Sony to release mono Miles Davis set

[.:.impossible]

I actually don't own a copy of Kind Of Blue. I keep giving mine to people.

[Blue Train]

I actually don't own a copy of Kind Of Blue. I keep giving mine to people.

But you keep buying it to give it to them.

[David Ayers]

The current Sony Legacy issues of those albums don't work so well for me, so I don't mind giving them another go in what might - just might - be more audiophile versions. It isn't costly and I'd have got round to reassessing this stuff soon anyway.

[king ubu]

Someone asked above if the metal spine boxes included some of the music in mono, kinda suggesting they did ...

Not having refined ears (or a mono button, neither on my amp nor in my head) and not being willing to rip it all to a computer and check visually ... can anyone expand on that? There are no notes whatsoever in all these Sony reissues, about if the music is mono or stereo (so naively I'd always assume it's the later, if it dates from, say, 1956 or later, als the Miles stuff does).

Not even "Miles Ahead" is in mono - they actually state the box contains the first ever stereo reconstruction faithful to what was used on the original (mono) album, so ...

Anyone knows of detailed information regarding mono or stereo being used on the box sets?

[erwbol]

I think Round About Midnight mono only. Milestones some kind of fake stereo mix on all releases before The Complete Columbia Studio Albums Collection. Plus some of the early metal spine boxes sounded kind of harsh and loud for some of the material compared to the 2009 remasters. For example Nefertiti on the metal spine box, ESP seems closer to the sound of the Complete Columbia Albums Collection. Never liked the sound of the metal spine Milestones.

[king ubu]

Thanks! Guess I'll just let my pre-order go through, it costs me less than 40€ anyway, so ...but I still wondered!

How about the Legacy Edition of "Round About Midnight"? Have that one, too - but again I don't see any info on mono or stereo.

I didn't bother to spend big money for the glued up albums box ... spent HUGE money on those metal spine boxes (they cost around 130-200 $ in Switzerland back then ....) and I'm more than okay with them, so I don't have the Albums Collection to compare.

[Blue Train]

Literally....no actual mono tapes will be involved. Not a single one still exists. It's all mixed down to "mono". Spending whatever to buy a mixed down version of what you already bought x times....priceless?

Really amazing people who keep buying the same thing x times to get that alleged "best sound" don't think it's a fetish.

It honestly is amazing just how many of you don't get how you're what is wrong with what is going on. It's like with Pavlov's dog with reissues.

Edited September 26, 2013 by Blue Train

[erwbol]

Literally....no actual mono tapes will be involved. Not a single one still exists. It's all mixed down to "mono". Spending whatever to buy a mixed down version of what you already bought x times....priceless?

Really amazing people who keep buying the same thing x times to get that alleged "best sound" don't think it's a fetish.

It honestly is amazing just how many of you don't get how you're what is wrong with what is going on. It's like with Pavlov's dog with reissues.

Where are your sources for the alleged non-existence of the mono tapes. Only Kind Of Blue seems certain to be lost I think.

[Blue Train]

I rest my case....but why I am not surprised the bigot posted this?...and yet another person who claimed he was putting me on ignore after I pointed out he was a bigot.

P.S. For the Moderators, or Jim A....I don't want this deleted. I want everyone to see what this member is really like.

Where are your sources for the alleged non-existence of the mono tapes. Only Kind Of Blue seems certain to be lost I think.

Edited September 26, 2013 by Blue Train

[king ubu]

Sheesh, get a rest folks!

And please, where's them sources about *all* mono tapes being lost? The facts, ya know

[erwbol]

I rest my case....but why I am not surprised the bigot posted this?...and yet another person who claimed he was putting me on ignore after I pointed out he was a bigot.

P.S. For the Moderators, or Jim A....I don't want this deleted. I want everyone to see what this member is really like.

Where are your sources for the alleged non-existence of the mono tapes. Only Kind Of Blue seems certain to be lost I think.

I'd rather the zipper stays closed.

[erwbol]

Blue Train, I have you on ignore, but I can still see it if someone quotes you. When you get too excited and climb your high horse frothing at the mouth, it seems like your 'true liberal' identity is a bit of a fetish as well. It is astounding to me that you think it is OK to go around posting KKK imagery accusing people you hardly know of racism, while you can't take a joke ridiculing your own 'true liberal' fetish.

It would have been better for the board if I hadn't posted the reply I did, but what's done is done.

----------

Anyway, I pre-ordered this because I think of these sets Sony has been putting since 2009 the ones that have been remastered again by Mark Wilder and Maria Triana have improved sound and are good value at pre-order prices. I hope they put out a volume 2 that covers the second great quintet.

Edited September 27, 2013 by erwbol

[ArtSalt]

It seems like only yesterday, Sony were telling us that "At last, Miles Ahead released as Miles and Evans intended it to be heard, in stereo on CD for the first time!" and truly "360 degree sound!"

I'm not 100% convinced that I need these CD reeditions in mono.

[erwbol]

link (AnalogPlanet)

A positive review of a recent Kind Of Blue 180g Columbia mono LP (dated 24 September 2013).

Quotes:

"According to Steve Berkowitz, who, with engineer Mark Wilder, has overseen all of the Miles Davis reissues going back many years, both of the original 3-track tapes used in recent years to produce the SACDs as well as 2008's blue 180g vinyl 50th Anniversary Collection box set are now in very poor condition even though they sat untouched in the vault from 1959 until 1992."

