Reissue Roundup: Jazz at the Pawnshop.

If you're a passionate audiophile who's read my two earlier installments on this theme, you have a feel for this writer's attachment to quality sound and music of nearly all varieties. And though it might appear to some that I have an ax to grind when it comes to the superiority of some vinyl recordings over the CD, those who read me rightly note that I have, of late, tried to make it clear that, this is not quite so. Each of us who loves good music and sound approaches this subject with our own set of priorities in establishing what makes a recording great or so-so, whether it's analog or digital. And we must allow others to develop their own senses of what's right, you see, even if we grasp things differently. I think too and though, that what first captivates most of us is the music itself, without much consideration of the sound (which is an afterthought if you've transcended mass communicational hype on component specs, or the musings of your favorite audiophile music critic). I would not try to convince you that a vinyl LP sounds better than a CD if it were not, in my opinion, true. But my greatest joy comes when I actually find reissues that succeed at reproducing the great sound we once heard on an original recording. In this installment, I'll cover several different CD releases of an audiophile favorite originally released on vinyl.

I have come to understand though that differing perceptions on what makes the sound of a recording great make for interesting discussions. I have recently spoken with persons involved directly in the production of commercial releases targeted at the general public as well as the audiophile, and the directions from them each of them approaches the subject. In communications with one, I get the sense that he believes that the vinyl LP could never have provided a sound close to the original master tape because any production masters would have gone through heavy processing just to arrive at something that could be playable on most audio systems in the homes of the past. I don't disagree entirely with that supposition. The fact that the (simply recorded) original tape for the recording discussed below underwent some remixing before the first stamper was made back in early 1977 could provide us with some evidence that he might be right.

In another instance, one of my long-time audiophile friends who has collected classical music in both the LP and open reel tape formats has said many times that his two-track reels leave the LP version in the dust when it comes to dynamic range. The problem with open reels was that high-speed tape duplication introduced other sonic anomalies that many audiophiles found even more objectionable than those of the LP. Then there's the convenience factor of the LP vs. the open reel tape, a consideration decades ago that took its toll on open reels just as the CD contributed a great deal to the end of the LP's dominance more recently. As diverse as opinions are on this subject, I am continually fascinated by the fact that no one person has all of the answers, and that the dichotomy still exists.

Nearly 24 years ago, recording engineer Gert Palmcrantz, acting on behalf of the Proprius label of Sweden, ran a few microphone cables from the stage of the "Stampen" in Stockholm back into the kitchen of the club, plugged them into his recorder and started taping. (Referring to several sources, we find that these recordings actually were made over two nights in December, 1976, although it is unclear whether the recording dates were 12/6 & 7 or 12/14 & 15: different sources list different dates.) Mr. Palmcrantz's efforts resulted in the near-legendary-among-audiophiles live recording, Jazz at the Pawnshop, a 2-LP set (PROP 7778/ 9), released in 1977. Being the avid audiophile I was at the time, I snapped Pawnshop up, along with several other Proprius recordings that shopkeeper Peter McGrath recommended the very moment I first heard it. Pawnshop always sounded oh so right on my LP12/JH/FR1-Mk 3 turntable combination I had at the time.

The recording features a quintet headed by Arne Domnerus on alto sax and clarinet, backed up by Bengt Hallberg on piano, Lars Erstrand on vibes, Georg Riedel on bass (acoustic), and Egil Johansen on drums. It features mainstream, "cocktail lounge" jazz. Not household names among jazz fans on this side of the Atlantic, these, but competent practitioners of their craft, one quickly learns. I can't tell you how many dozens of times I have listened to that record from start to finish over the past 23 years, but I quickly developed the deepest of affairs with this group's excellent rendition of Gershwin's "Lady Be Good" since I have always regarded it as one of several songs on the album that contains every sonic attribute audiophiles listen for most often. The tune happens to be one fine toe-tapper too. Since Proprius presents us with a live performance here, I assume that Mr. Palmcrantz spent a only little time adjusting his microphones (a few Neuman U47s, and one each KM 56.s and M49), twiddled with the gain and balance on his Nagra IV recorder (a 2-track quarter-inch machine running at 15 IPS) before the band started playing, and then just let the tape run. Winston Ma of First Impression Music was good enough to recount the story to me of these recording sessions in a recent e-mail, noting there that the club was so cramped for space, Palmcrantz had to rest the recorder in his lap during the sessions. He had no alternative. These session tapes were then used to make a recording master tape, employing Dolby A 361 x 2 NR through a Studer mixer.

