It is a straight transfer from a 15ips tape that was pretty close to the master. No futzing with the tape to create a different sound field via knobs twiddling. And, keep it mind that this is a live recording.
Oh a live recording where they had two mics in front of the piano and the bass, then sent to tape, makes sense.
So what do you say when your listening partner tells you that even the best of the HDTT reissues āsound oldā and that she prefers to listen to modern recordings given a choice? Ouch!!! This conversation led to the following article on PF that finally got published today:
Ruminations - What We Hear in HDTT Versus Modern Recordings
What do you hear?
Ok this is not an answer. But lucky you to have a listening partner. My better half and I donāt agree on music, so we are usually in different wings of the house with sound proofing in between. (!)
Ok what do I hear? When Iām listening to the classics (Reiner, Ansermet etc) from the 50s and 60s, I go into my listen-for-interpretation mode, which is not quite the audiophiliac mode. How the conductor or the ensemble is taking the tempo, the passages he emphasizes etc. But if I want to sit down and really enjoy a piece of music, Iāll choose a modern version from my larger library.
I agree with your partnerāmodern recordings are much better sounding and are more pleasing. For example, take recordings from the 60s or early 70s of a late Beethoven quartet from the famous Juilliard quartet or the Quator Veghāthe latter in the opinions of many being the reference interpretation. I was listening to the Juilliard tonight as it happens. It was a wall of sound in front of me.
Then I put on the Terzlaff Quartet and the Quartet EbĆØne recordings. Wow! I could pick out where the viola was, follow the viola line, etc. Just marvelous. You donāt get that from an old recording. At least I havenāt.
Hmmm, well all of our systems are different. Thanks for sharing what youāre hearing! Localization of instruments and the ability to following the line from instrument to instrument is not one of the challenges weāre hearing here with the better of the HDTT transfers such as the Vienna Octet recording or the Heifetz, Primrose & Piatigorsky recordings. Unfortunately, HDTT has not released enough chamber music!
In the spirit of continuing to provide information on HDTT reissues all together in this thread, here is a recent article in Positive Feedback reviewing over 20 releases in the past year or so. These albums are all nice albums, but donāt rise quite to the level of meriting a solo review article, according to the editors. And, still, I like them very much and hope to provide enough information for folks to decide whether the improvement in sound quality for many of them merits purchasing yet another reissue.
Notes on Recent Finds, No. 5 (More Jazz from HDTT)
(Just a few of the albums reviewed)
As always, if this is not information folks wish to see posted here, please let me know and Iāll delete the post. Donāt wish to spam the forum.
Those of us listening to HDTT reissues may wonder at the process of restoring some of these vintage tapes. I reached out to master vintage tape restoration guru John Haley for a conversation about the magic pixie dust he uses. You can read what John shared with me in an article posted yesterday at Positive Feedback: A conversation with John Haley - Positive Feedback.
Whether you like Stokowski or not, this recording transferred in Pure DSD256 from the Desmar master tape is well worth hearing. It will let you fully understand the allure of āthe Stokowski Stringsā in all their outrageous overabundance. It is certainly an indulgence in sonic splendors.
When HDTT issues a Redux edition of an album Iāve liked, I always pay attention. Iāve yet to be disappointed with the improvements Bob has been able to wring from the source tapes. I thought this release was excellent before. In this updated version the sound quality clearly goes up a notch, if not three. In this case, the tape transfer is improved from DSD128 to DSD256, and we now have the original cover art.
And, oh my, does this sound good! As clean, clear, dynamic and natural sounding as one might ever hope to hear. Comparisons to other digital releases are simply not worth talking about, and I have a bunch of them.
Edit with more information: Bob confirms that this Redux release is from a new 15ips 2-track tape heās been given access to use. Iād noticed that the track lengths are different, and there is now a product note:
The albumās original release featured edited versions of six of the nine compositions. For these tracks, from one to three minutes of the performances were removed, either to meet the playing time constraints of the LP format or because producer Teo Macero felt the pieces were more effective in edited form. The tracks on this release are based on the edited versions that were on the original release.
The review on Positive Feedback is now posted. You will find it HERE.
I know, Iāve done this before - but I canāt help it!
āLeopold! Leopold! ⦠Leopold!ā
Iāve just received an unsolicited email from HDTT suggesting that I download the āAh Umā DSD 256 files as a zip archive (I previously purchased the DSD 128 download). Iām not in the habit of opening unsolicited emails, so I wanted to verify first with you whether or not this seemed legitimate:
A product you ordered from High Definition Tape Transfers has an update available:
Liquid error: internal
HDTT14530 Mingus Ah Um-DSF-5644k-1b.zip
Download Link:XXXXXXX
Any thoughts?
Yes, perfectly okay. This is HDTTās practice for recent purchasers. However, this will be the DSD128 resolution, since that is what you ordered originally, but it will come from the new 15ips tape Bob used in making the transfer for the Redux edition.
Thanks for the quick response and explanation.
Cheers!
HDTT has a 15% discount on their catalog now. I was looking for a better digital copy than my cd on āSketches of Spainā. They have a DSD256 download available. Has anyone heard of this digital file in DSD256 yet?
@Rushton had written a review some time ago I thinkā¦
Check positive feedback
Great, I valued his opinion! Thanks!
HDTT DSD256 Sketches of Spain is incredible! It is so transparent and the highs is so clean and pure as any recording I have heard. Love the music also. So is Mingus Ah Um Charles Minus if you have not got that one. These digital recordings are as good as they come. Donāt miss it.
Yup, I am downloading them now! Thanks!
i wish they made cassettes also so i dont need to record myselft to cassette;
anyway is funny to record dsd to cassette