ARNE DOMNÉRUS, “Jazz At The Pawnshop” – AudioNautes Recordings MQA-CD Crystal Disc ⸜ REVIEW

It was supposed to be another “live” recording. Instead, it became one of the best-selling jazz albums in history and a benchmark in the world of perfectionist audio.

As we read in the introduction to the reissue of the album “Jazz At The Pawnshop” in SACD format, ‘when Gert Palmcranz, a sound engineer, loaded his car with recording equipment in front of Europa Film Studios on 6 December 1976, it was supposed to be just another recording.’ And further:

No one really knew then that this was to become a cult recording among audiophiles and one of the most famous and respected jazz recordings ever made.

⸜ after: WINSTON MA, The Recording Session, booklet for the Lasting Impression Music LIM K2HD 028 ⸜ 2007 recording, p. 6.

This album has gained “cult” status, and rightly so, with subsequent reissues being received with enthusiasm. The wonderful nature of this material is evidenced by no fewer than five (!) versions of the release by Winston Ma’s Lasting Impression Music label, which culminated in a four-disc version – three CDs and one DVD – from 2021, subtitled ‘The Fifth and Ultimate Version of Jazz at the Panwshop’.

The same is true of Fabio Camorani’s Audionautes Recordings release. In 2021, he offered a UHQCD version (AN-2106-UHQ), repeated that in 2024 on the 1-Step LP (AN-2202), last year again on UHQCD (AN-2503-UHQ) and, finally, on a Crystal Disc (AN-2520-KD). It is this version, costing €1,220, that we are reviewing.

text WOJCIECH PACUŁA

photo “High Fidelity”, Audionautes Recordings, JacoTen/Wikipedia CC 3.0

SVEN ARNE DOMNÉRUS, known in the industry as ‘Dompan’, was a Swedish alto saxophonist, clarinettist and jazz band leader. He was born on 20 December 1924 in Solna, Sweden, and died on 2 September 2008 in Stockholm. In 1949, he performed at the Paris Jazz Festival and in 1950 he played with Charlie Parker during his concert tour of Sweden. A few years later, he recorded an album with Clifford Brown, Art Farmer and James Moody; he also recorded several times with Quincy Jones when he was in Sweden.

He was the author of forty-four solo albums and dozens more playing in bands and as a sideman. Yet “Jazz At The Pawnshop” is his best-known release. Although he does not appear on the cover as the leader, but as part of the band, it is with him that this album is most often associated. Alongside Domnérus on alto saxophone and clarinet, the album also features Bengt Hallberg on piano, Lars Erstrand on vibraphone (in the recordings from 7 December), Georg Riedel on bass and Egil Johansen on drums.

▒  The recording

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT people associated with this album, equally as important as the musicians themselves, is GERT PALMCRANTZ. Born on 1 February 1938 in Skedevi, Sweden, he was one of the most outstanding sound engineers in Sweden and beyond.

The material for the reviewed album was recorded over two evenings, on 6 and 7 December 1976, during live performances at the Stompen club. Named after a pawnshop that used to be located in this block, it was opened in 1968. It is a small club in the heart of Stockholm, right next to the market square, with a capacity of only eighty people, and that’s a tight squeeze. The stage is located to the right of the entrance, in a corner, with the kitchen and bar on the other side.

Due to the limited space, Palmcrantz was placed in the “kitchen” area. In the booklet for the Lasting Impression Music release, he wrote:

I am sitting somewhere in the kitchen area in a crowded corner, with my little Studer mixer and two Nagra IV Stereo tape recorders ingeniously connected to two Dolby A 301:S modules. And there is also my long-legged friend, the producer, supervising the recording, sitting on the bar counter. I will remember the smell of smoked sausages and foaming beer mixed with the more familiar smell of wine corks and detergents.

⸜ GERT PALMCRANTZ, Living Echoes – In Three Dimensions in: booklet for the Lasting Impression Music LIM UHD 071 LE release, 2012, p. 16.

As we read in an extensive essay accompanying this release, this was not the sound engineer’s first project in this venue. Perhaps that is why he knew exactly what he wanted to do – capture ‘vibrations’ familiar from live recordings, without using multi-track tape recorders, so he recorded live directly onto two tracks. Due to the cramped conditions, he chose Nagra IV Stereo tape recorders, a reporter’s machine first introduced in 1968. It only accepts small plastic reels, so he had to change them every fifteen minutes – he recorded at a maximum speed of 38 cm/s; reportage from Nagra’s headquarters → HERE, a review of a book devoted to this brand → HERE.

It’s amazing how wonderfully the musicians played along, perfectly timing these moments with the length of the pieces:

No sound checks or balance tests were carried out. When the quartet began to play, Palmcrantz had to quickly set the levels as precisely as possible. After two pieces, he managed to achieve the right balance.

⸜ Booklet for the Jazz at the Pawnshop – 30th Anniver. Ltd Edition release, after: → www.JAZZMESSENGERS.com, accessed: 7.01.2026.

As we read, the recording was made without any cuts, with one exception. At the end of one of his drum solos, Egil Johansen accidentally missed the beat and slightly messed up the entrance, so Gert Palmcrantz cut out that one bar.

