Dave Brubeck Time Out 6-Eye Columbia CS 8192 Vintage 1961 Terre Haute Press TAS

$

76

• Dave Brubeck Quartet.
• Time Out.
• Columbia CS 8192.
• 1961 Six-eye Label.
• Flip-back laminated jacket front.
• Terre Haute IN Columbia Pressing Plant ("T" in matrix).
• Early 1961 Second Edition Pressing (see below).
• Awarded "SPECIAL MERIT: Informal" By The Absolute Sound audiophile magazine (TAS).

Item Details
Manufactured in: USA
Recorded: June 25 - August 18, 1959 At Columbia 3th Street Studio, NYC
Original Issue: December 14, 1959
This Issue: Believed to be 1961 (based on multiple identifiers - see below)
Label: Columbia CS 8192
Pressing By: Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute, IN
Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
Side 1: (stamp:) XSM47855 2AL C (etch:)T |||||||||||
Side 2: (stamp:) XSM47856 2BF
My research pointed to several things that identify this album as a second 1961 pressing: 1)The double-headed arrow (stereo identifier) has the "CBS" in its center which was only used in 1961, 2)The "Side" text is not capitalized like it was in the first pressing, The matrix matches the 1961 examples in that it is the same format but mine has eleven hand etched "1's" after the "T" (indicating Terre Haute plant) and might be code for a higher mother/stamper number from the father plating, 4) There is a stylized bold "3" text in the lower right corner of the jacket rear face, 5)the front jacket is laminated with "flip-back" fold-overs on the rear face edges.
Was bought used by this seller many years ago and now offered from his private collection (you have absolutely known provenance). Has had just a few 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) to prevent warpage.
Was cleaned on a VPI HW 16 with Audio Intelligent solutions and ultra-pure water rinse (50X purer than distilled water) before my pre-sale sound check. I neutralize residual static charge with a Zerostat immediately after cleaning. 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 never take "distant" photos nor the so-prevalent type with the LP sticking halfway out of the jacket. I take close-ups under photo lamps so you can see nearly everything I describe in the jacket grading. It is virtually impossible to know the true vinyl condition from any photograph. That takes very bright and close visual inspection PLUS play testing with thorough coverage on high resolution equipment.
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. Please, refer to both my photo evidence and detailed descriptions to judge by YOUR OWN grading standards. Questions are always welcome. eBay no longer allows me to enter separate grades for each side of the sleeve or record so you may not see any in the box above but are listed below. Play quality is personally most important to me so vinyl visual qualities are graded and described in detail separately for your complete assessment.

Outer Jacket Inspection/grading:
VG+/NM-
The front face still has an almost uniform textured semi-gloss finish. There is only the slightest hint of starting ring wear at the very bottom and top and can be seen in my photo. There are two creases at the top edge, one starting at the "CS 8192" and is visible in my photo. The second one is not visible but starts at the right arrow and extends about 3.5" in a curve back to the top edge. The top right corner has some very minor discoloration. The lower left corner has some minor creasing visible in my photo. The jacket rear has essentially no surface wear except for the little white specks seen in the "BR" characters and is very clean. Because of that and the light fading I'm adding a minus to the NM.

Vinyl visual inspection/grading:
NM/NM-
Both sides looked very clean with near perfect smoothly reflective gloss. The only artifact I could find worthy of note was a "grayish" color surface trail going into the first half of T4 on Side 2. Made a note to do 100% play test on that track.

Play Testing:
NM/NM
Extensive play testing was performed after visual inspection (continuous written notes were taken). I listened to the beginning, middle, and end of each track for a few minutes on each needle drop. When the track width was noticeably greater I took more play samples to get good coverage. I also listened to all lead-in, lead-out and transition grooves between each track. Some tracks were played all the way thru when digitizing my favorites to 96k/24-bit WAV files. This allowed me to go back and re-check some of my notes on digital playback in ProTools. Here is rundown of each side from those notes.

Side 1 Play
The first track just blew me away at it's start. I had to stop, backup, and begin digitizing it in ProTools at 96k/24-bit. I listened to Side 2 first so I can say that for me this is the most realistic and dynamic track of the whole album. Drums and bass were especially harmonically accurate. There is just gobs of 3-D space around each instrument and the whole ensemble, lighting-fast transient edges, and explosive dynamics. My notes said: "demo material all the way!" T2 starts with solo piano that has a size, space, and presence that sounds so natural and realistic. The final section is absolutely gorgeous. T3 is of course the signature tune that made the album perennially popular. It really shines on this pressing. Desmond's alto sax sounds as if he is right there in your listening room. Joe's drum solos have unbelievably high power. Those low frequency drum whacks will really test the bass reproduction of your system. The cymbals are so lush and transparent. From start to finish, this side had just no detectable vinyl noise. The audio performance has "like new" preservation. Easily rates an NM.

Side 2 Play
T1 is one of my top picks from this album. I digitized it some time ago and it maintains one of the best tiers in my Jazz Playlist. There were some tiny bits of vinyl crackle just in the first few seconds and then that went fully inaudible. The trans grooves into T2 were very quiet as was that track. There was a single moderate "tick" at the start of T3, but that was it for any vinyl noise of any significance. T4 was noted in my visuals to play 100% to see if the visual artifacts might be something that could cause repeating vinyl noise. The track stayed nice and quiet from start to finish. I thought T4 was the strongest and most interesting track. I loved the bass and piano work. Side 2 also rates an NM in my estimation.

The last time I digitized a few tracks from this copy I thought the pressing was an exceptionally quiet one. My play test for the sale re-confirmed that, but also reminded me that it's audio performance is right there with the best vinyl that's ever been in my collection. I hope a future buyer has a top performance system to get maximum enjoyment out of this album. Now that I've completed my high-res digital archiving it will be good to pass it on.

Packaging

• Record will be placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
• Original inner sleeve will not be included separately as it was replaced with an MFSL sleeve a long time ago.
• Record has been placed into a new MFSL-style "rice paper" plastic sleeve even though it was already in one. I wanted to be sure to preserve the newly cleaned condition.
• 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 $3.98 per single album sale.
• A combined shipping discount is available on multiple sales completed on the same day($3.98 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 invoice.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.