Kickstarter for Jerome Sabbagh/Greg Tuohey "No Filter"

[Jerome Sabbagh]

Hello everyone,

This is Jerome Sabbagh writing. I am a saxophonist and audiophile. I was recently profiled in the Stereophile series Musicians as Audiophiles. Personally, I enjoy listening to vinyl and high resolution files, and I buy both.

Three years ago, the support of audiophiles of all stripes helped make my album "The Turn" a reality. "The Turn" made a few "best of" lists for 2014 (LA Times, Boston Globe, DownBeat) and was also favorably reviewed in Stereophile and Analog Planet.

 

I recently recorded a new album, "No Filter", a project I co-lead with my old friend - and fantastic guitarist - Greg Tuohey. Like "The Turn", this record was recorded live to two track 1/2 inch tape at 30 ips by James Farber at Sear Sound. It will be mastered and cut to vinyl directly from the tape by Bernie Grundman but 96/24 downloads will also be available, as well as CDs. I am raising funds to make this happen. The ADC of choice at Bernie Grundman Mastering are modified Lavry Gold and JCF. I'm hoping to audition both and pick the one that sounds best for the digital versions. I've had good experiences with both converters, which was a factor in picking this particular studio.

Click here for Kickstarter link

I am happy to answer any and all questions and hope you might consider supporting this. We are shooting for an October release on Sunnyside Records.

Thank you!

Jerome Sabbagh

[firedog]

I don't playback vinyl anymore, but I liked your last album, so I backed the hi-res download.

Make it a good sounding one!

[spin33]

I have your last album ‘The Turn’ and enjoy it in both formats (vinyl and 96/24 download). I’ve preordered the vinyl & 96/24 combo pkg of ‘No Filter’ and am greatly looking forward to it! (Especially the vinyl :-)

[Jerome Sabbagh]

4 hours ago, spin33 said:

I have your last album ‘The Turn’ and enjoy it in both formats (vinyl and 96/24 download). I’ve preordered the vinyl & 96/24 combo pkg of ‘No Filter’ and am greatly looking forward to it! (Especially the vinyl :-)

 

Thanks a lot spin33! I hope you will like the new one as well!

[Jerome Sabbagh]

5 hours ago, firedog said:

I don't playback vinyl anymore, but I liked your last album, so I backed the hi-res download.

Make it a good sounding one!

 

Thanks firedog! Please rest assured that even as the project is rooted in the analog domain, the 96/24 high res download won't be an afterthought. In fact, it's the first thing we will fine-tune at mastering in terms of EQ, limiting (which there should not be a lot of) etc. The settings for the 96/24 will actually be the guide for the vinyl, as it's easier to get the digital right first. 

 

Thanks for your backing!

[Jerome Sabbagh]

Hi,

I wanted to let everyone know that we officially reached the goal on Kickstarter for "No Filter", which allows us to move forward. I am psyched and grateful for the support on this board and elsewhere. I will keep you informed. The Kickstarter is still open for another 3 weeks or so. Thank you!

 

Jerome Sabbagh

[Jerome Sabbagh]

Some of you have backed my new Kickstarter for "No Filter" and as a thank you for the support, I wanted to share a couple of preview tracks with you. They are streaming here:

 

https://soundcloud.com/jeromesabbagh/sets/jerome-sabbagh-greg-tuohey-no-filter

 

Mastering Engineer Bernie Grundman gave us a few options to choose from in the beginning and, after extensive listening, we ended up going with no EQ, which allowed us to bypass the mastering board for an even purer signal path. 

 

For the vinyl, Bernie has cut a test lacquer of a song two ways, one on his solid state lathe and one on his tube lathe. We’re going to pick the one that sounds best to us to cut the vinyl directly from the tape.

 

I have a master at 96/24 and if anyone here would like to hear the two tracks at 96/24, please PM me and I will send a link.

