Blue Note Jazz DSD downloads at Acoustic Sounds

[smdb01us]

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!

[smdb01us]

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).

[smdb01us]

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!