Classic Blue Notes on SHM-CD

[etherbored]

hear, hear! they're off to a nice start, aren't they?

[CJ Shearn]

Received my order today, "Empyrean Isles" and "Speak No Evil" sound excellent! Haven't gotten to "Out to Lunch" yet

[erwbol]

I was just listening again to Empyrean Isles. What an impressive album and stellar sound.

Hopefully, the following titles will be delivered within the next week:

John Coltrane - Blue Train (TYCJ-81001)

Sonny Rollins - A Night At The Village Vanguard (TYCJ-81007)

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - A Night In Tunisia (TYCJ-81010)

Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil (TYCJ-81019)

Sonny Rollins - Newk's Time (TYCJ-81021)

Wayne Shorter - JuJu (TYCJ-81040)

Horace Silver - Song For My Father (TYCJ-81044)

McCoy Tyner - The Real McCoy (TYCJ-81046)

Thelonious Monk - Genius Of Modern Music, Vol.2 (TYCJ-81047)

Joe Henderson - In 'N Out (TYCJ-81050)

[J.A.W.]

I was just listening again to Empyrean Isles. What an impressive album and stellar sound.

Hopefully, the following titles will be delivered within the next week:

John Coltrane - Blue Train (TYCJ-81001)

Sonny Rollins - A Night At The Village Vanguard (TYCJ-81007)

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - A Night In Tunisia (TYCJ-81010)

Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil (TYCJ-81019)

Sonny Rollins - Newk's Time (TYCJ-81021)

Wayne Shorter - JuJu (TYCJ-81040)

Horace Silver - Song For My Father (TYCJ-81044)

McCoy Tyner - The Real McCoy (TYCJ-81046)

Thelonious Monk - Genius Of Modern Music, Vol.2 (TYCJ-81047)

Joe Henderson - In 'N Out (TYCJ-81050)

Unless Customs get involved, they usually take their time...

[erwbol]

I was just listening again to Empyrean Isles. What an impressive album and stellar sound.

Hopefully, the following titles will be delivered within the next week:

John Coltrane - Blue Train (TYCJ-81001)

Sonny Rollins - A Night At The Village Vanguard (TYCJ-81007)

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - A Night In Tunisia (TYCJ-81010)

Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil (TYCJ-81019)

Sonny Rollins - Newk's Time (TYCJ-81021)

Wayne Shorter - JuJu (TYCJ-81040)

Horace Silver - Song For My Father (TYCJ-81044)

McCoy Tyner - The Real McCoy (TYCJ-81046)

Thelonious Monk - Genius Of Modern Music, Vol.2 (TYCJ-81047)

Joe Henderson - In 'N Out (TYCJ-81050)

Unless Customs get involved, they usually take their time...

I have them shipped individually these days. On SAL they take two weeks max to arrive, and all shipped December 17-19.

[erwbol]

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - A Night In Tunisia (TYCJ-81010)

Very very good! This series needs more sixties Art Blakey. (BTW, this album will also be released on )

An amazing upgrade over the McMaster which was preferable to the RVG. I can only imagine what the XRCD24 will sound like.

[bertrand]

Importcds is a US company, but CD Japan is Japanese, correct? So there are no customs issues with the former?

[J.A.W.]

Importcds is a US company, but CD Japan is Japanese, correct? So there are no customs issues with the former?

Not if you're in the United States.

[bertrand]

Thanks. And SHM-CDs play on a regular CD player, correct?

[J.A.W.]

Thanks. And SHM-CDs play on a regular CD player, correct?

They do. They're regular CDs. Edited January 4, 2014 by J.A.W.

[erwbol]

SHM (Super High Material), like Blue Spec 2 (Sony), is a scam, imo. It won't make a CD sound better, although member ArtSalt disagrees.

What makes this series worth your while is the remastering. Michael Cuscuna is involved (he writes new introductory notes for all SHM releases) and superior analogue to digital transfers are being used.

For a relatively cheap reissue series by a major label these discs offer exceptional value. They have a uniform, natural, non-manipulated sound. Some discs offer a more significant upgrade over McMaster, RVG, or BN Works than others, but all I've heard so far are superior to what came before on physical digital media, except for Audio Wave Music's XRCD24s.

Edited November 4, 2014 by erwbol

[mikeweil]

Anybody planning to get the last Blue Note Lee Morgan? The previous CD reisse had Reggie Workman's solo on the musical saw mixed down. I wonder if they restored the originally issued version.

[erwbol]

Yes, along with about 50 other titles from this series. I hope they remain in print long enough, especially if there is more to come later this year.

[king ubu]

Anybody planning to get the last Blue Note Lee Morgan? The previous CD reisse had Reggie Workman's solo on the musical saw mixed down. I wonder if they restored the originally issued version.

Wasn't a track on that one shortened, too?

[skeith]

those that order from cd japan - there are no import charges for the US right? what are the typical shipping charges and how long does it take to get the cds after placing an order?

THanks

[Homefromtheforest]

I got a small batch of 3 of these blue note CDs along with a SHM Eric dolphy "outward bound" and all 4 sound incredible....I agree that outside of xrcd and other special audiophile issues these are the best digital sounding issues I've heard.

[Leeway]

those that order from cd japan - there are no import charges for the US right? what are the typical shipping charges and how long does it take to get the cds after placing an order?

THanks

I've got an order to US on the way now, 2 SHM-CDs (a 3rd could not be supplied). Shipping will vary by type of shipping chosen, from the slowest, least trackable, to the quickest most trackable (to put it basically). CD Japan recommends the latter, and it cost me $14.00, which is rather steep. However, I thought the prices and availability mostly offset the shipping charge. YMMV.

EDIT to respond to your other questions. If the item is stated as "In stock." it will ship out quickly. Estimate 3-7 days to arrive. If not in stock, and it says 3-7 days to supply, that could take a while. I waited for the item I dropped for 3 weeks before telling them to drop it, and ship the other 2. No import duty AFAIK.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Leeway

[erwbol]

Which SHM-CD could not be supplied? Was it a Blue Note title?

Japanese CDs always seem to print the release date on the back insert artwork. These SHM BNs (also the ) print a second date next to the first that is six months into the future. Could this indicate these will be available only for a very limited time? Neither the BNLT999 nor BNLA999 series printed a second date next to the first, and the earliest titles are still available through CDJapan eighteen months on.

[David Ayers]

I have often wondered about that second date thing - it is quite common. Does anybody know anything about it? I don't think it *can* refer to dates of availability because that would depend on the print runs. I might be wrong of course, that has just been my assumption. I thought perhaps it referred to the date at which the item must be retailed at that price, but I had zero reason to think that, and it was the wildest guess.

Edited at add: I googled this and it turns out my wild guess is likely correct, however there is also a claim that the date represents the date before which an item cannot be rented. Take your pick:

http://www.discogs.com/help/forums/topic/87307

Edited January 9, 2014 by David Ayers

[ArtSalt]

SHM (Super High Material), like Blue Spec 2 (Sony), is a scam, imo. It won't make a CD sound better, although member ArtSalt disagrees.

What makes this series worth your while is the remastering. Michael Cuscuna is involved (he writes new introductory notes for all SHM releases) and superior analogue to digital transfers are being used.

For a relatively cheap reissue series by a major label these discs offer exceptional value. They have a uniform, natural, non-manipulated sound. Some discs offer a more significant upgrade over McMaster, RVG, or BN Works than others, but all I've heard so far are superior to what came before on physical digital media, except for audiophile releases like the APO Hybrid SACDs and Audio Wave Music's XRCD24s, both of which can also be played on standard CD players.

As the SHM, Blue Spec 2 and the Platinum SHM's are the CD's that are getting the superlative remastering treatment, then like XRCD's and Gold CD's, it is the whole process that I am recognising as delivering a superior sound to standard CD's. The remastering as close as possible to the original source tape, clearly comes into this and likely the game changer and significant factor. But I also buy into the engineering fact, that certain material grades can deliver a more desirable quality in the product or the function of equipment. I certainly don't believe the position that its only digital zeros and ones, so the material that the CD is made of is irrelevent. I also have old 16bit CD's from the 80s that sound tremendous and I can hazard a guess that these were remastered from the original master tapes.

I am a recent convert to the whole SHM and even XRCD phenomena and before this, I was going for Japanese 20bit and above remasters as my choice of CD's.

My gut feeling, is that these wonder materials account for only 20% of the improvement in sound, the rest being delivered by the closeness to source tape or best DSD remaster. But as I stated above, it is part and partial of these products that you are getting as close to the source as possible. So my position isn't about materials alone.

[erwbol]

SHM (Super High Material), like Blue Spec 2 (Sony), is a scam, imo. It won't make a CD sound better, although member ArtSalt disagrees.

What makes this series worth your while is the remastering. Michael Cuscuna is involved (he writes new introductory notes for all SHM releases) and superior analogue to digital transfers are being used.