Although Pawnshop shares cult status among some audiophiles just as For Duke does, the recording featured in my first article comparing an audiophile record to CD, it has not been justly praised for its great sound nearly as often. Proprius may not have set out to create an item targeted specifically at audiophiles as M&K did although the sound on both albums enjoys several similar details. Both are very clean with the mics placed closely to the musicians. (The mics on the M&K record have a slightly closer perspective.) Both exhibit reasonably wide dynamic range, but the M&K is a bit more dynamic. The distinction I want to draw here is that I find Pawnshop to have a more natural sounding perspective and dynamic range. As I noted in the earlier article, the M&K gets a bit harsh and hot in spots while the Proprius holds its composure, sounding smoother and more liquid most of the time. There are several instances in Pawnshop where the recording can challenge the abilities of a quality audio system, and I'll point these out to you when this becomes useful.

While I spent a good deal more time comparing and describing the vinyl For Duke to the CD, I am going to take a different approach here. Since I have so many different CDs to cover in a limited space, the bulk of the detail will be in describing the differences between the CDs. My method for doing the Pawnshop comparisons was very similar to those I used in the For Duke exercise. First, I played the record, then I played a CD, Then I played the record again, then another CD and so on. After I was convinced that I had completely familiarized myself with the sound of the record, I eliminated the record from the comparisons for that day. Since I spent nearly every day for the whole month of July in making these comparisons, however, I would return to the record each day just to make certain that I had not attached any psychoacoustic significance to the original LP that it does not deserve.

The first of these CDs is the original Proprius/AudioSource 2-CD set (CDP 7778/9) that was released in 1984. Notes from this set indicate that this reissue was prepared for release by Norman Olson and Jeffrey Weber, with digital mastering done by Joe Gastwirt at the JVC cutting center. This CD has not been available for many years. If my recollections are correct, AudioSource replaced this original 2-CD set with a single CD release some time afterwards. This release eliminated some of the music on the double CD set so that nearly all of the music could fit on a single disc. Since I do not have that version, I cannot say which selections were deleted, nor whether the change was made after the industry had developed the technology to pack more than 64 minutes of music on a disc. This original set runs a total of 87:41, which could not, even by today's CD standards, fit on a single disc. No doubt, AudioSource moved to the single CD to cut production costs, and therefore, offer the discerning audiophile most of the music at half the price.

The other two releases were published almost 14 years later in 1998. Both come from the same company, Winston Ma's First Impression Music. These two employ different mastering technologies, XRCD and HDCD. They carry consecutive catalog numbers (XRCD, FIM 012/013; HDCD, FIM 014/ 015, $60 & $50 suggested list prices respectively). Based on the information supplied with each of these two versions, JVC did the XRCD mastering in Japan on November 18 & 19, just two days before Paul Stubblebine of Audio Consulting and Engineering remastered the tape in the HDCD format in San Francisco on November 21-22. Although I have not asked Mr. Ma for his motivations in offering these two versions, I would conjecture that listeners who do not have HDCD decoding capabilities in their CD players or DACs would be inclined to opt for the XRCD.

Most of my comparisons were made on my home system through the Rotel RCD-971 CD player (which can decode HDCD (N. B., please read Gregory Koster's excellent review of this marvelous player starting on page 36 of T$S #81). The vinyl was played back on my SOTA Star Sapphire on which the JH Formula 4 tonearm and the Shure V15VxMR cartridge are installed. I didn't bother to pull the SoundTractor out of its box to check alignment this time, since nothing has changed since I reported on the M&K CD. Unfortunately, I no longer have my Carver SD/A-490t, so I cannot report anything but quick impressions formed from listening only briefly to the three CD sets on a quality system that does not decode HDCD. I had lived with the Carver for many years and, despite the Rotel's superior sound, still consider the 490t one of the best-sounding CD players I've ever heard. When I bought the Rotel some time ago, I figured that I really wouldn't have much use for the Carver anymore, so I sold it. That was a mistake.

