Sound Liaison

27/08/2026

"The most realistic-sounding recordings I’ve heard. Musically perceptive listeners will appreciate the efforts making these fine recordings." AudioXpress
“Sound Liaison differs from many audiophile labels as they produce music that you will want to listen to over and over again.” Audiostream
“Sound Liaison delivers on every aspect we’ve come to expect from them: great music, great musicians, great recordings, and wonderful sound quality.” Audiophile Style
"The most realistic sounding recordings I’ve heard. Musically perceptive listeners will appreciate the efforts making these fine recording." AudioXpress
"The whole recording drips with presence and a sense of performance." HifiNews&Record
“Frans de Rond and Peter Bjørnild have assembled some terrific artists who play great jazz and given them high-definition sound”. Radsreviews

26/08/2026

“Sound Liaison differs from many audiophile labels as they produce music that you will want to listen to over and over again.” Audiostream
“Sound Liaison delivers on every aspect we’ve come to expect from them: great music, great musicians, great recordings, and wonderful sound quality.” Audiophile Style
"The most realistic sounding recordings I’ve heard. Musically perceptive listeners will appreciate the efforts making these fine recording." AudioXpress
"The whole recording drips with presence and a sense of performance." HifiNews&Record
“Frans de Rond and Peter Bjørnild have assembled some terrific artists who play great jazz and given them high-definition sound”. Radsreviews

24/08/2026

"The most realistic-sounding recordings I’ve heard. Musically perceptive listeners will appreciate the efforts making these fine recordings." AudioXpress

24/08/2026

The Visual Sound
The Josephson C700S at the heart of Sound Liaison

One microphone. One room. One coherent picture.

At the center of nearly every Sound Liaison recording sits the Josephson C700S — not because we chase minimalism, but because it captures something conventional multi-mic setups struggle to preserve: the natural relationships between musicians playing together in real space.

Position, distance, dynamics, timing, the room itself.

With a single stereo mic, there's no phase interference to fight, no competing mic positions trying to reconstruct the ensemble after the fact. What you hear is what happened in the room.

And when we do add microphones — as with Carmen Gomes Inc.'s Up Jumped the Devil, or Scott Hamilton & Strings' The Ghost, the King and I — the question isn't "how do we build a stereo image?" It's: we already have one. What does it need?

The result is what we call the visual sound — close your eyes, and you can see the band.

🔗 Full story on the blog.

At Sound Liaison, the Josephson C700S has become closely associated with our One-Mic recordings. But its role in our work goes much further than that. Over the years, it has become one of the central tools in Frans de Rond's recording philosophy — it is the central microphone in the room, and it e...

23/08/2026

"We are trying to close the gap between what is captured live in the studio and the final master."

For quite some time, we at Sound Liaison have had the pleasure of releasing recordings made by Rhapsody Audiophile Recordings (RAR). We thought it was time to put a little spotlight on the people and philosophy behind them.

RAR is an initiative of Harry van Dalen and Michael van Polen of Rhapsody, in collaboration with our recording engineer Frans de Rond.

For almost 30 years, Harry and Michael have worked at the highest level of high-end audio reproduction, developing a particular expertise in tuning audiophile systems to perform at their absolute best.

When Frans is nearing the end of mastering a Sound Liaison album, he will often pass by the Rhapsody shop with the latest master. Hearing it on one of their incredibly well-tuned, top-of-the-line systems, together with Harry and Michael's keen ears, has proved extremely valuable when making those final mastering decisions.

And the relationship goes beyond sound.

It was Harry who suggested that Carmen Gomes Inc. reinterpret Harry Belafonte's classic "Belafonte Sings the Blues." Carmen immediately loved the idea: it had been one of her favourite albums growing up. That suggestion eventually became our album "Carmen Sings the Blues."

With RAR, Harry, Michael and Frans pursue the same goal through direct-to-2-track analog recording or carefully considered analog mastering: keeping as little as possible between the musicians and the listener.

The resulting recordings cover a wonderful musical landscape: Atzko Kohashi's intimate "Virgo"; Atzko Kohashi & Eddy Koopman's evocative "Sketches of Seasons"; Jeremy Olivier's beautiful "Where the Light Gets In"; and Marnix Busstra's atmospheric "Dances with Silence."

