As I start to get back into the swing of things, I think the perfect album to start things off is Odesza’s latest, the Last Goodbye Tour. Just like most releases from Odesza, this one took me by surprise. I knew they were on tour, but I didn’t quite expect them to record a show and put it to vinyl.
This honestly probably goes for most artists I like though. I don’t know about new music until it’s already released. In the grand scheme, that isn’t a bad thing. With that said, let’s get into the thick of it.
The System
The system this time around is a bit different from my normal. All components that are mostly known, but in an unusual configuration.
Starting things out from source, I am using my venerable Rega RP10, recently fitted with a brand new’ish Apheta 3 Moving Coil cartridge. I just couldn’t justify the cost for their top-of-the-line Aphelion, so this will have to do. Obviously some sarcasm there. From there We head into the Rega’s reference phonostage, their Aura.
I don’t have enough good things to say about this phono stage, but will have to save its review for another time.
From the phono stage we are led to the Rega Elicit Mk3. I was a huge fan of the design language Rega used for this generation of amplifiers and the Elicit is no exception. This Elicit had been for a long time in my wishlist. When I eventually found one on the used market, I pounced. Picked it up for a good price too.
I actually used to have its successor, the Elicit-R. It was a smashing piece for the price, but I eventually sold it so I could acquire the Osiris. But that’s a story for another day.
From there, I’m using the pre-outs to drive my reference Triode Lab EL84M-FFX monoblocks. Using both the Elicit and EL84 monoblocks, I’m bi-amping the Q Acoustics Concept 500 loudspeakers.
Glorious.
Music
I feel like live recordings can either be awesome or terrible. Usually never in-between. I have a good feeling about this one though. There’s a ton of tracks on this album, so I’d like to touch on my favorites. With that, let’s get started.
The first track is “This Version Of You”. Immediately, you get a great sense of space and the size of the crowd. The “intro” takes up the first half of the track, but it was well worth it. Great build up and a great reaction from the audience.
“Say My Name” was the first track (for both digital and vinyl) that caused me to put down whatever I was doing and simply listen. The sparklers (not sure what else to call them) bouncing across left to right and back again, the vocals. It was all just right.
“Wide Awake” was already a favorite of mine. Thus it was heartening to see Odesza do it greate justice. When the bass came in, I got goosebumps. Yea, it wasn’t exceptionally deep, but the vocalist was perfectly in tune with it.
When we finally got to “All My Life”… I actually had to dequeue the record so I could grab another drink. But I let it finish first. Then I played it again once I got my next drink. That’s how mesmerizing it was.
The next is a classic in my book, as far as Odesza goes. Well, I’m sure it’s the same for a lot of people. The track I’m talking about, of course, is “Better Now”. While I enjoyed this take, it wasn’t my favorite (across the whole album). Yes, it rolled off the album out of the speakers and was absolute bliss to listen to, but I felt like the low end was a bit mushy – not as well defined as I’d like nor did it dig as deep. I compared the digital version and found it to be similar, so definitely not an issue with just the vinyl.
Forgive me was a blast to listen to and it had everything I wanted in the track. Great bass and seductive vocals. If you closed your eyes, it felt like the singer was everywhere and right in the center at the same time. It was quite a weird sensation.
I have to talk about “Across The Room”, especially since its featured artist hails from Fort Worth. My hot take here, I wasn’t a fan of the first crossover but after that when it started picking up… that’s when I had to put down my notebook and just listen. It was an interesting mix for sure…. some may prefer the original, which I totally understand.
Compared to Digital
It’s only natural to compare analog to digital. In my opinion, there isn’t much to compare. I don’t know how it was recorded, but I get the sense that all of their shows were recorded to both tape (or some other form of analog) and digital. At least, this is the feeling I got listening to the album.
Overall the vinyl simply sounded more spacious. I actually felt like I was in the amphitheater with the fans. As seemed to be the case with most vinyl pressings I compare to digital, the bass wasn’t quite as well defined, but not enough that it detracted from the experience.
The mids and highs, based on memory, were much closer. I wanted to compare… and so I did. To be as fair as possible, level matched digital and analog using a passive attenuator on the louder source (digital), and got them playing the same track as close as I could.
Okay, very close. I want to come back to spaciousness. I feel like this can be a vague term at times. What this means to me is how big the room feels compared to how big it actually is and where the speakers are. With the record, I could close my eyes and hear 20-30 feet behind the speakers it felt like. With the digital, this wasn’t the case. I maybe heard half that, at best.
The Beer
No vinyl would be complete without a fine beer to back it up and today is no exception. My wife went out of her way to pick up a rather delicious can of Untitled Art. For those that don’t know, I consider them to generally be some of the best beer you can get…. though it does come at a cost.
This one was no exception. The Strawberry Rhubarb A La Mode Fruited Sour (try saying that ten times fast). It’s hard to describe just how smooth this beer is. Such that you could just as easily chug it or turn it into a sipper.
I truly felt like I was eating strawberries with every bite/sip. It wasn’t overly sweet, nor was it tart or bitter (though it would have no reason to be that either).
While not a perfect pairing to the album, it was something special. Overall, I rated it a 4.75 out of 5.
Until next time, cheers!