Miles Davis – Bitches Brew

Does this edition sound better than, for example, the other great, highly regarded Miles Davis - Bitches Brew? 🤔.

Honestly, after an initial listening to and comparing the two pressings, I have to say it's all about the nuances. But I can only echo the enthusiastic opinions of the other s below. On my system, this UltraDisc One-Step sounds phenomenal. But again, is it better?

Ultimately, and I can only emphasize this again, whether or not you will hear a remarkable difference depends all on your personal system configuration, room environment, signal chain, and, most importantly, the condition of your ears / hearing!

For everyday use—and let's face it, that won't be too often, as you have to be in the right mind-set to fully embrace this fantastic but polarising LP—I will continue to stick with the UltraDisc One-Step deluxe box-set is reserved for truly special listening occasions only 😉.

Anyway, this is unquestionably the endgame-pressing of Miles Davis' genre-defining masterpiece. IMHO, the presentation, mastering, sound and vinyl quality can meet the highest demands of even the most discerning Jazz (-Fusion) collectors. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION 😊👍👍.

I own the 2014 MOFI release. Any comparisons? Wondering if the difference is drastic enough to warrant the pricey upgrade?

Exceptional pressing, but not the album for a novice Mile Davis fan. I love Miles, but I have always been on the fence with this one. I like more melodic jazz, yet this is still an important album in the vast work of Miles Davis. Worthy addition to have, just check out his older stuff first.

I have about 20 different Bitches Brew pressing (including promos, originals, MoFi, 40th anniversary)...and this one is the best. Flat, quiet and stereo separation is amazing. This will be my go to copy from now on.

Arrived yesterday. Fantastic. Title is in stock for $125 at online retailers; ignore Discogs flippers.

Wow, this tops the 40th and previous MOFI version. It sounds extremely natural and detailed. Very dynamic as well. Soundstage is absolutely fantastic. I have a dozen of the One Steps and this is the best so far to my ears. Records are flat and very quiet.

1999 BB CD: the best remix-CD I've heard

After trying a few Bitches Brew remix-CDs, including the original (1999) release, the 2006 release, and the 2022 release sold on Amazon, I've concluded that the 1999 release is the best of the bunch, and that it has the correct audio polarity, contrary to what I claimed elsewhere. When I originally auditioned the 1999 release, I hadn't wrapped my head around some of the music. I didn't "get" the title track until recently, while listening to the 2022 release with inverted audio polarity.

For a while, I thought that the 2022 release was the best version, but then listened to the 1999 release again. Because I had finally wrapped my head around the title track, which for me was the toughest and last to "get," I was able to concentrate on the sound quality better than I was when I originally auditioned it, and realized that it has the best SQ of the remix-CDs I've heard. There might be better ones, but after finally hearing the 1999, I don't need any better ones.

The high end is dry and a bit on the dirty side, but it's really quite detailed and liquid considering that the analog multi-track session master used for the remix was 30 years old at the time. Two multi-tracks were made during the recording session; one was used for the original mix, and the other was put in storage, without being used until it was used for the remix. The remix was all continuous analog (no discontinuous two-level analog, a.k.a. digital), recorded on analog tape, and then digitized, for the best sound quality, according to Mark Wilder. This allowed the analog master to be re-digitized as better ADC technology was introduced, although it was already very good in 1998.

Another reason I previously believed that the 2022 version was the best is that I assumed that the later versions wouldn't have been made unless they were improvements on the original.

Good digital playback gear is required to appreciate the greatness of the music. It wasn't until I got a Zen DAC V2, and drove it with Deadbeef in bit-perfect mode, that I began to understand the music. Before that, I had a few lousy Chinese boxes, the best of which was a Topping D10s, which I can no longer tolerate.

The keys to the Zen's sound are apparently a "femto clock" (sub-picosecond jitter specified in femtoseconds), and the use of TI/Burr-Brown Advanced Segment DAC-chips (ASDs), which are used in Audio Research and Bel Canto DACs, which are some of the best at any price. Until I stumbled onto ASDs, about 20 years after they were introduced, I wondered why my cheap TV sounds so "analog."

There are a few ASD models, and a less precise variant known as Current Segment DACs. ASDs act like R2R-DACs for bits 1-6, except that instead of six binary-weighted bits providing 63 combinations, there are 63 equally-weighted bits, which are randomized to convert the linearity error into noise. The advantage of using ladder DACs for the most significant bits is low output noise vs. clock jitter. Bits 7-24 are covered by a DS-DAC, which provides incredible low-level detail because DS-DACs are inherently linear and in this case covers only 1/64th of the total amplitude-range. One of the papers published by the design team includes an oscillograph of an impressively clean -120 db 1 kHz sinewave, and that was before femto-clocks (introduced circa 2010).

Regular DS-DACs such as AKMs and Sabre DACs can be made to sound very good, but for a price. ASDs aren't compatible with the A-to-D process, so digital recordings these days are made with regular DS-ADCs with extremely low-jitter clocks.

I think this sounds pretty good especially for the money. Mine does have a pretty loud tape hum on the quiet part during the beginning of title track, Bitches Brew, which is side 2. Is this a product of the master recording?

Weren't the new (2024) batch pressed at MoFi's in-house Fidelity Record Pressing (FRP) and, if so, wouldn't that compel a new listing?

My copy has terrible vinyl pressing. Fresh out of the sealed box, it had strong distortion on the trumpet, constant cracle and generally muddy sound. quality, Washing didn't help. Horrible.