Babindák, Juhász, Papesch, Pettik Kvartett — mini concert LP
It’s time to retire Jazz At The Pawnshop as a reference recording.
This post is about the release of the 180 grm, 45 rpm, 30-minute LP (EP?) with the live mini concert recording of the Babindak, Juhász, Papesch, Pettik Kvartett (then called Besh o DroM Kvartett) at the XXII. Hifi Show in Budapest, in October.
We are talking about a special release in many aspects:
- music that crosses genre boundaries (world music, folk music, smooth jazz), full of energy, performed by fantastic artists
- Recorded live to tape at the hi-fi show in October, in DSD256 and 4 channel (Quadrophonic ) PCM digital version.
- The recording was made with the unique 4 microphone set (“Kobak”) shown in the picture
- Our intention was to record the concert as a kind of “hologram”, with the ambient space, without changing the proportions of the live sound, capturing the sound that the people in the front row, a few meters away from the musicians, could listen to.
- There was no manipulation or processing of any kind in the recordings; the 4 pieces DPA 4063 microphones installed in the “Kobak” signal were sent to the recording equipment via a high-quality analogue sound mixer, through high quality pure copper and silver cables, without effects or dynamics manipulation.
- the recording will be produced in one of the most prestigious European factories, as a release by a Hungarian label known for its high standards, cut directly from the production tape
- limited edition of 300 copies, with a personalised signing available at a small surcharge for those who wish to pre-order. We will also explore the possibility of doing this for full-price editions.
After listening to the DSD256 recordings, I thought something significant had been created. Musically and technically, it would be a shame not to share it with the public beyond the 60 or 70 people who could attend the concert live.
When I posted short DSD256 recording samples from the mini-concerts (downloaded more than 2500 times), I asked several local hi-fi Facebook groups how many people would be interested in pre-ordering (in exchange for a more significant discount) so that we could possibly release this audiophile LP. In 48 hours, I received 130 pre-order applications, which exceeded all my expectations, and I had to close the applications; buying at a pre-release rate is no longer possible.
So, the project was launched.
As the production may take 3–4 months, we will keep you updated on the progress on our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554402603569
This is the first community-funded, all-around audiophile, 45 rpm fully analogue LP release, produced in a well-known European factory in the history of Hungarian music scene.
Making the production tape and then the tape transfer to DSD256 was completed at Dream Audio Components showroom, a few weeks ago, without any further post-production, mastering.
Gabi Rijnveld of Siltech and Crystal Cable (IAH) was very kind to send lots of power, XLR interconnect, Ethernet cables, so we used them for making these transfers as good as it gets.
We used the highest possible quality tools for quality checking, like Focal Utopia 2022 headphone and Naim amplification, different DAPs.
A sample track of the album’s production tape (Side B, Track 2 of the LP) can be downloaded in its raw DSD256, .dsf file version. It is as close to the quality of the production tape, as it gets.
If you do not have any device to play the DSD file, please download the Tascam Hi-Res editor software for real-time and offline conversion to .wav.
https://tascam.com/us/product/hi-res_editor/top
The DSD256 recording will be available from nativedsd.com.
The LP and a copy of the production tape will be released by GR1993 Records and is expected to be number GR-170. It will be available for purchase in GR1993Records’s webshop.
https://gr1993records.com/index.php/shop/?lang=en
About the performers:
