I had the same issue…but I am hearing it roon… maybe the remastered version they messed up the tape tensions…my muso friend doesnt have tidal so he couldnt check it. he plays not only bass but also piano.
Cruisey little album…might give it some time on the Audeze iSine10’s while I have a beer in the lounge… 2:1 at the moment
Edit … listening now but unfortunately not in a very quiet area…as im traveling the next week I might not get time to get back to this but I guess others might chime in. At least with versions option in 1.5 its much easier to tell the different masterings apart…I see 3 on Tidal in Roon
Pitch variations have nothing to do with what Joel described in his post. The first note Peterson plays is a C. The second is an E, the third a G, the fourth an F sharp, the fifth an A and so on… The (frequency-related) pitch of these tones doesn’t vary in the way you describe - not in any of the versions I compared. (I’m a professional pianist and have perfect pitch - I’m not saying this to show off, but to let you know that I fully understand what you’re talking about). However, the piano is slightly out of tune (pitch difference between inner and outer strings of keys, particularly noticeable in the intro [e.g. E and F sharp]).
The red version is what I have in 4 versions up to DSD. There is no wobbling whatsoever in it. It seems to be with the non-red master but to me apparent with the MQA version of it only.
based on the vintage of the recording maybe the tape has not been well kept and that was the best the engineers could do without major effort or the engineers had the tensions a little to tight maybe and some binding was happening. Without knowing more about the transfer process its hard to say…assuming it was remastered from tape.
It might be if the mastering was done at the same time from the same tape machine…but I’m guessing the CD version was perhaps mastered many years ago - maybe before the tape or machine had issues. could have even been done on completely different equipment and a different master copy for that matter
If this was lifted from the tape specifically for MQA then the other versions could be from copies of the master going back years when it was in better shape.
Beaten to it by Wiz.
I don’t mean to come off as pedantic, but for me “frequency wobbling” (wow and flutter, speed fluctuations etc.) isn’t the same as “varying pitch”. The pitch of a given tone stays the same throughout the whole piece - despite the “wobbling”. What we hear in this recording doesn’t resemble a singer with intonation issues! The “wobbling” is easily audible in the MQA version (and in none of the other versions I know), but this CANNOT have anything to do with decoding issues. It rather sounds like a tape-related problem, but shouldn’t be confused with actual pitch drops or rises within the recording. BTW, the piano is slightly out of tune in all the versions I listened to and not only in the track under discussion.
Looks like the situation with that master tape was “complicated”
Mr George Marino, mastering responsible for the latest Verve Vinyl Reissues says:
“ The one problem we had was an Oscar Peterson one - We Get Requests. We played through it and there was a lot of weirdness going on, and the tape was really deteriating. But what happened was they got the original three-track on that, and the three-track was great. So it all worked out in the end. That was the one tape that gave us a headache.”
So imagine that, We get Requests, of course, is a timeless audiophile classic. But the stereo master was shot. Given that we know the three-track hadn’t been used before, this means that all those great reissues of this record to date? They were all made from copies of the master.
Now we get to hear the original three-track master, cut at 45 RPM!
And it’s the best sounding of all of the tapes, Marino says. Excellent sounding record.
If you want to hear Oscar Peterson at his best, you have to get said Verve reissue on VINYL.
It’s just great sounding!