A philosophy very close to our hearts at Sound Liaison — and why we are so happy to have these fine Rhapsody Audiophile Recordings in our catalogue.

23/08/2026

Musicians First. Sound Follows.

Torsten recently sent us a message that made me very happy:

"Your label is an amazing exception in the industry. Other labels, in many cases, offer very good to great sound but not so great music. From your label, I think I have most of the music offered now in my collection, and practically all is great music too — and the sound is always exceptional."
— Torsten

His words touched me because they describe exactly what Frans and I hope for when we invite musicians to join our label.

They also explain why albums as different as these can all belong together:

Undercurrent Trio & Suzan Veneman - Cloud Song
Carmen Gomes Inc. — Bluesy May
The Ghost, the King and I — featuring Scott Hamilton & Strings
Witmer Trio - Free

Different styles, different backgrounds, different generations — but underneath, they share the same qualities: sincerity, individuality, and a deep commitment to the music they are creating.

When Frans and I decide who we record, we always ask ourselves one simple question:

Do we love this music, and do we believe in these musicians?

If the answer is yes, genre becomes less important. What matters is whether the music feels true.

That is why such different albums can sit side by side on our label. They are connected not by style, but by spirit.

And perhaps that is why sound matters so much to us too. We are not trying to make beautiful sound for its own sake. We are trying to let the listener hear what we heard in the room: the sincerity, the commitment, and the life inside the music.

The sound is not the starting point. It is the result of that decision.

23/08/2026

Sometimes the audiophile press describes what you are trying to achieve better than you can yourself.

A few words written about Sound Liaison over the years.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s all about, now might be a good time to have a listen.

www.soundliaison.com

20/08/2026

Another exceptional review for Scott Hamilton & *The Ghost, the King and I

Another wonderful review of **The Ghost, the King and I featuring Scott Hamilton & Strings**, this time by **Rushton Paul in Positive Feedback**.

This is a release filled with energy, warmth, and exceptional musicianship. It is also one of the most remarkably natural and true-to-life recordings I have heard.”

And on Scott Hamilton:

“Saxophonist Scott Hamilton is a phenomenal artist, heard here at his most reflective and emotionally direct.

Rushton Paul also describes the recording approach by **Frans de Rond**, beginning with the **Josephson C700S** at the centre of the ensemble, with carefully chosen spot microphones preserving the integrity of the primary stereo image:

“The result is a delightfully natural recording. We hear the authentic ambience of the hall surrounding each instrument, complete with the natural bloom and decay for which Studio 1 is so highly regarded.”

And finally, on the Pure DSD256 release:

“His commitment to recording and releasing in Pure DSD256 allows this music to emerge with a harmonic richness and instrumental realism that I find deeply engaging.”

As Peter Bjørnild writes in the liner notes:
"This is music that welcomes you like a warm embrace.”

The Ghost, the King and I — featuring Scott Hamilton & Strings
Sound Liaison 2026 · Pure DSD256 Stereo

/soundliaison.com/collections/home-page-collection/products/the-ghost-the-king-and-i-featuring-scott-hamilton-and-strings

Scott Hamilton joins The Ghost, the King and I with strings in a deeply expressive live jazz recording—intimate, melodic, and captured in pure DSD256.

08/08/2026

Analog Warmth Meets Digital Precision
We’re delighted to share that Positive Feedback, the high-end audio journal from Happy Valley, Oregon, has published an article by our head engineer Frans de Rond.

“Analog Warmth Meets Digital Precision” explores Frans’ approach to recording and the way he combines the musical qualities of analog with the precision and possibilities of digital.

A fascinating insight into the philosophy behind the Sound Liaison recordings.

Read the full article here: https://soundliaison.com/blogs/nieuws/analog-warmth-meets-digital-precision-inside-our-hybrid-workflow

For a few years now, I have chosen to combine two worlds that at first may seem contradictory: digital recording and analog mixing. It is not because I believe analog is always better than digital. Digital recording has brought us enormous advantages, and today we record our Sound Liaison sessions i...