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Every now and then, something really special comes our way. And today it has. A new release from HDTT of Miles Davis' album, Milestones, in a gorgeous, sonically luscious Pure DSD256 transfer. I hope you will forgive this fresh new article after so many others right in a row. But I wanted you to hear... Read More »

Kapow! Right in the noggin! Wobbling like a UFO saucer in the finest Ray Harryhausen tradition, the record sailed crazily in the air, then jetted straight into the hapless boy's forehead. Score! A direct hit! The lesson here was, while some may argue about a Dynaflex record's sound quality, it's pretty tough to dodge in-flight.... Read More »

Craft Recordings has just released the latest installment in the Original Jazz Classics (OJC) reboot series, featuring four new titles that are scattered across the Prestige and Riverside labels. Including guitarist Kenny Burrell's fourth Prestige LP, 1957's Kenny Burrell; the 1958 Prestige blowing session Wheelin' and Dealin', which features the horns of Frank Wess, John... Read More »

This issue brings discussion of two new releases, and four that are included on my Pure DSD256 from Analog Tape: My Top of the Pile list but not previously reviewed. So, time to tell you more about these. Milhaud, La Création Du Monde, Suite Provençale, Charles Munch, Boston Symphony Orchestra. HDTT 2025 1960-1961 (DSD256, DXD)... Read More »

NativeDSD's catalog continues to expand, with new artists and new labels. As I've written before, I enjoy recommending new albums from NativeDSD because I trust that the sound quality will be very high, regardless of the format or original recording resolution. Too many times I've been disappointed by the sound quality found elsewhere, even from... Read More »

Tom Peeters is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Cobra Records, which he founded in the fall of 2000. As founder, recording engineer, mastering engineer, and producer of nearly 100 exquisite albums released on the Cobra Records label over these years, Tom has many accomplishments for which his work should be celebrated. And he thanked. His... Read More »

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab continues their brilliant restoration of Santana's catalog of albums with a new reissue of the band's 1977's classic, Moonflower. Sprawling across a pair of LPs, Moonflower unconventionally combined new studio tracks with Santana's first official domestic release of any of the band's live recordings. Moonflower provided a thrilling showcase of Santana's... Read More »

Bob Levi, a portrait. (Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) I am delighted to have the first opportunity to experience the perfected Schumann Generator S1 and the Inline Speaker Signature Silver for the first time in America. They are both exquisitely finished products and enhance the listening experience in vastly different ways. From... Read More »

Jewel Faye Smith (1943-2005), who went by the name Sammi Smith, was born in Orange, California. Due to her father's military career, she lived in Arizona, Texas, Colorado, and Oklahoma. In 1967 she was discovered in an Oklahoma City nightclub by Johnny Cash's bassist, Marshall Grant, and subsequently she moved to Nashville. With help from... Read More »

This has been a very interesting if not challenging review, especially when considering the sound quality of this reissue compared to the original pressing and other reissues that have been released over the years. Well established as a true classic, this 1975 self-titled album by Fleetwood Mac was the first with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey... Read More »

When Nelson Wu, CEO of RAY Tubes offered earlier this year to send a full complement of RAY Select and Reserve tubes for evaluation in my PrimaLuna EVO 300 tube integrated amplifier, I jumped at the chance. I've never looked back; RAY Tubes have lifted my analog system performance and musicality to new heights, providing... Read More »

Backdrop loudspeaker drivers image courtesy of ATC Like a surgeon's scalpel, the ATC SCM40A loudspeaker is a serious instrument, deftly cutting through sinew, fat, and bone to the heart of music with surgical precision and clarity. A three-way floor-standing model at just under 40 inches tall, it is unobtrusive and remains at the top of... Read More »

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's ongoing release of Joni Mitchell's most iconic albums continues with her 1976 transitional masterpiece, Hejira, where her embrace of jazz idioms deepened far beyond her initial explorations in both Court and Spark (1974) and The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975). Hejira is very much a road album of sorts, a musical... Read More »

Michael Fremer and Bob Levi CLARICE from Bob Attiyeh and Yarlung Records Extraordinarily well recorded with every tube and analog bell and whistle, this 45 RPM LP of Clarice, pressed in Germany, is another Yarlung Records treat. Bob Attiyeh of Yarlung Records, 2018. A portrait. Considering that the producer, Bob Attiyeh, has taste levels superior... Read More »

I recently had the opportunity to review Joni Mitchell's classic album Court and Spark, which is part of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's ongoing release of six of Joni's most iconic albums. You can read my review of that superb UltraDisc One-Step set HERE. The UltraDisc is MoFi's ne plus ultra analog statement format, and their... Read More »

A colleague once postulated that audio gear invariably sounds like the people who make it. The line of thinking goes that, if the person is big and bold, then their speakers look and sound the part. High-energy, constantly moving personalities turn out cables big on dynamics and tilted up tonal range. Quietly brilliant masterminds bring... Read More »

Rhino Entertainment has just released Jethro Tull's Still Living In The Past, which updates the band's original 1972 album issue in every possible way. Still Living In The Past is being released as a gatefold double LP edition, as well as an expansive 5-CD+Bluray package, all remixed and remastered by Steven Wilson. The 2-LP set... Read More »

Craft Latino celebrates Latin and Salsa music across a host of subgenres, with eight new LP reissues, many of which have been long out of print. Featuring three albums that are continuing the centennial celebration of "The Queen of Salsa," Celia Cruz; percussionist extraordinaire Ray Barretto's 1975 self-titled album; a pair of albums from salsa... Read More »

Rhino Entertainment is celebrating the musical legacy of the B-52's with multi-LP and CD catalog box sets, The B-52's The Warner/Reprise Years, which collects the band's eight albums from the years between 1979 and 1992. Formed in Athens, Georgia in 1977, the B-52's initially rode the crest of the New Wave with a string of... Read More »