Kevin Bresnahan

There have also been studies done that show the opposite. The German magazine Stereo has just published an article to that effect in its 12/2008 issue. This is a moot point. Is this the German magazine that has always proclaimed CDs to be inferior to their LP counterpart. Bias in journalism? Nah, can't happen.

Post a picture of a CD-R where the reflective layer disintegrated. I've never heard of this happening nor seen one. If you have seen this, please take a picture and post it for us. If you read my original statement, I never said that CD-Rs cannot fail. I stated a fact that I have never had an audio CD-R fail. Ricoh and Sony blanks were probably both manufactured at the same Taiwanese factory and are probably of poor quality. Don't let the name on the CD-R fool you. There are only about 5 plants making them. I would never buy CD-Rs from a company named "Platinum". Sounds like one of those cheapies they used to sell at CompUSA. I still say that if you use well-made blanks, they are not likely to fail. Ever. Ah, that German study again. I read that study myself. Note well, that it first appeared on a pro-vinyl website. Also note that it didn't have any "before" pictures, just "after" pictures. As I said above, I have never seen pin holes develop in any pressed CD. Yes, I have many CDs, particularly from the mid-80s, that have a lot of pin holes. They were there when I bought them. As for the Austrian phonographic library's problems, send me a link. I'd like to read up on it. There have been a couple of instances where CD manufacturers in the early days used materials that deteriorated. It was mainly a few classical labels and the problems were well documented and mainly caused bronzing. If there is another problem out there, I'd like to read up on it. Kevin

Dan, immediately download this free software: http://www.foobar2000.org/ Best audio player I have ever used! I prefer VU Player. The conversion tool is nice to have too. Kevin

VBR is not generally assigned a bit rate but rather a "Quality rating". Sure, if you rip at VBR Q3, the average bit rate might be around 256 kBps (depending on the type of music), but the actual bit rate varies from 1 to >320 depending on the amount of sonic content in each second. If I look in the directory of a music disc that I ripped to mp3 using VBR Q2, each song's average rate goes from 192 to 320. People should not be afraid of downloading mp3s ripped using VBR at Q3, Q2 or Q1 quality levels. They'll sound just like the CD used to create them. There have been a bunch of studies that show that normal humans cannot differentiate between the original CD and the rip as long as you rip above Q3. I never understood why anyone would ever rip using mp3 at a fixed 320 kBps. The resulting file size is so close to FLAC, it makes no sense.

Damn, I jumped the gun. I was told that Blue Note was selling mp3s on their website but in looking there now, I don't see any. Maybe iTunes?

Well, Blue Note went "2009" on their own website. You can buy mp3 downloads from them now. I was told when this started that the mp3 portfolio was supposed to expand to include oop titles. I wonder if this Amazon deal will stall that?

Yeah, but those are in print titles. I've told a story before about how crazy Blue Note is about limiting stock. Many years ago, they deleted Ken McIntyre's "The Complete United Artists Sessions". McIntyre wanted to be able to sell them at his shows so he called up Blue Note to see how many copies he could get, figuring he could get some of the returns. He was told that they had already destroyed all of them. The guy who told me the story said that they have to be destroyed for legal reasons. If they give to anyone, including the artist himself, the books have to account for them. If they're destroyed, they're written off as a loss. If Blue Note wanted to reissue "Romance and Revolution", they'd have two options. One option would be to put in a call to the pressing plant and see if they have the old CD master stamper. If they do, have them run off a few thousand copies. Then the pressing plant would pull up the old artwork and print up a batch. A few weeks later, "Romance and Revolution" is back on the shelves. Blue Note did this very thing about 15 years ago - they called it the Collector's Choice series. I am pretty sure that this is only cost effective for Blue Note in higher quantities. The second option is to call Ron McMaster and tell him to pull the masters and get a digital tape ready for CD mastering. There are a whole lot more added costs to this option, not the least of which is Ron's time. New mastering means new artwork. New CD label. Blue Note is definitely getting licensing fees from these CD-R reissues. I suppose if Amazon was smart, they could have tried to get file copies of the artwork as part of the licensing, but Blue Note probably would have wanted more money for that so they figured a scan would do. Kevin

I asked Michael Cuscuna a few weeks ago if Blue Note had a library of all the CDs they ever made and he said no. I have to think that if anyone knows it would be Michael. He said this company Amazon is using had to acquire original CDs and that he wasn't giving his personal copies to them. I don't blame him. I wouldn't either. Many years ago, I visited Blue Note's New York office and got a mini tour. I saw lots of CDs strewn over a lot of the desks, but nowhere did I see any library. Mostly just cubicles with people working like busy bees. I did see a large cabinet filled with promos, but the titles were just the latest ones they were putting out. There wasn't a warehouse there, just office space. Blue Note is part of EMI and they act like a huge conglomerate, not a small indie label. I doubt they would give Blue Note a budget to store a copy of each released CD. Besides, a few months back, Blue Note cleaned house and laid off most of their staff. I can't imagine there are too many people left there who would care about a CD collection. They probably threw a bunch of CDs in the trash. Kevin

They don't have any archive that I'm aware of other than the analog masters. They probably still have the CD mother stamper somewhere in the pressing plant, but they don't have any kind of library of all the CDs they've ever made. Cuscuna used to keep a copy of each that he produced, but I think even he gave up and downsized. Besides, these CD-R issues aren't "Blue Note". They're licensed for sale by Amazon. This is how Amazon has chosen to do it.

Cuscuna told me the company was having trouble acquiring some of the rarest titles and if you've ever tried to find a copy of "Romance And Revolution", you'd know how rare that CD is!

I was told that these are bit-for-bit copies of the original CD. From what I was told, the company doing it is going to continue to add titles as they acquire hard-to-find original CDs. These are not created from mp3s.

