Dire Straits (self titled) 1978 Vertigo RJ-7541 Japan Pressing OBI NM Play Test

$

52

• Dire Straits.
• Dire Straits.
• Original 1978 Japanese Pressing (fanatical manufacturing quality control & pure vinyl formulations).
• With OBI.
• With Lyric Sheet Insert (Band Photos, Both English And Japanese Lyrics).
• Translucent Vinyl (when held up to bright background light).

Item Details
Manufactured in: Japan By Nippon Phonogram Co., Ltd., Tokyo
Recorded: February - March 1978 At Basing Street Studios
Mastering By: Record Technology Incorporated, Camarilo, CA
Original Issue: June 9, 1978
This Issue: 1978
Label: Vertigo RJ-7541
Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
Side 1: (stamp:) 91020211 1 1 1 ꔰ ꔰ ꔰ ꔰ 1 〄 Ⓑ
Side 2: (stamp:) 91020212 1 2 1 Ⓑ (0 crossed out)

Was bought new by this seller many years ago and now offered from his private collection (you have absolutely known provenance). Has had limited plays only on an expertly setup high-end audiophile turntable, arm, and cartridge. Has never been exposed to heat or tobacco smoke and always stored vertically in a specially designed record cabinet (Rackit brand) to prevent warpage.
All vinyl sides are cleaned on a VPI HW-16.5 record cleaner. I use the Audio Intelligent "One-Step" formula that requires no rinsing and leaves no residue. It is alcohol free and uses enzyme agents to remove pressing mold-release compounds, fungi & bacteria, finger oils, and many other environmental contaminants. Made with laboratory-grade pure water(50X purer than distilled water). I neutralize residual static charge from both vinyl and new inner sleeve with a Milty Zerostat. I wear nitrile surgical gloves while cleaning and play testing to avoid any chance of transferring finger oils to the vinyl.

Very sensitive play testing was performed straight off my Ayre P-5xe fully balanced phono preamp over Sennheiser HD 600 headphones using a Schiit Audio Valhalla 2 tube headphone amp fitted with NOS Soviet Voskhod matched tubes (see last photo).

Track list
For track listings, please see my attached record label photographs.

I take close-ups under photo lamps so you can see nearly everything I describe in the jacket grading. After cleaning I use very bright light and close visual inspection on each side to assign "visual-only" grades. However, I always perform play testing with thorough coverage on high resolution equipment to assign play grades.
Grading Details
Note: Grading LPs by text characters is subjective and at best are only a guide as no two used records are of exactly the same quality. I do not use "EX" grades as my VG+ is right below "NM-." I never sell a "G" play grade and very rarely ever sell a "VG" play grade. Please, refer to both my photo evidence and detailed descriptions to judge by YOUR OWN grading standards. Questions are always welcome. Play quality is personally most important to me so vinyl visual qualities are separately graded and described in detail for your complete assessment.

Outer Jacket Inspection/grading:
(Front Face/Rear Face)
NM/NM
Both sides looked near perfect as it was kept always within a outer plastic sleeve and got limited play time.

Vinyl Visual Inspection/Grading:
(Side 1/Side 2)
NM/NM
Both labels do have LAST protective vinyl wear prevention treatment stickers on them. I usually treated my new vinyl with LAST before the very first play. Side 1 looked visually perfect but I rotated again under different bright light and spotted a tiny microscopic "white dot" in the last 1/3rd of T2. I re-cleaned the side with a goat hair brush but that did not dislodge it. Could be a polyvinyl chloride particle stuck to the top surface. I made a note to check this first on S1 before T1. S2 looked perfect.

Play Testing/Grading:
(Side 1/Side 2)
NM/NM
Play testing is always performed after visual inspection and written notes get taken. I spot check each track by taking a couple of needle drops in each one. When the track width is noticeably greater I may take a few more play samples to get good coverage. I also listen to the lead-in, lead-out and some transition grooves to get a feel for the overall pressing quality. If I digitize my favorites to 96k/24-bit WAV files for archiving I can listen to an entire track while recording it. Below are play testing rundowns for each side.

Side 1 Play
First, I observed that the record sat pretty flat on my TT (I do use a record clamp, but even mild warps always show if present). Per my visual inspection noting that tiny "white speck" in the last 1/3rd of T2 I listened 100% to that area and it sailed right through with no noise. I repeated the play from half way to the end and still heard no noise. Took more samples from the first half which also had no vinyl noise so I returned to T1. T1 ramped up slowly at very low levels. I could hear the normal vinyl noise floor consisting of single random tiny level HF ticks for a few seconds until the lead guitar kicked in loud. The rest of the track was totally free of noise right into the trans-grooves which were very quiet. T3 had zero vinyl noise on all samples. T4 was recorded and the only vinyl noise in the whole track was a single LF tick at very low volume. T5 had zero vinyl noise with just a tiny HF tick right at the junction of the lead out grooves. Allover assessment was a solid NM play side.

Side 2 Play
This side also laid flat on my TT. I recorded T1 and there was no vinyl noise all the may through. A very hot track with peaks of -3.4dBFS on my record meters. Perfect from start to finish featuring audiophile detail and frequency extension. T2 was also recorded and it was totally clean except for a single moderate click at 44 seconds into it. After recording I went back under bright light rotating all around on the area but found nothing visually. Must have been there when brand new. T3 was also recorded and had only one tiny LF tick in the last few seconds. T4 had zero vinyl noise on all play samples except for a few tiny ticks at the very end as the music faded out into the lead-out grooves. Another NM side in my estimation.

The first Dire Straits album was one of their very best and this copy was well cared for. The Japanese pressing is far superior to any US one in every way. Collectors seeking out this pressing can know exactly what they would be getting.

Packaging

• Records are placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
• Original inner sleeves (if still present) are included separately.
• All records will be placed into new MFSL-style "rice paper" plastic sleeves. Any original sleeves may be holding onto some dust and if paper lined could even be abrasive. This will keep vinyl surfaces clean and well protected during shipping and ultimately during buyer usage.
• Outer jacket is contained in a new clear polyethylene protective sleeve.
• Sent in high quality record mailer with cardboard stiffeners and all corners double-taped.

Shipping

• Shipping will be via USPS Media Mail for a flat charge of $5.00 per single album sale. eBay keeps raising the rates for Media Mail but I still don't pass all of that or any costs for shipping materials on to the buyer. I do try to reduce additional costs for my customers.
• A combined shipping discount is available on multiple sales completed on the same day ($4.75 plus $0.50 for each additional LP).
• If you do buy more than one LP on the same daydo not pay immediately but wait for my all-combined with the discount applied to your total.eBay does give you the option to "Request an invoice from the buyer," but this option is not available on the eBay mobile app. A discount for the combined items will show on that invoice. Then, once payment is received, the items will ship.