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In Reply to: RE: New DAC and CD Player search posted by airheadair on June 17, 2016 at 23:38:28
Which version of the KOB CD do you have? You must avoid the Gold US from 92-93, also the one from 1997 is a crap. Anything from Europe is crap as well. Never buy the FIM version. The best I have is the Japanese DSD version from 2000 (SRCS 9701) and K2 HD+CD version from 2011. For SACD the MoFi is unbeatable.
Follow Ups:
All KOB versions must sound similar, at least in some ways. So then, what makes one version sound like "crap" and another version sound "unbeatable"?
All of the issues of KOB (including the original LP) prior to 1992 were mastered at the wrong pitch. Also, some of CDs have an alternate take of Flamenco Sketches (which is also absent from the original LP).
.., the one that erik (below) says is "dry and thin" sounding. However, the liner notes say that it was remixed on a tube three track Presto machine and that it has a "rich and full sound", at least compared to all previous releases of KOB, including those on LP.It sounds OK to my ears. I'm really not sure how much richer and fuller it can get than this but what do I know?
Edits: 07/01/16
All KOB versions sound similar in one way - they reproduce the same music. Different masterings sound different. Sonically.
If you want to determine which version is better, first, you have to love the album. I mean that. Not because it's famous, but because it's a masterpiece, and also always remember that it's not an audiophile recording. Then you need to buy three CD versions - 1997 Legacy (dry and thin) very cheap, FIM version (dull, muddy, no air around instruments, shame on Winston Ma) expensive, and Sony K2HD version (very good), again expensive.
If you're lucky enough to have the original vinyl, then it will be easier to compare, because it's a reference point, if not, just play the first three minutes from each CD and see which one you like. I mentioned those three versions, because they're available. If you don't hear any differences between them, then you are a lucky guy, really.
Same comparison is valid for the SACD versions. The latest version is from MoFi, and it's the best - to my ears, and my understanding of music reproduction.
erik-
for CD- I enjoy the 1986 Black Triangle disc from Japan.
I agree that the new MoFi SACD is better than previously released.
My best sounding digital version may be the first one they did (CK 40579, prodiced by Teo Macero who also served as Digital Remax Producer). It has a different Miles photo on the cover than all the others. I was introduced to this one when Pierre Sprey (Mapleshde) and Ron Baumann (inSound) brought it one evening to share with me.
My first thought on seeing it was that it HAD to be awful, given how early it was produced. And of course it was made before they discovered that the original LP side one was recorded at the wrong speed.
Regardless, it's pretty great and only my open reel version (4-track) really beats it, as it beats the first Columbia SACD. I've done 3-day comparisons -- tape, vinyl, SACD -- and the tape always wins. My best sounding LP is the 2-disc "Classic" reissue, the one with a Flamenco Sketches alternatei version at 45 rpm.
It's not so clear to me which CD I have. It says in small print on the back at the bottom:
1997 Sony Music Entertainment.
It also says "Columbia L (legacy) SBM (super bit mapping).
Is this the 1997 one you referred to as "a crap"?
All the vinyl copies I have sound better.
...absolute and complete garbage, at least to my ears.
Let me thank everyone for their input. The MOFI SACD of Kind of Blue arrived, and I have listened to it. It is much better than the CD I had, and perhaps comparable to the vinyl releases that so enthrall me. I don't know if a fancier SACD player and/or DAC would have made the SACD clearly better that the vinyl or not. But at this point I am satisfied enough to keep the the Marantz (SA14S1). It is in general substantially better at playing CD's than my Onkyo, I don't think CD's sound as good (in general) as vinyl on my system, but the SACD's are damn close, and maybe better in some respects.
This Marantz isn't exactly cheap, but neither is it outrageous, and in fact is still only about half the cost of my vinyl rig. Not so expensive that I couldn't consider a separate DAC in the future.
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