Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club

My copy of this album sounds fantastic. The pressing is quiet and flat, too. I wonder if it's mastered from the tapes in analog, or digitally?

Nice re-issue. Pressing is not as flat as the re-issue from 2015 but it's totally ok and it sounds very well. Don't expect big surprises about the remastering. Maybe a tiny brighter than the re-issue from 2015. The book printing lacks a bit contrast and sharpness (photos). The edition is listed here and there for just €30 now (10-2022) - and that's a price no one can complain about for such a large edition.

Love this album. Beautiful music. Sounds amazing. My disc 2 is slightly warped but doesn’t affect playback at all.

Sounds fine to me, although my only reference is my original CD. It would be interesting to compare with the earlier pressing, but my ears aren't hearing any obvious sonic issues from groove-cramming for the bonus tracks.

Then again, all my other Cuban music is CDRs purchased directly from bar bands in Havana and Varadero. :)

Vinyls came warped, and play with constant clicking and crackling spoiling the tracks, even if they look mint. Bad pressing, and also i was completely disappointed that they have added extra bonus tracks not on previous versions, and i realized that after i ordered it, that means diminished in volume of the tracks compared to the previous versions. I should had bought the 2015 pressing which is also cheaper. Now is too late.
25th Anniversary my ass.

Great pressing, I’m not familiar enough with previous ones to pinpoint the differences but the mix was really dynamic. There’s some hand drums in there that knocked me out of my chair. In a good way

Easily 5 stars on the sound for this incredibly well recorded masterpiece. Not as dynamic as previous reissues like the 2015 reissue or VMP release, but this is mostly due to squeezing more songs on each side to make way for the bonus tracks on Side 4.

Unfortunately this is a GZ pressed record and very noticeably so. A fair amount of surface noise and what sounded like brief bits of no-fill in two spots on Side A and C. Being stored in paper sleeves probably didn't help much either and Side B had a big fingerprint on it. Luckily it washed off.

Overall, a good reissue, but only worth it you really need the bonus tracks or this is your first purchase ever of this record. Otherwise I'd go with the still available 2015 reissue if you want to hear a bit better sounding version.

Update 04/30/22

I exchanged my two noisy/defective discs for two new ones. Total night and day difference on quality with these. Very little to no surface noise. The rest of the review stands, but this goes to show how some varied the pressing quality is and not knowing what you're going to end up with.

Fantastic packaging and sound! Does anyone know if this is an Optimal or GZ Media pressing?

Fluance RT-85 TT
Ortofon 2M Blue
Cambridge Alva Duo preamp
Dum Audio “The Amplifier” Amp
Dum Audio “The Speakers” Speakers

Mine is also quiet and flat. Luckily GZ got this one right, sounds fantastic. Does anyone know if this is AAA or from the same digital archives as the VMP pressing?

What a gorgeous pressing! No clicks or pops on my copy, and the sound is brilliant. Genuinely sounds like you're in the studio with the musicians. If you have a pulse, you'll love this record.