Customer Reviews

Savoy Jazz 2009 Free Sampler

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is probably the best free sampler album I've downloaded so far - it has great classics like Count Basie's April in Paris, A Nightengale Sang in Berkeley square, and more. Just some awesome jazz in a great package.

BUT - there's a catch. Either the mp3's are poorly ripped and encoded, or there are clicks intentionally added to the recording to, I don't know, make it sound like an old dusty vinyl record, or because the songs are free? Hope not.

Given that no respectable recording artist, engineer, or music lover would add pops into the mix for effect, I'm guessing the mp3 encoding or CD ripping process went bad here. Amazon please fix this! It's a great set of songs, but the clicks and pops are unacceptable.

The songs all have a clicking sound as though they were ripped from scratchy record. Very distracting. Hope this can be corrected and re-uploaded into Amazo's MP3 database.

The masters of many old recordings are lost or unusable, so recording tracks from good condition vinyl is the only recourse. I've done it many times. However, you need to use a noise plugin such as Peak's "SoundSoap Pro" to filter out the clicks, pops and other artifacts. Surely this company could have afforded the $500 for such a plugin. Very bad press for the company and ruined an otherwise nice collection.

Some nice tracks spoiled by clicks and pops. Totally inappropriate noise for the 21st century, when you can buy tracks from the early 20th century that have been digitally tweaked to eliminate the vinyl vestige of click... click... pop!

Maybe it's a bad rip and not vinyl artifacts. Whatever the problem is, it detracts from the enjoyment of the music.

Amazon usually provides clean MP3s and I appreciate the free album, but now I'm wary of free Amazon MP3 tracks of historical interest. Savoy Records should get on Amazon's case about this since people might not want to buy other Savoy Record tracks after hearing these.

I can't see how to download this one, it says "album only" and I don't know what that means!

As has been written by others, this collection contains some really great jazz, but is filled with clicks and pops. If I have the collection on softly in the background while I am focused on something else, I do not mind. However, when I sit down to focus on this music, the digital clicks are continuously spoiling the mood.

The noise does not sound like vinyl noise, as reported by some other reviewers. It is certainly digital audio artifacts, and unfortunately could easily have been cleaned up by Savoy before posting.

If Savoy's objective was to get me to buy their jazz CDs, they failed. This actually has the opposite effect. I don't trust their quality control, as impeccable as their taste in tunes may be!

I do recommend that you download this - after all, it is free - and make up your own mind. The songs themselves should certainly be heard and can function well as background music, and who knows! Maybe the noise won't bother you as much as it bothers me.

Like many of the other reviews I find this to be a really good sampler (especially considering that it is free!) but, looking a gift horse in the mouth, I have to say that the scratches are a huge annoyance.

It's not that I can't except scratches, given the vintage of the recordings, but that I think they might have been intentionally added (or Savoy was too lazy/cheap to bother to do a little clean-up). The pops seem a little "too clean" like when you see fake film scratches in modern video. I have the Charlie Parker "Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Collection" Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Collection which includes what I believe is the same recording of "Yardbird Suite" but in the Ultimate Collection there are no scratches (and the fidelity sounds the same).

Disappointing, to say the least. Would have given this four stars without the "intentional" scratches.

I love this music! Yes, it has clicks and pops. It sounds like it was recorded from an old LP. As far as I am concerned, that makes it even better! I miss listening to music on a turntable. This just brings back some memories!
Thanks for some terrific FREE music!!!!

Great Jazz album. This is my favorite free sampler yet. Yes there are cracks and pops, but I dont find it irritating at all. Quite the opposite actually, I like it. Maybe its because I listen to alot of vinyl records. Anyway, this is a great album. And hey its free..

As mentioned by others....this is a great mix of jazz music....but the poor recording quality with ongoing pops/clicks really drags down what could have been a great mix.