"Wildler and Berkowitz recently decided to do another and perhaps final 3-track KOB transfer: to DSD, to 192/24 bit PCM (and probably other resolution digital) and at the same time, a two-channel stereo and a mono mixdown to analog tape. The two channel mix down will most likely be the source of a Mobile Fidelity stereo reissue coming later in the year as part of that label's Miles Davis stereo vinyl reissue project."

"The reissue's mix down from three tracks to one has been so skillfully and carefully done, even veteran mono KOB listeners might have difficulty guessing the source were that the only criterion."

Edited September 28, 2013 by erwbol

[7/4]

Reissues are all about the pouch.

Edited September 28, 2013 by 7/4

[jazzbo]

link (AnalogPlanet)

A positive review of a recent Kind Of Blue 180g Columbia mono LP (dated 24 September 2013).

Quotes:

"According to Steve Berkowitz, who, with engineer Mark Wilder, has overseen all of the Miles Davis reissues going back many years, both of the original 3-track tapes used in recent years to produce the SACDs as well as 2008's blue 180g vinyl 50th Anniversary Collection box set are now in very poor condition even though they sat untouched in the vault from 1959 until 1992."

"Wildler and Berkowitz recently decided to do another and perhaps final 3-track KOB transfer: to DSD, to 192/24 bit PCM (and probably other resolution digital) and at the same time, a two-channel stereo and a mono mixdown to analog tape. The two channel mix down will most likely be the source of a Mobile Fidelity stereo reissue coming later in the year as part of that label's Miles Davis stereo vinyl reissue project."

"The reissue's mix down from three tracks to one has been so skillfully and carefully done, even veteran mono KOB listeners might have difficulty guessing the source were that the only criterion."

Thanks for posting that.

[ArtSalt]

^Indeed, very good and also the inbedded link to Mr Marks piece has sold it all to me.

[shaft]

Yeah strnage to have the stereo arrows on the cover. If used they should IMO be pointing inwards instead of outwards ;-)

[David Ayers]

Yeah strnage to have the stereo arrows on the cover. If used they should IMO be pointing inwards instead of outwards ;-)

This discussion is spoiling my day

[jazzbo]

^Indeed, very good and also the inbedded link to Mr Marks piece has sold it all to me.

Yes, I agree. Here's the link:

http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/206fifth/

[mjzee]

Thanks for posting the link. I have one quibble with the following paragraph:

"It was not until 1992 that Wilder discovered that the prime three-channel deck had been running slightly slowly during the first session, with the result that on the LPs and CDs made from it, the numbers on side A (the first three tracks) played slightly sharp in musical pitch. By the time of the second recording session, seven weeks later, the prime three-track deck had received some maintenance, so the numbers on the LP's side B were recorded at the proper speed. To get the proper pitch without adjusting the playback deck's speed, and knowing that the backup tapes had never been played, Wilder used them for the 1992 Columbia Mastersound SBM Gold CD remastering. Those tapes have been used ever since, including for the SACD releases."

IIRC, this was discovered around 1980. Columbia had a short-lived audiophile LP series which was meant to compete with Japanese imports: pressed on pure vinyl, with a clear heavy-duty plastic bag instead of shrink-wrap, etc. Very expensive, too, with discs around $20. They released KOB with the correct speed as part of this series. Does anyone else remember this?

[jazzbo]

No, I don't remember anything about this, and in 1980 I would have been all over it if possible, I was really discovering earlier Miles with a passion and a record store was all too willing to find any Columbia lp for me. . . .

[mjzee]

Searching the web, I don't see a reference to this, so it could be my faulty memory. The Columbia series involved half-speed masters.

[Blue Train]

Translation:


We have gotten these people to buy this 9,999 times already and it's only been 4-years from the 50th....how can we once again hoodwink them? I have an idea....let's release a mono version. Are you crazy? We don't have any mono tapes! No worries....we can master down the stereo to mono and call it mono. We can do it!!!!! ^10,000. Then, we can do it in SACD, XRCD, SHM....

Still the same music they all heard 10,000 times before, but they will buy it. Come on....us engineers can make people that have no business singing, or recording....like they can....and in tune!


P.S. Just how many years until the next KOB hoodwink occurs, and they can ring the bell again? 60th Anniversary is under 6-years away.

Edited September 30, 2013 by Blue Train

[Blue Train]

Thanks for posting the link. I have one quibble with the following paragraph:

"It was not until 1992 that Wilder discovered that the prime three-channel deck had been running slightly slowly during the first session, with the result that on the LPs and CDs made from it, the numbers on side A (the first three tracks) played slightly sharp in musical pitch. By the time of the second recording session, seven weeks later, the prime three-track deck had received some maintenance, so the numbers on the LP's side B were recorded at the proper speed. To get the proper pitch without adjusting the playback deck's speed, and knowing that the backup tapes had never been played, Wilder used them for the 1992 Columbia Mastersound SBM Gold CD remastering. Those tapes have been used ever since, including for the SACD releases."

IIRC, this was discovered around 1980. Columbia had a short-lived audiophile LP series which was meant to compete with Japanese imports: pressed on pure vinyl, with a clear heavy-duty plastic bag instead of shrink-wrap, etc. Very expensive, too, with discs around $20. They released KOB with the correct speed as part of this series. Does anyone else remember this?

I think you're thinking of the 1990's Mastersound releases.