Miles Davis – Bitches Brew

12/5/24

It took me years to appreciate this album, mainly because I was using a CD based on the original mix for the first few years, and my playback system was lousy despite being popular and recommended by supposed experts. The remix brought out a lot of the detail that was buried in the background in the original mix, and only when I upgraded my DAC to a Zen DAC V2 (which I leave powered-up continuously for best sound quality) and started using the Deadbeef music player in bit-perfect mode to drive it [1] did I hear the nuances and details which make the music so great. I had been using the Zen with the Clementine and Strawberry players, and before that, I was using Clementine with a Topping D10s. Now I can't stand Strawberry, Clementine, or the D10s (which didn't improve after being left powered-up for a day).

So, when I first listened to the 99 BB CD via the Deadbeef/Zen combo, I was prepared to listen to it as background music again in hopes that it would sink in, but ended up being immersed in it. But the cymbals are dirty, which isn't surprising considering that the remix was reportedly made directly from a 30-year-old analog multi-track master (apparently the previously unused back-up copy made in parallel with the primary), and the loud, complex ages sound somewhat dirty, although that problem appears to be due to the ADC used for the 99 release, because those ages sound cleaner in later releases (particularly the 2022 release). The mixer's output was fortunately recorded on analog tape, allowing it to be redigitized as ADC technology improved.

So, this release would probably sound best on systems without much high-end extension, so that the worst of the high-frequency noise would be filtered out, or with a good digital equalizer so that the high end response could be tweaked.

Notes

[1] I'm running Deadbeef on a live Snapshot installation MX-Linux 23.3 on a mini-PC and using it to drive a Zen DAC V2 via a 15ft USB3 cable. The DAC is powered up constantly, for best sound quality, by means of a cheap 5V wall-wart, which is probably as good as iFi's expensive units.

An MX-Linux Snapshot is an ISO made from an installation of MX-Linux using the Snapshot tool which is included with MX-Linux. This capability is exclusive to MX-Linux and antiX. Installations made with the Snapshot are identical to the one from which the Snapshot was made. So, I added Deadbeef to an MX-Linux installation, configured Deadbeef for bit-perfect playback, then made a Snapshot, and used the Snapshot to make a live installation which includes Deadbeef configured for bit-perfect playback through a Zen DAC by default.

However, I've had problems with the audio being interrupted with Strawberry and Deadbeef, although it's been such a minor issue with Deadbeef that I can live with it. When it crops up, I just reboot the MX-Linux live installation, and it's good for a few hours at least. Music players running on Windows apparently have similar problems.

If you want 100% reliability, I suggest an Android device with a USB-C port running the Neutron player, which has bit-perfect capability and polarity-inversion, but not both simultaneously. The developer claims that its DSP is so good that bit-perfect mode isn't required, but DSP puts a load on the U and would tend to drain the battery more quickly, although Neutron supposedly uses efficient code.

Android 14 includes bit-perfect capability, so there will probably be more players with a bit-perfect mode in the near future, but they won't have Neutron's high-quality DSP or polarity control. Some CDs have inverted polarity and sound much better with their polarity corrected. I use Audacity to invert the files.

I also suggest any decent-quality external DAC which has a separate power input so that it can be left powered-up all the time for best sound quality (it does make a difference for some DACs, although nobody knows why), and which uses TI/Burr-Brown Advanced Segment DAC-chips (ASDs), also known as "bit-perfect" and "true native" DACs, although these latter might be used for other types of DACs as well, and they don't reflect the actual reasons for ASDs' superiority. The real reason for ASDs' superiority is the fact that they're non-R2R ladder DACs for bits 1-6, and DS-DACs for bits 7-24, so that they generate less noise for a given amount of clock jitter, and the DS-DAC section (which is inherently linear) has tighter control over low-level detail because it covers only 1/64th of the total range. (ASDs have 25-bit linearity and can reproduce -120 dB sinewaves cleanly.) ASDs are used in Audio Research and Bel Canto DACs, which are among the best. But they're also used in some cheap DACs such as the Soundavo HP-DAC1, and in various audio and video components, including TVs (which explained how my cheap TV can sound so good). Regular DS-DACs obviously can be made to sound good, but it costs more to do so.

To configure Deadbeef for bit-perfect playback on Linux using a Zen, you would do the following:

(a) Click on the Edit, then Preferences.

(b) In the Preferences window, select the "Sound" tab, set "Output plugin" to "ALSA output plugin" and "Output device" to the relevant device, which in my case was the Zen DAC driver described as "iFi (by AMR) HD USB Audio - Direct hardware device without any conversions" (my Zen DAC V2 was plugged into the PC, so its drivers were added to the list).

(c) Then select the Plugins tab and click on "ALSA output plugin" so that the relevant settings appear on the right side of the window, and then UN-CHECK "Use ALSA resampling." (Resampling to a higher frequency doesn't add information - it just represents approximately the same waveform, with a higher sampling rate. At best, the resampling process is transparent but a high-quality process might consume a significant portion of system resources, and electrical power. So, avoid resampling if possible.)

Deadbeef, when first installed, is very simple, but it can be configured with a wide variety of plugins to provide just about any feature you could want.

[2] To flip the audio polarity, invert the files (presumably lossless) with an audio editor, or flip the polarity on each speaker connection (assuming ive speakers). Some high-end consumer gear, a lot of pro-grade gear, and the Neutron music player has polarity controls. Some DAC-chips include a polarity-control function, but it's rarely used in consumer gear.

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Warning

If you use the following polarity-control technique, mute the audio before flipping the polarity, to protect your amps and speakers.

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You can add a polarity control to a system with ive speakers using DPDT AC power switches in an electrical box in-line with the speaker cables - cross connect the throws, apply the input across the poles and take the output from the throws, or vice versa. Use audiophile-grade speaker cable, and spade lugs soldered onto the wires for all switch-connections, for solid connections. But mute the audio before flipping the polarity, to protect your amp and speakers.

After the universal success of the 4-CD Deluxe Box, The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (C4K 65570), Legacy has expanded and improved upon the original 2-LP set in several key ways. The same 20-Bit Digitally Remixed & Remastered sources from the box set have been used for this reissue, which now includes one rare bonus track - "Feio" by Wayne Shorter. The classic original liners by Ralph J. Gleason are reprinted New liners by Michael Cuscuna and Bob Belden shed new light on the creation of Bitches Brew, including commentary from many musicians. Booklet is full of rare and/or previously unpublished photos. COLLECTIVE PERSONNEL: Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Bennie Maupin, Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin, Harvey Brooks, Don Alias, Lenny White, Jumma Santos, Larry Young.