J.A.W.

I got my set from Amazon Germany and it has a total of 45 tracks, 19 on disc 1, 15 on disc 2 and 11 on disc 3. There are two versions of "It Don't Mean a Thing": track 9 on disc 2 (alternate version) and track 1 on disc 3.

Off-topic: the Swedish spelling of the city's name is Malmö; I guess Malmø is the Danish spelling.

The name's Wenzel.

It's the same with the new set, it's difficult to get the discs out undamaged I put them in slimline jewel cases.

To avoid any confusion - this is after all a Blue Note SACD thread - you're talking about the new Impulse! hybrid SACD, right?

And CDs from countries like China, the Baltic republics (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania), India and Russia are often also suspect.

No personal attacks please. I have removed a few offensive posts.

Are you sure Ron McMaster will do the MJQ set? Seems strange to me, because it's Atlantic material and as an EMI/Blue Note engineer he's usually not mastering non-EMI/Blue Note material. It may seem strange, but it is what it is. I was just trying to provide accurate information that people may want to know. That is all. Michael Cuscuna has confirmed that the MJQ set will indeed be mastered by Ron McMaster.

Are you sure Ron McMaster will do the MJQ set? Seems strange to me, because it's Atlantic material and as an EMI/Blue Note engineer he's usually not mastering non-EMI/Blue Note material.

Hiroshi just told me he was able to contact his family and friends in the disaster area and they seem to be OK. Hiroshi himself lives 1,500 KM (about 935 miles) further south and he's relatively safe at the moment.

All the best, Dave.

This looks like a European public domain series. For those who read French: description I don't think these are legit in the United States. Please do not post links to unauthorized releases.

I was referring to the recordings mentioned in your post, that's why I quoted it, not to comment on what you posted. That's all.

I know you didn't and I didn't say you did It was just an observation on my part.

These are 1960 and 1967 recordings; the latter aren't in the public domain yet in the European Union, so this Groove Hut Records release is not legit. In the United States it's not legit anyway.

A search produced this. Looks like a boot. [edit] The label, Groove Hut Records, is one of those labels from Andorra/Spain.

It may be overstated by some but it's absolutely not bullshit. The problem is not making current CDs louder - it's the senseless reduction of dynamic range in order to achieve this that's the problem. Thanks for explaining it much better than I did.

Terrible news. Glad to see you're OK, Dave and John, and I hope Hiroshi Tanno in Fukuoka City is also doing well.

In his first post Late mentioned the problem he was having with the sound on a few Japanese CD reissues. As I understand it the problem he was talking about is excessive compression and maximized overall volume, not compression as such - which is indeed just a tool, I didn't brand it "bad" or "good". With my comments I tried to explain what I thought Late was hearing. If you can explain it better, be my guest; I'm sure it won't be crap

That makes perfect sense. I wonder, then, why I rush to the volume knob to turn a compressed recording waaay down. Is it only because I'm perceiving a "loud" sound? When I play the Hampton reissue mentioned above, it's almost humorous how low I turn the volume knob. It's approximately at "2" of the 1-10 volume spectrum on my player. You can't undo the effects of compression, what's gone is gone - in this case dynamics, quiet passages aren't really quiet anymore relative to the louder passages; turning the volume down doesn't really help, the "loudness threshold" will still be there. As Jim described compression "sec" makes music seem louder, but, as I said earlier, it's often actually louder because there's not only compression but also an increase of the overall volume: what I would call "modern" masterings are often a combination of excessive compression and a maximum increase of the overall volume.

It makes the quieter passages louder relative to the louder passages, i.e. the dynamic range of the music is reduced. Excessive compression quashes the dynamic range. Exactly - which is why compression doesn't make the music actually "louder". Loudness = volume = decibels. What we're talking about with compression is not increased loudness, but decreased dynamic range, a flattening/condensing of the dynamic range, the relative volume, not the actual volume. It only seems louder because you're raising the floor, not lifting the ceiling. Now, what usually results is a more prolonged/sustained period of higher-than-ordinary lower volumes. But the most loud portions of the sound stay right where they are. You can say that a loudening of softer passages makes the music "louder", and maybe, but unless the peak volumes are bumped higher than they originally were, I think the distinction has to be made between compression and loudness, volume. Otherwise it's like saying that getting fatter makes you taller. What often happens in pop/rock nowadays is that both excessive compression is applied and the overall level is increased, so that not only the dynamic range is reduced or even quashed, but also the overall volume is maximized. Some Japanese and other jazz CD reissues also suffer from this phenomenon. An example is the track "Caravan" on the Lou Donaldson Mosaic (I sold that set years ago because of its sound; the Japanese "Blue Note Works" TOCJ versions of most of the Donaldson albums that were included in the set sound much better to my ears). Other examples are the Japanese Blue Note reissues of the late 1990s/early 2000s in the TOCJ-6xxx series. The ones I had sounded awful to my ears, loud and with hardly any dynamics.

It makes the quieter passages louder relative to the louder passages, i.e. the dynamic range of the music is reduced. Excessive compression quashes the dynamic range.

Excessively reducing (and sometimes virtually getting rid of) the dynamic range of recordings and making them louder, also known as the "loudness wars", seem to be common practice in pop/rock nowadays and it certainly isn't BS. Late is right, some Japanese jazz reissues also suffer from these practices.

I just ordered one via Amazon UK - landed it here in Australia for approx 17 Aussie dollars Amazon UK has an offer on free shipping to Aust/NZ till May if you order £25 or more Also the actual listed price (£12.99) is reduced (by approx 16%) as VAT is removed - I've been buying lots of material this way since this shipping deal was instituted Also a good way to get the Stan Getz quintet box (comes down to £27 with free shipping) - OOS at present though LOL I just received a parcel from Amazon UK (Jef Lee Johnson's "Zimmerman Shadow" + Paul Motian Trio 2000 + 2 Live At The Village Vanguard Vol.3) - never thought to look for Media Dreams. They seem to have Disco 3000 as well (2009) but with a different (white) cover to the 2007 which is red - does anybody know if the 2009 version is identical just repackaged? The 2009 release of Disco 3000 is the single CD version, the one this thread is about and whose cover is posted above is a 2CD-set, as you can see in the thread title.

means that I bought the Mosaic CD box. I did not think that this set was ever offered in heavenly vinyl.Correct? LWayne Wrong. It was also released (in 1998) as a Mosaic 10LP-set; it went OOP a long time ago. Interesting. I recall that being Mosaic's policy, but could not find the Vinyl LP set as "out of print" on their website. However, Mosaic CD set sounds fine to me. I won't compare to TOCJ sound as it is too close to call. The OOP LP-set will appear on Mosaic's OOP list as soon as the CD-set is gone too - but that one seems to live forever...