Some recordings are highlights of our music culture and are loved by generations. Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall, 1961, is such a recording. It is a remarkable tribute to a great artist performing at the top of her game. And, in this newly restored and remastered release from HDTT, it sounds better than it ever has sounded.
John Haley, Harmony Restorations, has worked a miracle in restoring these recordings to give us the complete concert in high definition sound for a truly excellent listening experience. As John told me at one point when discussing what heâd done to create this release in collaboration with Bob Witrak: âI am telling you what I did but donât want you to be able to notice that I did it!â (my italics added)
Review and Johnâs technical discussion here. Download here.
This concert is just insanely great. And the recording by Jonathan Horwich, IPI, captures it all with great transparency, dynamics and detail. The opening cut, âFragments of The Music Goes Round and Round into Oh, Lady Be Good,â sets the standard and the concert just gets better and better. Youâd think this was a studio recording except for the audience reactions at the end of each cut, and occasionally interspersed as Goodman has some fun with them. The background is silkily black, Goodman is front and center on the solo sets with big tone, volume and subtle dynamics. Itâs a shame Jonathan Horwichâs ran out of tape before being able to complete the last movement of the Malcolm Arnold⌠such a loss because the performance of movements 1 and 2 are wonderful. Running at 30ips has to be a huge challenge in time management. With a live performance it must be about impossible. In Pure DSD256, this is a marvelous transfer and a tremendous gift to have this concert. What a great musician and performer!
Recorded live to 30ips 2-track tape in 1980 and transferred to Pure DSD256. This is another sonic wonder from IPI via HDTT. (download here)
Do you enjoy excellent organ recordings? Hereâs one for you. The music selections are delightful, the performances are just top-drawer, and the sound quality is right among the top ranks of the best captured organ Iâve had in my collection. The C.B. Fisk tracker organ is an absolute delight. Yes, I am biased to the north German school of organs. I love tracker organs. This organ is in just beautiful condition and tonality. What an absolute JOY to hear it. And to hear it in such excellent sound quality just thrills me to no end. There is unfortunately just a bit of veiling from the DBX encoding, but the value returned is excellent dynamic range and very low noise. Iâll certainly take that trade-off for these wonderful performances and the sound of this simply delightful organ. (Available from HDTT here)
Transferred from the original analogue dbx-encoded 2-track 15ips master tapes to DSD128.
This is a majestic performance by Klemperer and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Klemperer moves things right along but gives space for all of the nobility which this music contains. Some may quibble about tempo choices here and there, but overall this is an excellent performance. If you are tired of how quickly Mravinsky takes it and are tired with how slow (and sappily) some other play it, you will join me in finding great satisfaction in this version. Yes, the fourth movement is played at a slow, and slower, pace. But it has majesty. And given the felicities of the earlier movements, Iâm willing to accept Klempererâs grandeur here. The sound quality is up to HDTTâs usual standards. In a word: Excellent.
Although 24bit 352.8k Flac is really good, I just compared it with DSD128 and the difference is not small, the DSD 128 is richer, more body, and more air. The 24bit 352.8k Flac is flatter and dryer, If you get this recording, get both versions and compare it yourself and see. It does not cost extra to download both versions from HDTT.
Excellent advice! We should each make our own comparisons because different DACs will process differently and, accordingly, we will hear different results depending on our respective DACs.
Thanks to Rushton and waymanchen11, my finger is getting sore from clicking the album purchases of DSD256 in HDTT. They had a short 15% discount over the weekend. I want to buy some more today (again, more recommendations show up from them), and the sale was over.
All the recommendations sounded excellent! Thanks!
Theyâre pretty good about having sales. Are you on their mailing list? Thatâs the best way to hear when a sale starts, and the best way to see new additions to their catalog.
Nope. John still has more work to do on the tape restoration for this project. It will be great when it does come out, though!
Bob has not given out a hint about this tape. Iâve been sworn to secrecy, but just couldnât resist offering a tease because Iâm excited about it â hope some others here will be, too. It will be a Pure DSD256 transfer from a 15ips 2-track tape, no PCM editing.
A new transfer from 15ips 2-track tape in Pure DSD256, released today by HDTT.
One of the most significant albums in jazz history by the woman who changed jazz singing forever. Iâve always loved this album, and it sounds terrific in this DSD256 release. It beats out every other digital release in my library, sounding more lifelike, with more accurate instrumental timber, more separation and air around the instruments, and much greater resolution overall. It is not subtle.
