Outstanding Pure DSD256 Downloads with some DXD thrown in...

[Rushton]

What I really like on Nativedsd.com is that you can listen to the tracks in 16/44.1 before buying.
AFAIK, this is not possible on HDTT, this makes a difference to me

I understand. HDDT instead offers one sample at 24/96kHz resolution. And then 30 second snippets of all the tracks (I don't know what resolution for these):

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If you need more to make a buying decision, I encourage you to write to Bob. He'll be happy to hear from you. He may not agree to do it, but the feedback from multiple people who purchase from his website may help him change up.

Keep in mind, however, that almost all of the albums released by HDTT are vintage recordings and have been widely distributed for decades. Surely if one does not know the music, there are multiple sources for hearing most of these albums in other distributions, just not in the better sound quality that the HDTT reissue most likely will be providing. For that, perhaps you can get a sense from the 24/96 download.

 

[Rushton]

The next link is of another fine guitarist - Fausto Mesolella - who was ‘served’ with a great recording in dsd 64 by the record label Fone:

https://www.nativedsd.com/product/sacd201-madama-terra/

I've not listened to this album. Given your comment, I've just downloaded it and look forward to listening to it.

Maestro Giulio Cesare Ricci makes excellent recordings. I've loved his catalog for decades, even if not all of his classical artists. My big frustration is that he does not make his transfers from his tapes in higher resolution than DSD64 <sigh>. Perhaps he will redo some of them some day.

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Later addition: Oh, yes indeed. Mesolella is one talented electric guitar player. And, a live performance at that: "No editing. All the tracks on this record are heard as they were performed."

 

[microstrip]

Bob got back to me quickly with the following reply about the Waltz for Debby source tape and equipment used in making the transfer. He says:

Sourced from a 15ips 2-track tape
Analog: Transferred using a modified Studer 810 tape deck with Flux Heads feeding a Merrill Tape Preamp
Digital: Merging Hapi Analog to Digital Converter clocked by an Antelope Audio 10MX Atomic Clock
Software: Merging Pyramix
Power Conditioning: Shunyata Research Everest 8000 for all components

This has been his standard setup for the past several years. Now he additionally has a vacuum tube tape preamp designed by Victor Khomenko for tapes where that additional vacuum tube magic might make a nicer transfer.

Thanks. Nice to know they used Merging equipment, probably the AKD8D(P) ADC.

 

[ferenc_k]

Bob got back to me quickly with the following reply about the Waltz for Debby source tape and equipment used in making the transfer. He says:

Sourced from a 15ips 2-track tape
Analog: Transferred using a modified Studer 810 tape deck with Flux Heads feeding a Merrill Tape Preamp
Digital: Merging Hapi Analog to Digital Converter clocked by an Antelope Audio 10MX Atomic Clock
Software: Merging Pyramix
Power Conditioning: Shunyata Research Everest 8000 for all components

This has been his standard setup for the past several years. Now he additionally has a vacuum tube tape preamp designed by Victor Khomenko for tapes where that additional vacuum tube magic might make a nicer transfer.

According to broadcasters and archivists measurements, one tape copy at 15 ips and 1/4 inch tape causes around 2,5 - 3 dB signal-to-noise loss.

 

[Rushton]

Listening again today after writing up a revisit with this album a few weeks ago.



Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (with pitch corrected alternate tracks). HDTT 1959, 2022 (Pure DSD256, the alternate pitch corrected tracks in DXD) My updated review HERE (Included in My-Top-of-the-Pile list)

Some of you are going to prefer the Analog Productions SACD of this. Not me. The SACD has been through a DXD mastering process which automatically compresses the dynamic range (which is what we're used to hearing in commercial releases). This is not compressed, neither the Pure DSD256 tracks nor the alternate speed corrected DXD tracks. And the SACD has a smiley EQ applied to it, which does not appear in either the original LP nor the Bernie Grundman transfer from the master tapes. This HDTT release continues, for me, to be the finest sound quality, most natural sounding, digital transfer of this album that you can get.

