Thanks Tom. I was wondering if the new one was worth adding to the collection... I'm reading 

<http://www.amazon.com/Kind-Blue-Making-Miles-Masterpiece/dp/0306815583/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384959577&sr=1-1&keywords=%22kind+of+blue%22>

right now so maybe a good time for a new listen...

<L>

On Nov 20, 2013, at 3:44 AM, Tom Fine wrote:

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_p7Qbb_LAo
> 
> Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" archival transfer made by Mark Wilder on an ATR-100.
> 
> This text (below) copied from the Kind of Blue description at HDTracks.com (HIGHLY recommend the new 192/24 downloads of BOTH stereo and mono, they sound fantastic): The new mono mix is also in the new Miles Davis Mono CD box set. As I understand the description below and in other interviews with Wilder and Berkowitz, the 192/24 transfer from the 3-track was a straight, high-quality NAB playback. Then all remixing and remastering was done by bringing the 3-track high-resolution digital back out to analog, mixing and processing using analog equipment, and then back to a 192/24 stereo (and mono) master.
> 
> -----------------------------------------------
> Kind of Blue Becomes Digital, by Engineer Mark Wilder
> 
> "Since the Kind of Blue mixed masters are multiple generations from the original (due to excessive play/wear), we decided to go directly to the original session reels. Not only does this put us at the original session as a starting point, but it also allows us to deal with the pitch issue as well.
> 
> The three, 3-track half-inch tapes are in good condition, but age has force them to "scallop" a little, meaning that the edges curl away from the tape head. This changed the initial focus from mixing from the originals to archiving them before mixing and working from the archive files. This allowed us to gently guide the tape against the playback head to get optimal contact and fidelity.
> 
> The archiving was done at 192kHz/24 bits, played from a modified Ampex ATR 104, and hard-wired to HDCD Model 2's directly patched to a Lynx 2 sound card.
> 
> An upside to working from the archive files was the ability to chase the original fader moves done during the mix in 1959. We constantly compared to an early pressing - mono and stereo - and worked bar by bar to duplicate the level moves on the three tracks to match as well as possible.
> 
> Each channel was converted to analog and passed through a GML mixer, bussed to stereo or mono - depending on the release format - and converted once again to 192Kc/24 bits. At the GML, we inserted processing where needed."
> 
> - Mark Wilder, Battery Studios
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> 
> -- Tom Fine