Sorry to pick on you so much, but I can't help it. There have been studies done that show that CD-Rs are not any more prone to read errors than regular pressed CDs. In fact, in one study I read, the CD-R had less read errors than the factory pressed CD that it was made from. If you have stuck a few CDs into high speed drives (like in your PC), you probably hear different sounds. Some older, heavier CDs sound like a helicopter is landing in the room. The ability of the CD player to spin the disc up without wobble is one of the most important aspects of good digital playback. As for bad 1's and 0's resulting in "overall poorer sound", that just can't happen. If a bunch of 1's and 0's were read incorrectly, the resulting music would not have reduced bass or rolled off highs. Enough bad data and you get clicks and drop outs. The flipping of a few 1's or 0's cannot alter the frequency nor the amplitude. That isn't how the audio D/A conversion process works.

What is a "damaged part" of a CD?? A little CD101 is in order here. The 1's and 0's on a CD are NOT a linear representation of the analog signal. After the analog signal is digitized, those 1's and 0's are mixed up in a special way and moved all over the CD to prevent a small scratch from obliterating the complete string of data. When a few 1's and 0's are "scratched out", the error correction uses the 1's and 0's from other parts of the CD to fill those "blanks" back in. What that means is that every "sample" does not have to extracted with 100% accuracy. It's better if it is, but it doesn't have to be. The only other thing I can add is to never use iTunes if you want the best possible copy. Always use Exact Audio Copy. It reads and re-reads individual bits off of the CD to make sure every bit is read accurately. As for CD-Rs going bad... if this is happening to you, I'd suggest: 1) Keep your CD-Rs away from high heat and bright light. Never leave a CD-R laying on your car dashboard. 2) Buy better blanks. I only buy Taiyo Yuden or Mitsui blanks. Yeah, I pay a bit more, but I worry a lot less about the longevity.

I don't see one valid point in this sentence. 5 talking points in one sentence, all with no validity in my real-world experience. 1) If a system is "extremely good", it would have no problems extracting the 1's and 0's from CD-R media. Therefore this "extremely good stereo" would be less able to discern a CD-R. 2) What is the definition of an "extremely good stereo"? An expensive one? Who defines "extremely good"? What piece of the playback chain makes it "extremely good"? 3) CD-Rs don't "disintegrate". There is a slight chance that if one was subjected to high heat and bright light, the dye layer could fade, but the CD will never disintegrate. 4) I have several music and data CD-Rs that are over 13 years old. Not one has failed. I have never had a CD-R fail. 5) Pressed CDs will last much, much longer than 20 years. Where on earth did you come up that number? I have hundreds of CDs that are already well over 20 years old.

Does anyone know where I can find out how and/or where I'll be able to get this in the Boston area?

Where are you buying these? I'm buying them at a local store called Bull Moose Music for $18.88 each. They are listed all over the web at the usual places for around $20-22. Your local shop should carry them. Kevin There is no local shop anymore. Acoustic Sounds has them for $22. New Blue Note LPs or Dusty Groove has them for $18.99.

Where are you buying these? I'm buying them at a local store called Bull Moose Music for $18.88 each. They are listed all over the web at the usual places for around $20-22. Your local shop should carry them. Kevin

Just finished: McCoy Tyner - The Real McCoy (Blue Note) Now up: Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil (Blue Note) These new LPs are a steal at under $20. It includes an RVG CD that you can give away to someone to try and gain a new fan.

Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder (Blue Note) I got a copy of the newest reissue cut from the analog master by Ron McMaster. Sounds awesome and a hell of a lot cheaper than the $50 45 rpm version out there. Best part - not having to get up every 10 minutes.

The Classic DAD of "Lou Takes Off" is one of the few Classics DAD discs that I liked more than the TOCJ CD. BTW, these DAD discs will play in any modern DVD player. The only DVD players that balk at it are first-generation players without 24 bit/96 kHz DACs.

Just finished: Tommy Flanagan - Nights At The Vanguard (Uptown). Boy, I wish that there was a "Complete Nights At The Vanguard". Two nights of recording should have resulted in some more great stuff. Now spinning: Mulgrew Miller - The Countdown (Landmark). Looks like a promo that someone got, opened and never played. Joe Henderson, Miller, Ron Carter and Tony Williams - what more needs to be said about this one?

Wait a minute. There are only about 150 titles on the first two lists combined. Are you saying there will be another 150 or so in early 2009? I don't know what time frame the 300 titles came from, it's just a number that Michael Cuscuna told me yesterday. It may include stuff that has already been deleted. I'm sure that if more titles get deleted, True Blue will let us know. Kevin

The other side of the deletion binge is the one we all want to avoid - what about future reissues? My guess is we may soon see the end of the CD reissue program. I wonder if these deletions are why Blue Note suddenly decided to license a whole bunch of classic titles to Analogue Productions for release on hybrid SACD?

In case anyone's interested in how these titles were chosen, I was told that some outside accounting firm was called in to choose the titles for deletion. The Jazz people were not consulted which is why some of the cuts seem so odd. I imagine the reason the latest RVG releases are meeting an early death is because they were released during the CD sales decline and at a time when the EU releases had copy control, making a lot of buyers opt out. With no sales history going back to the "good ol' days", they must look like anemic sellers. All told it look like they're dropping almost 300 titles, but there will still be almost 700 titles in print. On the bright side , at least Jazz isn't suffering as much as Classical. The cuts there are in the thousands. Kevin

I knew this was coming but it's still a shock to see it. All those Lee Morgan titles? Ouch. When all this is done, what *is* in print will likely be a very small list. I wonder if Amazon's "on demand" program is about to expand? Kevin