So, what did I find? Well, the record sounds as great as it always has. I've hinted at this above using the words "clear," "dynamic," and "liquid," but that only tells you part of the story. This live recording compares with parts of only one other vintage release that I've raved over several times in the past (Getz/Gilberto #2) for that uncanny ability to convince the listener that he/she bears witness to a live performance and not just a recording. Indeed, no matter what time of day I put this record onto my turntable, I'm immediately transported to the Pawnshop Club in Stockholm, I imagine low lights, a happy crowd, and the waiter is just about to serve me a single-malt Scotch over ice. This record has a rich abundance of ambiance that adds to one's listening pleasure immeasurably. This is not to say that the record is perfect. What I find that's just a little bit unnatural is what is often referred to as "image wander." I appreciate that the close quarters under which the musicians originally played would contribute greatly to this effect. I can't imagine that the stage on which Domnerus et al played that night in December, 1976, is any different in size from those in most small clubs worldwide. That is to say, the musicians were probably almost on top of each other, much as they are here in New Orleans's famous Snug Harbor, where the stage is about the size of a small bedroom in the typical American home. With this limitation in mind, it stands to reason that this image wander resulted, in large part, from one microphone picking up sounds intended for another. This one small flaw reported, allow me to tell you that all of these mesmerizing sounds that Palmcrantz was able to record would not have been possible were it not for his great little Nagra, and the astute choice of just a few excellent microphones. I dread to think what would have resulted had another sound engineer multi-miked this session. With all said and done, if I had to reduce my description of the sound of the LP to one word, it would be "astonishing." If I had the luxury of two words, they would be "astonishingly natural."

So it's on to the AudioSource CD. I must first preface the description here with a confession. Way back when I bought this CD (shortly after its release, and after I played it once), I spent nearly 30 minutes composing a letter to AudioSource that expressed my utter disappointment with its sound. I mailed the letter off to them but never got a reply, so I guess they just wrote me off as one of those crazy audiophiles from the camp of digiphobes who was not ready to embrace this wonderful new technology. In fact the opposite was true. Whenever one of my audiophile buddies who had not yet made the digital plunge came to my home, I would make the effort to play only those good sounding CDs I had, and make excuses if they wanted to hear a CD that I thought was especially bad sounding. All these years later, I still have to report that this original CD release bears little resemblance to the sonics on the record. For one thing, image size is downright puny. It barely escapes the confines of the space between the speakers. For another, the sound is veiled and grainy. Even the Soft EQ feature that Carver so graciously engineered into the 490t couldn't help the closed-in sound of this recording "get out of the box." To be fair, it was much better-sounding than AudioSource's Cantate Domino CD in its original release, which might explain why this one wasn't traded in at the used record store years ago. Having been out of print so long, it is now a genuine collector's item, but I'll be holding onto it just so I can demonstrate to interested parties that early digital was not all it was cracked up to be.

Arriving finally at FIM's two CD releases, I think it would be appropriate to compare each to the other, and then ultimately compare them back to the original record. There's no need in comparing either of them to the original CD since its sound falls short of the record's. I'll let the cat out of the bag here, and tell you that both of these CDs are much superior to the original CD mentioned above. If you own the original CD, it's time to list it on eBay. You'll probably get more than you expect for it because of its collectibility. Perhaps you'll even get enough to pay for your new one in full. If you own the record and not the earlier version of the CD, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what the FIM CDs offer. One preliminary: there are sonic anomalies on both of the FIM CDs that result from the minor damage the master tapes sustained over the years. Mr. Ma mentions each of these instances in the extensive notes included in both sets of CDs.

One other preliminary needs to be addressed which might prejudice some readers against the XRCD version, but please, if you've come this far don't stop now. On page 2 of the HDCD booklet, Mr. Ma writes that in listening to the master tapes, he and his sound engineer, Paul Stubblebine, determined that the sound was "over-bright and the mid-range rather sucked-in." After some discussion, they decided that it was important that they determine what was causing this anomaly. Fortuitously; "Didrik de Geer, the famous microphone designer, so coincidentally called from Sweden." Through a few telephone calls, it was found that the Nagra tape recorder "had its own mastering curve," and that the CCIR tone curve listed on the boxes of the master tape was therefore incorrect. What this means is that if you do not have the original record, but instead have one of the many subsequent reissues produced over the years in either LP or CD format, the sound you have grown accustomed to is not the sound Proprius and Palmcrantz intended for you. But as I said, read on.

So as not to have prejudiced you against the XRCD version (which was mastered using the CCIR curve), let me start out with all of its great points. This is one very excellent-sounding CD! On a system with natural balance, the CD will sound just a tad bright (assuming you have young and/or finely trained ears), but nothing approaching what you might imagine from the paragraph immediately above. There are moments where this brightness rears its ugly head, but they are few and far between. For the most part, nothing short of a direct comparison with the HDCD through an HDCD-capable playback system could affirm much of the brightness. If anything, Tohru Kotetsu, JVC's engineer, was able to squeeze out a toad's nose hair more dynamic range than you'll hear on the vinyl, while concurrently retaining nearly all of the ambiance and much of the soundstaging that make the record the reference standard that it is. It's a little drier than I've been accustomed to, but you have to strain to hear this. It could also be argued that if you do not have the original Proprius album, but one of its subsequent vinyl reissues pressed somewhere besides Sweden, the sound would be so close as to be nearly indistinguishable. Based upon the reactions of two veteran audiophiles who heard all three versions of the CD on a system that could not decode HDCD (and who preferred the XRCD), I am inclined to think that many listeners would actually prefer its sound to that of the HDCD, whether it accurately reflects the intended sound or not.

There is one instance in the XRCD which is unquestionably superior to the sound on the HDCD version, and I will be discussing that below. Suffice it to say that I would strongly recommend this version of the CD if you fall into one of these categories: 1.) your audio system is just a bit on the dark side. This includes those who do not use tube electronics--which are generally softer but brighter; 2.) your CD playback system is not capable of decoding HDCD. Despite Pacific Microsonics's claim that HDCD-encoded CDs will sound better even on a regular CD player, this has not always been my experience. I could not say this any better than Gregory Koster already has, so I will quote him directly from his Rotel review: "On the Marantz without HDCD decoding, everything was veiled and less dynamic." This has been my general reaction to HDCD-encoded CDs on non-HDCD players too, and that is why I set about to buy one a few years ago. 3.) you prefer a brighter sound. In the end, there really is no accounting for taste, and many audiophiles prefer a brighter sound. 4.) If you are quickly approaching your sixth decade on this earth, as I am, you will not find the XRCD Pawnshop to be anything other than sparkling and alive--a true joy for your ears to behold!

Before I go on, let me assure you that I do not work for Pacific Microsonics. Having said that, let me also tell you that I am in the process of assembling my list of recordings for the annual staff picks issue which will include a number of the many HDCD recordings I've collected over the past two years. If you are one who thinks that the HDCD chip is a gimmick, then what follows is not for you. I never have subscribed to the notion that all audio electronic components "sound largely the same," but I do believe that individuals are free to make their own choices, even if they are not $ensible ones. This may have been one of Winston Ma's motivations in making this very fine recording available in more than one digital format. I think it is important for the reader to appreciate that there is only one essential difference between the XRCD and HDCD processes: one requires a special decoding chip to hear a recording as intended, the other does not. Although there are only a few recordings in my collection that have been available in both standard and HDCD formats (most of them from Warner and its affiliated labels), my comparisons of these have almost always shown me that the newly remastered HDCD versions exhibited more spatial information when played in an HDCD-capable player. While I still had the Carver, I could then verify that it was the HDCD process that was largely responsible for this, nothing else.