 

[Audiocrack]

I have always liked (most of) the recordings made by ‘prof.’ Johnson for Reference recordings. For example I still listen regularly to his recordings with Eiji Oue conducting music of in particular Respighi and Stravinsky but also to his recording of various Rachmaninov pieces and another few. However, I am gonna list another one today:

https://www.nativedsd.com/product/rr139-adam-schoenberg-american-symphony-finding-rothko-picture-studies/?attribute_pa_channel=2ch-stereo&attribute_pa_quality=dsd-64fs

I listen to a download in the original recording format - WAV 176.4kHz / 24 bit - and that one sounds to my ears quite impressive. Listen for example to the third track - called Red - and you will find out how powerful a PCM recording in the mentioned format can sound. I do not have any of the ‘upsampled’ versions of Native dsd available so I cannot comment how these versions compare to the original recording format. Typically I acquire the latter.

 

[Rushton]

I have always liked (most of) the recordings made by ‘prof.’ Johnson for Reference recordings. For example I still listen regularly to his recordings with Eiji Oue conducting music of in particular Respighi and Stravinsky but also to his recording of various Rachmaninov pieces and another few. However, I am gonna list another one today:

https://www.nativedsd.com/product/r...nnel=2ch-stereo&attribute_pa_quality=dsd-64fs
I listen to a download in the original recording format - WAV 176.4kHz / 24 bit - and that one sounds to my ears quite impressive. Listen for example to the third piece - called Red - and you will find out how powerful a PCM recording in the mentioned format can sound. I do not have any of the ‘upsampled’ versions of Native dsd available so I cannot comment how these versions compare to the original recording format. Typically I acquire the latter.

I agree with you on this. Prof. Keith Johnson's recordings were a source of great enjoyment in my vinyl days. Today, like you, I always download his original format 176.4kHz / 24-bit files where available. They are the purest iteration available of his original recordings, and in my primary system they always sound the best. But, folks should make comparisons because in some DACs the DSD256 and DSD512 iterations may sound better -- it all depends on how your DAC handles the D/A processing.

The recordings with Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Symphony were top drawer performances in excellent sound quality. They set a high standard for excellence.

The Adam Schoenberg album with Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony is an excellent recommendation. This is a conductor and orchestra whose recordings I always enjoy. And the music by American composer Adam Schoenberg (b.1980) is great. His Finding Rothko, an orchestral work in four movements is concise, tonal, melodic, and accessible, with brilliant orchestration. Nice!

 

[Rushton]

I'm listening to a DXD recording this morning from the Polish label, Prelude Classics. And it is very interesting and very nicely done. They have four albums listed at NativeDSD (HERE) and this is the first one to which I've listened. I will listen to more given how much I am enjoying this. Prelude Classics says their commitment is to very high resolution recordings "guided by the mission of capturing the emotions triggered by the musical experience." So, good mission. And thus far I would say this release is meeting their goal. My only reservation is that sound is very closely miked, leaving little sense of the actual space in which the vocal soloist and pianist exist during their performance. I.e., little sense of the natural acoustic of the recording venue. But, otherwise, the recording is very natural sounding, very transparent.

Roma Cantata - NativeDSD Music

Roma Cantata is an album featuring compositions by Maestro Artur Banaszkiewicz — a virtuoso violinist and laureate of numerous prestigious awards, including the grand prize at the International Composition Competition in Atlanta, Georgia. The Stereo and 5 Channel Surround Sound recording...

www.nativedsd.com

The music is a dynamic mix of influences found with abundance in the Romani culture. The composer writes that the composition: "takes the audience on a musical journey along the trail of Gypsy wagons travelling across Europe. The music contains Hungarian, Romanian, Balkan, and Spanish elements as well as a reference to Paganini and a paraphrase of Monti’s famous Csardas with Sprechgesang [the soprano] and scatting in the vocals."

As illustrated in the diagram below, Prelude Classics explain that they use "a modified Decca Tree technique originally worked out by Decca sound engineers in the early 1950s, first commercially applied" by Arthur Haddy and Roy Wallace in 1954, and later improved by engineer Kenneth Ernest Wilkinson." Unfortunately, the spot mics for piano and soprano completely take over the sound of the release album as it has been mixed. Granted, I listen over headphones. But normally I have no difficulty hearing excellent spatial clues and broad soundstages and depth. But here I simply am not hearing what the very respected editor in chief of High Fidelity, Wojciech Pacuła, describes: "The sound has not only a spatial quality (that is, a wide panorama), but also depth. The vocals are definitely more open than the piano, which is placed deeper up the acoustic scene." But, perhaps this comment refers only to the track with the choir.

