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Blue Note Jazz DSD downloads at Acoustic Sounds


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Acoustic Sounds is offering DSD (64fs) downloads of some of Blue Note's best albums. Has anyone heard them, if so can you post a sample? They are saying they are flat transfers of the master tapes which is pretty appealing to me. These are already available in hi-res from HDTracks and perhaps from other retailers but they are mastered (ie have EQ, etc).

 

I know they've been offering the AP SACD, DSD rips for a while, these are new titles that went up within the last few days and specifically say flat transfers.

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lol I can't say I'd be too keen on hearing another one if I had that many versions! For the most part in my situation I got out of vinyl about 3 or 4 years ago to being 90% digital only and since then I've been looking for my favorite albums on the best sounding versions on digital.

 

I personally think if you can find the best mastering of an album that will make just as massive a difference as a nice equipment upgrade since the digital files being played are truly the first source even before the DAC, so that is why my quest (and many others on the Hoffman forums) look for the truly best sounding version of albums we love.

 

BTW someone on that forum said Acoustic Sounds has temporarily taken these down to check the files, but they should be coming back, so please chime in if anyone gets any!

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I love flat tape transfers and will add something a version of which I do not already own when they go back up. Wading through too much Japanese jazz at the moment. 😎
 

I do have the older DSD download of Midnight Blue. I will say that I much prefer the 2012 remaster which I have at 24/192. That is a great album and recording.

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5 minutes ago, JoeWhip said:

I love flat tape transfers and will add something a version of which I do not already own when they go back up. Wading through too much Japanese jazz at the moment. 😎

 

@The Computer Audiophile is the reason eBay and cdjapan are running out of Yamamoto CDs!!  Wish TBM would consider offering downloads. 

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52 minutes ago, Solstice380 said:

 

@The Computer Audiophile is the reason eBay and cdjapan are running out of Yamamoto CDs!!  Wish TBM would consider offering downloads. 

David Chesky is a huge TBM fan and has tried to get these albums for years for HDtracks. The problem is finding the rights holders with whom to cut a deal. Impossible task so far. 

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

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1 minute ago, smdb01us said:

Seems like the "Flat Transfer From Original Analog Master Tape" recordings are still on the store.

 

Ok, I will take one for the team and buy one of the albums and report back tonight. I am really curios to hear how these sound. I will get Somethin' Else and compare it agains my 6 other copies (some digital and some analog, including a US '60 mono reprint). The website does not have any indication whether these are monos or stereos but since it says "original analog master tape" I will assume this will be a mono transfer... we will see.

 

@kumakuma, I am glad to see I am not the only person that has SO many copies of the same album. My girlfriend was helping me organize my vinyl collection a few days ago and she asked me, looking perplexed "why do you have SO many copies of the same albums???", It was a long conversation/answer, lol.

 

Stay tuned!

 

I'm looking forward to hearing what you think. Something' Else is such a great album.

 

Were you able to convince your girlfriend of your need for so many different versions?

 

Downloads are great in this respect as you can "slide" the album into your collection without altering the significant other. The wife and I had many uncomfortable conversions in the old days when I buying CDs by the dozen. 

Sometimes it's like someone took a knife, baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six inch valley
Through the middle of my skull

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3 minutes ago, kumakuma said:

 

Were you able to convince your girlfriend of your need for so many different versions?

 

Downloads are great in this respect as you can "slide" the album into your collection without altering the significant other. The wife and I had many uncomfortable conversions in the old days when I buying CDs by the dozen. 

Luckily for me, she has a music background and a great ear for picking musical differences so I played a few different versions of the same album for her and she quickly understood why I do it. This weekend she had the control of the Aurender for the first time and just smiled when she saw a very similar situation with the digital copies (mono, stereo, CD, RVG remastered, SACD, etc). :D

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2 minutes ago, smdb01us said:

Luckily for me, she has a music background and a great ear for picking musical differences so I played a few different versions of the same album for her and she quickly understood why I do it. This weekend she had the control of the Aurender for the first time and just smiled when she saw a very similar situation with the digital copies (mono, stereo, CD, RVG remastered, SACD, etc). :D

 

Sounds like a keeper!

Sometimes it's like someone took a knife, baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six inch valley
Through the middle of my skull

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The same question about the mastering of these new Blue Note downloads has been asked on the Steve Hoffman forum, but no answer yet

 

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/new-dsd-downloads-from-super-hirez-20-blue-note-titles-flat-transfers-from-original-analog-mast.932820/

 

Here is the list of albums (those with XUNI810XXX numbers):

 

https://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm?get=results&categoryid=391&OrderBy=preownedbinmodified2_dt+desc

Claude

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4 minutes ago, smdb01us said:

Howyd,

 

I ended up getting "Blue Train" (XUNI810729D64) as I am way more familiar with this album and I suspect most jazz listeners will be as well. I did a first comparison last night but it was kinda rushed as I needed to get some work done as well but my initial impressions are good and that I like this version. Notice this is a stereo version. I listened mainly to the first track, Blue Train, and compared it against my two other digital versions I own: 2003 BN RE RM mono (RVG Edition) CD (dbPowerAmp FLAC L3 rip) and 2008 Analogue Productions RE RM stereo SACD (Oppo DSF transfer). Playing source for all these files was my Aurender N100H.

 

The very first thing I noticed was the difference in volume on all these editions. The RVG CD is definitely the loudest, significantly louder than the other two. Next is the flat transfer, which is what I would consider "normal" based on my listening patterns. Lastly, the SACD is the softest of the three, where I have to go up 7-9 clicks on my pre-amp volume. Not super important, interesting to me.

 

I will have a chance to listen in more detail and more tracks in the following days and hopefully compare between vinyl as well (3 versions) but I would say initially that this stereo flat transfer does not feel as "hard panned" on the horns as the SACD. I also noticed more details and separation on the horns on first 30 seconds of the track and the same for the integration of Paul and Joe later in the play. Speaking of Joe's drums, I think I really liked how detailed and not harsh his cymbal/hihat sounded as those can sometimes sound very harsh and tiring to me (in general, not just specific to Joe's playing).

 

So, right now, if I had to pick between my digital copies, I think I would chose the flat transfer over the other two, despite the fact that I really enjoy the mono CD version. I will add more details as I listen more. Cheers!

 

Thanks!

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

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53 minutes ago, smdb01us said:

 

The very first thing I noticed was the difference in volume on all these editions. The RVG CD is definitely the loudest, significantly louder than the other two. Next is the flat transfer, which is what I would consider "normal" based on my listening patterns. Lastly, the SACD is the softest of the three, where I have to go up 7-9 clicks on my pre-amp volume. Not super important, interesting to me.

 

 

Thanks for sharing your impressions.

 

I've never really liked most of the RVG CDs. There's a theory out of there that RVG was suffering from significant hearing loss when he did those reissues.

 

SACDs are almost always attenuated by 5db. There is a technical reason why but I forgot it.

Sometimes it's like someone took a knife, baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six inch valley
Through the middle of my skull

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  • 5 months later...

I have two, the Sonny Clark Cool Struttin and Somethin’ Else. Both are stereo. Since my Yggy doesn’t decide DSD I play them as 24/176.4 PCM. Both sound fantastic. The Somethin’ Else kills the mono 24/192 file I have. Both the of the flat transfers sound just like tape. I will be getting more. The Somethin’ Else is no longer n the site which is too bad. That one is a keeper.

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