Jump to content
IGNORED

Jazz on Qobuz


Recommended Posts

I listen almost exclusively to free jazz since 1960--the music that follows from Cecil Taylor,

Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, et al.  I am especially interested in younger players, such as Matthew

Shipp, Ingrid Laubrock, Tyshawn Sorey, Tomeka Reid (just examples). They record almost entirely on small labels,

but Tidal does fairly well by them.  Has anyone who knows this music made a serious comparison?

 

Link to comment

What is annoying on Qobuz concerning jazz oldies is the large number of unofficial releases of material that is in the public domain in Europe (pre-1964). 

 

Just search for any jazz legend and you'll get dozens of compilations and sometimes knock-offs of complete albums. These type of releases have existed in european CD stores for years already, but with downloads it's much worse, because anyone can start a public domain reissue label now and offer his files online. Experts will detect those of course, but most people probably can't see the difference with official releases. Soundwise, these can be all over the place. Straight CD rips from the official releases or LP rips.

 

There are also the BNF releases, vinyl rips of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France archives. These are in hi-rez, but the sound quality is not good, given that the digitization was made on an industrial scale (thousands of albums in a few years). There is simply no point in getting a 24bit rip of a french "Kind of Blue" LP pressing when the official hi-rez download, made from the master tapes, sounds so much better. BNF releases are a great addition for rare material, but most of them just duplicate widely available official reissues.

Claude

Link to comment
49 minutes ago, CatManDo said:

What is annoying on Qobuz concerning jazz oldies is the large number of unofficial releases of material that is in the public domain in Europe (pre-1964). 

 

Just search for any jazz legend and you'll get dozens of compilations and sometimes knock-offs of complete albums. These type of releases have existed in european CD stores for years already, but with downloads it's much worse, because anyone can start a public domain reissue label now and offer his files online. Experts will detect those of course, but most people probably can't see the difference with official releases. Soundwise, these can be all over the place. Straight CD rips from the official releases or LP rips.

 

There are also the BNF releases, vinyl rips of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France archives. These are in hi-rez, but the sound quality is not good, given that the digitization was made on an industrial scale (thousands of albums in a few years). There is simply no point in getting a 24bit rip of a french "Kind of Blue" LP pressing when the official hi-rez download, made from the master tapes, sounds so much better. BNF releases are a great addition for rare material, but most of them just duplicate widely available official reissues.

You can't really fault Qobuz for posting legally available files.  Don't those PD re-issues usually have crap covers so you can tell they aren't the real thing? 

I think on Qobuz US, fortunately, we aren't seeing that so much. No needle drop of KOB. I guess copyright law differs.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

Link to comment
1 hour ago, CatManDo said:

"...There are also the BNF releases, vinyl rips of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France archives. These are in hi-rez, but the sound quality is not good, given that the digitization was made on an industrial scale (thousands of albums in a few years). There is simply no point in getting a 24bit rip of a french "Kind of Blue" LP pressing when the official hi-rez download, made from the master tapes, sounds so much better. BNF releases are a great addition for rare material, but most of them just duplicate widely Cancelavailable official reissues."

I've had much the same experience, though I've found some BNF releases where I prefer the mastering over the contemporary version.

 

One example is Little Richard's 1957 debut album: "Here's Little Richard".   According to JRiver's audio analysis, on the BNF mono release the title track "Tutti Frutti" has a dynamic range of 10 dB and peak level (R128) of -8.3 dBTP, while for the 2012 Specialty CD remaster, JRiver's audio analysis shows "Tutti Frutti" has a dynamic range of 7 dB and peak level (R128) of 0.0 dBTP.   I have to turn it up, but that's what watts are for.

Link to comment
19 minutes ago, firedog said:

I think on Qobuz US, fortunately, we aren't seeing that so much. No needle drop of KOB. I guess copyright law differs.

 

Yes, the duration of copyright on music recordings is longer in the US.

 

In the EU, it was 50 years from the recording date, and has been extended to 70 years in 2013. But not retroactively. So everything recorded until 1963 is in the public domain, and the later recordings will be protected for 70 years.

 

I just checked on Qobuz France and found more than 10 versions of Kind of Blue (with that title) ...

 

Here's the BNF stereo version:

https://www.qobuz.com/lu-fr/album/kind-of-blue-stereo-version-miles-davis/3610154015569

Claude

Link to comment
1 hour ago, CatManDo said:

But that 4 Euro price tag clues you in that it isn’t the hi res version you want to have...

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...