I posted a blind listening test for Miles Smiles, I have to agree with preferring Vic Anesini's. Assuming the Japan first press CD is the original mix I would love to hear that.
The 32DP is the original mix, but for some reason the last three songs sound like they were taken from a tape that’s several generations removed from the master. The first three songs, however, sound great.
I wonder if that's why Miles Smiles wasn't originally included among those remastered by MoFi. And I also wonder if they have decided to do it because they were able to locate the original tapes, or if they weren't able to locate them and are going to go with the Wilder remix.
That's the same one I was referring to. Though that website says it was released in 1997, but according to the label it was released in September, 1996. More likely Sony didn't want Mofi to release it because it would distract from the release of the Freedom Jazz Dance box.
Neither of the above, I think. They're not using the OMR banner for Miles Smiles, so as with E.S.P. they're likely going to use the best tape of the original mix they can find and do the best they can with it. I'm still buying
Sounds logical. The MFSL SACD of E.S.P. is surely mastered well, but it sounds funky and veiled compared to the clean remix on the Second Miles Davis Quintet box set.
I just thought I'd contribute the following comparison. It is the 30 second to 1 minute 30 second part of Freedom Jazz Dance from 4 different CD releases: 1992, 1996, 1998, 2016.flac I didn't know where I should upload the file. I can upload it somewhere else if someone can suggest a better hosting service. I edited the files as individual WAVs, then level match them individually using the ReplayGain track gain setting in dBPowerAMP music converter, then joined them into 1 file and saved the result as a FLAC. Of course even though each sample has the same average loudness they may have different loudness during different parts given that they are different quality transfers / mixes. They are in the chronological order of release: 1) 1992 Vic Anesini Remix / Remaster 2) 1996 Japanese Mastersound 3) 1998 Mark Wilder Complete Columbia Studio Sessions 1965 - 1968 box 4) 2016 Mark Wilder Freedom Jazz Dance Bootleg Series 5 box The thing that stands out to me the most is that #4 has been narrowed a lot with the bass and sax almost in the centre. But it also seems to be a very clean transfer without some anomalies that are noticeable on the Mastersound and 1998 CD. I don't really like the sound of the 1992 CD. It has too much high frequencies and is artificial sounding to me. If you look at a spectrum of that CD it seems to give away that the re-mix was only done at CD resolution.
I'm generally not a fan on those early '90s CD's Sony/CBS/Columbia put out with the indigo border on the cover, but I actually prefer that one only because when the horns are peaking, it's not quite as strident as the other masterings. The transfers on the later masterings are better, but they can be a bit sharp. It's amazing how the piano and snare drum sounds can vary among these four - the piano on the 1996 transfer was surprisingly dull after hearing the 1992 mix, and the snare on the 2016 sample seemed surprisingly dull after hearing the others (though that 2016 sample really is a different beast - it's a substantially different mix).
If the sample from roughly 2 minutes to 3 minutes is the "1998 Mark Wilder Complete Columbia Studio Sessions 1965-1968 box" to me the Anesini sounds more natural since it sounds like the Wilder has a boost in the high treble ("fake air") and the snare and cymbals sound slightly more muted on the Anesini. I edited out those portions into two files in Audacity then applied ReplayGain to both just in case (it only needed 0.3 dB) so I go back and forth between the two easier. I didn't listen to the Freedom Jazz box since I don't have interest in that box. I'm at work so I can only use my Sennheiser HD6xx headphones (balanced out of a Gilmore Reference amp), I will give them a listen on speakers when I am home but these headphones are tonally very similar to both my speakers.
The catalogue is only available in the US, unfortunately, and it's still the only place where it's been mentioned. Nothing on Music Direct's site (yet).
Yes, they are sloppy on the consistency of announcements across all media, including with the One-Step vinyl box sets. This puts international buyers at an additional disadvantage, as if the postage rates weren't discouraging enough.
On every original stereo mix vinyl edition I've heard, side 2 suffers in comparison to side 1 fidelity wise and this is true to some extent even on the Japan original mix CD. The remixes remedy this problem to varying degrees. I have the 2006 Original Jacket CD, based on 2000 DSD master and find it the best of the remixes, compared to the '98 US remaster, both done by Wilder.
I have the Blu-spec CD2 based on the 2000 DSD master. It's the version I play most often of the five I own.
Yes, I find the mastering on the 2000 DSD brings all the instruments into better balance, the '98 has brighter accents but the horns and piano sound less realistic and more distant. In fact the 2000 sounds closer to the balance on the original mix.
The Miles Smiles MFSL hybrid SACD is now available for pre-order: Miles Davis - Miles Smiles (Numbered Edition Hybrid SACD) * * * (mastered from the original tapes)
It now is listed with the OMR banner. So does this mean original mix or remix from original tapes? They use the OMR banner in both of these situations, right?
