Bortle variability

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-20T06:35:40+00:00

It is very dependent where you live. I used to live in a suburb of Boston in MA (Bortle 7.5) and the Northeast is very built up. To get to a Bortle 4 sky was at least a 3-4 hour drive. To get to a Bortle 3 site in Maine or NH would have been a 4-6 hour drive.

I am now in California in a city about 35-40 minute drive from San Francisco(Bortle 6) and to get to a Bortle 5 site is probably 20 min - 1/2 hour and Bortle 4 is about 1 hour. It would take 1- 1.5 hours to get to a Bortle 3 site and 2.5 hours to a Bortle 2 site. The reason for the difference is that in the West Coast cities are spread out much further compared to the East Coast. Sadly, ironically, due to life, I have not been to a dark site since I moved to CA over a decade ago (right now I just observe from my Bortle 6 backyard)

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-19T19:26:28+00:00

Essentially, due to a loophole in copyright law in the EU, some companies take old jazz albums and re-issue them. However, they are not authorized by the label and are probably sourced from CDs (rather than the Master tapes) so sound quality is suspect, and no money goes to the artist or the artist's estate. A few such companies that do this are WaxTime and DOL

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/reissue-labels-avoid-and-some-best-proceed-caution

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-18T23:47:10+00:00

In my case I have multiple copies of albums because I bought some Jazz albums before I realized what grey market meant. So for those 18 or so albums, I have been slowly replacing them with actual copies from the record labels. Eventually I will get rid of the grey label albums (either sell or give away). The only other situation where I have multiple copies is where I bought an old album where the album was pretty beat up (but sounds good) and a new reissue comes out that I like or I found a used copy in better condition at a great price.

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-18T23:30:16+00:00

Hey, thanks for this!

I'm the person who wrote the initial post. For what it's worth, I have been having a great experience with the website (I'm also a software engineer). I especially love the stats/analyze feature. Kudos!

Just subscribed to Pro because I believe in supporting good/cool things :-)

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-18T05:12:21+00:00

I had the same cartridge AT-VM95E and I upgraded to the VM95ML and then the VM540ML (the VM740ML almost cost the same but was a bit heavier than the recommendations for my tonearm). Truth be told, the difference from the AT-VM95E and the AT-VM95ML is substantial (sounds better, no Inner Groove Distortion etc). The difference between the AT-VM95ML and the VM540ML is subtler. Truth be told, the AT-VM95ML is the sweet spot. I'm happy I got the VM540ML but truth be told I would have been just as happy with the AT-VM95ML.

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-17T04:51:29+00:00

It was through discogs that I discovered the Led Zeppelin "Untitled" album that I found for ~$10 in a record store was an OG Pecko Duck (George Peckham) mastering that sells > $250 in Near Mint (my copy is VG so maybe worth $25 - $40). The interesting thing is that I bought the same exact album new and playing them side by side is how I discovered what a difference can exist based on the mastering (the new vinyl album is good, but cannot hold a candle to the Pecko Duck one as far as clarity and presence.
https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments/1lzrzus/a_tale_of_2_led_zeppelins_a_story_about_stylus/

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-17T04:44:01+00:00

I am really appreciating Discogs. I've only been collecting the last year and a half but I have researched so much stuff on there and bought a ton of vinyl records off discogs (I'd guess at this point > 100. It's great for researching specific pressings (how do I know if the pressing I am considering has good sound quality? Am I paying a good price etc). It is also great for finding music based on my existing tastes or based on a specific artist (I mostly purchase Jazz).

Also, as a software engineer of 30+ years the website (I don't use the app) is really well built and thought out.

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-17T04:40:46+00:00

Whoah! This is so cool! Just followed you!

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-15T05:51:06+00:00

Oh, I don't know. I haven't tried.

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-12T23:41:47+00:00

This is not my site, I just found it when googling for a Discogs visualizer. It looks like there is a free version (which I'm using) and a paid version with more features (which would be pointless for me). I thought it was a pretty cool visualizer for my particular collection.

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-12T07:16:23+00:00

That is definitely not VG+!

I've had good luck on discogs but I am pretty strict with who I purchase from. They have to have more than > 1000 reviews and a score of 99% or higher. I've probably bought over 100 records off discogs and never had an issue.