For a relatively cheap reissue series by a major label these discs offer exceptional value. They have a uniform, natural, non-manipulated sound. Some discs offer a more significant upgrade over McMaster, RVG, or BN Works than others, but all I've heard so far are superior to what came before on physical digital media, except for audiophile releases like the APO Hybrid SACDs and Audio Wave Music's XRCD24s, both of which can also be played on standard CD players.

As the SHM, Blue Spec 2 and the Platinum SHM's are the CD's that are getting the superlative remastering treatment, then like XRCD's and Gold CD's, it is the whole process that I am recognising as delivering a superior sound to standard CD's. The remastering as close as possible to the original source tape, clearly comes into this and likely the game changer and significant factor. But I also buy into the engineering fact, that certain material grades can deliver a more desirable quality in the product or the function of equipment. I certainly don't believe the position that its only digital zeros and ones, so the material that the CD is made of is irrelevent. I also have old 16bit CD's from the 80s that sound tremendous and I can hazard a guess that these were remastered from the original master tapes.

I am a recent convert to the whole SHM and even XRCD phenomena and before this, I was going for Japanese 20bit and above remasters as my choice of CD's.

My gut feeling, is that these wonder materials account for only 20% of the improvement in sound, the rest being delivered by the closeness to source tape or best DSD remaster. But as I stated above, it is part and partial of these products that you are getting as close to the source as possible. So my position isn't about materials alone.

Thank you for clearing up your position on SHM-CDs. I was thinking of the you created last May.

I've also shifted focus from older Japanese 16/20-bit remasters to more recent DSD remasters and SHMs.

[Leeway]

Which SHM-CD could not be supplied? Was it a Blue Note title?

Japanese CDs always seem to print the release date on the back insert artwork. These SHM BNs (also the ) print a second date next to the first that is six months into the future. Could this indicate these will be available only for a very limited time? Neither the BNLT999 nor BNLA999 series printed a second date next to the first, and the earliest titles are still available through CDJapan eighteen months on.

Just noticed your post and question. No, it was not a Blue Note, it was Coltrane's "SUN SHIP" on Impulse! SHM-CD. The item was marked 3-7 day back-order. I was OK with that. However, a couple weeks, I started to inquire about the order. I received 2 explanations, which together I found confusing.

The earlier one (Dec 11):

Basically our products are not in stock unless we state the amount of copies we have in stock. All other items are back-ordered to our supplier which requires a certain amount of time to prepare to ship out. As you can see from the "Availability section" your product is estimated to take 3-7 days to arrive from our supplier to our warehouse.

The later one (Jan. 6)

Currently, the record company does not have this item in their inventory. Basically, they are always willing to continue the production of older CDs as long as they continue receiving sufficient amount of orders from shops. However, if they are no longer receiving a lot of orders anymore, their system will simply wait for a few weeks to see if enough orders accumulate to justify the investment needed to proceed with the production of additional copies.

Anyway, this whole process took about 6 weeks, after which I received 2 of the 3 items I ordered (2 other SHM Impulse!). I suppose if I order from them again, I will only order items stated as "In Stock."

Edited January 15, 2014 by Leeway

[skeith]

Similar prices at Import CDs:

http://www.importcds.com/Search/Results?type=200&catalogno=TYCJ

I find this website a bit confusing.... several cds I looked at do not indicate out of stock, but at the bottom of the listing it has a box to "notify me when back in stock" or some such language.... I guess that means out of stock?

[J.A.W.]

Similar prices at Import CDs:

http://www.importcds.com/Search/Results?type=200&catalogno=TYCJ

I find this website a bit confusing.... several cds I looked at do not indicate out of stock, but at the bottom of the listing it has a box to "notify me when back in stock" or some such language.... I guess that means out of stock?

When it says "unavailable" right next to the item it means that it can't be (pre-)ordered from them yet. When you tick the "notify me when back in stock" box and give them your e-mail address they'll let you know when it's available.

Edited January 16, 2014 by J.A.W.

[skeith]

Similar prices at Import CDs:

http://www.importcds.com/Search/Results?type=200&catalogno=TYCJ

I find this website a bit confusing.... several cds I looked at do not indicate out of stock, but at the bottom of the listing it has a box to "notify me when back in stock" or some such language.... I guess that means out of stock?

When it says "unavailable" right next to the item it means that it can't be (pre-)ordered from them yet. When you tick the "notify me when back in stock" box and give them your e-mail address they'll let you know when it's available.

I was looking at Henderson's State of the Tenor cds - I do not see "unavailable" next to the items and I see they came out months ago and yet it says further down below the item "notify me when back in stock"

I do not get it... what am I missing?

Thanks