 

I hope you will enjoy the music and consider supporting this project, if you haven’t done so already. There are 5 days left:

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1834848136/jerome-sabbagh-greg-tuohey-no-filter-analog-vinyl

 

Thank you!

 

Jerome Sabbagh

 

[firedog]

The streaming sounds good, so I'm really looking forward to hearing the final release!

[Jerome Sabbagh]

Hi,

 

I wanted to keep everyone here updated. No Filter is out in all digital formats. Those of you who backed the Kickstarter for high res should have received the files. I hope you enjoy them!

 

The album is available in 96/24 on HD Tracks and in 44.1/24 on Bandcamp. I've had to reject a couple of test pressings so the vinyl is late. I hope to have it in December. 

 

We had a couple of nice reviews, in Downbeat and Stereogum (scroll down past the middle of the page, there are a bunch of reviews).

 

Thank you to the members who supported this project! I welcome any and all feedback and I'm grateful for the support!

 

Jerome Sabbagh

www.jeromesabbagh.com

[crenca]

1 hour ago, Jerome Sabbagh said:

Hi,

 

I wanted to keep everyone here updated. No Filter is out in all digital formats. Those of you who backed the Kickstarter for high res should have received the files. I hope you enjoy them!

 

The album is available in 96/24 on HD Tracks and in 44.1/24 on Bandcamp. I've had to reject a couple of test pressings so the vinyl is late. I hope to have it in December. 

 

We had a couple of nice reviews, in Downbeat and Stereogum (scroll down past the middle of the page, there are a bunch of reviews).

 

Thank you to the members who supported this project! I welcome any and all feedback and I'm grateful for the support!

 

Jerome Sabbagh

www.jeromesabbagh.com

 

Thanks for the update!  Does HD Tracks have an exclusive to the 96/24 (which I assume is the "master", at least in sample rate terms), which means you are forced to downsample the Bandcamp version?

 

edit:  I would rather pay you (more) directly and get the 96/24 through Bandcamp, that's why I ask the question.

 

[Melvin]

Very nice album! I opted for the 16/44.1 version from Bandcamp .. great sound quality. If you're into high-res I bet this will sound fantastic. I also bought The Turn as well ?. Happy listening.

[firedog]

Bought the 24/96. SQ is very good. Music is also good. 

[Jerome Sabbagh]

18 hours ago, crenca said:

 

Thanks for the update!  Does HD Tracks have an exclusive to the 96/24 (which I assume is the "master", at least in sample rate terms), which means you are forced to downsample the Bandcamp version?

 

edit:  I would rather pay you (more) directly and get the 96/24 through Bandcamp, that's why I ask the question.

 

 

Hi Crenca,

 

Sunnyside (the record label) has the rights for all digital distribution. HD Tracks and other similar specialized outlets (Qobuz in Europe for example) have the 96/24. It made sense to me that the Bandcamp download, which is 44.1/24 and geared to everyone, would be cheap and the high resolution download more expensive. As to your last query, please PM me. Thanks for your interest!

 

edit: also to clarify, the Bandcamp version is not a downsample (see post below).

 

Best,

 

Jerome Sabbagh

[Jerome Sabbagh]

14 hours ago, Melvin said:

Very nice album! I opted for the 16/44.1 version from Bandcamp .. great sound quality. If you're into high-res I bet this will sound fantastic. I also bought The Turn as well ?. Happy listening.

 

Thanks Melvin! I'm glad you like it. FYI, the version on Bandcamp is 44.1/24, not 44.1/16. Also, it's not actually a downsample from the 96/24 but a separate mastering pass from the analog tape, done through the same JCF A to D converter at 44.1/24. Both Bernie Grundman and myself thought that approach generally sounds better so that's what we did, even though it costs more. The 96/24 still sounds better than the 44.1/24 though.

[Jerome Sabbagh]

4 hours ago, firedog said:

Bought the 24/96. SQ is very good. Music is also good. 