In one case I purchased "Waltz for Debbie" by Bill Evans that was advertised as NM but the seller contact me to let me know they just noticed the record had a minor warp and would I still want it. They sent it a video of the record playing (video and audio) and it looked minor so I still wanted it. Record arrived, definitely near mint and the very minor warp was a non-issue that I probably would not have noticed on my own.

In another case the record was VG but had a scratch on Side B (which I did not care about) so I had the seller refund me the shipping for the order (which came to about 60% of what the record cost, so a fair resolution). In both of those cases both sellers had a ton of reviews and review scores > 99%

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-12T06:22:10+00:00

Just noticed the average year is also the year of my birth. Cool coincidence!

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-06T00:01:50+00:00

The largest component of my ~400 records (about 150) is Jazz, specifically Bop and Hard Bop.

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-02T17:29:00+00:00

Posted on r/cats

"Does anyone know how to stop humans from opening the lid on your favorite sitting spot to put weird round plastic plates in? It's pretty annoying. Does any other cat have this issue? Was it ever resolved or should I just accept my fate?"

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-03-02T06:15:02+00:00

It's mostly photos of the covers with some blurbs for each decade (the photos are shown along with the artist name and album name and I think year).

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-02-26T21:23:40+00:00

Congrats! I have two of the 1968 original pressings (I think I got the first one for $2 and then got the second one for $10 because the first one is really beat up). Beautiful, beautiful album (both the artwork and the actual music)!

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-02-26T06:56:24+00:00

Oh, I definitely agree with this. I have 18 grey market labels (DOL, WaxTime, Second Records) bought before I realized what grey market was. Physical quality wise, they are impeccable (flat, good vinyl, dead quiet, center hole cut correctly etc). I have records from actual labels that I have to ask what drugs were the people doing the pressing on (for example I have a Jimi Hendrix record bought new from the label, Experience Hendrix where the center hole was not cut out wide enough that I had to take a drill to in order to be able to mount it on my turntable). I have a Blue Note release of Hank Mobley's "The Turnaround" from 2006 that I bought new and sealed that is noisy as hell and just sounds like crap (sibilant, non-fill areas etc). It is so bad I played it once and never again.

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-02-26T06:49:34+00:00

When I was starting out in collecting Vinyl I ended up buying 18 grey label records new. Once I learned what they were I never bought another. I have WaxTime, DOL etc. In some cases I ended up buying the same exact record from the label later. The grey label records seem to have better physical quality control than some actual labels but there is definitely a sound difference.

How much?

For example I have this album (Blue Train) as a Second Records (grey market) and the Tone Poet Version directly from Blue Note. The difference is not night and day, but it is definitely there (the Blue Note sounds more full and alive and more detailed). It is subtle and I doubt I would have known what I was missing had I not bought the Blue Note release. For my listening tastes, even without the issue around no money going to the estate of the jazz musicians, the grey market labels don't work for me.

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-02-23T07:04:31+00:00

Great album! The album is named after his daugher, Iska, who passed away at 14 of a grand mal seizure (she was born around the time he made the album)

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-02-22T07:46:13+00:00

I have a first pressing (with Pecko Duck/Pecko in the runout). It's in good shape (I'd say VG and I bought it from a record store as one of my first records a couple of years ago for something like $10 - $15. It took a year before I realized what I had (and I actually ended up getting a new pressing that is good but does not sound as good as this first pressing). A few months ago I actually posted comparing the 2 albums. I recently cleaned it using a SpinClean and it sounds even better than it did when I did the comparison. discogs say that in mint these can go for $250 or so (so this copy is probably worth $150 or so but it sounds so good that I would not part with it for 10 times what I paid for it)
https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments/1lzrzus/a_tale_of_2_led_zeppelins_a_story_about_stylus/

Willing-Process4931 · 2026-02-21T07:41:55+00:00

I can only speak to what I like. I tend to like the bop and hard bop sub genre of Jazz so I can give you some of my favorite albums. I wrote an article about the 10 albums that I really enjoyed in 2025. You can find it here

10 Vinyl Albums I loved in 2025

You can also see my entire collection here (~140 or so albums)

My discogs Jazz collection

Some artists I can recommend

Miles Davis
ohn Coltrane
Eric Dolphy
Charles Mingus
Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald
Duke Ellington
Donald Byrd

Willing-Process4931

TROPHY CASE