Thank you for your replies.
I realized I got confused when reading the DR site.
Fact is I also have the Germany 1983 release. I think I bought it right after the K2HD, and for some reasons I totally forgot about it. Maybe I was unhappy of my discoveries at the time
@Richard: About nostalgia, this is exactly what my wife told me when we ran some tests together. She plays the piano and has a better hearing than me. We listened to the SACD and 1997 release, and both preferred the later. That's when she brought the idea that it's the one version we are used to listen to, so our memory tend to go to this one. The SACD version is good, but different. Nothing we can have against it, but we always ended up preferring the 1997 release.
@Wombat: That's your message which reminded me about that 1983 version. It's exactly the one I have (Germany - 810 047-2).
So, I decided to run some additional tests
Here below are the 4 CDs I have:
From top left to bottom right:
- (1983) - Germany - 810 047-2 (Initial Release)
- (1997) - US - 314 521 442-2 (Verve Master Release)
- (2009) - US - LIM K2HD 032 (K2HD Version)
- (2017) - Japan - UCCU-8004 (UHQ version)
I ripped all the CDs into WAV (on the same PC) and then ran the DR test. Here are the results (same order as above):
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Analyzed folder: \Oscar Peterson Trio - We Get Requests (1983) - Germany - 810 047-2\
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DR Peak RMS Filename
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DR11 -2.74 dB -16.54 dB 01 Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars).wav
DR13 -0.14 dB -15.28 dB 02 The Days of Wine and Roses.wav
DR12 -2.62 dB -19.21 dB 03 My One and Only Love.wav
DR12 -0.59 dB -15.08 dB 04 People.wav
DR13 -0.40 dB -16.53 dB 05 Have You Met Miss Jones-.wav
DR13 -1.83 dB -17.83 dB 06 You Look Good to Me.wav
DR12 -1.40 dB -15.88 dB 07 The Girl from Ipanema.wav
DR12 -0.37 dB -16.44 dB 08 D & E.wav
DR12 -4.40 dB -21.91 dB 09 Time and Again.wav
DR13 -0.00 dB -16.01 dB 10 Goodbye, J.D.wav
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of files: 10
Official DR value: DR12
==============================================================================================
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed folder: \Oscar Peterson Trio - We Get Requests (1997) - US - 314 521 442-2\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Filename
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR12 -0.00 dB -15.14 dB 01 Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars).wav
DR15 -0.00 dB -16.42 dB 02 The Days of Wine and Roses.wav
DR13 -1.85 dB -20.55 dB 03 My One and Only Love.wav
DR14 -0.00 dB -16.75 dB 04 People.wav
DR15 -0.00 dB -19.48 dB 05 Have You Met Miss Jones-.wav
DR14 over -17.63 dB 06 You Look Good to Me.wav
DR11 -0.00 dB -13.82 dB 07 The Girl from Ipanema.wav
DR13 over -16.83 dB 08 D & E.wav
DR13 -3.81 dB -22.96 dB 09 Time and Again.wav
DR13 over -14.95 dB 10 Goodbye, J.D.wav
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of files: 10
Official DR value: DR13
==============================================================================================
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed folder: \Oscar Peterson Trio - We Get Requests (2009) - US - LIM K2HD 032\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Filename
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR11 over -15.06 dB 01 You Look Good To Me.wav
DR13 -0.18 dB -18.27 dB 02 Time and Again.wav
DR12 -0.17 dB -16.54 dB 03 My One and Only Love.wav
DR10 -0.09 dB -12.27 dB 04 Corcovado (Quiet Night of Quiet Stars).wav
DR12 over -14.02 dB 05 The Day of Wine and Roses.wav
DR12 over -13.45 dB 06 People.wav
DR12 over -15.78 dB 07 Have You Met Miss Jones-.wav
DR10 over -12.06 dB 08 The Girl From Ipanema.wav
DR13 over -15.80 dB 09 D. & E.wav
DR11 over -12.39 dB 10 Goodbye J.D.wav
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of files: 10
Official DR value: DR12
==============================================================================================
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed folder: \Oscar Peterson Trio - We Get Requests (2017) - Japan - UCCU-8004\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Filename
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR12 -0.20 dB -16.67 dB 01 Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars).wav
DR14 -0.20 dB -16.22 dB 02 The Days of Wine and Roses.wav
DR13 -1.89 dB -20.34 dB 03 My One and Only Love.wav
DR14 -0.20 dB -16.43 dB 04 People.wav
DR14 -0.20 dB -18.12 dB 05 Have You Met Miss Jones-.wav
DR13 -0.20 dB -17.26 dB 06 You Look Good to Me.wav
DR13 -0.20 dB -16.16 dB 07 The Girl from Ipanema.wav
DR13 -0.20 dB -17.13 dB 08 D & E.wav
DR13 -3.76 dB -23.17 dB 09 Time and Again.wav
DR14 -0.20 dB -16.75 dB 10 Goodbye, J.D.wav
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of files: 10
Official DR value: DR13
==============================================================================================
Pay attention to the fact that tracks are in a different order on the K2HD...
I then did a very quick test of the song "
You Look Good To Me" (it's the one I prefer) of each release.
I used 4 different headsets to average my perceptions:
As you can see, HD650, HiFiman 400i, Oppo PM-3 and an Audio-Technica ATH-M50x.
I didn't have the time to un-box the RME Audio ADI2-DAC (that I purchased based on the good review of Amir here) but I will test again in the future.
On the headsets side, I like the Audio Technica because it is a kind of magnifier. It easily reveals a lot of things, although it's not my preferred one to enjoy music. But that does not matter much at the moment.
Find below my quick review for each album (track "You Look Good To Me" only):
- (1983) - Germany - 810 047-2 (Initial Release) : Tons of distorsion!! I think my current amplifier (tube) does not help here. The test with the RME will be welcome. Anyway, from 3min, there's a lot of distorsion, not good at all and with all headsets. EDIT: same result on my standard home HiFi system, very bad.
- (1997) - US - 314 521 442-2 (Verve Master Release) : Distorsion is almost gone, and it is audible only with the Audio Technica (it might be my amplifier, I'll confirm with the RME later).
- (2009) - US - LIM K2HD 032 (K2HD Version) : It plays much louder! It is very complicated to compare. Behind the scene, I think it is the same source (same master) but I have the feeling it's been digitally EQed after ADC. I can't be sure but it sounds "all over the place", pushing some frequencies and compressing others, but never the same throughout the track. I don't like the end result, for sure.
- (2017) - Japan - UCCU-8004 (UHQ version) : Distorsion is gone, even with the Audio Technica. This version sounds like a clean release of the 1997 I have. I really like it. I did not play it much, but it could be my preferred one. More tests requires
There you go. It could be the demonstration of the beginning of the end of a war. I hope so. The UHQ version sounds really better on my perspective. So I'm happy that we made tangible progress here.
I also tested the SACD version (PS3 Rip to ISO) and the DSD files from store.acousticsounds.com
There's a lot to say there, but it's for next time
Cheers