The material was recorded using only two microphones. These were large-diaphragm condenser Neumann U47s. This model was introduced in 1947 and is known for its warm, detailed and rich sound; it is often considered one of the best microphones in history. It is used to record vocals, bass guitar and wind instruments by The Beatles and Frank Sinatra; it comes in two versions – tube and transistor.

Two such microphones were placed on a stand above the band. This was the O.R.T.F. technique, named after the French radio station that introduced it, which involves placing the microphones 15-20 cm apart and angling them at 110 to 130⁰.

‖ A Neumann U47 Tube in an anti-vibration basket • photo by JacoTen/Wikipedia, CC 3.0

A second pair of identical microphones was placed on a second stand, on the right side of the stage, to record the audience’s reaction. There was also an additional microphone placed next to the piano, standing on the right side of the stage, with its lid open, and two Neumann KM56 cardioid microphones above the drums. In total, the entire recording system consisted of two tape recorders, a mixer and seven microphones, and, of course, Palmcrantz. During the recording, he hardly changed the tone settings on the mixer at all.

▒  Issues

AFTER RECORDING, the original tapes were edited by Gert Palmcrantz in collaboration with musicians and producer Jacob Boëthius and released as a double LP album. The sound quality of this album quickly gained a reputation for being exceptionally high, much to the surprise of Palmcrantz and the musicians, who believed that their earlier recordings were just as good. As we read, “something must have been perfectly aligned that evening, and we must not forget that talented, creative, sensitive and inspired musicians are an absolute prerequisite for a recording to go from «good» to «excellent»”.

The first edition is available in two versions – Swedish and American. The latter was cut using the half-speed technique at the JVC Cutting Centre in Japan. In good condition, it is available for around £220-250. 

In the following years, there were more special reissues, such as the ATR Mastercut Recording from 1980, 2xHD releases on tape, and the aforementioned 1-Step Audionautes Recordings. The album was released on cassette tapes, Mini Disc, gold and silver CD, in XRCD and UHQCD versions, as well as in SACD and HDCD formats. The Crystal Disc seems to be a kind of culmination. All the more so because it is the first version of this material available in the MQA-CD format (MQA Studio, 24-bit/174.6 kHz).

It is the first MQA title in the Audionautes Recordings catalogue.

Audionautes Recordings is an Italian record label founded in 2010 by Fabio Camorani, specialising in reissues of classical and jazz music. The label focuses on using original master sources to produce limited editions on 180-gram 1-Step vinyl records or high-quality CDs, including Ultimate HQCD and Crystal Disc.

From the very beginning, it has collaborated with the Japanese company Memory-Tech, responsible for such developments as HQCD (High Quality CD) in 2008, HQCDII in 2013 and UHQCD (Ultimate HQCD) in 2015. These are classic CDs, but made differently. We wrote about this in our report from the 154^th meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society. → HERE; interview with Fabio in HIGH FIDELITY → HERE.

UHQCD discs were developed as a result of an earlier project called Crystal Disc. This disc also uses photopolymer, as in UHQCD, but with a gold reflective layer. Instead of a plastic backing, they are not stuck onto plastic, but onto a crystal glass plate.

▒  Crystal Disc

The CRYSTAL DISC comes in a specially designed box. It has an internal rigid part made of black acrylic and two transparent plates, also made of acrylic, attached to the front and back with magnets; the magnet also attaches the disc itself to the front. It is visible through the acrylic and can stand on a shelf without an external cardboard ‘coat’. At the back, in a cut-out, there is a booklet and a certificate. The discs are numbered – the number is milled near the disc hole.

The discs are gold in colour because this material was chosen to reflect the laser light. An interesting fact – the Italian label’s MQA-CDs feature the Compact Disc logo, although – formally – MQA-CD is not a CD. It does not meet the licensing requirements contained in the Red Book. However, many publishers prefer to include it – just to be on the safe side, so that they are not misunderstood.

The Crystal Disc version of Jazz at the Pawnshop was encoded using MQA. We wrote about this type of disc in our editorial in 2018 – HERE. This was immediately after the launch of the first MQA-CDs, which took place a few weeks earlier, on 23 May.

Master Quality Authenticated is a technology owned by Meridian Audio, presented in 2014 by its founder, Bob Stuart. It was developed out of the need for streaming, i.e. real-time transmission and listening to high-resolution files. Meridian has never disclosed the exact technical details, but we already know quite a lot. MQA is a two-way encoding/decoding system. This means that the signal must first be encoded (at the studio or publisher) and then decoded (at the listener’s end). The system is compatible with all file players, i.e. computers and stationary players that ‘see’ it as a CD. If the DAC has an MQA decoder, the hi-res version will be ‘unpacked’.

An MQA file consists of two parts: the basic part, in the form of ALAC, FLAC or WAV 24/48, and an additional part. This additional part is the second part of the signal and instructions for the decoder on how to unpack it. After decoding in an MQA-certified device, we get a signal with a higher sampling frequency, in the form in which it was encoded by engineers, up to 32 bits and 384 kHz.

