This is an outstanding release from HDTT. It is of that “knock it out of the park” category – as in very dynamic, very clean, wonderful timbre, real instruments in a real space kind of good. I always found the Analog Productions SACD to be excellent, and if you have that I can’t argue for replacing it. But in a back to back comparison, this new reissue from HDTT is simply better. It has more air around the instruments, they sound more three-dimensional, there is greater frequency extension, the leading edges of transients are sharper and more defined. All just very satisfyingly better and more transparent sound quality. (No point talking about the CD, just not in the same universe.) This release is of the same quality as a number of HDTT’s recent jazz transfers from 15ips 2-track tapes – just exceptional!
I’m always pleased to see these HDTT reissues from the RCA Living Stereo catalog. This recording is from 1955, engineered by Lewis Layton, and has always sounded good. Here it is sounding better than the RCA SACD by a small, but very noticeable degree. What sounds better about the HDTT transfer of this particular album, you ask? As I will stake myself out in a coming review for Positive Feedback:
The RCA SACD reissue of this was sonically very good, but the HDTT transfer is just a bit better even though it comes from (presumably) a 7.5ips commercially released tape and not the master (or a dub of the master). The better source tape used in the SACD causes the two to be more comparable than I was expecting given past experience. But, the HDTT has just a bit more of that analog magic and three dimensionality that I value so much; plus, it has more transparent clarity and edge definition (note the tympani at 0:55 for example, 1:10 on the SACD). It is enough better than the SACD that I doubt I’ll ever play the SACD again. Recommended if you don’t already have the SACD or if you’d just like to make a modest step up in sound quality. Both trounce the CD.
I can only hope that someday Bob will come across a source for some 15ips dups of these great Living Stereo recordings that he can use to reissue them in sound more comparable to the best of his jazz reissues for which he is finding 15ips dubs.
I just downloaded the dsd256, extracted the zip file, and transferred to a usb flash drive and into my player. There is certainly WAY more resolution to this HDTT dsd than the much lower bit depth youtube video of Hilary Hahn with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. But do have some reservation with the lead violin sounding a little harsh (even though WAY more detailed than I’m used to), and I’m using my Conrad Johnson tube preamp and Conrad Johnson tube power amp to drive the speakers.
I love that you are listening to these HDTT files! Heifetz’s violin is spotlighted a bit on the recording, and my recollection is that he would often tune just a bit higher than A440 to make his instrument stand out. But I’ve never considered it to sound harsh. You might consider also downloading the DXD file (which you should be able to do at no further cost) to see how your DAC processes the DXD format.
In our main audio system, I’ll typically play the DXD because it is the edit master file and our MPD-8 DAC makes the sonics better the closer the file is to the edit master. On my wife’s office system, she often prefers the DSD256 file for best sonics. Just a difference in the DACs.
@akro, some of the albums are “only what you order” but others will include all lower resolution formats if you’ve ordered the highest priced (typically highest resolution, e.g., DSD256) file. HDTT identifies these with the following notice as shown on the Beethoven Heifetz Munch album’s webpage:
