Best Hi-Res Audiophile Downloads Top 3

Great tribute album to Joni Mitchell and well recorded too!

http://www.hdtracks.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Herbie+Hancock+-+River+-+The+Joni+Lettershttp://

Hi   jaybe what is in your opinion an A grade artist with A grade material?

Hi Milan60
this should work http://www.2l.no/

You gotta be kiddin' ''B-grade material'', well it's a free world with free speech, but..... hey... jaybe what is in your opinion an A grade artist with A grade material?

The Carmen Gomes albums are available in redbook CD via Bandcamp as well.
https://carmengomes.bandcamp.com/

excellent

Hi Kefas 
the link doesn't work. Which album do you mean?

Here is a very good 2L recording
highly recommended;
https://shop.klicktrack.com/image/93C77A2C1D53D9DF29949712D84C6AFF-39E078111BFF-00.jpg/large?type=re...

The 2 latest albums are on special offer at the moment.
Superb DXD recordings available in DSD and Flac and of course in DXD.
Highly recommended;

The Enghave Barok 2nd edition.
Excellent recording and SQ. And it is a nice that they included a stage map with the download, enhances the listening experience.
There is still 2 days left of the introduction price of 10 $/euro.
https://www.soundliaison.com/studio-masters/254-bach-live-edition-2

I think the Doug MacLeod download  will be exactly the same on hd tracks as on reference. No difference.

The new DXD downloads from Sound Liaison,https://www.soundliaison.com/ are stunning.
’’Carmen Gomes Sings the Blues’’ is destined to become a classic.
Very impressive SQ and sound stage.
[video]https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=a+fool+for+you+carmen+gomes[/video]

milan60, I noticed that Doug MacLeod album is also available on HDTracks in the same resolution... would there be a sound quality difference between the 2 web stores ? not talking resolution but maybe more warmth / musical / .... just better  ...  anyone can answer.... thanks

New Doug MacLeod album ’’Break the Chain’’, out now! https://referencerecordings.com/now-available-doug-macleod-break-the-chain/http://  K. Johnson recording.

Calloways suggestion; https://www.primephonic.com/http://
has several note worthy albums.
Thanks!

The Sound Liaison albums are on sale this month.
You have to fill in the coupon code ''indian summer'' to get a 33% reduction.

But the tape version has been made following a pure analog signal chain while the DXD has gone straight into the computer.
The DXD sounds good to me.
There is a free sampler as well on the Sound Liaison site where one can compare the different formats.

A friend of mine was there and heard the tape in the Nagra room.
He found it very impressive. Says the DSD 256 digital download has the same kind of warmth.

The Carmen Gomes Sings the blues album is fabulous, best download of the year so far if you ask me.
There is only a week left of the introduction offer at the Sound Liaison site;

First we would like to express our most sincere gratitude and appreciation for the very positive response we received after the release of Carmen Gomes Sings The Blues.
This album is our first DXD recording!
The album was used by Schnerzinger, Nagra and Zellaton at the Munich High End Show 2017 to demonstrate their new products.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efPBdM-5Spc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfxW-WlOvBQ

But all good things comes to an end, the saying goes, there is only 1 week left of the special introduction offer of this beautiful album.

Is this available on DVD somewhere?: https://wn.com/roach_goldings_piltch_bellerose_aymanns_live_at_blue_whale

One more vocal suggestion that I just downloaded. This is my initial reaction;
Carmen Gomes Sings the Blues, DXD recording. Mind blowing sound quality: The sound stage is amazing. Great repertoire played by fantastic musicians.  Highly recommended album download.  http://www.soundliaison.com/

That Carmen Gomes Inc. would take on the challenge of reinterpreting

Harry Belafonte's 'Belafonte Sings the Blues' was originally suggested by Harry van Dalen, owner of the eminent High End audio shop Rhapsody. He thought that Carmen’s band would be perfect for reinterpreting the mood and the sound of the classic album. Carmen immediately loved the idea.
'Belafonte Sings the Blues' was one of her favorite albums when she as a kid spent countless hours listening to music and making cassette tape compilations from her parents vast LP collection.
"I had a 60 minutes tape that I made consisting of my favorite songs from the Sings the Blues albums of Harry Belafonte, Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Memphis Slim and Muddy Waters. The tape eventually broke and got eaten
by the machine, that's how much I played it!" Carmen recalls.

I love his albums as well. ''Water'' his 1st is still my favorite.

Gregory Porter. Any album. They are all very well recorded;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hlyb7vruV0

the sound and the playing reminds me  a bit of the Dunedin consort recordings from Linn. Highly recommended as well. http://www.linnrecords.com/Index.aspx

I concur, it is a gorgeous production and every instrument is so well placed and realized.

Great new Bach recording on the Sound Liaison label.
Very very impressive sound stage, and the ensemble plays with a drive seldom heard in the classical field. Highly recommended.
http://www.soundliaison.com/

"International elite on the West Side of Copenhagen. Enghave church has been programming concerts with the most prolific musicians specialised in Baroque music ….unsurpassable level of performance!"
Søren Schauser, music editor at the danish newspaper "Berlingske Tidende"

"Full house and baroque music played with fire on the West Side."
Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten

These musicians play straight from the heart, enthusiastic, swinging and in complete agreement with the music.....if this level can be kept on future releases I will be first in line….
...This is a conductor on mission with Bach’s music!......
Review by Bach expert Knud Svendsen in danish organ society magazine

Plenteous expertise from the ensemble but you'd have to pick out Jesenka Balic Zunic's tender playing on the Violoncello da Spalla, Jakob Bloch Jespersen in ideal repertoire for him, and the striking freshness and fluency of Anna Jobrant's soprano solos. It was free, and full.
Andrew Mellor, reviewer for Gramophone magazine

Lovely good sounding 44.1 studio master from Linn, only €11 , I guess because of the format.
William Conway - cello Peter Evans - piano Recorded in St. George’s Hall, Brandon Hill, Bristol on 28, 29 & 30 May 1990
http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-debussy--martin--poulenc-cd.aspx

The  Sound Liaison label has a winter sale going this week, all downloads 10 $/€ that is is 33% off on flac and 50% off on DSD;

I had the same thing with the Brad Mehldau album, at first it did not really register, maybe because of the sound, but then I completely fell in love with the playing.

