Here is an audiophile's dream—an exploration of superb performances remastered in Pure DSD from the original DSD tracking channels. Tom Peeters, founder and recording engineer of Cobra Records has gone into his archives to find his original DSD64 tracking channels from albums released between 2007-2014 and remastered selected tracks in Pure DSD256 for this Producer's Choice 25th Anniversary release. The improvement in transparency is remarkable, evidencing the huge advantage in sonic purity of Pure DSD recording and mastering versus PCM mastering. Further discussion below...
Producer’s Choice, Vol. 1, Cobra Records 25th Anniversary. Cobra Records 2025 (Pure DSD256 mastered from the original DSD64 tracking channels) Edit Master Sourced HERE
This 25th Anniversary Producer's Choice release of sample tracks from earlier albums is a treasure of great music. I rarely write about sampler albums, but this is a very special case and I highly recommend it to you. As purely a standalone album of music to enjoy, it is worth the investment. You should buy it just to enjoy the nearly 1 hour and twenty minutes of great music and performances.
But, for audiophiles seeking the best possible sound quality in their audio systems, this is also a remarkable educational tool.
I wrote about this album a few weeks ago when it was still yet to be released (HERE). In that article I shared a free sample download allowing you to hear for yourself the results of the Pure DSD mastering versus the PCM mastering of the "Allegro Vivace" third movement from Marttinen's Violin Concerto, heard in track 8 in this new Producer's Choice album. I don't plan to repeat all of the information I covered in that article about the mastering process and comparison of the PCM mastering (using the industry standard Pyramix Digital Audio Workstation in DXD) versus the new Pure DSD-Direct Mixed mastering applied in the remastering of the tracks in this Producer's Choice album. Instead, I encourage you to read that earlier article if you've not already done so. And, if you've not downloaded and listened to the sample files, I encourage you to do that also.
Now we have the complete remastered sampler album, and a new avenue of exploration is before us. With this release we have a broad sample of different combinations of acoustic instruments from 17 different albums: from piano/cello duo, to large scale orchestral, to solo piano, to saxophone quartet, to voice, to string quartets, to wind ensemble. It is a terrifically broad array of musical instruments, musical styles to explore. All in outstanding performances. All beautifully recorded with a purity and transparency that is to die for.
I have in my music library the original album releases from which these sampler tracks have been selected. You may have many of them if you are a classical music fan, as I am.
All of the original releases were mastered in DXD. So, now I've been able to compare those original DXD mastered tracks to these new Pure DSD-Direct Mixed mastered tracks. No longer just a one-off sample, but 17 different samples. And in every case, what I hear is what I discussed in my earlier article. The sound of the Pure DSD remastered tracks is stunningly more transparent, pure and clear, with greater dynamics across them all. These are like newly minted recordings.
If you ever doubted the merit of Pure DSD recording and mastering, you should get this album. Listen to it. Compare to any of the original PCM mastered releases. If you are not a believer after doing so, then I strongly question the audio system through which you are listening.
And, if you have assembled an excellent, highly transparent, audio system, get the DSD256 download album to hear just how wonderful your audio system can sound.
Stunningly good. Highly recommended.
Later...
A reader posed a question in the What's Best Forum that merits a follow-up here. He wrote "Hello Rushton, do I understand your review correctly that you actually compared the - original - dsd 64 recording in pure dsd to the dsd 256 version in pure dsd and that you - clearly? - prefer the latter to the former?"
To which I replied:
The original releases were NOT Pure DSD64. They were DSD64 tracks mixed in DXD (PCM) then exported from DXD to DSD64 after mixing. (Bog standard processing in the industry.) The original DSD64 tracks were/are simply microphone tracks, anywhere from 8 to 16 tracks, that have to be mixed* to create the two channel stereo release to which we actually listen.
This new mastering for the Producer's Choice release starts over with those same original DSD64 tracks and mixes them entirely in the DSD domain with no DXD. Don't let the DSD256 confuse the issue. The difference is NO conversion to DXD for mixing. This time we have a true Pure DSD mastering, the DSD tracks remain entirely in the DSD domain throughout the mixing process. And THAT is what makes the reissued tracks so special and sound so good.
Thanks for asking -- it is good to be clear about the two very different processes.
* Mixing includes level balancing, panning, EQ'ing to create the final mix that sounds good to the producer's ears for final release.
