Steve's Analogue Productions Blue Note SACD/CD Sound Quality Discussion Thread

I recently bought A.T.'s Delight APO SACD and I'm listening to it right now. I'm enjoying this disc very much as I find that the two horn players compliment each other quite well. Art Taylor's playing along with the conga playing of 'Potato' Valdez is an interesting combination on a few tracks, I like it though. The SQ of the disc is excellent as well although I do not have any other versions to compare it to.

Bill

 

yeah - with headphones

I think they are barely audible on a Blue/White 'Division Of UA' VAN GELDER Stereo LP -probably on the master tape? The LP does sound 'fresher' than the SACD

I have several AP SACD cases that the cover slides right out of the slotted hinge

 

Good to know it's on an older stereo LP as well.

Do you mean the SACD sounds a bit too laid back?

 

no - I would not say laid back in comparison -just some loss of liveliness in detail & instrument timbre, like the tape is aging ?(at the risk of comparing an apple to an orange) - I should add that the differences are slight, and the SACD sounds nice

 

Any info on the AP Horace Parlan title: Movin' & Groovin' would be much appreciated. I have a question about the imaging. I've heard some samples and like what I've heard but am unsure if that source is from the Japan cd or the AP. Do the piano and bass guitar sound 'centered' and the drums just to the right? Or is the imaging more left-center-right?

 

I too am wondering this. I've got the Horace Parlan Mosaic Box Set and am wondering if the Parlan SACD's would be worth the cash.

 

Nice. I'm sure you know there are xrcd's too - On The Spur Of The Moment and Speakin' My Piece, in addition to that AP sacd.

 

When I hear it (Movin' and Groovin') I'll post here what I hear, fwtw, and see if that helps or not.

 

I have the AP and it has a nice (to me) stereo image, more drums to the right side piano slightly left. Don't know if that helps..

 

That imaging sounds similar to the full length online audio uploads I've heard at a popular channel, so fingers crossed. Either/or, am looking forward to hearing the hybrid regardless. Yes, your post did help, thanks.

 

I wouldn't say sonically it is one of the standouts of the series for me. The only one of the 50 I would genuinely not be able to recommend on sonic grounds is "Whims Of Chambers" and I think that is a source tape limitation.

 

Noted, , and nice to read your follow-up post as well. I am taking a few steps back though from the trumpet and sax attack, , that seems to be getting the best of my ears right now, so I really am looking forward to this piano, drums, bass guitar piece. As I say that though, Dippin' is set to arrive too, .

 

To other owners of the Grant Green "Green Street" SACD:

Are there strange distortions and drop-outs in the right channel on track 4 of the redbook layer? Starting around 2:44 and a handful of other times throughout the song. I'm thinking I just have a defective disc or something...no way something this noticeable would go without an outcry around here. I have other discs in this line and they're all perfect.

 

OH MY. I've been reading this 'old' thread off and on all day and just finished. You guys are great! (even the blowhards. )

I've started picking up AP BN SACDs recently since Acoustic Sounds lists them as "limited stock." So far Whistle Stop and Hub-Tones are my favorites - they sound excellent to me.

I haven't read many general comparisons of SACDs from different houses/labels here, although its admittedly difficult to compare different titles. I find the AP work is much more consistent than MOFI or ORG. Any thoughts on BN APs vs Verve APs or Impulse APs? Any differences beyond the different 'house' sounds?

 

By the way, it's cool to see RVG's explanatory notes on the master tapes, thanks for that!
(I wish my 'quote' included the image in the original post!)

 

Steve, why do these threads get closed to begin with and what is the benefit to that as opposed to keeping them open indefinitely?

 

It's a good question, and even if this isn't the right thread to ask it, perhaps the Gorts could at least point us toward the thread that answers the question. Earlier this week I wanted to continue a conversation about men's clothing (dress shirts, specifically), but I discovered that the thread I had been chatting in over the last couple of years was now closed. Apparently not for any reason other than it had been dormant for several months. I know we can try to contact a Gort to request for it to be reopened, but it is a barrier to conversation, as we want to type a comment "now," not after waiting a while for someone to reopen it.

Anyway, thanks for reopening THIS thread, as I still treasure the full 25-disc box set I have of this Blue Note SACD series that Steve and Kevin collaborated on.

Craig.

 

Played Peckin' Time by Hank Mobley/Lee Morgan last night.

Amazing.........sound and music

Might be my new favorite from this series.

 

The AP Blue Notes mastered by Steve/Kevin and the Impulse series mastered by Kevin Gray are excellent. Wasn't a big fan of the Verve series done by George Marino.

 

I prefer the original TOCJ 4xxx and CP32 discs for some of the Blue Notes where the SACD might be lacking in high end. The Verve SACDs are case by case between them and the earlier CDs (not the compressed remasters).

 

I prefer the relaxed high end on the SACDs, but YMMV.

 

I'm extremely happy with the SQ on the 5 I have:
Kenny Dorham - Whistle Stop
Sonny Rollins - Vol. 2
Coltrane - Blue Train
Adderley - Somethin' Else
Freddie Hubbard - Hub-Tones

Is this a representative group? Am I likely to enjoy the SQ on the rest?
If only Maiden Voyage wasn't sold out!

 

The Rollins, Coltrane, and Adderley titles may sound somewhat better than most others in the series, IMHO, due to being recorded in a different venue (ironically, RVG's parents' living room in Hackensack, NJ). To me, at least, those recordings on average sound slightly more lifelike than the recordings done in his specially built studio in Englewood Cliffs. However, I think the Dorham and Hubbard titles fall into the latter category, so if you like those, you should like most of the rest in the series. I like them all (though I'm glad to see another poster confirm that Whims of Chambers sounds less impressive than the rest, which I've noticed as well).

 

FYI, some of the titles in this series are now available in mono as SHM-CD's.