Miles Davis Kind of Blue - your opinions on the better recordings.

I have an older "Hifi News" half-speed remastered LP from the UK of KOB, which sounds very smooth, but hiss is still these. Bear in mind that many issues prior to the gold MasterSound edition of mid-90s had the speed problem because the original tape ran too slow. I think all issues since have been based on the "safety tapes" - please correct me if I'm wrong.

The SACD sounds mighty fine to me, even with hiss. The current CD is great too. It might be worth tracking down the Japanese MasterSOund CD - while I think they mostly used 20-bit SBM remastering, they often differed from US counterparts, sounding a bit mellower.

As for KoB being over-rated.... no, I don't think so. Over-played in coffeeshops, bookstores, etc.... for sure. Sure, it's one out of many great jazz albums of its time, but it is beautiful and timeless.

 

No one seems to agree, but I love the sound of the Gold Mastersound version. The SACD is lacking low-end.

 

I have a mono, and I really like it...the balance is better on the instruments, such as (I think...I haven't listened in a while) the piano seems "closer". But I don't have the stereo on anything but a cassette, so I'm not comparing apples to apples.

 

haha i was totally going to post a similar comment like that yesterday, but changed my mind.

 

I actually heard the original two-track master tape played at Sony's New York studios in 1992 as the gold disc was being prepared for production. I vividly recall four tape boxes on the console -- two for Kind of Blue and two for Blonde on Blonde! (Didn't get to hear the Dylan, though.) Talk about hissy! You'd think the session was cut at 3 3/4 ips!

Anyway, Columbia New York's early two-track stereo mixes from three-track masters were all extremely hissy, and Kind of Blue is no exception. The first Lambert, Hendricks and Ross Columbia LP had the same characteristics. You can notch out some of that hiss but you'd kill something in the process.

I like the multi-channel SACD to a point, but Miles is on the center speaker. My center speaker simply isn't great for music -- and I don't know of any center speakers that are.

Does anyone out there champion the mono pressing of this album? Is it worth seeking out?

 

Wow great post, wish I was there! Your post makes me wonder if the hiss is an equipment issue (mixing console, tape machine etc). Also, I seem to recall that the engineer for one of these famous tapes (I think it was KOB) using his own primative form of dolby, boosting 10K up 6db during recording and pulling it back down the same amount during mixing. Maybe this wasnt corrected? Does anyone else recall this story?

Perhaps Steve can chime in here and give us all a history lesson...

 

Although I find the Stereo SACD to be excellent, I give the nod to Classic's 45rpm 4 disk set. I had a chance to hear the half track commerical Reel to Reel several months back and it was awesome.

 

What about it were you disappointed with and what version(s) do you like better?

 

It has more to do with quality control than any aspect of its sound quality. My copy had scratching noises in a couple of places. Not enough to warrant a return, but annoying nonetheless.

 

I just paid a fortune for the 45 RPM version of this record. It is on the way to me. I'd like to recover some $$$. I currently own the recent Columbia (all red label) pressing of this LP. Any reason not to sell this now that the Classic 45 RPM is on the way?

 

No. I have the box set, the SACD, and the Legacy remastering (same as the box set), and usually I play the SACD, just because I bought it, but I find the box set sonics just fine.

 

I had the Classic LP that was available in the late 90s. It had QC problems, too, like so many of these gourmet records.

 

Steve, is that the stereo-only SACD or the stereo sector of the mulit-channel SACD? I'd be curious if you compared the two. I had the stereo-only disc. I read that they re-did the stereo mix on the multi-channel disc and supposedly got a better sound so I went out and got it. I guess I hear a slight difference. I wound up keeping the multi-channel version and since converting to a multi-channel set-up, I'm even happier with this decision.

 

Just being curious, Steve, but which other versions of KIND OF BLUE (digital or vinyl) have you listened to in the past?

And I assume that you've listened to the stereo-only SACD when you mentioned SACD. More recently, it's available in the stereo/multichannel SACD format. (The latter is the version that I have.)

For what it's worth, the stereo layer of my particular stereo/multichannel copy of the KOB single-layer SACD has been mastered at a lower volume level than is typical for Sony's recent digital jazz remasters.

 

I am starting another thread titled "is SACD a rip-off, further thoughts on Kind of Blue" based on further observations since I posted this thread. Please check it out.

 

Any opinions???

 

The stereo-only SACD sounds the same to me as the multichannel/stereo SACD. I believe that both stereo layers are the same.

 

I have the 45rpm classic version on 4 lp's I only played it once and it sounded fine. I sold my Columbia lp after comparing it. I can't check what it sounds like against the other formats at the moment as I am without a stylus at the moment.

 

I haven't heard that particular pressing, but haven't heard very good things about it. I do have another all red label Dylan pressing and let's just say, I'll never buy another all red label Columbia record. The reason not to sell that copy is if it sounds lousy, you won't want to pass it on to anyone here-- and a used record store might give you $2 for it--it's a $10 record right? Why bother? Keep it and when the 45 RPM arrives you can do a comparison and be able to justify the big bucks you just spent! Hope you enjoy the new record!

 

I agree with you about the SACD.

 

The hiss was just background noise in the studio. Bad radiator I heard.

(tongue firmly in cheek)

 

I have the Record Day Mono and the Kevin Gray stereo. I'm happy with both but usually reach for the stereo.