Max Richter – The Blue Notebooks

A beautiful album that can really get your sound set up going. Reaching such high and low notes, even simultaneously on certain tracks. It really is a well mastered release which is what this music requires. However the pressing might not be so spot on. Do not fret for this might solely be a problem on my copy. My record doesn't even look visually clean so any pressing complaints I might have could just be regarded as incorrect. Its mostly at the end of both sides anyway. Edit: With cleaning my copy is nearly dead silent throughout, the pressing is great. The only real complaint I might have is that the narrating voice between intermissions is very muffled and drowned out in all the ambient noise. And there is no reading material that comes with to understand it better, except for the first lines. All in all a great release but if the 2015 one is just as good I would recommend it instead just to save money. There are no extra materials here except an insert with some pictures.

Edit: The last track of side A sounds really disstorted and bad, almost like my speakers are breaking. Anyone else with this experience?

Edit 2: It might just be my stylus that is not able to track the high frequencies. Which is strange considering this is a dmm release. I was led to believe dmm cut records were less dynamic. But make sure that if you buy this release you have an enthusiast level setup. Otherwise you might end up damaging the record and stylus.

Update: With my new ATVM95ML I can now track with minimal distortion. The only problem being that the previous owner and I didnt play with a high grade cartridge and this damaged the grooves slightly, meaning some light crackling might be permanent. Make sure previous owners used high quality setups to play this on before buying and only use your best stylus like a Micro Line / Ridge when playing this.

Update 2:
After a quick comparison with my 2008 DDM cut I suppose Im giving the new one the honor.
They are not very different at all and any of my attempts to compare fairly are hindered by a slight difference in level from time to time. Overall though, the new 2018 KR cut from Optimal seems to go a little deeper on the bass, other small differences can be found in the tonality of strings which may be better for the 2008 and Iconography may be slightly less constrained, but these differences vary a bit from track to track with separation and placement differences.
Both are near equal respectively and you wont do much good in having both I dont think. The new one does have the extra disc but I do like the cover of the older, choice choices...

Equipment used:
Rega RP1 with Nagaoka MP-110 Cartridge
Cyrus 2 Amplifier
System Fidelity SF-3050 Tower Speakers
Custom made HQ Speaker Cables

New equipment:
ATVM95ML Cartridge