaughn Williams: The Wasps / Greensleeves, by the Kansas City Symphony.
“... If the test LPs pressed at Chad’s own facility, Quality Record Pressings in Salina, KS, from the lacquers made from these remastered tapes turned out to be merely as good as the Classic remasterings, Kassem decided he wouldn’t go further with the project. If they were only a little better than the Classic remasterings, he decided he still wouldn’t proceed. The new LPs had to sound a lot better to justify the complete remastering of some 25 titles and the investment of several hundred thousand dollars. The fact that I’m writing this preview will clue you into the results. There will be a genuine windfall of choice RCA titles released over the next year or two, starting in September, 2013.” — “Sneak Preview: Acoustic Sounds’ RCA Reissues” Jonathan Valin, The Absolute Sound, June 2013
“…after hearing Muddy Waters Folk Singer, Elvis 57, Dave Brubeck Time Out and Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits… All meticulously done at Quality Record Pressings, I knew the Newsted Heavy Metal Music vinyl needed to be pressed there!!! I've used pressing plants all over the world, really great ones, but I've never heard such a quiet background where the music is so instantly front and center! Whether historic and soft, or new and loud, Quality Record Pressings’ sound is incredible!!!”
Tom "Grover" Biery — Collective Sounds record label director, and vinyl freak!
"Without a doubt, the AP pressing sounds much more natural than the Classic Records reissue; the sound is simply less forced, as if the notes and rhythms have more air to explore, more ambient Hall to reverberate, and more of the acoustic envelope to reveal. Dynamics are explosive and clean, and the vinyl is so damn quiet, you can turn it up without any hesitation (the LPs are being pressed at QRP and plated by Gary Salstrom). The solo violin is the heart of this recording and it’s supposed to sound seductive, and on this reissue, it does.” — Analogue Productions’ Living Stereo RCA Reissue: Scheherazade. Reviewer Joey Weiss, HP Soundings, May 2013
“This transfer bespeaks a confidence in the sound on the master tape, without the artificial touch-ups (a brightness) later found in the original Living Stereo pressing and the more pronounced jiggering in the version from Classic Records. ... If there were a must-have LP in the recent wave of audiophile vinyl reincarnations, this is it. Treat yourself and thank (Chad) Kassem for doing it the justice it deserves.” — Analogue Productions’ Living Stereo RCA Reissue: Scheherazade. Reviewer Harry Pearson, HP Soundings, May 2013
"(Au Pairs' Playing With A Different Sex) is the best DAMN test pressing we've ever heard! Ever! Kudos, gentlemen! The sound quality is nothing short of remarkable. I really can't accurately convey how impressed and subsequently pleased we are. Woo hoo! Ecstatically, Neil. P.S: Approved." — Neil Azevedo, Drastic Plastic Records, May 2013.
"I've visited almost every vinyl pressing plant in the world, And QRP is right at the top, along with a handful of others. There's Pallas, in Germany. There's Optimal, which is also in Germany. There's RTI, in California. And there's Chad and QRP. And I'm not sure there's anybody else getting the consistency he's getting. And here's another thing: RTI has been around 30 years. Pallas has been making records since before World War II. QRP just came out of nowhere." — Michael Fremer, senior contributing editor at Stereophile magazine and editor of analogplanet.com
"It was very shrewd of Chad to bring Gary (Salstrom, general manager and master plating technician) in. He's a really renowned guy in the audiophile world." — Marc Mickelson, founder and editor of The Audio Beat, an online audiophile publication.
"I co-produced and mixed this record [Lyle Lovett - Release Me] and I could not be more blown away with this Vinyl pressing. This record, when I play it at home, is closer to what I heard in the studio that any other medium I can transport. It is dead quiet, punchy, totally musical and staggeringly accurate. How do they do that?
