The Police Ghost In The Machine LP Nautilus NR40 1/2 Speed Audiophile Super Disc

$

22

                                                                        The Police
                                                              Ghost In The Machine
                                           Half Speed Mastered Nautilus "SuperDisc" LP
                                                               Does not have a poster 

                                                                       Item Details
                        Recorded: Jan-Sept 1981 at AIR Studios Montserrat, Morin Heights Quebec
        Mastering: By Bruce Leek and Richard Donaldson at International Automated Media, Irvine CA
                                                    Pressing: By KM Records, Burbank, CA
                                                              Original Issue: Oct. 2, 1981
                                                                    This Issue: 1981
                                          This pressing: First, (based on Discogs identifiers)
                                                            Label: Nautilus Records NR 40
                                                  Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
                   Side 1: (etch:) KM-7110-A4 ? (stamp:) KM (etch:) + NR40-A4  (drawing)
                   Side 2: (etch:) KM-7110-B4 + (Stamp:) KM (etch) ? NR40-B4 (drawing)

Was bought used by this seller many years ago and now offered from his private collection. Has 
had only a couple of plays 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 wear nitrile surgical gloves 
100% 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 thru a Schiit Audio Valhalla 2 tube headphone amp fitted with 
Voskhod Soviet matched tubes (see last photo).

Track list
1: Spirits In The Material World, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Invisible Sun, Hungry For You 
(J'Aurais Toujours Faim De Toi), Demolition Man.

2: Too Much Information, Rehumanize Yourself, One World (Not Three), Omegaman Secret Journey, 
Darkness.

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 AND play testing with thorough coverage on high resolution equipment.

Grading 
Note: record grading by text characters is subjective and does not fully describe quality 
levels. Please see photos and my detailed descriptions below.

Outer Jacket visuals: 
VG+
There are about 9 creases of varying length on the upper left corner as can be seen in my
photo. Another crease is near the middle of the sleeve edge, also visible in the photo but the
white color is only a reflection as the black printing is fully intact. You can also see the beginning
of a faint partial ring halo on the upper right corner. You can see the small scuff inside the first red 
display character. The back jacket face has two light creases on the bottom right corner and one 
at the top right corner. There is some kind of light scratch in the upper middle that you can see but 
again in reality the color there is solid black making it hard to see unless you angle the surface in 
bright light. One corner bump is on the lower right front. Corner rubbing wear is fairly light as is 
rubbing wear on the top and bottom edges with a little more on the bottom. Absolutely no split 
seams or even a hint of one starting. The majority of jacket surfaces are glossy and clean.

Vinyl visual inspection:  
VG++ to NM-
Surface visuals were first inspected under high intensity halogen light. I rotated and tilted the 
record in multiple angles with my eyes a few inches away from the vinyl. Side 1 looked NM except
for one light surface hairline passing thru T1 and T2. Side 2 had a more noticeable trace thru T3 - T6
and this would need to be checked during play test to see if it caused any repeating ticks/clicks per
revolution (see below). I discovered two other very fine hairlines that would not be easy to find. One
passing thru T1 and another one very hard to see passing thru T3 - T5. Pending play test, I'd rate S2
at VG++

 Vinyl play testing:
NM
Extensive play testing was performed after cleaning. I listened to the beginning, middle, and end of 
each track for a few minutes on each drop, except for S1:T5 which was a long track where I did 5 
needle drops. S1:T3 was monitored all the way thru when digitizing it to a 192k/24-bit WAV file. 
Very much like the Police Zenyatta Mondetta LP I just sold I noticed how quiet the pressing is. The
only time I heard any vinyl noise was in the transition grooves and it was just low level infrequent 
random "ticks." A good test was where "Invisible Sun" fades out really slowly to bare audibility 
merging into "Hungry For You" slowly ramping up. It was very smooth and very quiet. This lacquer 
was cut really hot as I saw while recording to digital. My A2D analog soft clip protection was working 
hard. These levels made it difficult to hear any vinyl noise on my headphone rig during the music, and
in fact I was able to pick up only2 ticks during the whole play testing. The good news on Side 2 where
the I checked out that visible trace that passed thru tracks 3-6. It proved to be only on the top vinyl
surface and apparently not into the groove modulations. I listened a second time to all the transition
grooves between those tracks and heard no repeating ticks or clicks. In fact I heard near dead silence.
My lasting sonic impression was that this pressing was very dynamic, crisp and clear. The tracks I
thought that benefited most from the 1/2 speed remeasuring were S1:T1. S1:T2, S2:T2 and S2:T6. Of
course your own milage may vary. But, I am confident that any buyer will be able to enjoy this LP in it
entirety without distraction and greatly appreciate the mastering improvements that serve the band's
musical compositions.

Packaging
Record will be placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
Original inner sleeve is included separately.
Record has been placed into a new "rice paper" sleeve, as the original, even if plastic lined, 
may be holding onto some dust. This will keep vinyl surface clean during shipping and ultimate 
buyer usage.
Outer jacket is contained in a new clear polyethylene protective sleeve.
Sent in good quality record mailer with cardboard stiffeners.

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 within 5 business days 
($3.98 plus $0.50 for each additional LP). If you intend to buy more than one LP do not pay immediately
but wait for my all-combined invoice. A discount for the combined items will show on that invoice. 
Then, once payment is received, the items will ship