2019 Brutus Awards for RecordingsImpressions: My 2019 Brutus Awards for Recordings, Labels, Sites, & Streaming Services

E-in-C Robinson going deep with the Sonoma Acoustics reference headphone system at AXPONA 2018 (photograph by Martin Roberts; image processing by David W. Robinson)

Recordings, Labels, Sites, & Streaming Services

This installment of my 2019 Brutus Award announcements will be relatively short and to the point. I've talked about many of this year's winners in past years, and so will be keeping my comments tight.

NativeDSD.com

Jonas Sacks: a portrait. THE Show, Newport Beach, CA, 2016

Once again, Jonas Sacks, Jared Sacks, Floor van der Holst, and company have shown themselves to be the true cutting-edge powerhouse of DSD albums. With 68 labels participating in the NativeDSD download distribution system, and 1,725 DSD/DXD albums for sale online, NativeDSD offers DSD lovers like myself a very wide range of music that was either recorded in DSD or DXD, or was transferred from analog tape to DSD.

They currently support DSD64, DSD128, DSD256, and are now releasing titles all the way out to DSD512. Smashing!

Innovative, passionate, and clearly committed to the best possible sound in audio recordings, and home base for all things DSD/DXD…that's NativeDSD.

And one of my 2019 Brutus Awards to them in appreciation of their efforts.

High Definition Tape Transfers

Christopher Witrak of HDTT at AXPONA 2015

Bob Witrak, the Big Kahuna at High Definition Tape Transfers (HDTT), has been one of the major sources of excellent transfers from analog masters/safeties to DSD, DXD, and other high-resolution PCM formats.

HDTT has been around for many years now. Bob and I first connected when he was sending out higher resolution PCM on optical discs. Over time, we discussed the virtues of DSD, and as he had shifted to a Web-based download site method of distribution, he became interested in producing DSD transfers from the best of his tapes. He purchased a HAPI A/D converter from Merging Technologies, and soon his transfers of DSD128 (Double) and DSD256 (Quad) DSD became reference favorites here at PF River-City-and-up-the-hill.

The thing that I like particularly with HDTT is that the A&R is outstanding for classical and jazz selections, including some top-notch names, but the titles are not the same old warhorses that are so well known from other sources. If you'd like to see some great music that you don't often see, then HDTT is an absolutely mandatory site for you to visit.

Once again Bob Witrak and company take one of my Brutus Awards…keep ‘em coming, Bob!

Blue Coast Records

Cookie Marenco of Blue Coast Records at the LA Audio Show, 2017

Ah! Blue Coast!

I have a warm spot in my heart for Cookie Marenco and company. Cookie has been in the recording biz for decades now, going all the way back to her days with Windham Hill. I still have a ton of WH LPs and CDs around the place here, and enjoy the groove that they put me into when I hear them.

Patrick O'Connor (left) of Blue Coast Records and Dominique Brulhart of Merging Technologies at THE Show 2016

Since shifting to DSD and opening up the Blue Coast Records high-resolution download site, Cookie has produced a megaton of fine recordings, all easily purchased at her site. She regularly sends out informative newsletters on their latest productions, and is active in championing high-resolution audio in general, and DSD in particular, at various trade shows and forums in the USA.

Blue Coast artist Fiona Joy: a portrait by firelight. The LA Audio Show, 2017

I like her A&R quite a lot, with artists like Fiona Joy being special favorites of mine. Downloads are the main thrust of Blue Coast Records these days, but you can still get SACDs and other disc formats there. Check the BCR site for the latest available.

Cookie and company are faithful and true to the very finest in audio values in our recorded music. Once again in 2019, I must recognize the excellence at Blue Coast Records with one of my Brutus Awards.

Channel Classics

Jared Sacks of Channel Classics with Brian Zolner of Bricasti Design at AXPONA 2015

Jared Sacks is a musician himself, but also a first-rate world-class producer and audio engineer whose recordings at Channel Classics have been another very reliable source of reference-level DSD recordings. Jared hosts a rich collection of albums that showcase his excellent performers (I am a particular fan of the work of Ivan Fischer and the Budapest.)

Jared is a person of exceptional sensibilities, which makes him remarkable as a producer. His audio engineering has been flawless from the earliest days, and his recordings…a list that is always growing…are always reference quality.

Another year; another Brutus Award for Jared and company at Channel Classics!