TheWeeknd* – House Of Balloons

So many pops and crackles even after a wet clean and using an anti static gun. :( Disappointed in the pressing of one of the greatest albums

this pressing is fine but i’m still confused why they couldn’t have taken twenty eight off this and fit the whole album on one disc. makes the listening experience a bit frustrating for me because i have to switch sides every 2-3 songs. much better to listen to on cd/digital.

Sounds fantastic, no cracks or unwanted noises. Strongly advise all XO fans to get this copy if they have a good price offer.

Been hunting down a copy of this for a decent price for months. I was elated when I saw it on Amazon For $50. As relatively cheap as it was, it does suffer some quality issues for the money that can be attributed to United pressing. I hear quite a bit of surface noise including some low static on the entirety of the album. It’s not really noticeable when the music is playing but between songs it’s prevalent. Aide D is especially noisy with many pops and clicks. The center holes are sloppily punched as well. Disc 1 actually wouldn’t fit over my spindle. I had to gently widen it with a knife. There is excess plastic from the punch through in the second disc. The outer edges of disc 2 were not trimmed properly and as a result, are very sharp. I almost feel like I received a counterfeit copy. United really needs to get their shit together.

As for the mastering, it’s actually pretty good. Pleasantly deep bass, wide soundstage. It doesn’t sound compressed to hell. Just a shame about the quality issues.

UPDATE: I ended up returning it. I’m not paying $50 for a shitty copy. United Pressing needs to iron out the QC dept.

Just picked this up off a retail seller in Australia and it’s an alright pressing, it’s still listenable. It’s got pops and clicks all over and but hopefully after a wet clean it’ll sound better. Also my second disc didn’t have the extra wax cut off the edge so it’s a bit sharp. There’s also a skip on What You Need. I’m glad to have it either way cause that clear one is insanely expensive lmao

Don't have any surface noise issues as others have stated, but I do feel the sound could be richer. It's hard to describe, but I've always found this album to be a technical masterpiece and this pressing falls slightly flat. Still a great album that sounds good if you have a good system and crank it up.

Agree with the below poster that this pressing is not the best, but it's certainly not one of the worst. I don't have the distortion or sibilance issues poster below was talking about, but I do have some intermittent surface noise that can get in the way. Overall an okay pressing, not the worst, not the best.

Disappointing. For such a rich and dynamic album this pressing is full of playback issues. Noticeable surface noise throughout, which is only enhanced by the fact that its cut low. The highs sound thin. Inner-groove distortion and sibilance is heavy, which is crazy to me considering most sides are under 15min. Wax out of the seal is not in good condition either... it required a good cleaning even just to get it listenable. the music under all these things sounds OK at best, but it is often overcome by all these problems to the point I do not enjoy playing this at all. Packaging is nice.... but it almost doesnt even matter.

URP can be blamed for most of these issues, but whats interesting is that unlike The Trilogy Box this one is a brand new cut. I am not sure who did this one but the quality of the sound is substantially worse. So, even if you take away all the pressing issues this would still be lacking sonically. I have not heard the original cut from the Box set, but I can imagine based on the others in the set that it sounds much different than what you have here. I suspect that the EU MPO cut might fair better on the pressing quality, but you are still going to missing out on that sound you want. maybe that enough to justify a $2k price tag of the Box Set, but either way this reissue should only be picked up for collecting. If you actually want to listen to the music stay away from this one and stick with a Hi-Res digital copy.

Can someone please provide the deadwax information of this release? I would like to know if EU and US release are both MPO pressed

Someone can explain me what is this signature on the cover 10. Twenty eight? What does that means. All 2015 official reissues have that signature? Thanks!