Keith Jarrett - My Song -2015- -flac 24-192- | Top
Listening to a standard 16/44.1 FLAC of My Song is satisfying. Listening to the 2015 24-192 version is revelatory. Here is what the high-resolution transfer uncovers:
Artist: Keith Jarrett (piano, soprano saxophone? No – here piano)
With: Jan Garbarek (soprano and tenor saxophones), Palle Danielsson (double bass), Jon Christensen (drums)
Original Release: 1978 (ECM Records)
This Release: 2015, digital download/streaming in FLAC 24-bit/192kHz
Christensen’s drumming is famously spare and textural. On “Tabarka,” he uses mallets and brushes. In high resolution, cymbal decays last three to four times longer before disappearing into the room tone. The shimmer is not splashy; it is delicate, almost frozen. The 192kHz sample rate captures the non-linear harmonic distortion of the bronze alloy—something that aliases down into harshness at lower rates. Keith Jarrett - My Song -2015- -FLAC 24-192-
Jarrett’s infamous humming and singing along with his playing is either a blessing or a curse. In this remaster, it is a revelation at lower levels. During the piano solo on “The Journey Home,” you can hear Jarrett’s voice a full 10 feet to the left of the piano, with the microphone pickup pattern naturally attenuating him. It feels like sitting in the control room, not on stage.
Audiophile forums often argue that 96 kHz is the "sweet spot" and that 192 kHz can introduce ultrasonic noise. However, for acoustic jazz like this, the consensus is that 192 kHz captures the room tone of Talent Studio better than any other digital format. The recording engineer, Jan Erik Kongshaug, famously miked the piano and drums with minimal separation, relying on bleed for cohesion. In 24-192, that bleed—the sound of Christensen’s drums leaking into Jarrett’s piano mics—becomes musical rather than muddy. It tells you how they were positioned in the room. Listening to a standard 16/44
Bass is often the victim of D/A conversion. In 16/44.1, the bass can feel "thuddy" or indistinct. In 24-192, Danielsson’s acoustic bass on “Country” reveals the woody resonance of the body. You can hear the difference between a plucked string (attack) and the finger sliding on the winding (release). The 24-bit depth ensures that the quietest pianissimo pizzicato has no digital gating—it simply fades into natural silence.
Human hearing caps at roughly 20 kHz, so why 192 kHz? It’s not about hearing ultrasonic frequencies; it’s about timing and transient response. The 192 kHz rate captures the initial attack of Garbarek’s reed and Jarrett’s hammer striking the string with far greater temporal accuracy than 44.1 kHz. In practice, this means: Christensen’s drumming is famously spare and textural
A word of warning: Do not play this FLAC on your phone’s built-in speakers or standard Bluetooth earbuds. You will hear no difference from a 320kbps MP3.
To unlock the "Keith Jarrett - My Song -2015- -FLAC 24-192-" experience, you need:
Playing this file through a cheap DAC that downsamples to 48 kHz defeats the purpose.