QRP has fundamentally changed what I expect to hear from a major release medium." — Nathaniel Kunkel
"...Universal went to Metropolis Mastering in London and engaged Miles Showell to half speed master the LP, and engaged pressing plant Quality Record (Pressings) in the U.S. to press the LP on 200 gram vinyl. ... It doesn't get much better than this when it comes to classic rock reissues. Bravo to Chad Kassem for his perfect pressing and mastering engineer Showell for the fine half speed master." Slowhand, Eric Clapton. Recording = 10/10; Music = 9/10 — Dennis D. Davis, Hi-Fi +, Issue 97
"I received test pressings today for both Morrison Hotel and L.A. Woman. I have to tell you that these are the very best pressings I've heard in many, many moons. Great plating and your compound is so quiet that I clearly heard every fade out to its conclusion with no problem. Doug (Sax) and company did a lovely job, the tapes sound pretty damn good for being almost 50 years old and his system is clearly the best...You should be very proud of what you and your troops are doing." — Bruce Botnick, The Doors producer/engineer
“…must be the cleanest test pressings I’ve ever listened to…there is a warmth and depth here (especially on Texas Flood and Couldn’t Stand The Weather) that I’ve never heard before…I’d be very happy to continue to listen to these pressings – forever. And, of course, it just may be that what we have here is the best replication of the master tapes to date…beautiful pressings of the six LPs. They’ve never sounded better.” – Gregg Geller, Producer and A&R Man, commenting on test pressings for Analogue Productions’ Stevie Ray Vaughan box set
“...vinyl quality is not just about weight. To that end, the oh-so-critical vinyl mastering was done by renowned engineer Kevin Gray of Cohearent Audio, and all the records were pressed at Quality Record Pressings, the Kansas-based plant whose growing reputation for excellence has resulted in them being regarded as one of the best — if not the best — in the world.” — Review of the Norah Jones Vinyl Collection by Paul Sinclair, SuperDeluxeEdition.com, January 2013
“The original CD of Come Away With Me was never too bad on the ears, but the warmth and detail from the clean, flat vinyl shines through. The Fall sounds particularly good — with Jones going for a different sonic palette ... The bass and general bottom end of tracks like “Chasing Pirates” and “Waiting” sounds exceptional on this vinyl pressing.” — Review of the Norah Jones Vinyl Collection by Paul Sinclair, SuperDeluxeEdition.com, January 2013
“Jones’ most recent album, Little Broken Hearts, has 12 songs spread across two records. The original LPs were pressed on white vinyl, but no such gimmicks this time around. ... Our favorite Norah Jones album sounds better than ever in this form. ... You really can see where the money has gone with this set. It’s been spent on the important things ... employing the best people to create the finished product, whether that be mastering engineers, or the pressing plants.” — Review of the Norah Jones Vinyl Collection by Paul Sinclair, SuperDeluxeEdition.com, January 2013
“Just wanted to give you (all) a standing ovation. I've never heard such quiet, flaw-free pressings -- and all four sides dead-on center. Bravo, and many thanks!” Tam Henderson, Reference Recordings
“That Analogue Productions head honcho Chad Kassem has an uncanny ear for selecting superb originals on which to lavish his perfectionist ministrations has never been in question. One need only look at a few of his releases to know that his taste is as good as it gets: Dusty In Memphis, Ray Charles’ Genius + Soul = Jazz, Getz/Gilberto — you get the picture. Reckoning is a more-than-worthy entrant in the exceedingly distinguished Analogue Productions catalogue.” Music= 5/5; Sound = 4.5/5 — Paul Bolin, The Audio Beat, August 2012
“... I put on the Analogue Productions reissue. Suddenly, as the Dead kicked in to “Dire Wolf,” they holographically manifested themselves just behind and between my Wilson Sashas. ... Mickey Hart’s gentle cymbal taps, plain as a pikestaff on the reissue, hadn’t even been apparent on the original pressing. ... This was demonstration-quality sound coupled with great American music. ... Mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes and pressed on massive 200-gram vinyl biscuits at Kassem’s Quality Record Pressings, this Reckoning features a foldout cover with full credits printed on thick, nearly archival-quality stock. The records themselves are absolutely flawless and dead quiet. It is my considered opinion that Quality Record Pressings is making the finest LPs that have ever been heard. I honestly cannot think of one thing about this release that could be improved. A total triumph in every way.” Music = 5/5; Sound = 4.5/5 — Paul Bolin, The Audio Beat, August 2012
“I've now heard a number of LPs from Quality Record Pressings (QRP), Chad Kassem's year-and-a-half-old record-pressing plant. Before Time Out, I would have said that some positive trends were apparent from the earlier LPs I've heard. However, this current pressing is so much better than those that came before it, which were certainly very good, that it's obvious things have improved considerably over the past year. It's a positive sign when the noise floor is defined by the hiss of the master tape, not the quality of the pressing or vinyl, and that's the case here. Having heard many, many Pallas and RTI pressings, the main competition for QRP, I would say that QRP pressings combine the strengths of both its competitors: the very low surface noise and bottom-of-the-groove quiet of Pallas LPs and the sharp delineation of musical detail of RTI." — Sound = 4.5/5; Music = 5/5 — Marc Mickelson, The Audio Beat, August 2012
