Please test this Tidal MQA track

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 :smiley:

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]).

:slight_smile:

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.

Does the „red“ album version in Tidal lead you to the same results?

I hear the wobbling in a short section right around the 12 second mark. Weird.

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.

This is what I mean, and this has nothing to do with the piano being slightly out of tune, what it is by the way in all versions and the whole album.

Somewhat relieved that @erich6 has the same impression.

Listening to the rest of the album to see if it shows up anywhere else. I do like the way the bass sounds in the MQA version though.

Agreed, the MQA version adds more 3D and colors to the bass.

I’m not a mastering engineer but this “sounds” right. It’s like when one of my cassettes would have that problem in my walkman :stuck_out_tongue:

You mean the other tracks sound right?

Sorry, I meant @wizardofoz description of the wobbling “sounds right.” Should have said “makes sense.” Sorry for the counter-pun.

My bad, got it. Yes it sounds like the old cassette days with wobbling.

Edit:
But if this was the reason it would also be apparent in the non-MQA version, wouldn‘t it? This is what confuses me and keeps me thinking.

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.

Good guess. The reason behind I’ve started this topic is to exclude MQA decoding issues within Roon, and to exclude playback issues in my environment.

So far a big thanks to all of you for participating!!!

MQA version starts wobbling about five seconds in. The other two versions sound steady as a rock.

I think it’s the master. I hear it in the iTunes stream also.

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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!

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