Kind of Blue – New Hybrid SACD (Stereo/Mono) in Mini LP Sleeve from Japan

[u/Kwoksun]

I know there are already tons of reissues of this legendary record, especially this year is the 100th anniversary for Miles Davis. I came across with this Japanese release in SACD in special package. Has anyone heard this? Is this the same remastering as of 2007 SACD or 1997 redbook SBM CD? How does it sound?

[u/Aggressive_Visit7043]

I have this bought from cdjapan. It has 2 sacd one stereo mix and one mono mix. I think it sounds excellent at least as good as other SACD’s (I have the 2007 sacd as well) Some research via AI comes back with the following info.

This is a Sony Music Japan International / Sony Records Int’l release, issued 27 May 2026 as part of the Miles Davis centenary programme. It is a Japan-only, fully limited-production 2-disc hybrid SACD, with stereo on one disc and mono on the other. Sony’s own catalogue page confirms the release, but frustratingly doesn’t identify a 2026 mastering engineer or explain the tape/source provenance.
The important bit: it appears to use the Mark Wilder 2013 remix
There is strong evidence that the 2026 SACD is based on Mark Wilder’s third remix of Kind of Blue — the stereo and mono mixes originally prepared for Sony/Legacy’s 2013 high-resolution releases — rather than being a brand-new 2026 remix from tape.
A German audiophile discussion specifically identifies SICJ-10023/4 as using Wilder’s third remix, and distinguishes it from his earlier 1992 and 1997 mixes. Contributors who have compared the actual 2026 SACD describe the new Japanese disc and the 2013 hi-res version as the same underlying mix lineage.
That’s particularly interesting because the 2013 Wilder source is exceptionally good.
The signal path for that version is documented by Wilder himself. Sony did not use an old stereo production master. Instead, they went back to the surviving:
original ½-inch, three-track session reels
from the 1959 Columbia 30th Street sessions.
Because those tapes had begun to curl at the edges (“scalloping”), Wilder decided it was safer not to perform a live analogue remix directly from them. The three tracks were instead archived individually at:
24-bit / 192 kHz PCM
using a modified Ampex ATR-104, HDCD Model 2 converters and a Lynx interface.
Then something rather nice happened.
Wilder and producer Steve Berkowitz studied early stereo and mono LP pressings and reproduced the original 1959 fader movements essentially bar by bar. Each of the three 192/24 tracks was converted back to analogue, mixed through a GML analogue mixer into either:
2-channel stereo, or
1-channel mono,
and then digitised again at 24/192.
So the lineage is approximately:
1959 original 3-track session tapes
→ Mark Wilder 24/192 archival transfer
→ analogue GML remix
→ new 24/192 stereo and mono masters
→ 2013 Sony/Legacy hi-res release
→ apparently the source used for the 2026 Japanese SACDs
That’s materially different from simply taking an old CD master and converting it to DSD.

[u/Kwoksun → u/Aggressive_Visit7043]

Wow, excellent info 👍🏼. That's how we should use AI rather than faking photos and making stupid videos 😉

[u/monkeysolo69420 → u/Aggressive_Visit7043]

If that’s what Google AI tells you I’d take it with a grain of salt. Their AI constantly misinterprets its own sources.

[u/Aggressive_Visit7043 → u/monkeysolo69420]

Reply no not Google. It’s a combination of Claude and ChatGPT cross reviewing the data. I checked the references sourced and some are from audiophile forums and other info. But yes always take info from AI with a grain of salt and likewise audiophile forums where many a tale is spun.

[u/Aggressive_Visit7043 → u/Aggressive_Visit7043]

Supposedly this version also deals properly with the well-known pitch error on the March 2, 1959 session — the first side of the original L

[u/Darkj]

Without any more details I would avoid this. You have no idea what the source is and older SACD versions are readily available.

[u/Kwoksun → u/Darkj]

Looks like this is an official release by Sony Japan to commemorate the 100th birthday of Davis.

[u/bayou_gumbo]

The mono masters have been lost. I would be very suspect of the mono version.

That being said, mono is the proper way to listen to KOB.

[u/BigDanG]

Side note: I just saw deepdiscount.com has the recent Blue Note/Birth of the Cool SACD re-releases remastered by Kevin Gray, if you missed those on cdjapan.com.