High Definition Tape Transfer

Great suggestion. Eric Dolphy is a most intriguing artist. I keep hoping HDTT will sometime get access to a tape of Out for Lunch that they can release.


Ah, Satchmo! An excellent sounding transfer by HDTT. This one follows Bob Witrakā€™s current practice of making the tape transfer in DSD256, then because the tape needed a bit of work, moving the file to DXD in the Pyramix DAW, and then back to DSD256 with the DSD mastering file also available if one prefers. Choice will depend on your DAC and how it handles processing the bits. Either way, this recording is simply gorgeous.

The ā€œSt. James Infirmaryā€ cut is just chilling. As good sounding to me here as that wonderful CR-45 special release that once lived on my record shelves and was pulled out regularly as a demonstration track.

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I enjoy Satchmo very much in 256 DSD!

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@waymanchen11 , if you like Eric Dolphy, you may like this. A Pure DSD256 transfer from the tapes. Further review here.

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Thank you, Iā€™m getting that one for sure. I already got Satchmo plays King Oliver which is also very good. Iā€™m also getting this one, I love Coltrane.

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Yes! The Coltrane reissues from HDTT are great.

Do you have the various Hank Mobley, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Ben Webster, and Cannonball Adderley reissues? All are excellent. Just choose for the albums you like. :smile:

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Yes I do, and donā€™t forget Bill Evans. Hereā€™s a standout for me.

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Yes! Absolutely. This is a good 'un. The reissue of Waltz for Debby is also a really good transfer.

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The HDTT DSD256 Waltz for Debby beats the single layer SHM-SACD I have. Thatā€™s really saying something.

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Yes. Both Bill Evans are great I prefer Waltz for Debbie.

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While weā€™re talking about great jazz releases available from HDTT in PureDSD256 transfers, I just needed to include Cootie Williams in Stereo and Ahmad Jamalā€™s At The Alhambra Live, below. Both are demonstration class recordings, both musically and sonically, with the tip of the hat probably going to the Cootie Williams album.

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Do the Gold CDs benefit at all from the proprietorā€™s efforts. I eschew music that is only available as a download.

I understand the resolution of the CDs is limited but are they otherwise, generally superior to their counterparts issued previously/by other labels?

TIA.

Hi @scotte1 I have never listened to one of HDTTā€™s CDs, so I canā€™t offer an informed opinion from listening. However, give me a bit of time to do this and Iā€™ll at least download an HDTT 24-96 file from an album for which I have a CD (non-HDTT) and Iā€™ll tell you if I can draw any worthwhile inferences from that (still-not-very-fair) comparison.

@scotte1 , Iā€™ve now been able to listen to the 24-94 file from HDTT and compare it to a rip of the standard CD. I used the terrific sounding release of Cannonball Adderleyā€™s Somethinā€™ Else, with ā€œAutumn Leavesā€ as my comparison track. Between these two, the HDTT 24-96 file is vastly superior. There is more air, more space around the instruments, greater resolution plus a more relaxed tonality. All sounding far more analog. The CD sounds flat, with a rough edge to everything and lacks the overall depth of tonality I hear in the 24-96 file.

Of course, moving from a 16-44 standard CD to 24-96, much of this is too be expected. How much of this is from the HDTT mastering and transfer from tape I simply cannot say. What of this difference will carry over to the HDTT CD, I cannot say. I can say that a lot of what I hear and like in the 24-96, I also hear in the HDTT DXD ā€“ there is a family resemblance of sound quality. So, perhaps this same resemblance will carry all the way down to the CD. But, thatā€™s hoping for a lot.

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Here my further experiences:

Bill Evans Trio 65:
Nice sounding but clearly worse with less information and dynamics than the ORG and the AP LPā€˜s

Sarah Vaughan After Hours:
Very nice analog sounding. I have no LP comparison. The best sounding HDTT I heard so far.

Vince Guadalcanal Live at El Matador:
Very nice analog sounding. I have no LP comparison

Coyote Williams In Stereo:
Very nice analog sounding. A little damped on top. I have no LP comparison

Ellington Midnight in Paris:
Very nice analog sounding. I have no LP comparison

Mahler 2. Solti LSO:
Nice sounding but much less dynamic, limited at frequency ends and less defined than the Speakers Corner LP. Partly more pleasant sounding in highs due to the somehow limited top end extension.

Willi Boskovsky ā€ŽVienna Carnival:
Really great sounding even if not very dynamic. Would prefer it to any normal digital. I have no LP comparison.

Brahms 4. Reiner RP:
Nice analog sounding, if not spectacular. I have no,LP comparison. Clearly better than a few other classical releases I listened to, which were too vintage sounding due to the original recording quality.

My interim status is, that they all sound very analog in a positive way compared to normal digital releases. Some really sound very good, but all I could compare to good audiophile LPā€™s so far, were clearly weaker in a ā€œgenerations downā€ way (some less). Anyway Iā€™d see most to any of them clearly better sounding than normal digital releases because they have an analog ease and flow. They all sound more pleasant than other digital or LP releases in a slightly damped way.

I understand why digital listeners like them and I also like most I tried for that, too: they have the analog ease and a good part of the 3D. But those who like that are real candidates for an LP rig. You get more of that there. If you decided to stay digital anyway, they seem to be a good choice in many cases.

Iā€™ll continueā€¦I think Iā€™d prefer most to alternative digitally produced releases.

Glad to see you have continued to explore these! And I appreciate your observations, even thought they donā€™t align with mine (particularly Cootie Williams in Stereo). I can only compare to other digital releases these days. My vinyl setup is now long gone.

By the byā€¦, Iā€™m sure youā€™re set to get true DSD256 from your DAC, right? Your profile says Directstream DAC, so this means ā€œDSD256 (I2S only, with the Sunlight OS)ā€ as a requirement according to PS Audioā€™s specs.

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Unfortunately not yet, as my current Bridge card can only do DSD64, so the last word in ambiance information will come later from DSD256 for me. As far as I heard in other setups, I donā€™t expect other major changes by that in my observationsā€¦maybe some more open top end, but not to the extent itā€™s missing from several of those tapes imo. We will seeā€¦it will get better, but the difference of the HDTTks to the LPā€™s is much bigger than the usual difference between my digital and analog when comparing e.g. digitally sourced LP with the equivalent digital media, which is probably most fair to hear pure gear quality influence.

I expect you will hear an increase in resolution and high end information once you can listen in DSD256. DSD64 always sounds a bit soft to me. Some of these are available in DXD. Did you listen in that format, or does your Bridge card limit PCM also?

I can only listen up to 24/192. As soon as Paul releases the Airlens, thereā€™s hope :wink:

I read that all HDTT tapes are direct copies of masters. For some, I can imagine this is correct, but others like the Solti Mahler are so much less dynamic and defined, also rolled off top and bottom, that the copy must either be of a cutting master or it must be a higher generation copy.

On my system a Redbook CD CRUSHES a 24.96 digital file. Probably not true with all CD transports. But in my case, who boy!

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