I ordered four of these and they came in today: Eric D0lphy - Out to Lunch Sonny Rollins - A Night at the Village Vanguard Wayne Shorter - Speak no Evil Herbie Hancock - Speak like a Child I gave all of them a brief spin, and the first impression is: Impressive. As in: Wow. All instruments sound very natural. There’s a wide, almost three-dimensional sound stage, with no over-panning and a clear separation of all instruments. In the first few minutes, Speak like a Child sounded a bit muffled to me. Then again, I am not familiar with this album and I have no comparison. After a while, I got used to it and I now think the album was meant to sound like this. The other three gave me goosebumps from the first note on. The CDs come in a jewel case, with an additional cardboard slipcase. The booklet reprints the original liner notes in english. I don‘t see any information regarding the mastering. Slipcase and booklet look and feel very nice and live up to the high price of these discs. There is a couple of other titles in this edition that I do not have, and I‘ll definitely order those. Right now, I would love to purchase the entire edition, but considering the cost, I will need to give it some thought. I‘ve never been entirely happy with the AP release of Midnight Blue. The panning is extremely wide, and it just does not sound that great on my system. So if anybody here has ordered the new SHM-SACD of this title, please post your impressions. If that has been corrected with this release, that will be a definite candidate for replacement.
I received from Amazon Japan last Friday 6 titles: Art Blakey - A Night In Tunisia Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin' Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch! Herbie Hancock - Speak Like a Child Sonny Rollins - A Night At The Village Vanguard Horace Silver - Song For My Father I don't have the Esoteric Cool Struttin' to compare with this issue but these 6 SHM-SACDs are excellent. I will be getting the rest in chunks from next year after the Xmas madness ends and shipping schedules go back to normal.
I got in four of these and have listened to "Speak Like a Child" twice. This is a very dynamic mastering and detailed. I was in the midst of breaking in some new tubes and also fooling around with a new component (Decware ZROCK2) so I'm not sure I have the ultimate listening experience with this disc yet, but I will say this: to my ears it sounds like a hi-res version of the 24 bit remastered 75th anniversary series from Japan. I will draw this conclusion: those who are fans of the Analogue Productions Blue Note SACDs will find this likely a bit inferior, lacking the slight veil of warmth I hear in those, and perhaps finding the high frequencies a bit tart. I like the sound of this one very much on my system.
Interesting observation. I must admit, I am not the world's biggest fan of the AP Blue Note releases. On a first impression, I actually liked the sound of the new japanese releases better. I also did a direct comparison between 'Something Else' on AP and the 2015 japanese BR-A. I'm not exactly the analytic type, so I can't share any details with you, but for my ears, the Blu-Ray won. It actually sounded warmer and in the high notes, less harsh to me. I have issues with a few of the AP Blue Note releases, but first and foremost with 'Midnight Blue'. I just can't warm up with the AP version. So I took the chance and ordered that one on SHM-SACD as well.
FYI - if you like Sonny Clark in a trio setting, I'd recommend Blues In The Night if you don't already have it. (Showing up on my browser's translation as Bruce In the Night lol). I haven't made a purchase of my own of these titles yet, but I love the fact they're doing some lesser known albums.
Yes good stuff. IIRC "Blues in the Night" was half of what was released in the US on cd as "Standards."
In an earlier incarnation it was, but I it looks like this issue has the same track list as Standards, only ordered a bit differently.
Has anyone had the chance to make comparisons of these the mono platinum shms? I'm especially wondering if I should upgrade my mono A Night At The Village Vanguard to the stereo SACD? Or whether I should pick up Midnight Blue on mono platinum shm or stereo SACD?
The SACD for ANATVV is Mono as well. I have not heard the Platinum SHM, but this SACD makes me feel like I‘m standing in the club with the band. Quite amazing. I have the Bill Evans recording from the same venue on Platinum-SHM. It‘s very detailed and I like it very much, but when it comes to delivering the ‚in the room‘ atmosphere, it does not get anywhere close to the new Rollins disc. Of course, I might be comparing apples and oranges here, but still: Both were recorded at the same club. On MIDNIGHT BLUE: As I stated before, I‘m not overly happy with the AP SACD, mainly due to the extreme wide panning. I have ordered the new SACD and it should be here next week. I‘ll keep you posted.
I've heard both of the Rollins now and the major difference between the SHM-CD and SHM-SACD on my system (same transport and DAC used for both) is that the SHM-CD sounds a bit quicker, airier, and the SACD sounds a bit darker, richer.
