Hi-Res Downloads

The Art Of HiFi
Volume 06: Guitars (44.1-352.8kHz/24-bit, WAV; DSD64-512)
www.psaudio.com/products; Octave Records 0054

Releases from Octave Records provide the opportunity to compare not just SACD with CD, but also eight ‘grades’ of downloads. The latter will prove the most intriguing as we’ve long been able to pit CD against SACD or other 5in discs such as Blu-Spec or SHM-CD. At the risk of annoying Octave’s boss, Paul McGowan, I definitely prefer the label’s physical discs to the streams. Furthermore, I do all my listening of both formats through his DirectStream DAC MK2 [HFN Jun ’23] and matching SACD transport, so this release, in all its forms, was auditioned through the company’s own hardware. This latest in the series is another useful tool for system setup and evaluation, its ten excellent tracks employing a variety of guitars to tune into: laptop steel, pedal steel, acoustic and electric bass, 12-string, nylon strings, resonator and more. The sound? Spectacular. KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Lab Report

As we’ve seen before [HFN Jun, Oct ’22; Aug ’24], there’s a ~6dB reduction in peak level between the 352.8kHz LPCM and DSD128 [black] files. Most DACs will favour the latter even though dynamic range is essentially unaltered. PM

Louis Sclavis & Benjamin Moussay
Unfolding (88.2kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.ecmrecords.com; ECM 2831

Clarinettist Sclavis and pianist Moussay have worked together as part of ensembles, but this album – recorded last year in Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines, France – is their first release as a duo. With all the tracks written by the two musicians, it’s bound to be unfamiliar ground. However, the combination of exceptional recorded sound and musicianship proves they are able to swing from the delicate and wistful, as in the reflective 'Loma del Tanto', to the lyrical 'A Garden In Isphan', where simple piano figures reflect and underpin the clarinet as it soars somewhere up above. There are no big tunes here, and nothing to have the listener breaking out in a sweat, but this album has a relaxed, charming and captivating appeal. One to put on for a quiet evening or late afternoon’s listening, where its delicate performances and fine transcription will delight. AE

Sound Quality: 85%

Lab Report

Although this is a genuine 88.2kHz ECM digital download, with peaks from –0.5dB to –3.0dB and dynamic range just a little below average, the noise floor remains contaminated with multiple spurious peaks >10kHz [black spectrum]. PM

Egberto Gismonti
Sol Do Meio Dia (96kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.ecmrecords.com; ECM 1116

The relatively low catalogue number is a reminder that this is from ECM’s extensive archive, in fact recorded getting on for 50 years ago. However, it’s a tribute to the quality of the analogue original, and ECM’s transfer to high resolution digital, that the release is both crisp and detailed, and able to deliver really punchy dynamics. Brazilian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Gismonti – just in his 30s when this was recorded, and now well on his way towards his ninth decade – was joined here by an all-star cast for this distinctly Latin flavoured set. As well as regular percussion partner Naná Vasconcelos, we have Ralph Towner on 12-string, Collin Walcott on tabla and even Jan Garbarek on soprano sax. This is a real 'ECM who’s who', but the feel here is of a relaxed, exuberant and atmospheric set of tracks ideal for hot days – or even autumnal remembrance thereof. AE

Sound Quality: 85%

Lab Report

Another clean 96kHz digital copy of an analogue recording from the ECM vaults – this from Talent Studio, Oslo in 1977 – Sol Do Meio Dia is necessarily ‘limited’ by the original tape bandwidth but the dynamic range is still fantastic. PM

Beans On Toast
The Toothpaste And The Tube (96kHz/24-bit, WAV)
https://beansontoastmusic.com; BOT Music n/a cat no

I’m not quite sure how high concept is the idea of releasing one album a year on your birthday, but that’s what Essex-based Beans On Toast – aka Jay McAllister – has done for some time, this December 2023 release being his 16th. Self-released, and with a title referencing that adage about something being hard to unsay once said, the album manages to cover a lot of musical ground, opening with a classic singalong track about being on the road called – well – 'Back Out On The Road'. Along the way the album tackles big issues such as the climate crisis, the seeming inevitability of war and conflict, and the AI revolution. However, there’s just as much here about the value of family life and having a good local pub. It’s all so ‘British’ and delivered with an easy catchiness that my listening notes contained the line 'a rather more good-time Billy Bragg?'. AE

Sound Quality: 80%

Lab Report

Every track here is normalised to a very high –0.01dB and dynamic range is below average. Clean instrumental tracks are included [black] at 44.1kHz but with the vocals mixed in, upsampling to 96kHz brings added digital artefacts. PM

Ron LeGault Quintet
Charlie Brown Goes To The Nutcracker (44.1-352.8kHz/24-bit, WAV; DSD64-512)
www.psaudio.com/products; Octave Records 0044

If you’re familiar with the myriad Charlie Brown soundtracks issued over the years, whenever the much-loved Peanuts character makes it to the screen, you’ll know that light jazz is the order of the day. The late Vince Guaraldi, having recorded a number of audiophile-grade classics, is the inspiration for this terrific release. Half the compositions here “performed at the Hotel St Julien for 10 years” are his, the rest courtesy of Tchaikovsky and two from the quintet itself, while the arrangements are by Legault and the band. Early, perhaps, but the Christmas spirit is beautifully evoked and superbly recorded, the sounds of piano, bass, drums, and trombone, plus Andrew Vogt variously on saxes and flute, being suitably warm. Recorded in DSD256 on the Sonoma system, this delightful seasonal album is also offered on SACD. KK

Sound Quality: 80%

Lab Report

Aside from trk 10 (–3.3dB) and 14 (–1dB) all the 176.4kHz files here are slammed into the 0.0dB digital endstops, while the DSD versions [DSD128; black] range from –2.3dB to –9.3dB. The latter also offers the superior dynamic range. PM