That was also the case with this weeks special offer on the
http://www.soundliaison.com/ label; Startas Orkester, although the sound is remarkable the music is at at first ... well ...different... but at third listen I completely fell in love with the album.

The RCA 'Living Stereo' DSD downloads on 'Primephonic.com.....just superb

@kefas 

Not to derail the thread but your post re: Mehldau's Blues and Ballads reminded me that I didn't give that album a good enough listen the first time. 

What a fine series of covers of pop standards. Oh my. This could be on my desert island list. 

Brad Mehldau's new album, Blues and Ballads, is maybe not as well recorded as the Sound Liaison albums above , but the playing is marvelous.

Yes very nice album indeed.
I am very impressed by the piano sound that Sound Liaison achieves in general. The Witmer Trio, which I mentioned above, is a bit easier accessible music but also with a gorgeous piano sound.

jafant of this forum turned me onto this album:

 Dualtones by Atzko Kohashi 

downloaded from Sound Liaison. My first download from them.

Very nice. 

I agree with gz3827 that Blue Coast has some excellent recordings.
I believe that Blue Coast has inspired some of the younger independents coming up.

On the computer audiophile forum this one is getting excellent ratings, recorded in DXD and available in lower formats as well. Very natural SQ.
Maybe one of the best sounding cello recordings I know. And Maya Friedman plays so very beautiful.
Maya Friedman, the Invisible Link.
http://trptk.com/

Interesting interview here about Kimber Kable;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rWLCSx0Zuw

Bobo Stenson trio; Serenity.

One of the better sounding ECM albums on pair with Keith Jarrett.

Enjoying the Witmer trio’’ EN Azul’’ download too,....http://www.soundliaison.com/ .......very listenable album, incredible SQ. Good review here;

Sound Liaison is a Netherlands based partnership two bass players, Frans de Rond and Peter Bjørnild. They’ve assembled some terrific artists who play great jazz and given them high definition sound. I raved about their initial recordings on the Sound Stage! Network, and have enjoyed watching their progress in listening to their appealing new albums.
Their newest program is titled En Azul and features the Witmer Trio, Cajan Witmer – piano,
Han Slinger – double bass, and Maarten Kruijswijk – drums. The trio has been together for 20 years and all the players sound very comfortable in their skins. Their emphasis is on melody with ornamentation and variation that heightens a sense of melody rather than distracting from it. And they’ve picked some terrific tunes to work with – Carioca, TheGentle Rain, Moon River, Moonglow, Rhapsody in Blue, Recado, and St. Louis Blues, to mention a few. The playing is delightfully impeccable and the recorded sound nearly so. The trio sounds like it’s playing in a real space and is nicely spread between speakers with no exaggeration. The piano sound is perfect as is the sound of the many percussion instruments that are so imaginatively employed. The bass is solid; I could use just a tiny bit more focus on the attacks. Sound Liaison recordings are only available as high quality downloads. Many download formats are available including DSD and PCM 24bit/96kHz stereo. If you’re searching for real sounding intimate jazz, give the work of these folks a try. You’ll not be disappointed and it’s so

good-natured, I’ll bet it will put a smile on your face.
http://www.radsreviews.com/?cat=19

Yes Native DSD is an excellent label.

If you can play DSD , Native DSD is very good; 

 and, as I just mentioned in another thread, you also have e Classicals daily offer with 50% off.
http://www.eclassical.com/pages/daily-deal.html?cache=purge

All you Sound Liaison fans, all downloads are €10/$11 at the moment, also the DSD downloads. That is a 50% reduction.
Sound Liaison Winter Sale;http://www.soundliaison.com/

Gary Peacock trio from ECM ''Now This'' Highly recommended

The new Carmen Gomes Inc. download; ''Little Blue'' on Sound Liaison has been in constant rotation on my media player the last weeks.
Perfect autumn music.Highly recommended.

Head engineer Frans de Rond is proving once again that his knowledge of mic placement and use of equipment is in a class of it's own. He is one of the very few engineers that is able to create a sound stage, which is intimate, yet has depth and space. A sound stage which you could say projects a visual image of the musicians. Not a ''wall of sound'' but rather something like a three dimensional Monet painting, where you can walk in and take a look around.

[img]http://1652654879.rsc.cdn77.org/images/Witmertrio300shadow.jpg[/img]
Witmer trio: En Azul highly recommended new Sound Liaison album.

The real challenge for a musician
once he has mastered his instrument
learned all about harmony and rhythm
absorbed the music of the masters that came before him
and found his own voice
the real challenge is one that in itself sounds very simple
place yourself in complete service of the music at hand
and play only what the music is asking for
but as every musician will tell you this is the most difficult of all musical challenges.

So many musicians these days are emphasizing the improvisation at the cost of the melody, with the result that .....''you got no melody to remember, and no beat to dance to''...
(Louis Armstrong)

Yes Ray Kimber is truly a jack of all trades.
Good engineering.

and it is also avaiable in PCM. They recorded simultaneously to 2 separate recorders.