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 about this new release as soon as possible. Read on...
Milestones, Miles Davis Sextet. HDTT 1958 2025 (Pure DSD256, Mono) HERE
Milestones is more than the title of this album. It marks the beginning a major shift in jazz that will make Kind of Blue possible just a year later. This album marks the shift from bebop and hard bop to the modal explorations that will define jazz for years to come.
By 1958, Miles Davis was already a giant of modern jazz. And Milestones captures a band on the brink of greatness. Miles Davis leading on trumpet is joined by John Coltrane on tenor sax, Cannonball Adderley on alto sax, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. It is one of the greatest jazz sextets ever assembled. And they play like masters of their instruments, like giants.
This album is well known. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. You probably have this in your music library—at least one copy if not three or four. I sure do.
But what is special here is that this release has the best sound quality for a digital release that I've heard. I have several other digital reissues in my library, but this new Pure DSD256 transfer from a 15ips 2-track tape simply walks away from them all. With silent background, clean, open, and dynamic sonics, extended frequency range, and natural timbre to the instruments, listening to this reissue is a pure joy, and an absorbing pleasure.
I've said this many times, but it is worth repeating... A DSD256 transfer from a 15ips 2-track tape sounds so much like the source tape that I cannot hear the difference. In back to back comparisons they sound identical. So, what we get with this release, for $28 as of this writing, is that 15ips 2-track tape playing in our own listening rooms.
In a lifetime of listening to high end audio, it just doesn't get any better than this.
So, why do the tape transfers from Bob Witrak and HDTT sound so good?
First, Bob pays attention to the details and uses the best equipment he can find. His tape setup is fanatical, he's just obsessive about tape heads, alignment, tension, and tracking. And the audio tape head preamps he uses are as good as he can obtain. They are all external preamps (he doesn't default to the internal electronics that came in the tape decks) and the sound they deliver is of the highest possible quality as judged by his own listening assessments. In this transfer he's using the new Merrill Audio Master MX Tape Head Preamp, a solid-state unit that is utterly transparent, and very fast. For other tape transfers he may use a vacuum tube head preamp designed by Victor Khomenko (founder and designer of Balance Audio Technology equipment), which sounds absolutely brilliant. Which he chooses to use depends on his assessment of what will best honor the recording to create the best transfer possible.
Next, his transfer and mastering setup is what fanatical audiophiles do with the playback equipment in their own listening rooms. That is, it is far better than most commercial studios. And he combines this with careful cable selection, grounding, and power management.
And finally, as John Haley (Harmony Restorations, LLC) has commented to me on more than one occasion, Bob is simply a wizard at getting the best signal possible off of analog tape—his skills in this regard are like a special sixth sense.
In this transfer, the components used to create the release included:
- Analog: Transport - Modified Otari 5050 with Flux Heads
- Preamp - Merrill Audio Master MX Tape Head Preamp
- Digital: Merging Hapi Analog to Digital Converter clocked by an Antelope Audio 10MX Atomic Clock
- Software: Merging Pyramix v15
- Power Conditioning: Shunyata Research Everest 8000 for all components
- All components are grounded to Shunyata ALTAIRA Hubs
The result of Bob's care is a transcendent release of one of the great albums in jazz.
No matter how many other digital reissues of this album you may have in your music library, you need to get this release. It's great. You'll love it. Just get it.
