John Coltrane – Giant Steps

Onto my second playthrough of this and i will be honest.... this pressing made me sell my much newer AP double 45rpm! This has superb bass and richness. The top end is revealing and fleshy without distortions, just some peaky moments to be expected. The AP was abit cleaner sounding but duller and lacking in life which the stereo version of this record cannot give up any more of because the mono is the liveliest (in a good way) listen of all. I am quite suprised how good this one is for stereo! However i am on record as finding all the AP 75th 2xLPs of Coltranes Atlantic recordings to so far end up inferior to existing Rhino 33 and ORG 45 editions.

It does sound really nice for the money: I bought it for the alternate takes, but was surprised how good the original sounded... Especially Trane's sax: it sounds loud and piercing through the mix, but not through my ears ) Loud but not harsh. I would not call this release an audiophile though, just nice recording with price/quality ratio.

Great sounding mastering and audiophile pressing. Transparent, no distortion, silent background. Occasional pop/tick but are the type that usually disappear after a couple of plays. Very faint crackling heard on last track of side A but nothing to worry about (and I'm pretty picky)

Cartridge: Ortofon 2M Black (Shibata stylus)

No distortion and no clipping
Clean copy
Sounds very good
I it that having Coltrane all the time to the left might be somewhat annoying but this is a 59’ recording
and Paul Chambers bass is very present !

I concur with the other reviews regarding the crackling noise. I hear a lot of it on "Spiral" (final track on side A) in particular. Check out the part when Coltrane comes back in after the bass solo. It's ridiculously bad and it's an issue with this pressing since my Tone Poet records (for example) sound flawless on my setup. I was disappointed: Not the definitive pressing to seek out. But to be fair, I got this mostly for the second album of alternate takes. The second album sounds great, none of the crackling/noise issues on the first album.

Getting distortion and crackling on this pressing like many of the others here. It sounds great through a couple of cuts, but then goes frequently bad. I don't believe it's my stylus/cartridge as everything else has sounded fantastic that I've played lately, such as the Blue Train Tone Poet. Very disappointed, but no way to get my money back and I don't want to sell it to someone and spread the disappointment.

It's a mixed bag. Overall, the sound quality is good, but lots of clipping on Coltrane's sax throughout. The stereo mix of this is absolutely exhausting in headphones – as Coltrane is in your left ear the entire time. Packaging-wise, it's great – the booklet is nice, sleeve is wide and thick, and the overall presentation is pretty stellar.

Agreeing with many comments here. Overall good pressing and sq. To me it is a bit bloated in the mids and heavy with Coltrane on left. A little EQ tweaking to pull the mids down and the treble up, and balancing the left and right better and it sounds quite superb (Marantz 1060). Not as much soundstage as I would like, but can those with ogs chime in on whether there was much to begin with? Both disks have a slight dish warp which does not affect play. Good clarity and decent instrument separation. Rich bass. A good value overall.

I bought myself this copy. Excellent, beautiful envelopes, a small poster, a meaningful booklet, heavy and flat plates with beautifully decorated apples. I listened to it completely. The sound is great, but I also hear distortion on some tracks, even in ages at medium volume.
I think the problem is in this pressure or in the remaster. It's a pity, but I'll keep this copy for myself - I won't change it.

My copy has distortion and clipping towards the end of both sides, unfortunately.