My copy arrived today. I’ve listened to it twice straight through and a few select tracks a third time, first off it is a real nice recording, good job Gus! On my system at least, not a huge amount of space, more of an intimate recording. Jessica’s voice (and what a voice it is!) is very well recorded and for me determined the appropriate volume. I think I was listening a little too low the first time through, a little more volume for the second listen improved the overall experience. Music wise, it’s close, but not quite in my usual musical lane. It’s an enjoyable listen, all the musicians are quite good, just not pulling me in fully. This is not a criticism, just a statement of my musical preferences.
Some music comments (please don’t assign too much weight to these):
All tracks; it was commented above that the piano is too forward, I don’t agree. After the first listen and before I reread the comments I thought on many tracks the piano may have been a bit recessed or less prominent than I would have thought. Perhaps this might be because I’m assuming the singer is also the pianist and expecting more piano being picked up by the mic. Looking at the liner notes I don’t see the piano player listed in the “players” section but elsewhere Jessica is noted as a piano player and singer, so I assume she played the piano. Of note, it does say the piano (only) was recorded at a different facility, so obviously the singers mic would not pick up the piano (unless it was a very good mic!).
Track 2 has a few low bass notes, is this Chris on an electric bass? On my system it’s kind a drone, probably very close or right on a bass peak in my room. Any idea what frequency this is?
Track 4; About four seconds in there is a “hiccup”, not sure if this is a pressing issue or in the master (which doesn’t seem likely). After hearing this I thought I heard a few more things, maybe they are edits? I did notice while checking this that the timer on the DMP was not doing anything … arrrggghhhh. Paul, one more firmware fix please?
Track 7; I believe this is the track that Paul likes so much. I can understand, but doesn’t have the same impact on me.
Track 10; The vocals, at least initially, seem fuzzier than Track 6, maybe some distortion perhaps? The rest of the instruments sound the same as Track 6 (original take)
A few general comments. First, Waymanchen11 above said there are two discs. I only got one disc, says it’s a hybrid SACD so there must be a 44.1 layer there, just haven’t fiddled with the DMP to listen to it. Apparently the other resolutions are only available via download? Not a problem for me, just making sure I understand. Second, for those wondering where their disc is, mine (and presumably all mailed to US addresses) was mailed USPS Media Mail, so it may take a while to arrive. Interestingly, there is a tracking number, but as pointed out by James above it’s not provided to the buyer. I would presume that is an extra cost item, no sense in PS Audio paying for it and not using it. Finally, I can see (hear?) this disc being a good system set up disc. I heard a few things that made me think my room is adding/subtracting to the music, I’m way overdue for some room treatments so maybe this is the year.
Thank you Gus, Paul and the all the musicians!