ECM SACD reissues: June 7th, 2017

The second round of 3 ECM SACDs have apparently been released as Tower Japan exclusives. I haven't found much info on these and wondered if anyone else has info on masterings, sources and whether they are hybrid or not. Really looking forward to Standards!

Keith Jarrett Trio - Standards, Vol. 1 (PROZ-1090)
Chick Corea/Gary Burton - Crystal Silence (PROZ-1091)
Pat Metheny Group - S/T (PROZ-1092)

 

Should have the Pat Metheny Group S/T by early next week - will compare with the original ECM CD (already pretty amazing) and report back .

 

Crystal Silence seems like a good candidate for an effective DSD remastering.

 

Received the 3 this morning will give a spin soon

 

Happy to report that the Pat Metheny Group SACD is very nice! As mentioned there's not a whole lot to improve upon with the old ECM CD, but this fulfils what I expect from a good SACD: it's more like listening to the vinyl but without the extraneous crackles etc. It's dynamic, crystal clear, the instruments really pop, and it sounds slightly less bright than the original CD (a plus, to my ears). As a synth nut one of the things I noticed the most was Lyle's Oberheim sounded like it was coming direct from the analog outs... lush.

For info, it is a hybrid CD/SACD (haven't listened to the CD layer yet), obi claims it is DSD-transferred from the original master tape, and the mastering is by Cristoph Stickel.

 

My understanding from the first round of reissues is that the CD layer duplicates the ECM CD mastering.

 

I'd go along with this. Compared to the CD the SACD sounds less sterile & the band sounds slightly more together. It's not a huge improvement but one worth having in my opinion.

 

Hello everyone (my 1st post here)!

I got excited to see these releases coming in pack of 3 from ECM in Japan and ordered them right away.
I also created 5 of the 6 Discogs entries for them:

ECM SA-CD Hybrid Selection

I saw people using CDJapan for proxy buying but I think that Buyee (international side of Tenso which is the recommended non-Japan buying service for Tower Records) is a better option.

They allow you to build your cart on Yahoo Shopping/Tower and order in one shot. No fee on shop buying, free shipping to them. You only pay for the shipping back to you.

PROZ-1087 https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/tower_4443499
PROZ-1088 https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/tower_4443534
PROZ-1089 https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/tower_4443539

Total delivered to Buyee = JPY 11,340 billed instantly over Paypal at USD105.24

PROZ-1090 https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/tower_4502723
PROZ-1091 https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/tower_4502728
PROZ-1092 https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/tower_4502729

Total delivered to Buyee = JPY 11,340 billed instantly over Paypal at USD106.38

You then choose EMS, Airmail, SAL, etc. from Buyee to you.

If you know a cheaper way, I'm interested!

Julien

 

New set of 3 available to pre-order for September (feel free to move this to a new ECM topic):

PROZ-1093 https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/tower_4571180 Keith Jarrett Trio - Standards Vol.2
PROZ-1094 https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/tower_4571184 Chick Corea - ARC
PROZ-1095 https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/tower_4571189 Pat Metheny Group - Offramp

Just pre-ordered mine.

Julien

 

Anyone else had a chance to listen to any of these SACDs?

 

Somehow PROZ-1096 has been skipped but the PROZ-1097 has been announced (Japanese website) and this one is probably not for mainstream taste:

PROZ-1097 https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/tower_4602141 Keith Jarrett - Sun Bear Concerts, piano solo, live in Japan 1976

US$135 + shipping for a set of 6 remastered Hybrid SACD in a boxset limited to 900 copies.

I might skip this one, a little too elitist for me!

Julien

 

Pre ordered ! What a fantastic News , i d never thought that this boxset could come in SACD with new remaster.

 

I got weak again... and pre-ordered it as well + JPY/USD got better and the price is now US$129.

I guess I will need to reload on good wine bottles to accompany the listening from my sofa in dim light!

Julien

 

If they did Conference of the Birds I'd be the first in line!

 

There is a 192/24 download which sounds great.

 

I will not buy any Universal Music Group download.

 

OK. But UMG is no longer watermarking ECM downloads if that is your concern.

 

That's good to know, but to do it in the first place on a premium product means they lost me.

 

Sun Bear COncerts is shipped, i ll review it next week

 

Look forward to your review!

 

Just received it and listening right now to Osaka my fav

Well it s a beautiful upgrade beside the cd which was really muddy in my taste
We get a nice treatment with boost in the treble, in the good side.
Very nice sounding and spacial. If you got the koln concert in sacd from this serie you ll know what kind of sound treatment sun bear boxset got. It keeps the original sound but much much more detailed . I can crank it to 90% from my amp without fatigue . In the ear direct sounding !

I think the recording was far from perfect at the beginning but this remaster is miles away better than the cd counterparts.
I m really happy and can t wait to listen the other ones

DSD mastered by Christoph Stickel, 08/2017 in the libretto


This boxset is strictly limited to 900 pieces . Got the 634/900 and it s printed In gold letter on the box

For me it s an essential purchase for those loving this boxset don t hesitate too long !

Hope it helps

Happy listening


Eric

 

Is the CD layer of the Sun Bear release updated and remastered or would I be listening to the same as I already have on the original release? I don't play SACD.

 

the CD layers of these releases have not been remastered... i'm in the same boat but as this is one of the few gaps in my Jarrett collection i'll pick it up as it's the same price as the long OOP original.

 

Cd layer is original mix

 

Thanks I still bought it as well it is nice to own with that Japanese OBI Might try and find a player for the SACD but it is up against Naim's top end CD player so not sure it would be able to sound better or not.