Hi-Res Downloads

48kHz/24-bit WAV/FLAC/ALAC*, naimcd215 (supplied by www.naimlabel.com)

Any compilation album from a label’s roster of artists is always going to be as much a grab-bag as an introduction to what’s on offer, and that’s certainly true of this package – despite the title, very far from the Naim Label’s first such selection. As editor PM notes in his brief lab report below, that also makes for a variety of sources for the recordings, from CD to true 48kHz/24-bit, but more striking is the jolts of musical style, as Neil Cowley’s cinematic, percussive piano trio jazz gives way to Sabina’s Left Bank oddness, and then the soulful sound of label stalwarts Phantom Limb or the calculated grunge of Huey And The New Yorkers. It’s an odd collection, more lumped together than curated, and to be honest, anyone wanting an idea of what the label can offer would certainly do better to try out the internet-only Naim Radio station. AE

Sound Quality: 70%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

The difference in bandwidth between a 48kHz and 44.1kHz file is so small as to make no difference, but Naim’s Collected_01 is of mixed heritage: tracks 5, 6 [see Graph], 7, 11, 12 are 13 are all upsampled from CD. PM