On a complete whim, I recently bought handful of old Enz singles (My Mistake, Six Months, IGY and History) and was amazed at how good they sound.

I've had the Mushroom CDs for years and more recently, the remasters, but both pale against the vinyl I've just got.

I'm seriously tempted to go hunting for the albums on vinyl as well.

I'd appreciate any observations as to whether anyone thinks this is worth the effort (and, additionally, whether there are any pressings/edition worth hunting/avoiding).

Now, back to the turntable

Definitely worth it, yes. Especially "Time And Tide".

I agree totally with Jaffa. Definitely worth it and especially Time and Tide.

I'm sorry that CD's ever came out, and I'm not ducking for cover for having said that.

I loved the sound of vinyl, and the feel of the 33 album in my hand, and the artwork etc, instead of a tinny disc in a plastic CD sleeve. When they were introduced we were told they'd never wear out. Wrong.

All I'd say is don't be in a hurry to accumulate your collection. Look around, and aim for excellent condition, and then you'll have many years of pleasure with your turntable.

I'm slowly building a collection of Enz vinyl that I don't have but I'm being very fussy indeed... and that's part of the pleasure.

Good luck, and I'd be interested to hear what you find and how you get on.

Any thoughts on whether I should look for UK or Aus editions? I guess neither of you has any UK Enz vinyl...

My rule of thumb is that I go for whatever takes my fancy Paul.

You see some terrific products come up on ebay, but there are "buy it now" options and you can find some really good and reliable sellers that way.

I don't worry about being disappointed now if the sleeve my vinyl comes in is less than what I expected (or indeed the vinyl itself). That just means that I know what condition to look for to replace it, and you can probably always sell what you've got if you choose to.

I bought an Enz album from the UK a while ago. It cost a bomb, but was in beautiful condition. I'd have to go and have a look to see what it was, but I've never regretted the cost.

It becomes a bit of an obsession...

This thread gave me a small fright tonight, went to have a look thru my records and I could'nt find the Frenzy LP it had somehow been 'eaten' by the cover of my gatefold Frenzy. Oui that had me in one for a few minutes I tell you

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When they were introduced we were told they'd never wear out. Wrong.

Properly cared for they will last your lifetime. Much more so than an LP.

Camus wrote:

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Properly cared for they will last your lifetime. Much more so than an LP.

Mine have been cared for Camus, but I've had several wear out.

It could be the player? I had some CD's in my car which I'd play every time I went out... they now won't play in anything.

That shouldn't have happened. The car was a 1998 model and it was a factory fitted CD player.

To be honest though, they are the only ones. All the rest still seem to be okay.

I still prefer vinyl though

if it was dust or dirt on the surface of the CD, you can actually wash them in warm, soapy water and as long as they're completely dry when you start playing it again! if they're scratched to bits, there are companies that can repair them, and even Sanity sells DIY scratch repair kits as far as I know

So funny I should come across this topic. I got the Enz box set for Fathers day and put the Rootin Tootin Luton Tapes on and started to think I have heard this stuff before but where. I went looking through my vinyl and there it was on my copy of the American version of Frenzy. They had put some of the Luton songs on side two of it. Stuff that was not on the Mushroom version of that same album. It had been a while since I had gone through my albums I have to say I still just love my old albums. I still play them and just love the way they sound.

Just to be clear I had been under the impression that the Loton tapes were mostly stuff that had not seen the light of day. It was cool to hear it in its original form.

I bought Frenzy years ago, and hadn't realised that there was a different version, until someone posted about it on here, and posted a link to one for sale.

I managed to buy it, and it was pure joy listening to Carried Away on vinyl for the first time.

Apart from those 2 or 3 songs on the American Frenzy, I'm under the impression that Luton are mostly songs that hadn't been released previously.

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Apart from those 2 or 3 songs on the American Frenzy, I'm under the impression that Luton are mostly songs that hadn't been released previously.

From the commercial release, only Carried Away, Hypnotised, Message Boy, Semi Detached and Holy Smoke had been released before (albeit in their original mixes) and all has b sides.

If you can, seek the original Australian Mushroom issues. The vinyl quality is better. Even if the master plates are the same as the overseas release (as they are with the laser "True Colours" and "Time And Tide"), Australian pressed vinyl by Festival Records was always of the highest quality.

We were lucky down under when it came to vinyl quality and had the best reputation around the world when it came to standard of pressings. Quite spoilt really.

On a technical level, CDs are of a higher audio quality than records. Unless you're prepared to spend thousands (and it will be thousands) of dollars on a decent turntable with a excellent stylus, there is no comparison. Although I do love the look and feel of vinyl, the fact remains quality with diminish with each playing. Simple fact. Look after your CDs and there should be no problem!

Dazz speaks words of wisdom I couldn't be bothered typing.

Dazz speaks words I wisdom I didn't know.

Me either!

"Dizrythmia" is another one that stood out to me as sounding better on the vinyl than any of the CD issues. I've got an '80s NZ pressing of the LP.

The "Waiata/Corroboree" original CD has a dull (left?) channel on some of the songs, so the vinyl is recommended. The newer remixed CD is interesting but is very compressed.

"Time and Tide" received a rather cold, lifeless initial CD release on A&M, while later Mushroom releases have suffered from strange stereo widening, effectively reducing the vocal and bass levels and boosting reverb. The NZ Polydor vinyl sounds lovely'n'warm, plenty of bottom end and sweet tops, albeit with a bit of end-of-side distortion. Mastered at England's The Townhouse.

I'd like to point out again that I don't have an expensive turntable (got it secondhand for about $200 in the late '80s) and that I think CDs were wonderful inventions. I myself probably wouldn't be able to notice the difference in sound between a vinyl LP and a well made CD copy of that LP, whereas a vinyl LP cut from a CD would be much more obvious. But I prefer the original Split Enz records in some cases because they sound better tonally, to my ears, and the cover artwork is so much better.

I can see this is gonna start costing me money, isn't it?

I obviously don't know a lot about the technical processes involved with C.D. or vinyl, but I can't help but think that the sound of a vinyl record is more true-to-life than that of the compact disc. I try to find Split Enz on vinyl whenever I can, because to me, c.d.s sound slightly to somewhat artificial despite the clarity of the sound. Newer compact discs do sound better than previous generations of them, though.

The trouble at this late stage is finding them with few scratches and pops, which must be compensated for by cranking up the volume!