Ben Folds – What Matters Most

Have the black vinyl release and mine is great! Not dead silent but pretty quiet and nice mix.

The mix is fairly full, but my copy has a lot of surface noise throughout. Side B starts with about 5 seconds of loud distortion. Each side has some noticeable inner groove distortion. It's nice to have Ben's autograph, but it would have been nice to have a nice pressing to go along with it. Don't buy this copy if you're looking for a nice sounding record.

Thought I was crazy hearing distortion about half through side 1, but now reading this I see some similar comments. Really to me unlistenable. A shame someone like Ben who has a nice setup I’ve seen in pics (McIntosh etc) puts this out. I’m playing via a Rega P6, Ortofon 2m black and Marantz 2270. In addition Ben must have been g mine with the sharpie at end of life as it is very light. Just not happy at all with this, oh well.

Does anyone know where these were sold? Couldn't find much online

Very glad to have this signed by Ben. One of my prized possessions.

I’m no audiophile nor do I have the setup, but I do have a fairly decent one and this sounded OK. I mostly got it for the autographed sleeve, which I was able to still find at Barnes and Noble, so check there before you overpay.

Can anyone please comment on the sound quality of this black vinyl release? I'm keen to know whether it both sounds better and is better quality compared with the colo(u)red versions. Thanks!

I shouldn’t have read the reviews before playing it. I was expecting this to be some poor digital recording over compressed low bit rate digital recording. But lucky for me it wasn’t..
I think what others heard in Kristine and other parts was Mic choice and placement. Was it a AAA recorded at Cohearent studio all tube/analogue studio cut by Kevin Gray? No. But to me definitely very listenable.
Mine was well pressed with no warps or surface noise. Adding my cart used as others have on this albums review - Ortofon 2m Black MM.

buuuumed mine came with a bump on the spine but at least it has no creases or seam splits…? looking forward to giving it a play.

My copy sounds great, zero surface noise, loud and clear, the blue vinyl is beautiful.