Still, an excellently detailed and dynamic recording with extended frequency range and unlimited dynamic contrasts, very accurately captured. I'd classify it as a winner, both musically and sonically.

From the enclosed booklet:

Microphones: Ehrlund EHR-M, Sennheiser MKH 8090, Royer Labs SF-12, Sony C-100, Line Audio OM1
Recording, editing and mastering: Pyramix Virtual Studio by Merging Technologies=
Original Recording Format: PCM 352.8kHz 24-bit

 

[Rushton]

And back to another Pure DSD256 release, this time some very nice jazz from the Estonian label, APSoon Records, released in 2023. APSoon has been making some very high quality recordings. Their organ recordings have been absolutely top drawer, and this jazz ensemble recording is similarly excellent. Lativian jazz? Oh, yes. Another example of how the worldwide music community has completely embraced jazz. And performing it with style. In addition to jazz standards, the album includes arrangements of rock and popular classics (such as the Lennon and McCartney song "Eight Days A Week," the Jagger and Richards "Lady Jane," and kicking off with Pete Townsend's "Behind Blue Eyes"). Coltrane's "Lazy Bird" gets a particularly fine performance somewhere in the middle of the album.


My review HERE.

 

[Rushton]

I'm an audiophile, but I get so tired of the focus on hardware. For me, now, my focus is on the highest quality software I can find... Here's my rant for the week:
Hardware - meh! Software is the Game - Positive Feedback

 

[Kal Rubinson]

According to WiKiPedia:

Software can generally be categorized into two main types:

1. operating systems, which manage hardware resources and provide services for applications
2. application software, which performs specific tasks for users

Aren't you talking about content (or data) when you speak of music media?

 

[Rushton]

The parlance I'm used to among my audio acquaintances is "hardware vs software." Software is any music media, whether vinyl, tape, digital downloads, or those silver spinney things.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

The parlance I'm used to among my audio acquaintances is "hardware vs software." Software is any music media, whether vinyl, tape, digital downloads, or those silver spinney things.

That's out of synch with the rest of the world, of course.

 

[Rushton]

Ah, well. I was never one to toe the line. Anyone reading the articles I write, and able to parse my dense prose, is likely to figure this out on their own.

 

[Audiocrack]

In my view the Soundmirror recording team usually achieves great sonic results, and in particular their cooperation with Manfred Honeck conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra appeals to me. There are many very fine recordings of this orchestra and Honeck but I list a recording of one of my favourite composers - Anton Bruckner’s 7th symphony - I love very much:

Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 & Bates: Resurrexit - NativeDSD Music

Exclusively available at NativeDSD in Stereo and 5 Channel Surround Sound DSD 256, DSD 128 and DXD plus Stereo DSD 512 from the 32 Bit DXD Edit Master Files

www.nativedsd.com

I have this Bruckner recording available in the WAV 352.8kHz / 32 bit format and it sounds really great.

May I ask you, Rushton, whether you prefer the dsd 256 version or the dxd / 32 bit version?

 

[Rushton]

In my view the Soundmirror recording team usually achieves great sonic results, and in particular their cooperation with Manfred Honeck conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra appeals to me. There are many very fine recordings of this orchestra and Honeck but I list a recording of one of my favourite composers - Anton Bruckner’s 7th symphony - I love very much:

https://www.nativedsd.com/product/fr757-bruckner-symphony-no-7-bates-resurrexit/?attribute_pa_channel=2ch-stereo&attribute_pa_quality=flac-192khz
I have this Bruckner recording available in the WAV 352.8kHz / 32 bit format and it sounds really great.

May I ask you, Rushton, whether you prefer the dsd 256 version or the dxd / 32 bit version?

