Question about highdeftapetransfers.com reissues

[mkrzych]

Hello,

I'd like to ask you about your experience with highdeftapetransfers.com re-issues, quality of the high resolution files, if they are legit and sound quality? I emailed them, but without any response and when I've checked the first sample from their website it looks like that below. Do you guys have any comments? Thanks a lot in advance, because they have some recordings I would like to obtain, but not sure about their philosophy.

 

[firedog]

3 hours ago, mkrzych said:

Hello,

I'd like to ask you about your experience with highdeftapetransfers.com re-issues, quality of the high resolution files, if they are legit and sound quality? I emailed them, but without any response and when I've checked the first sample from their website it looks like that below. Do you guys have any comments? Thanks a lot in advance, because they have some recordings I would like to obtain, but not sure about their philosophy.

 

I have a few of their reissues and they sound quite good - for what they are. Just keep in mind that they are generally 45-65 year old recordings. If you keep that in mind I think they are worth having if you are interested in some of the titles.  They are made from tapes, and often commercial copies of the tape, so you aren’t going to have frequency charts going into the kHz stratosphere. 

I’m happy with the ones I have. 

[rodrigaj]

My first purchase from them was in 2013: Walton's Symphony #1 / Previn. Outstanding interpretation and recording, though not as good, soundwise, as the 2014 Chandos/Gardner/BBC offering. Since then I have purchased half dozen or so classical titles from them.

 

If they are new releases, you are taking a chance. If they have been available for some time, I always read the customer comments/review section, as they are generally very good about weeding out the poorer quality transfers.

 

I like to think of them as a digital replacement for vinyl that I already own. If I kept my old TEAC reel-to-reel, made tape transfers on my Dual TT in the early '70's, and digitized those tapes today, I would be proud of the results if they sounded like HighDefTapeTransfer's offerings.

 

Dynamic Range is probably the area that jumps out as lacking by comparison to today,s technology. Stay away from the DSD markup or 192khz markup - that's a complete waste of money.

[mkrzych]

Thanks guys for info, I am interested in some jazz titles from them like Ah Um Mingus or Dizzy Gillespie Perceptions. 

[firedog]

48 minutes ago, mkrzych said:

Thanks guys for info, I am interested in some jazz titles from them like Ah Um Mingus or Dizzy Gillespie Perceptions. 

For Mingus Ah Um you might be better off getting the SACD remaster or DSD download.  Unless you specifically want something sounding like a tape transfer. 

[Ralf11]

How good is the SACD of Ah Um??  (compared to the Redbook CD)

[mkrzych]

11 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

How good is the SACD of Ah Um??  (compared to the Redbook CD)

 

I have no ideal, but vinyl reissue done by ORG was very good, hard to get one already. I just looking for the best source available for these albums.

[firedog]

20 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

How good is the SACD of Ah Um??  (compared to the Redbook CD)

I have the DSD download. It's "DSD file created by Gus Skinas from the original Sony Super Audio CD cutting masters ".  The SACD remaster is credited Columbia/Mark Wilder, which is owned by Sony. I don't know if it is the same mastering or not. I think this means it isn't. 

Sounds better than my CD to me.  My general experience is the direct from Sony vault DSD masters tend to be good quality. 

[Ralf11]

Thx - i found an SACD on Sony's Legacy Recordings label - not sure if that is it.  $35