When I first inserted FIM's HDCD version of Jazz at the Pawnshop into the Rotel RCD-971, I immediately recognized that I was hearing something very special. As I mentioned early in this article, I am partial to the version of "Lady Be Good" that appears on this recording, so I started with it. It is the one tune that I have played over 150 times during this month-long comparison of the 3 CDs. I've heard it so often that I can play all of its 9:30 playing time in my head. I know exactly where those audiophile clues are that mark the clear distinctions in one version from another. Since it is representative of all 87 minutes in the entire collection, I had the pleasure of listening to music I really liked at the same time I was taking notes. 18 seconds into the tune, I've already noticed that the cash register appearing in the left channel is heard more distinctly and separate from the piano and drums on stage that start the tune. By comparison here, the XRCD version does not show quite the depth of the HDCD, and the cash register is not as three-dimensional. The roundness of the first notes of the sax at about 2:22 have a bit more weight to them, and when Domnerus reaches his high note at 3:31, and again at 3:48, I am not squinting from the small pain that's produced here on either other CD version (most pronounced on the AudioSource version that I said I was not going to compare). Meanwhile the vibes have begun to shimmer in the background, adding another convincing level to my appreciation of the sound picture that's presented. At 4:39, Erstrand begins his vibes solo, and the instrument's sound is very pronounced. The mallets hitting the keys are acutely recognizable from the vibrating sound of the instrument, yet the sound is integral and the distinction far more obvious on the HDCD. By contrast, I find the XRCD version to be ever so slightly etched. (This reminds me of how differently the vibes could sound on the Red Norvo cut from the LP, Professor Johnson's Astounding Sound Show, depending on the cartridge that was tracking the record. How unnatural it sometimes sounded through some highly touted moving coils, but how effortlessly and rightly the Shure tracks it. But that's another story.)

I haven't spoken about dynamics or image yet, so let's do it now. Try out that kick drum at 6:23. No this is not rock-em sock-em stuff intended to demo the testicular fortitude of your giant subwoofer, it's a nicely-played drum set in which our hero, drummer Egil Johansen, exercises good judgement and restraint while showing his stuff. All along he's been keeping near-perfect time for us deep in the sonic background, while skillfully brushing and tapping those cymbals. The cymbals sound very natural most of the time, but there are isolated incidents throughout the entire track in which they sound a bit constricted on the HDCD. This is not the case on the XRCD version, so I can only guess that this difference results because there were differences in the playback decks used to record the two versions of FIMs CDs. Image of the drums is a lot larger on the XRCD, much of which is attributable to the image wander I spoke of above. Dynamic range on the HDCD is ever so slightly more pronounced, but I think these differences would be nil if one takes into account that the XRCD's subtle brightness tends to mask what's going on in the lower frequencies a little.

Since I categorized the kinds of listeners who might prefer the sound of the XRCD above, I will do the same for the HDCD version here. Foremost is the need for HDCD capability. Although my experience with this CD on non-HDCD systems is limited, it was apparent to those of us who compared the three CD sets that the XRCD was more dynamic and showed greater depth through a high cost player that did not support this encoding. If you system is bright and dry to begin with, or you think you need the subtle softness that results from playing an HDCD in a non-HDCD player, you can disregard that first recommendation. Finally, if your taste is for a darker sound, the HDCD will be your preference--not that it's a whole lot darker: it's not. If you have a long-time familiarity with Pawnshop, my strongest recommendation would be to buy both and keep the one that appeals to you more.

I promised a short comparison between the two FIM CDs and the original record, and I'm happy to say that these come very close to the dictum that has become my audiophile credo: "If it goes in, it must come out." I still prefer the added depth of the the original vinyl, but I can say that these reissues are as close as current digital technology will be able to take us. I might be willing to "dumpster" my record if I ever got the chance to hear a version of the recording in the SACD/DSD format. From the little I know of Winston Ma's dedication to high quality audio, that may not be as far-fetched as you think.

Pawnshop is generally available from several of the mail order companies that cater to audiophiles--Music Direct, Elusive Disc, and so on. If you have a preference for any of these sellers, give them a try first. If they are out of stock, you can contact First Impression Music directly; their ads appear in several audiophile publications including T$S (page 87 in Issue 81).

As always, I welcome your comments and questions regarding my articles on reissued music. I must apologize to those of you who tried to contact me with your comments on the subjects I wrote about in recent issues. I changed ISPs shortly after the magazine went to press. My new email address is [e-mail]. Happy trails. -- SGB