 

Thank you!

[Melvin]

4 hours ago, Jerome Sabbagh said:

 

Thanks Melvin! I'm glad you like it. FYI, the version on Bandcamp is 44.1/24, not 44.1/16. Also, it's not actually a downsample from the 96/24 but a separate mastering pass from the analog tape, done through the same JCF A to D converter at 44.1/24. Both Bernie Grundman and myself thought that approach generally sounds better so that's what we did, even though it costs more. The 96/24 still sounds better than the 44.1/24 though.

 

Thanks for clarifying. Seems unusual to do a separate master for that sample rate. The quality speaks for itself .. bravo!

[crenca]

19 minutes ago, Melvin said:

 

Thanks for clarifying. Seems unusual to do a separate master for that sample rate. The quality speaks for itself .. bravo!

 

It might be.  Jack Johnson's "In Between Dreams" 16/44.1 version on Tidal sounds, well low fi(ish) through a good rig.  The Computer Audiophile says his 24/48 version sounds significantly better.  Separate mastering?  Poor decimation?

[Jerome Sabbagh]

29 minutes ago, Melvin said:

 

Thanks for clarifying. Seems unusual to do a separate master for that sample rate. The quality speaks for itself .. bravo!

 

Thank you!

 

As far as I know, yes, it's unusual for most productions to do it that way. Doing a separate master means doing it in real time, while you can downsample in a computer in a few minutes. In a fancy mastering studio, the hourly rate is high, so it costs more. Most people don't want to pay more. Also, some people don't think it's worth it sonically. I do though! Also, that 44.1/24 master is what I give Apple, Spotify and all such services. For all these reasons, it's important to me that it be as good as possible and that I can quality control it. 

[Jerome Sabbagh]

5 minutes ago, crenca said:

 

It might be.  Jack Johnson's "In Between Dreams" 16/44.1 version on Tidal sounds, well low fi(ish) through a good rig.  The Computer Audiophile says his 24/48 version sounds significantly better.  Separate mastering?  Poor decimation?

 

I haven't heard this but going from 24/48 to 16/44.1 involves two processes, assuming that's what happened and they didn't do a separate master: the downsample from 48 kHz to 44.1 kHz and then the dithering from 24 bits to 16 bits. That dithering process can also be done many ways and they all sound significantly different. If you are not careful, things can go wrong at either one of these processes, and they often do, although I have no idea whether that's what happened here.

[GUTB]

I got the record. I've not listened to the digital version yet -- I want the record to be my first impression.

[Jerome Sabbagh]

6 hours ago, GUTB said:

I got the record. I've not listened to the digital version yet -- I want the record to be my first impression.

 

Thank you! I understand. I'm getting the third round of test pressings today and hope to be able to approve them soon.

[Jerome Sabbagh]

I'm happy to report that I now have the vinyl for "No Filter". After having rejected 4 sets of test pressings, I am really pleased with the result. I finished mailing all copies that were bought already, whether through Kickstarter or not, this morning! I hope those of you who supported the project will enjoy the result! I am still selling the vinyl on my website if anyone else is interested. Thank you all so much for the support!

 

Jerome Sabbagh

[spin33]

Thank you, Jerome. Really looking forward to giving it a spin. Certain things in life are very much worth the wait. 😊

[Jerome Sabbagh]

FYI, the first review of the vinyl is here:

 

http://fairhedon.com/2019/03/18/vinyl-spotlight-jerome-sabbath-greg-tuoheys-no-filter/?fbclid=IwAR1nsaxEuv0TEbSRQyUj0-pRUXX8QBgbk8Z8xwaFJ94-M4niwDYfGy8wKSY

 

Jerome Sabbagh

[Doak]

I am struggling with finding a way to hear all cuts form the album.

I an play "Vicious" @ Bandcamp, but cannot seem to get other tracks to play.

Help, please.

ps: Really like what I have heard so far!!