Very welcome, thanks!
Yes, I can imagine heāll possibly get even first masters from lesser known labels. In the KOB example he can at maximum get a copy of the two track master while every audiophile LP is cut from the direct two track master or even cut live from the 3 track. Should be similar for all the famous labels I guess. Anyway some seem to be very competitive. I will especially explore the classical ones. Quite easy to differentiate originals from copies in a 3D imaging golden era opera recording for example. Did it often with Superanalogue LPās vs. original LPās.
Most important is, it seems a pure DSD transfer from a copy can sound better in the most important aspects than a normal digital transfer from a master. Thatās good enough to be meaningful.
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Good to hear @Rushton. Thanks for setting the record straight.
It would help if the āaboutā section on the HDTT website actually contained more information on where the masters came from etc.
Also thanks for the note on reviews of HDTT and Native DSD. Will look them up.
@shankha , we agree on that. Bob has been frustrated over the years by people who think only a release made from āthe master tapeā or a direct dub of the master can possibly sound good (not true!), and heās been totally worn out by the conversation. So, where he once at least disclosed some information about the source tape (as heās now done with the KOB release), he stopped disclosing anything. This, I think, is a mistake and I hope he returns to disclosing more about the source tape.
Hereās another exampleā¦ Listen to the Pure DSD256 release of Cannonball Adderleyās Somethinā Else. I think this is an amazing release, and Iāve said so. See here:
And yet, this is not a transfer from the master tape, nor from a dub of the master tape. Bob wonāt tell me anything other than āpeople would be very surprised.ā Still, I wish he would say what that source tape was.
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I donāt know who you are but I am really, really enjoying your posts!
Welcome!!!
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I am going with 8-Track, but would still be amused if it was cassette.
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I like whatās going on at HDTT. Itās a little bit of ābuild it, and they will comeā. Now that thereās a reputable company willing to put the effort in, itās starting to look like a good place for copyright owners with interesting material to get a new source of income.
I am always interested when I see their email arrive.
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The thing that makes me hesitant about HDTT is its reputed variance of quality of the releases. Some seem seem to excellent as stated by @Rushton, others relatively mediocre as reported by others. For my part, the USD26 price is bit much to take a gamble on.
This seems consistent since the beginning of music reproduction. Not all recordings are fantastic.
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If you find an HDTT album with music youāre interested in, post a question and youāll get feedback about it to help you decide.
I understand that. But my point is that there are some recordings made from not so good masters as others have pointed out. Thatās not necessarily what I expect.
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When I had a Revox R2R machine 20-30 years ago, I partly recorded the one or other of my LPās or CDās. It always sounded special in an impressing way. Iām sure many would prefer a tape of whatever source to the source in a blind test, especially to a CD if made from it.
Itās not always easy to differentiate ādifferent in an impressing wayā from ābetter in a puristic wayā. Some might even prefer a 3rd generation tape to the original. Thatās why Iām sceptic when sources are veiledā¦.it reminds me of the Mofi story.
What seems like yesterday, but was quite a while ago, I used a betamax to create my at home mixes vs using cassette. Even back then through a Marantz receiver and AR speakers (the model is long gone from my memory) I thought that the recordings from both radio and vinyl sounded remarkable.
āKill the wabbit, kill the wabbit ā¦ā (to the Ride of the Valkyries).
All time fave.
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There seems to be much discussion on this. In my opinion itās either you like the sound of the releases or you donāt. All the blah blah blah about this and that is kind of sad. The price is right, try one release out. If it is beneath you, move on. If you like it, you win. I win.
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Found a winner after I found a looserā¦I continue to look out for more winners!
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Please share! Particularly the one you like.
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New article now posted at Positive Feedback about a bunch of RCA Living Stereo albums released by High Definition Tape Transfers, some just this year, some from earlier. I think the sound quality on each of these is better than any other digital release of the music that Iāve been able to hear. I donāt make any attempt to discuss provenance of the source tapes, only what I hear of the sound quality as I listen to the files and compare to other digital files I have. I hope those of you who listen to classical music and love the Living Stereo releases, as I do, will find this helpful.
This is the second article Iāve posted at Positive Feedback on the RCA Living Stereo albums. The first article discusses legendary RCA recording engineer Lewis Layton and reviews a large sampling of his recordings. A link to that first article can be found within this second article.
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HDTT has some recordings not available on DSD256 that are quite impressive also. If you like Latin jazz, this one sounds fabulous in 24bit 352.8k. Sounds like it may be competitive with DSD256.
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