"How about a 45 RPM set from Analogue Productions' recently launched Quality Record Pressings Facility, mastered by Bernie Grundman, in a beautiful gatefold jacket with extra sessions shots? It's been ages since I've heard LP surfaces this quiet — as in dead quiet. The expense and effort that Chad Kassem and company put into this venture are immediately obvious. ... Making music together bring this recording to life as never before. It's by far the best sounding and most engaging version yet... analog lovers will be in hog heaven." — Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound, May/June, Issue 223
"The Quality Record Pressing is drop-dead quiet - as silent as the best Japanese pressings from the late 1970s - and the amount of inner detail released is simply astonishing...the sound is sweet, liquid and free of harshness and edge." - Michael Fremer, MusicAngle.com
"All hail Analogue Productions, the audiophile record company in Salina, Kansas, for hiring the best engineers to invent a new formula for pressing vinyl. The results are simply staggering. Check out the 45rpm remaster of the 1956 Ella & Louis (Fitzgerald & Armstrong). If you have a good stereo, you'll swear they're in the room!" - Fred Kaplan, Slate, December 2011
“…all I can say is THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!!!!! The sonics are spectacular and the pressing quality is as good as has ever been pressed in my opinion. The backgrounds are dead, black, silent the way Japanese pressings used to come on JVC ‘Supervinyl!’ and believe me it doesn’t get any better than that, though this may even be richer, darker and blacker.” Music = 9/11; Sound = 11/11 – Michael Fremer, MusicAngle.com
“The best recording (Cat Stevens/Tea For The Tillerman) in my 4000+ collection. Full stop, period, exclamation mark…! – Atul Kanagat, Acoustic Sounds customer
"Just wanted to let you know that your new Quality Record Pressings are simply the VERY BEST EVER!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't want to listen to other offerings anymore. Thanks!!" - Mike Oltz, Acoustic Sounds customer
“I just picked up your new AP pressing of Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson and it sounds amazing. QRP is doing it right!” – Matthew Block, Acoustic Sounds customer
“Chad, I just spent the afternoon listening to several versions of Cat Stevens’ Tea For The Tillerman. My Tea For The Tillerman collection includes: Mobile Fidelity UHQR, standard MFSL, original Island, Island re-issue, A&M audiophile half-speed, standard A&M issues and a French pressing. After listening there is no question the new Analogue Productions re-issue is by far the finest. Great job!” – Jack Lind, Acoustic Sounds customer
"Just wanted to let you know how impressed I am with the new Verve 45 rpm reissues. The sound and the pressing are outstanding. The Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson is just superb. I have the previous 33 rpm re-release, but it is nothing like the new QRP reissue. The bass is so clean, the reverb trails off, the grit and pulse come right through the music. Congratulations on the Quality Record Pressings endeavor. The results are amazing. Really looking forward to the Verve reissues, these are some of my all time favorite jazz records." - Randall Fulton, Acoustic Sounds customer
"...the first minute or so of a 200g LP is the most difficult to press quietly - yet the copy I got was absolutely dead, black silent...just like Japanese pressed records were back in the 'old days.'" - Michael Fremer, MusicAngle.com
"These (two new LPs from Reference Recordings) and Analog Production's remastering of Tea for the Tillerman were both pressed at Quality Record Pressings, the superb Salina, Kansas, facility, and they are the best and the quietest LPs I've heard of recordings made during the LP era. In a sense, the silences of QRP's pressings, their lack of those hard-to-define anomalies of stylus-in-groove sonics, are comparable to the kind of quietness inherent in a magnetic-drive turntable...QRP has put its best feet forward. 'Spectacular' in this case means a freedom from defects (snaps, crackles, and pops) and an absence of groove noise and what I would call vinyl 'rumble,' hard to define except by contrast with normal pressings." - Harry Pearson, The Absolute Sound, January 2012 (or Issue 219)
"I have conducted many A+B comparisons over the years as one of the founders of the late Cello Music and Film with Mark Levinson, and now as a professional recording engineer I spend a great deal of time comparing tracks, mixes and fine tuning mastered material. Recently we decided to release two collections of Lori Lieberman's on vinyl and ordered Test Pressings from another source. When you told me about QRP I was very interested and excited to have our material pressed at your remarkable facility. But I had no idea what a dramatic difference could be made by just the pressing technique. Both sets of lacquers were prepared by Kevin Gray so all conditions were equal. The depth of the stage, clarity and detail of our mixes, and in particular the air surrounding Lori's voice, representative of what I hear in our studio was remarkable. This was not subtle. The material lives as pressed by QRP. You would have thought I changed phono cartridges, turntables or phono preamp. Congratulations. Your pressing plant is the finest anywhere and we will continue to only press Lori's albums exclusively with QRP. I can't wait till we have the opportunity to do a Direct To Disc and press those at QRP.' - Joseph Cali, Recording Engineer of Lori Lieberman's Bend Like Steel and Gun Metal Sky
"Without a new pressing plant coming online, the worldwide record industry would rapidly approach the point where the demand for new vinyl would outstrip the industry's ability to press it in a timely manner, and growth would stop...But the Quality Record Pressings plant in Salina, Kansas, has the potential to affect vinyl production worldwide...thanks to Chad Kassem's willingness to spend whatever it costs to produce what will hopefully be the world's best and most consistently high-quality LPs...Early test pressings I've heard from QRP look, feel, and, most important, sound superb." - Michael Fremer, Stereophile, August 2011
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