poco a poco
I'm Jim
I'm not sure how many people have started to buy this new "Audiophile" reissue series that seems to be closely following the Tone Poet reissues in concept. There are a few comments about it in the Tone Poet thread, but as the releases are now starting to be delivered and the series is supposed to be ongoing I
thought I would start a new thread here for people to add ongoing comments.
For reference this is (was) the proposed release schedule for the first releases, but the dates have slipped back on these mainly due to Covid lockdown measures. I received my copy of Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson on the weekend.
Acoustic Sounds Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series:
July 31 / Verve Records
So first the good news it arrived in tight shrink wrap with an audiophile hype sticker on the front that declares "Mastered from the original analog (sic) tapes by top mastering engineers". Note it does not say from Master Tapes. There has been quite a bit of controversy here with regard to exactly what the tape source is with these, especially with the Coltranes, where it fairly certain the master tapes were lost in the storage fires. The sleeve is a nice quality glossy gatefold with session photos inside, but the front cover looks like a scan to me rather than going back to the original art work as Tone Poet have tried to do. Good quality inner sleeve. MoFi type. The record that came from the sleeve was very clean and glossy and perfectly flat. No clicks or plops on playing, but it is not though as quiet in the dead wax as the Tone Poets.
So how does it sound? Well a there are more than a few complaints about this record / recording on the Hoffman forum. Mainly in regard to distortion on on Armstrong's vocals. While I usually tend to find the complainers there often are making a big issue out of nothing that they then won't let go of (e.g. 'Wobblegate' on the Tone Poet of Blackfire) I do think there is some truth in it in this case, but perhaps a somewhat exaggerated? I hear some distortion, but it is only somewhat bad on the first two tracks on side one, in particularly the first track. I really hear it as Armstrong overloading the mike at times. He is recorded very close to it and tends to move in closer still at times. In that case it is on the mastertape. There are other tracks where I think some cartridges / setups may not track the sibilants on his voice properly and so this could give further distortion. My cartridge seems to do a good job though and They sound natural to me. There is quite good dynamics and and good space around the instruments, but I think the extreme top end has been has been pushed a bit to achieve a sense of 'air' in the room sound. This probably accounts for the very apparent (even to my aging ears) tape hiss. I have heard a similar upper frequencies lift in other Chad Kassm Acoustic Sounds recordings. The bass on this sounds a bit 'plumey'. The brief Trumpet outings (no overload here) by Armstrong and Peterson's Piano sounds pretty good throughout, although I would like a bit more bottom end on the piano.
I think someone on Hoffman said it sounds like a 'vintage' recording and I would concur. Certainly earlier sounding than Van Gelder Blue Notes from this year. Overall it is not bad given what it is and If you like the music it is well worth having, but it seems a strange choice for an 'Audiophile Recording' and I think it would be unfair to compare this one on that basis to the Tone Poets. The Getz / Gilberto seems to be getting a more favourable reception. Perhaps someone here who has it would like to comment on that one?
Edited to correct typo's.
thought I would start a new thread here for people to add ongoing comments.
For reference this is (was) the proposed release schedule for the first releases, but the dates have slipped back on these mainly due to Covid lockdown measures. I received my copy of Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson on the weekend.
Acoustic Sounds Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series:
July 31 / Verve Records
- Stan Getz and João Gilberto – Getz/Gilberto (1964)
- Louis Armstrong and Oscar Peterson – Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson(1959)
- John Coltrane – Ballads (1963)
- John Coltrane – A Love Supreme (1964)
- Nina Simone – I Put A Spell On You (1965)
- Nina Simone – Pastel Blues (1965)
- Sarah Vaughan – Sarah Vaughan (with Clifford Brown) (1954)
- Clifford Brown and Max Roach – Study In Brown (1955)
- Peggy Lee – Black Coffee (1956)
- George Russell – New York, N.Y. (1959)
So first the good news it arrived in tight shrink wrap with an audiophile hype sticker on the front that declares "Mastered from the original analog (sic) tapes by top mastering engineers". Note it does not say from Master Tapes. There has been quite a bit of controversy here with regard to exactly what the tape source is with these, especially with the Coltranes, where it fairly certain the master tapes were lost in the storage fires. The sleeve is a nice quality glossy gatefold with session photos inside, but the front cover looks like a scan to me rather than going back to the original art work as Tone Poet have tried to do. Good quality inner sleeve. MoFi type. The record that came from the sleeve was very clean and glossy and perfectly flat. No clicks or plops on playing, but it is not though as quiet in the dead wax as the Tone Poets.
So how does it sound? Well a there are more than a few complaints about this record / recording on the Hoffman forum. Mainly in regard to distortion on on Armstrong's vocals. While I usually tend to find the complainers there often are making a big issue out of nothing that they then won't let go of (e.g. 'Wobblegate' on the Tone Poet of Blackfire) I do think there is some truth in it in this case, but perhaps a somewhat exaggerated? I hear some distortion, but it is only somewhat bad on the first two tracks on side one, in particularly the first track. I really hear it as Armstrong overloading the mike at times. He is recorded very close to it and tends to move in closer still at times. In that case it is on the mastertape. There are other tracks where I think some cartridges / setups may not track the sibilants on his voice properly and so this could give further distortion. My cartridge seems to do a good job though and They sound natural to me. There is quite good dynamics and and good space around the instruments, but I think the extreme top end has been has been pushed a bit to achieve a sense of 'air' in the room sound. This probably accounts for the very apparent (even to my aging ears) tape hiss. I have heard a similar upper frequencies lift in other Chad Kassm Acoustic Sounds recordings. The bass on this sounds a bit 'plumey'. The brief Trumpet outings (no overload here) by Armstrong and Peterson's Piano sounds pretty good throughout, although I would like a bit more bottom end on the piano.
I think someone on Hoffman said it sounds like a 'vintage' recording and I would concur. Certainly earlier sounding than Van Gelder Blue Notes from this year. Overall it is not bad given what it is and If you like the music it is well worth having, but it seems a strange choice for an 'Audiophile Recording' and I think it would be unfair to compare this one on that basis to the Tone Poets. The Getz / Gilberto seems to be getting a more favourable reception. Perhaps someone here who has it would like to comment on that one?
Edited to correct typo's.
Last edited: