Patricia Barber, Cafe Blue "un-mastered"

I thought I would write an opinion of the subject CD release. I won't call this a review since at this time I don't consider myself qualified to do a "review". I was perusing the Elusive Disc website and noticed a new version of this classic CD called UN-mastered. It is an SACD version which is billed as being as close to the original mix as possible. Wow, I thought, this has to beat the pants off my Premonition Records good old redbook CD! But how could it be any better? If you are familiar with this release, the audio quality is amazing.

I went ahead with the purchase looking to hear Ms. Barber and her band in even better clarity, crispness, presence, and sound stage.The liner notes say that this mix was done at Capital Studio's in Hollywood, "where the digital multi-track was mixed in the analog domain and the analog chambers were used to produce ambience and reverb" as described by Gus Skinas of the Super Audio Center.

I should note that my play back device is an Ayre C-5xeMP which is routed through a Plinius Tautoro pre and SA-103 amp. The amp drives Legacy Audio Focus speakers. I popped the disc into the Ayre and notice the SACD indication showing in the window along with the associated LED light indicator. I turned the volume up a bit and was immediately struck by how (please forgive me Ms. Barber) dry it sounded. I let the first track play through and thought, ok to be fair, I won't touch anything except to replace the SACD version with the redbook. I made the switch and there it was. That magical deep sound of the bass, the great vocals etc. I tried a few more tracks using the A/B method and came to the same conclusion after each one.

What was missing in this mix is the processing that normally occurs from the studio feed, reverb, delay, EQ, etc. This SACD sounds (and basically is) the studio feed without the processing, which is essentially a "live on tape" studio feed recording. There is some reverb due to the "analog chambers" whatever they are, but it is pretty much just as if you were hearing the musicians playing live in front of you with no sound treatment and in a studio environment where reflections and natural room acoustics are kept at a minimum. Now, I will admit that the overall recording quality is good, but this mix in my mind leaves a lot to be desired. Sorry Gus but I am very disappointed in this version. It does come in a great case though!