I agree about the great results the Soundmirror team gets with their recordings at Pittsburgh -- they are wizards. The Bruckner No. 7 is a really nice recording, and an excellent performance. And, I think Honeck also does a great job with the Mason Bates Resurrexit -- he is maturing well as a composer, imo.

In our primary system, we prefer the DXD 32-bit iteration. But in her office system with a chip-based DAC, Ann prefers the sound of the DSD256 iteration. Different DACs, different results.

In our primary system, I always end up preferring the DXD 32-bit edit master files over the DSD256 files created from them. The DXD edit master has just a bit cleaner sound quality to my ears than the second generation DSD256 file.

 

[Rushton]

Would you like to compare on your system a DXD edit master file to a Pure DSD256 edit master file mixed from the identical DSD64 tracking channels? I have it available for you to download and compare. Read on...

Tom Peeters is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of his founding of Cobra Records with the release of a Producer's Choice Vol.1 sampler album. Working with Tom Caulfield at NativeDSD, Tom Peeters is going back to the original DSD64 tracking channels stored in his archives, and remastering them in DXD on Pyramix. He is then sending those original DSD64 tracking channels to Tom Caulfield who will remaster them in HQPlayer Pro in Pure DSD256 (with no PCM) using the identical settings used in the Pyramix remastering.

I have permission to share both edit master files with readers of Positive Feedback. Go to this article for a more complete explanation of the process used and then use the link provided in the article to download the comparison sample files:

Cobra Records Mastering Comparison Pure DSD256 and DXD, with Free Sample Download Included

In this article, I will tell you what Ann and I hear. But you should listen for yourself first. Then, please, comment below the article and also come back to this thread and tell us what you hear.

I hope you enjoy the opportunity to hear this. It will be as controlled a comparison as I think your will find between the sound of a first generation edit master created in DXD versus a first generation edit master created in Pure DSD256. I assure you, they do sound different even though the source tracking channels, levels, channel panning, and EQ are identical.

 

[microstrip]

Sorry, I am confused, probably by the semantics. How can a recording carried in DSD64 later be called Pure DSD256?

 

[Rushton]

Sorry, I am confused, probably by the semantics. How can a recording carried in DSD64 later be called Pure DSD256?

Sure, let's see if this helps: The sixteen DSD64 tracking channels have to be mixed to create the final stereo or multi-channel released file. The mixing can be done in PCM (usually DXD) and this is what usually happens, most often using Pyramix. But, the these sixteen DSD64 tracking channels can also be mixed entirely in the DSD domain without the use of PCM. This is done in HQPlayer Pro.

When mixed entirely in the DSD domain, with no PCM, the resulting mix is "Pure DSD."

This Pure DSD file is then modulated from DSD64 (2.8 MHz) to DSD256 (11.2 mHz) entirely in the DSD domain, no PCM involved. The result is thus "Pure DSD256." Modulating a DSD file from one resolution to another is by raising the frequency of the carrier band (from 2.8 MHz to 11.2 MHz in this example). This is where the various Pure DSD resolution releases come from: they are modulations from DSD64 to DSD128 to DSD256 to DSD512. All within the DSD domain.

The final release of the album will include all four of these different Pure DSD modulations, each independently generated from the original DSD64 tracking channels. For this sample comparison file, I asked Tom Caulfield to provide the DSD256 modulation because it would be a resolution most folks might like to hear.

Modulating DSD files is an entirely different kind of process than we are used to from the PCM domain -- it is not a conversion or quantization of the data stream. It is a modulation of the carrier frequency.

And if you feel cross-eyed after all of that, you are not alone. It took me a long time to shed my PCM contextual framework and begin understanding this new paradigm of PDM, a very different technology.

 

[matthias]

This Pure DSD file is then modulated from DSD64 (2.8 MHz) to DSD256 (11.2 mHz) entirely in the DSD domain, no PCM involved. The result is thus "Pure DSD256." Modulating a DSD file from one resolution to another is by raising the frequency of the carrier band (from 2.8 MHz to 11.2 MHz in this example). This is where the various Pure DSD resolution releases come from: they are modulations from DSD64 to DSD128 to DSD256 to DSD512. All within the DSD domain.

So you mean that the quality of a recording in DSD64 modulated to DSD256 is the same as a recording in DSD256?