shaft

Tried to get the Maynard set after 10 min - but it was gone instantly after a reply mail from Jazzloft. Good deal! /Shaft

Thanks! The Milt Jackson Olinga was a vry nice CD and exactly as described. /Shaft

PM Sent on "Olinga"! /Shaft

Hi! The Elvin set is long gone I suppose? /Shaft

Hi! Glass masters - this should be sourced magnetic tape only? /Shaft aha you mean the CD glass masters. Did they not produce the whole 5000 copies or so? /Shaft

Anyone? I'm really looking forward to hear that excellent song "Destination Moon" ;-) /Shaft

Hi I'm looking for a Dinah Washington Roulette Mosaic to bring home from my trip to Chicago during Halloween. Can do Paypal. It does not have to be mint but complete. /Shaft

Blue Mitchell Disc 4 EXCELLENT song that "Good Humoured Man" /Shaft

Hi! Made a jump on this one. I'm sure I'll love it /Shaft

I own this CD and recommend it heartily! /Shaft

Hi, would likw to buy: Harry “Sweets” Edison, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis In Copenhagen Shaft

Hi CD Arrived today! Very happy with it /Anders

Hi! I would like to jump at 5. Mr. Music - Al Cohn ( JP mini-lp) $13 /Shaft Send you a PM also.

Grab the box before i goes OOP and will fetch mucho $$$ on eBay overnight. /Shaft

I just listened to the McMaster & (J)RVG versions of 'Totem Pole'....and apart from some subtle differences in the low end (favoring the McMaster) "terrible" is not a word that springs to mind. God awful, maybe.......but not terrible! What I've noticed on some of the RVG remasters are that the placement of the instruments change. In Jackie McLean's Demon Dance, the RVG version has Jackie's sound pushed back, giving an overall muddled sound, where in the McMaster, his sound is easily distinguishable from the others. Hi again! I pulled out the two discs and compared again and sure you are right that the RVG is maybe not terrible per se but the low end is sadly missing. The double bass sounds almost like a cello but the treble was more OK than i remebered. However I do not like the narrower stereo spread that RVG put into some of these discs. /Shaft

Hi again, Got my set from amazon.fr the other day and love and behold it was the MK2 version with top "shoebox" lid that comes off. All the discs are fine after inspection and naturally I'm very happy about it. There were quite a few more things I did not have so for $230 it was a steal for me ;-) /Shaft

Hi! I can mention a few titles I've had the pleasure to compare side to side: 1. Morgan's "Sidewinder" 2. Dexter's "GO" 3. Blakey's "Moanin" They are all terrible in RVG (and I mean terrible!) /Shaft

Hej från en huvudstadsbo till en annan! It seems I had perhaps overstated this issue, but I just learned from the person who did these comparsions that at least two 4xxx titles were identical with the McMasters, Art Blakey's 'Indestructible' and Staley Turrentine's 'Look Out'. As far as I know a bunch of 4xxx titles were tested but far from all, and there isn't (yet) an overview. Hej Igen (Hello again)! Interesting Daniel. I do not have any of those titles in the old TOCJ-edition. "Look Out" I have in a mini-LP JRVG. (That is som good music by Mr T on that recording for sure!). Well it's cool anyway - it would be nice to have a real shootout sometime ;-) That is without chineese firecrackers /Shaft (Anders)

Yeah - I really look forward to this. Like many other people I have big chunks of the music before but when you think of it the DVD+the missing discs for me (like Miles in Berlin+Tokyo) is worth the price of admission Is the booklet OK? /Shaft

Hi Thanks for your answer. This makes me a bit nervous but I'll get back when it comes... /Shaft

Hi all! I ordered this set from third part vendor (new) from amazon.fr. Apparently they ship from UK. It will be interesting to see what set will turn up. Etat : Neuf - Nouveau Vendu par(seller) : reflexgb (profil vendeur) /Shaft PS I did not read this thread before i pushed the order button....I hope the seller will take responsibility if there is anything wrong. Are all the old sets bad? Is there glue on the actual CDs??

Hi! I have the same TOCJ-1616 and cannot find McMasters name on on it on back, booklet or OBI - unless it is written in japanese (my japaneese is a bit rusty ) Maybe it's not the same issue?? Strangely enough the OBI says issued in 98 and the back 96 (or it simple means that the title will expire in 1998?). It seems to have been issued as a KING LP originally. Anyway Minor move surely sound OK to me - particularly Lee Morgans trumpet This is really good music. Sonny Clark is one of my favourites as well! As for rivverat - thanks for answering ;-.) I don't feel that this is a fight in any way. It is very hard to say that this remaster is really better that the other. We all have different preferences and stereo setups. The one you used seemed more than OK I have an Accuphase myself just love it! /Shaft

