Jangeun Bae Trio “Go” featuring Greg Osby
Nice.
John Coltrane “Ballads” Impulse Platinum SHM-CD from Japan.
I wanted to see how this sounds on the system as it is today. Answer: damned good.
This has the reputation of being about the best digital version there is, being a straight transfer from a master tape. I haven’t heard them all but have heard a lot and this may be the best I’ve heard.
I’ll check if I can try this one as I usually have a rather bad (on a high level) opinion of SHM SACD‘s compared to other high class masterings. I think „straight transfer from a master tape“ is probably exactly right, as afaik it’s undisputed that original US masters never made it to Japan…
Of the Ballads album I only have the Grundman/ORG 45RPM DLP (which is unfortunately not available as digital media) and the Esoteric SACD.
Me, too! This will be one worth getting the vinyl, too for me
This one is a Platinum SHM-CD, not an SHM-SACD. I have all the Blue Note (mono) titles they reissued as Platinum SHM-CD and I really like the mastering on those. This “Ballads” and an “A Love Supreme” Platinum SHM-CD are supposed to be flat transfers from a newly found master and many sing the praises of them both. I haven’t heard “A Love Supreme” but it’s rumored that the version of the album that is in the US and Japanese releases of a few years ago “Complete Masters” (various versions) are from the same tape of “A Love Supreme” and it does sound very good.
If you have a 45 rpm Grundman and an Esoteric SACD you probably don’t need this “Ballads.”
I still listen to ‘Roll Away The Stone’ periodically. In interviews Ian Hunter was one of the more entertaining performers of that era. Pure nostalgia, not musical merit.
Thanks for this info, I didn’t know about Platinum SHM! Maybe they got mastered in the US (like the Disk Union LP‘s by Kevin Gray) by someone who has access to the masters and shipped back to Japan for release, so they could be sourced from an original master.
It’s crazy that e.g. with those Disk Union LP‘s such US mastered releases were only released in Japan and nowhere else for licensing reasons. They were difficult to get at the time as no one one even imported them.
Some suspect the source tape for these is another nation’s safety copy, perhaps Japan’s. Regardless, This Platinum SHM-CD of “Ballads” sounds very good, as does the “Complete Masters” version of “A Love Supreme.”
I refuse to pay the prices they charge for audiophile vinyl these days so I can’t compare to vinyl versions.
I have only heard less than ten SHM-SACDs and I actually have enjoyed them–six or seven Blue Note titles, an Impulse and a Rolling Stone title.
Chico Hamilton “The Original Ellington Suite” on Fresh Sounds cd.
Rolling Stones - Hot Rocks (1964-1971) Re-mastered; 24-88 HD FLAC
2 Likes
Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts
Tunisian oud virtuoso.
That is a good album
@Baldy - QP2R - 2.5mm balanced output w/ Nordost Heimdall 2 (2m) head phone cable into Focal Utopia head phones. Wife is in the other room and I’ cranking it up. I have never heard a set of head phones that are even in the same zip code. The base is so tight and nice, clear, definition… I have been listening for 5hrs and I have not even came off 100% battery. I’m recording battery drain @ VOL = 80 out of 120 and that is pretty loud. High Bias… 3100mAhr battery. I’m wondering when it will start the exponential decay… assume the Focal Utopia HPs are very efficient. I have a spreadsheet logging data and I have the rows to 8hrs in 10min increments and I think I need to extend the rows… 
All I can say is unbelievable. I have this amazing 2 channel system with Sonus Faber mains and REL subs and I’m jamming / head phones and a QP2R DAP… Holy Crap!
Now I can sit in my music room and read w/ tunes jamming and wife is happy as a clam watching TV and none the wiser… they are open back so you can’t get too crazy.
