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Bob Witrak has been busy these past months with additions to the HDTT catalog. The biggest news is that the International Phonograph Jazz recordings are back! See my earlier note about this great news, HERE. Below are some of the new reissues (not IPI) that have caught my ear in recent weeks. Witches Brew, Alexander... Read More »

Let there be rejoicing among fans of Pure DSD recordings—transfers from the IPI analog master tapes to Pure DSD256 are back at HDTT! They disappeared for a while when IPI owner and recording engineer Jonathan Horwich decided to retire and withdrew them. But now the International Phonograph, Inc., catalog is returned to HDTT. These albums... Read More »

I unabashedly love listening to early music, from medieval to renaissance. And much of this music is for voices. Not all, by a long shot, but there is a lot that is a cappella. Early music will be the theme of today's Recent Finds because this is what has consumed much of my recent listening.... Read More »

Whenever cellist and vocalist Maya Fridman releases a new album, I celebrate. Or perhaps it's a happy dance. Either way, I head off to download the album and spend some time listening. And I'm never disappointed. Maya's musicianship is superb, both as a cellist and as a vocalist. But it is probably her sensibilities about... Read More »

I don't always manage to include all recent HDTT releases that I've liked in any given article. Sometimes a little catch up is required. Thus the belated reviews of two releases missing from my last discussion, Overtures by Offenbach and Auber and Louis Armstrong meets Oscar Peterson. And a Pure DSD256 Miles Davis reissue plus... Read More »

Those who have travelled with me through my notes on recent finds know that I have eclectic taste in music. I enjoy almost anything acoustic that is well performed and well recorded. Unfortunately, this also means that you have to scan through the album covers to see if there may be anything that aligns with... Read More »

Mozart Piano Sonatas, Josep Colom. Eudora Records 2024 (Pure DSD256) HERE "There are good pianists, and then there is Josep Colom." * A living legend. A creative genius. A brilliantly and entrancingly insightful artist. Spanish pianist Josep Colom is all of that and more. And if you've not listened to his recordings, you have been... Read More »

Watch out. This is going to be a bit of a rant. I begin to cringe every time I read/hear from audiophiles: Was it made from the master tape? Or..., It can't possibly sound very good—it wasn't from the master tape. Yes, I'm talking about reissues. And, yes, I'm talking about audiophiles being brain-washed into... Read More »

Since downsizing 5 years ago and leaving behind my LPs and vinyl playback equipment, I have gradually built a new digital music library. At Dr. David's request, I shared this traumatic journey in several articles titled Yes, There Really is Music After Vinyl, the first of which you can find HERE. Today, most new additions... Read More »

High Definition Tape Transfers continues to make available excellent new releases of classic albums. Here are a few recent arrivals that have been brightening my days. Frank Sinatra, Only the Lonely. HDTT 1958 2025 (DXD, DSD256) HERE Only the Lonely is one of Frank Sinatra's most iconic albums, released in 1958 by Capitol Records. Known... Read More »

I was fascinated recently by Sound Liaison's 2024 remastering of their excellent 2012 album Thousand Shades of Blue by Carmen Gomes Inc. In this new release, Thousand Shades of Blue Revisited, recording engineer Frans de Rond and producer Peter Bjornild went back to the original 96kHz 24-bit recorded tracks and applied everything they'd learned the... Read More »

I'm catching up... honestly I am. There are many wonderful albums to talk about, more than I can cover in one article. But, I'll make a start and then add more in a later article. Today, I want to visit several terrific Pure DSD256 recordings from Eudora, Hunnia, and Yarlung. Plus some outstanding high resolution... Read More »

Mahler Symphony No. 9 in D major, Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra. HDTT 1961 2024 (DSD256, DXD) HERE Some performances are so culturally significant that they require special notice when a superb new release becomes available. Such is the case with this 2024 reissue from HDTT of the classic account of Mahler's Ninth Symphony recorded... Read More »

I've been on a bit of an audio hiatus these past few months, but that hasn't meant I wasn't paying attention to the many excellent albums Bob Witrak has been releasing over that time. Those of you who have read some of my other writing know with what great respect I hold Bob's work at... Read More »

Recording engineer Bert van der Wolf's releases are eagerly awaited in our household. The reason is a combination of three factors: (1) the audio quality he achieves is easily in the top ranks of what is possible today, and he's constantly pushing the envelope to achieve even better sound; (2) I like his choice of... Read More »

When I hear that Gonzalo Noqué is releasing a new Pure DSD256 recording on his Eudora Records label, my ears prick up. When I find that he is recording the excellent pianist Susana Gomez Vazquez, I'm doubly on alert. Her playing is just scintillating and her choice of programming is always intriguing. And so, when... Read More »

The labels represented in NativeDSD's catalog continue to deliver outstanding performances in great sounding recordings. NativeDSD is just a stunning resource for those who love immaculate high resolution recordings made by some of the best recording engineers working today (Jared Sacks of Channel Classics, Brendon Heinst of TRPTK, Gonzalo Noqué of Eudora, Jake Purches of... Read More »

Anna Fedorova performing selections from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, from YouTube video linked below. Anna Fedorova is among the greatest pianists performing and recording today. Sure, my opinion. But well judged. Anna plays organically, self-effacingly. She consistently lets the music flow forth for its own sake, never as a way of saying "look at... Read More »

If you listen to digital, love classic jazz and the golden age of stereo classical recordings, then surely you have been listening to the outstanding releases from Bob Witrak's High Definition Tape Transfers. Bob's transfers to high resolution digital (DSD256 and DXD) very typically sound better than the releases from the labels themselves. You know—the... Read More »