Hi-Res Downloads

88.2KHZ/24-BIT FLAC, Pirouet PIT3072 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

Pirouet’s studio complex in Munich is responsible for many fine audiophile recordings, this eclectic experimental jazz outing being no exception. The sound is intimate and beautifully balanced. Ronny Graupe’s Spoom is in fact the name of a working jazz trio founded a decade ago, comprising composer Ronny Graupe on electric guitar, Jonas Westergaard on bass and Christian Lillinger on drums. Graupe plays a seven-string guitar and his compositions are – how should I put this? – er, ‘difficult’. Full marks should be awarded to his accomplished accompanists for holding proceedings together and attempting to make some sense out of it all. You’ll find little in the way of lyricism here, only ‘Es War Die Nachtigall’ midway through the album offers some mild respite. I’ll be filing Spoom under ‘reserved for private consumption’. JB

Sound quality: 80%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

Recorded at Pirouet’s sophisticated studio facility, this 88.2kHz rendering is still not as ‘clean’ as it might be – note the spurious tones at and around 30kHz. Dynamics are uncompressed, however, and the bandwidth is well-used. PM