Hej Daniel Have never heard of that.....I searched the web for some info about that and the only thing that came close is copied below from riverrat at audiokarma.com. Generally I think at least the old TOCJs sound fuller in the bass than McMasters. It would be intersting to hear what titles that were compared;-) /Shaft START The first Japanese Toshiba series (known to many of us BN geeks as "TOCJs") were numbered in 1500, 1600, 4000, 4100, 4200, and 4300 series. The 40XX and 41XX were 16-bit remasters, the 15XX, 16XX, 42XX and 43XX were 20-bit. But they all sound good and are worth picking up any time you see them for a decent price. They are always straight reissues of the original lp configuration, no extra tracks. Early in the 24-bit RVG reissue program, there was a separate RVG reissue program in Japan that came in mini-lp sleeves- we call these "JRVGs" (even though their catalog numbers are TOCJ 9XXX). At first, these were separate remasters from the same titles in the US RVG reissue program. Apparently, it was felt that the Japanese market preferred smoother sounding, more traditional mixes, while more compressed, louder "in your face" mixes were produced for the US market. So Rudy Van Gelder was commissioned to do separate remasters for each market. At some point, the separate reissue program was curtailed, and the same remasters were used in both markets. I have yet to see a list of which titles have separate remasters. A very few Blue Note titles are also available in 24-bit remasters, but not RVGs. I think Ron McMaster did most of these. An example is Art Blakey's Roots and Herbs. These usually do not exhibit the high end emphasis and compressed harshness for which many US RVGs and JRVGs have been criticized. Just to confuse matters even more, there is a more recent Japanese Blue Note remaster program that are not the original 16 and 20-bit TOCJs, but new 24-bit remasters, by somebody else besides Rudy Van Gelder (RVG). These have been termed "TOCJ24s". Catalog numbers on these are usually TOCJ 6XXXX. Why yet another set of Blue Note remasters? Who knows, doesn't seem to make much sense. But the TOCJ24s are often very reasonably priced. I have only one of these- Lee Morgan Vol. 3- and it sounds pretty good. People more familiar, and/or with better ears and audio systems than me say they sound a lot like the US RVGs- compressed, overly loud, not as good as the original 16 and 20-bit TOCJs. Confused yet? At this point, I personally have lost a lot of my interest in pursuing the "best" sounding remasters. It is an endless wild goose chase, and as the news of these latest Steve Hoffman remasters shows, it will probably never end. Having said that, I will probably pick up some of these newest reissues for some of my favorite titles, and continue my opportunistic upgrading when the opportunities present themselves... END

Hi Chewy, I'm not sure how you mean... The dynamics are depending on the recording and mastering. RVG compresses a lot when mastering to make it sound "loud" I guess. When you are doing an LP you have to compress to some extent when you put the music on the laquer. If well done it is not disturbing like the MusicMatters LP. Rudy kind of did his personal version of the masters when he put out the RVG-editions and I guess no one dared to speak up when they heard the result since he is the guru of these recordings being the recording engineer. This is especially true for the early japan RVG editions. The stereo spread is very narrow (almost mono) since he claimed thats how he heard it in his recording studio back in the days. The Blue Notes have never been "audiophile" in the same sense that f.ex. the Contemporary recordings in LA. Rudy created a "sound" which we all have been used to and "love" in an way. What's on the master tapes is often quite bright sounding depending on those german mics. Hoffman wrote somewhere about that ;-) I think what XRCD and MusicMAtters have done is just to transfer the music from the master tapes using the best equipment and just letting the music and dynamics through. If the XRCD is more dynamic than an original LP? Well I don't know but I guess it is not less dynamic. The MM LP is certainly dynamic. /Shaft

Hi all! Been foolowing the discussion and it's very interesting ;-) Soul Station is my favourite Blue Note recording and I've chosen to get several masters of it - both to get the best sound and also compare SQ. I have been a hifi-buff for 30 years so I fin these things interesting. I thought to give some notes on the SQ on the different issues on LP and CD: McMaster: Stereo spread is OK. Sounds rather thin and not much bass. Can't hear any compression. I would say a typical McMaster. RVG: Louder and compressed! A very narrow soundfield. Lots of treble and som bass too. Don't like this one - hurts my ears. This was the first I got and since I liked the music sp much I tracked down the McMaster above which was my preferred for a while. Toshiba BN Works TOCJ-4031 (Issued 1993): This took a long while to track down....Now that's more like it! Typically that warm and neutral early TOCJ-sound. Good spread. Not the last word on resoulution though but it's a very fine CD. I like this one. The New XRCD: This sounds terribly good! Spread i good. Sounds dynamic and transparent. Hanks tone is deep and soft. The bass is there and it is easy to follow Chambers bass lines. Blakeys drums are a bit "frightful" as they should be ;-) This is like the TOCJ only moore of everything! My preferred CD. MusicMatters LP 45RPM is the best out there (believe me). It is like the music grew in size and presentation in lack of better words. The transparency is fabulous etc etc. Get this one if you have a Turntable! Regular Blue Note LP (US) Sounds surprisingly OK but lacks the dynamics and the detail of the MusicMatters edition. Not bad though. Sadly enough I do not have an original Blue Note Deep groove to compare with but I would be very suprised if it would better both the XRCD and MusicMAtters - but as I do not have it (and most likely never will) I really can't say. BTW if anyone does not have Soul Station yet please run and get it - in any edition it's a masterpiece!! /Shaft