If anyone cares, "Blue Train" new Blue Note reissue vs. French DMM.

Posted by olddude55 on April 16, 2014 at 10:33:23

I had a chance to listen to both last night. I'm real familiar with the DMM copy, had it for about 12 years. It was the first Blue Note title I bought.
I think the DMM and the BN 75th Anniversary reissue are about even. They don't sound the same, far from it, but the DMM is better in some ways and vice versa.
The DMM pressing is perfect--ruler flat and dead silent. The new reissue has a slight (inaudible) warp and is a bit noisy. I'm going to clean it, see if that improves things.
The new copy of Blue Train is very dynamic and punchy. There's a lot of bass energy and it's probably truer to the vintage Rudy Van Gelder sound than the DMM. Horns, especially Lee Morgan's trumpet, are more up in your face.
The DMM is a bit too polite, but has better detail in the upper mid-range than the reissue. Bass is also detailed but nowhere near as much grunt as the newer record. You hear it more than feel it.
Some other reviewers say the high end of the 75th Anniversary edition is rolled-off but I don't think that's the case. Seems to me the EQ boosts the bass and the result is a bit less edge on the highs. Might be a difference without a distinction.
At any rate, the 75th Anniverary reissues are pretty good for the money, far superior to the Scorpios and better than the LP+CD series (which were mastered by Capitol but also pressed by Scorpio if I read the matrix number correctly). I also got Larry Young's Unity which to my ears is very good. The vinyl is quieter than Blue Train for one thing. And like Mike Fremer said, compared to mp3 these records are HDTV.
I'm looking forward to getting more of the 75th Anniversary series. They aren't as good as the 45RPM Music Matters and Analogue Productions versions but they're more than half as good at less than half the price.

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Topic - If anyone cares, "Blue Train" new Blue Note reissue vs. French DMM. - olddude55 10:33:23 04/16/14 (2)

RE: If anyone cares, "Blue Train" new Blue Note reissue vs. French DMM. - gkargreen 16:30:07 04/16/14 (1)

They're far superior to the Scorpios. - olddude55 16:37:05 04/16/14 (0)

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