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Miles Davis: Kind of Blue

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue

Hemiolia Records  HEM-2026-01-BOX E1

Stereo Single Layer

Jazz


Miles Davis

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Review by Mark Werlin - October 2, 2026

Hemiolia Records is a boutique reel-to-reel tape vendor with an address in Perugia, Italy. Kind of Blue is (at present) their only offering on SACD. They have one vinyl release. All their other releases are in 15 IPS single and double-reel tape sets sold at premium prices.

On the web page for the Kind of Blue SACD, you'll find this information:

"Full Analog Remastering from original production master tapes"
"Analog editing and remastering engineer: Pietro Benini (September 2022)"

Based on listening and comparing waveforms, I can report that the Hemiolia SACD sounds very much like SICP-10083 (Miles Davis: Kind of Blue). When tracks from the two SACDs are converted to 24/176, the waveforms and spectrograms of the two versions look nearly identical with one exception: hard filtering above 20kHz appears in the Hemiolia spectrogram, but not in any of the other SACD versions.

Reviewers of Hemiolia's Kind of Blue two-tape box set report that the 'ur-source' for Pietro Benini's copy tape was a Columbia Records production master tape, but detailed provenance is not shown on the Hemiolia web page for the tape set. It was thoughtful of Hemiolia to inform the prospective buyer of their €778.69 tape set that it was sourced from a remastered analogue copy of an analogue production master. Yet the waveform and spectrogram for Benini's SACD very closely resembles the Belden-Wilder remix analogue tape that is the source for all other SACD releases of Kind of Blue.

Spectrogram comparison is far from infallible evidence of source provenance. The listener's own audio system, hearing quality, and expectations can influence how a particular version of a longtime favorite recording sounds. There is nothing wrong, to my ears, with the sound quality of the Hemiolia SACD. But having not heard the most recent Sony Japan SACD release Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (Stereo/Mono), I can't advise whether the Hemiolia version is the one to recommend. If you already own SICP-10083, you might possibly be disappointed at the lack of dramatic sonic improvement.

A PDF of waveforms and spectrograms that I compiled from four SACD releases of Kind of Blue (Columbia CS64935, SME SICP-10083, Mobile Fidelity UDSACD2085, and Hemiolia) can be viewed here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cnEKDYuzXvvN8D0SkA7I9dIRRT7ykr5i/view?usp=drive_link

Equipment used for this review:

24/192 and DSF files stored on solid state drives
Mac Mini server running Audirvāna Origin
exaSound e32 Mk II DAC
Unison Unico tube/hybrid integrated amp
Focal 1007 BE stand mount loudspeakers

Copyright © 2026 Mark Werlin and HRAudio.net

Performance:

Sonics:

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Comments (6)
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Comment by EugenF - October 2, 2026 (1 of 6)

Thank you Mark for you interesting review.
I agree with you that album is almost similar with SME SICP-10083.
But there are some minor differences: Hemiolia has an aprox. 1.5dB lower level and they use a filter with cut off frequency of 22Khz with sharp slope.
SME SICP-10083, at track 1, has a single potential clipping problem (with level of 3dB) on Right channel.
If I understood correctly, the tape source is a copy of Hermitage tape (an original stereo donwmix from backup tape Reel D).

Comment by Mark Werlin - October 2, 2026 (2 of 6)

Thanks for your comments, EugenF. Yes, there was a hard filter used in the Hemiolia SACD mastering that is visible in the spectrogram in my PDF. Since that hard filter doesn't appear in any of the other SACD versions, I wonder why it was used for this release.

According to several audiophile reel tape reviewers, Hemiolia's source for the SACD and tape box set is a new tape mastered by Pietro Benini from a production copy of the original Columbia stereo mix. If that is actually true, then why does the SACD sound so much like the 2007 Sony Japan SACD, and so different from the HDTT256 download that was sourced from a 15 IPS copy tape?

The waveforms and spectrograms I compiled are not infallible proof one way or the other, but they do seem to show a very close similarity between the Hemiolia SACD and the 2007 Sony Japan version.

Comment by Longjohns and Wifebeaters - October 3, 2026 (3 of 6)

There is a relevant discussion here on a German site (some of it in English, the rest easily translatable), which states it (the Hemiolia) is derived from Job Reel C. Also includes discussion on its sonic qualities vs. the 2007 Sony edition & the MoFi one:

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/jazz/detail/-/art/miles-davis-kind-of-blue/hnum/12753663

Comment by Mark Werlin - October 3, 2026 (4 of 6)

Longjohns: Many thanks for the link to the jpc.de discussion thread.

In front of me as I write this comment is the MoFi Kind of Blue SACD. On the inside cover, there is a credit: Remix engineer: Mark Wilder

In the jpc.de discussion thread, the poster "plate saver" describes the MoFi SACD as sourced from an aged and, presumably, damaged original Columbia stereo master tape. He writes:

"The 2-track original master, however, used for the MFSL SACD version of KoB was so aged that I cannot listen to it without being distracted from the music by the funny unnatural wood sound of drums, piano, and even the trumpet."

But MoFi explicitly credits Mark Wilder, which means, as I interpret the credit, that the source was the Mark Wilder analogue tape remix. The MoFi SACD sounds warmer (or less vivid) than the 2007 Sony Japan SACD, but that could reflect mastering engineer Shawn R. Britton's choices, not the source tape.

If any site users own both the Hemiolia SACD and the 2007 Sony Japan SACD, please share your listening preferences. I'm also available to continue the conversation via the email address on https://www.hraudio.net/about.php.

Comment by EugenF - October 4, 2026 (5 of 6)

I have both sacds Hemiolia & SME SICP-10083 and for my ears they sound almost the same (there are minor differences). I like them both.
I also have HDtracks (24/192) release (which uses latest Wilder 2013 remastering from the same tape 'Job Reel D') and it sounds more velvety and more transparent. Also has a very low tape noise.


Tape source, here is a quote from:

https://thereeltoreelrambler.com/2023/03/03/the-best-version-bar-none-miles-davis-kind-of-blue-on-copy-master-tape-from-hemiolia-records/

'Pietro confirmed that his source, the Ermitage production master, is in fact a first generation copy of the ‘back-up’ correct-speed original master.'


If I understood correctly it is about of a copy of the original downmix of tape 'Job Reel D'.

I think the guy 'Plattenretter' is wrong about the 'Job Reel C' on his review on JPC. From my knowledge,the tape 'Job Reel C' is very aged and cannot be used anymore.

P.S. I can confirm, after looking at mould SID code of Hemiolia's sacd, that the disc is glass mastered & duplicated at Sonopress /Gütersloh/ Germany.

Comment by Mark Werlin - October 4, 2026 (6 of 6)

Thanks to EugenF and Longjohns for contributing to this informative discussion thread. It helped to answer questions about the source of the Hemiolia SACD.

Several site users contacted me with requests to read the SACD waveform/spectrogram comparisons that I posted to Google Drive. Many thanks for your interest!

For those who would like to hear another remaster of the album: the 1995 Classic Records vinyl reissue of Kind of Blue (mastered by Bernie Grundman from original 3-track studio tapes), transferred to 24/192, can be played or downloaded here:

https://archive.org/details/Miles-Davis-Sextet-Kind-of-Blue-LP-192