Well, the SHM SACD version of "Sonny's Crib" is stereo .. whereas the version which was part of the compilation Sideman: Trane's Blue Note Sessions was mono. In regards to the mastering, the record company page contradicts itself.. in that .. at the top of the page it states the DSD transfer was supervised by Don Was and the was sourced from the "original' master. At the bottom of the page, in the tracklisting, it states that a 1998 remaster was sourced. ソニーズ・クリブ [SHM仕様]
Coinciding with the SHM SACD releases are DSD downloads; Art Blakey — Moanin' http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810484/ Art Blakey — A Night in Tunisia http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810682/ Bud Powell — The Scene Changes http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810545/ Cannonball Adderley — Somethin' Else http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810422/ Eric Dolphy — Out to Lunch! http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753811047/ Hank Mobley — Dippin' http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810583/ Hank Mobley — Soul Station http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810705/ Herbie Hancock — Maiden Voyage http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810460/ Herbie Hancock — Speak Like a Child http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810620/ Horace Silver — Song for My Father http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810644/ John Coltrane — Blue Train http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810729/ Johnny Griffin— A Blowin' Session http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753811061/ Kenny Burrell — Midnight Blue http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810569/ Lee Morgan — Candy http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810606/ Lee Morgan — The Sidewinder http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810521/ Paul Chambers— Whims of Chambers http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810743/ Sonny Clark — Cool Struttin' http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810446/ Sonny Clark — Sonny's Crib http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810767/ Wayne Shorter — Speak No Evil http://mora.jp/package/43000006/00600753810668/
I‘m not the download type anyway, but over $32 for a digital file does seem pretty brutal to me... Currently listening to Hank Mobley - Dippin‘ from this series. It sounds great, but I somewhat doubt that it gives much of an improvement over the APO release. I directly compared Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue to the APO SACD yesterday, and I could not hear much of an improvement, if any. The high frequencies on the SHM-SACD sounded a tad more pleasant to me, but if there really is an audible improvement, it‘s not much. Horace Silver - Songs for me Father is another one I really liked. Has anyone heard Art Blakey - Moanin? I‘d love to know how this version sounds compared to the APO and/or BR-A releases.
As a huge Sonny Clark fan, I bought the SACD of Sonny's Crib. I can't say I was that impressed by it. I don't think it sounds much better than the Connoisseur Edition and it lacks the extra tracks, whereas the Audiowave XRCDS and the Analogue Productions SACDs are noticeable improvements over previous digital versions.
I listened to Sonny's Crib and was similarly not very impressed with it. Too bad. I think a recent cd reissue from Japan sounds as good or a bit better. Ah well.
I picked up Soul Station and Cool Struttin. Cool Struttin is really nice, but Soul Station is a knockout! I wonder if Soul Station sounds so much better because it was recorded later (58 vs 60). Both are a little 'warm' and both are quite crankable. They both sound a little artificial... there's a slight crackle added on the horns and some 'fuzz' on the cymbals which doesn't sound natural, but is appealing. I'm thinking about getting A Night In Tunisia, since I find the XRCD to be a bit muddy when the recording gets busy. Maybe also Song for my Father and Speak Like a Child, since they are later recordings which I don't have nice copies of.
Not only were they recorded some years apart, but also in completely different studios. The earlier session is still recorded in the “living room studio” in Hackensack, the later one in the new Englewood Cliffs studio. You have good/well-trained ears for picking up on that “fuzz” sound. Our host actually spoke about that. From what I remember, it had something to do with the mics used, German-built Neumann U47s (still a classic today) not being compatible with US-built equipment. That means to mics put out too loud a signal, always on the verge of subtle distortion. In Europe they apparently had the right pre-amps and they did not produce the same sound. I guess it’s part of what makes Blue Notes sound so “exciting” (that, and the tape saturation).
The obi says in Japanese that ‘Supervised by Don Was. The latest DSD master produced off the 2017 original master is used."
thanks for the info! I can't say that I've noticed the 'fuzz' before- either its intentionally exaggerated on these shm-sacds, or I was listening more closely than usual, trying to figure out why the 2 I have sound different.
When it comes to analog, needless to say, there is a difference between a LP and the original analog master tape. Don Was appears to prefer LP and as it's stated he supervised the mastering .. He may have wanted it to sound more like the original LP. who knows?
Tight budget so I just ordered Out to Lunch and Candy only. The original long lost master tape of Out to Lunch were found by Steve Hoffman at 2009 and Music Matters Blue Note decision was : "when a stereo Blue Note master exists, we will use that stereo master to cut our lacquers for this series". Music Matters first released Candy's mono version and later switched to stereo version. Hence may be Candy's also a long lost stereo master tape rediscovered by Music Matters. Hope this 2 SHM-SACD 2017 remaster worth it.
