13/12/2025
Producer’s Choice, Vol. 2: Cobra Records 25th Anniversary in Pure DSD 256!
To celebrate, all albums featured on this Collection are currently 25% OFF at NativeDSD throughout the rest of December. And you can save 35% when you buy Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 as a DSD Bundle.
In 2017, Cobra Records made the transition to an even higher super audio quality: DSD 256. With a heavy heart, I said goodbye to the dCS Converters and replaced them with a Merging Technologies HAPI Analog to Digital Converter and a HAPI Digital to Analog Converter. While this did result in higher audio quality, I also suddenly lost my trusted equipment. Sonically, I felt I had to compromise.
Only after a period of experimentation did I regain confidence and discover other qualities of this equipment. An added convenience was that the entire recording setup became considerably smaller, perhaps even 100 kg lighter, and compact. The custom-made Rens Heijnis mixing console was no longer needed, so an additional piece of equipment could be left behind. It felt like the dawn of a whole new era.
On this sampler, I have selected tracks recorded with DSD 256 technology. All tracks are from the original DSD 256 tracks pulled from the archives and remastered in Pure DSD 256 by Tom Caulfield of NativeDSD, with no PCM anywhere. They are mixed and mastered entirely in the DSD domain.
The recordings on this compilation album are selected from projects recorded between 2017-2025. This selection showcases a series of tracks by musicians who have worked with us for a long time, such as Musica Temprana and Cuarteto Quiroga. But new musical ensembles have also truly connected with our label over the past 10 years, such as Ksenia Kouzmenko, Nuala McKenna, and The Hague String Trio.
Rushton Paul at Positive Feedback says "Cobra Records 25th Anniversary celebration continues with the release of Producer’s Choice, Volume 2. And it is phenomenal.
As in in Volume 1, Tom Peeters at Cobra Records has pulled from his archives the original tracks, this time DSD 256 tracks, and collaborated with Tom Caulfield at NativeDSD to re-mix them in Pure DSD 256-Direct Mixed using HQPlayer Pro, per instructions from Tom Peters.
And the results? Oh, the results are just immensely gratifying. Across the board there is a greater transparency, greater clarity, and more natural sound in these new Pure DSD 256-Direct Mixed remastered tracks.
Do the originals still sound good to my ears? Yes, they do. And, depending on your audio system’s resolution and transparency, you may or may not hear a difference. I can’t guarantee you will.
But in our household, in both our primary system and in Ann’s office system, the sound quality improvement just makes us want to stand up and cheer! This is what recordings of acoustic instruments played in a natural acoustic environment can and should sound like."
https://www.nativedsd.com/product/producers-choice-vol-2-cobra-records-25th-anniversary-pure-dsd/
https://www.nativedsd.com/product/producers-choice-cobra-records-25th-anniversary-vols-1-2-dsd-bundle-pure-dsd/