However, nothing comes for free – MQA is a lossy system. The signal with a sampling frequency of 2x, 4x and 8x of the base frequency is encoded and ‘packed’ into a 24-bit ‘container’ below the noise threshold. The additional part of the file is encoded lossily – in its description of the process, the company refers to origami as its model. Regardless, MQA has another role – thanks to appropriate digital filters, somewhat similar to apodisation filters, Meridian promises to improve signal quality by eliminating errors arising during recording and A/D conversion. And this is what has attracted many sound engineers, reviewers and publishers to this technology – including Fabio Camorani (and the author of this article).

Participants of the 154th meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society had the opportunity to hear for themselves how good these discs sound. You can find a short preview on Instagram → TF AUDIO CONSULTING.

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‖ A few simple words with…

FABIO CAMORANI

Audionautes Recordings

owner, producer

When I received the 7″ tapes (in the photo– the ones that went missing and were later found when the Proprius company moved their warehouse), we found two tracks on them (labelled STAMP 1 and STAMP 2) with rehearsals. What we found there was a complete mess! A few seconds, then a pause. Then a few seconds again and a pause. Sometimes without bass, sometimes only with bass, and so on. We interpreted this as rehearsals, fine-tuning the recordings while the band was playing (I don’t know if it was already a concert or just rehearsals before the opening). And in the middle of one of these tapes, we found a fully recorded track (one of the five tracks from Last Night).

‖ Fabio Camorani during the Audio Video Show 2025

I can say that the first four tapes of the original Pawnshop… were recorded on session tapes. Plain and simple. However, at some point, Boethius asked for a real master to be prepared with Dolby SR (the original recording used Dolby A noise reduction), and the original tapes disappeared. Most likely, they are now at Boethius’s home. So the first LP release was cut from session tapes, but since the 1990s, remasters have only been made from Dolby SR master tapes.

The ‘SR’ master tapes, I must say, are quite good. Their advantage is that it seems that all the tracks have been slightly processed to sound similar. If you listen to Vol. 2, Vol. 3 (Good Vibes) and Vol. 4 (Late Night), each track sounds slightly different. Palmcrantz – contrary to what is written in the booklets – very often modified the tonal balance, perhaps also depending on how many people were at Stampen that particular night… And on the first day, I remind you, there were no vibraphone recordings.

In any case, Vol. 2 had a track with a lot of bass in the first few seconds, and then it was changed (I imagine that Pamcrantz accidentally changed the level on the mixer in the confined space, and when he noticed it, he adjusted it, probably using headphones).

‖ A photo of the original “master” tapes • photo by Fabio Camorani/Audionautes Recordings

This also confirms that the tapes from the sessions sound best, but getting the most out of them requires a lot of work. The Dolby SR tapes required less work than Vol. 2 and Vol. 4 (which are now in our hands). Vol. 3 is not available yet – if it appears, I will work on it. »FC

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▒  6, 9, 12, or perhaps 20?

AS YOU CAN SEE, re-releasing Pawnshop… is not that simple. The original album was released on two LPs, featuring recordings from two evenings, a total of twelve tracks, three per side. When ATR prepared the Mastercut Recording version in 1980, it released a single disc with six tracks. It was not until the 1994 reissue, on LP and two CDs, that it returned to twelve. After that, things varied – the Danish, Swedish and Canadian versions from 1990 contain nine tracks on a single disc, and it was not until the First Impression Music version on XRCD in 1997 that the original track order was restored in a digital form.

‖ Different issues of Jazz at the… on CD: an UltraHD from FIM (2010), version limited to 2,000 pieces, two Proprius SACDs from 2005 (Vol. 1) and 2006 (Vol. 2) and the FIM K2HD version on silver from 2008

In 2006, on the 30th anniversary of the release, Proprius dropped a bombshell – a three-disc SACD version with twenty-eight tracks, including twenty previously unreleased minutes, plus a DVD with interviews. The same material was released shortly afterwards, in 2010, by Winston Ma of First Impression Music on the LIM sublabel, on three CDs and later on three LPs. The third disc, entitled Good Vibes, contained previously unreleased recordings. It included five premiere tracks plus one previously released track.

However, the tape was quickly lost again – Proprius currently has it in hi-res files. Perhaps that is why subsequent reissues, such as those by Naxos, Proprius and Audionautes, returned to the two original discs with twelve tracks divided between them. In the Crystal Disc version, they were all included on a single disc.

▓  SOUND

BEFORE I SAT DOWN to formally listen to this album, I had already heard it. Ever since it arrived, I had been using it to test both inexpensive and top-of-the-line devices, such as the Wadax Studio Player SACD player. This is because it is a recording that provides an excellent insight into the capabilities of audio products, while also being musically enjoyable and never boring.

And yet I was not prepared for the powerful emotional impact this listening experience would have on me, since it is an extraordinary recording and an even more extraordinary remaster on an outstanding medium. If I say that the Crystal Disc with this material sounded like I was playing the “master” tape, would I be making a fool of myself, coming across as an emotionally unstable freak? Probably yes, but – tough luck, that’s apparently how it is. So, this is coming from a freak for whom listening to this album for the hundredth time, if not more, was a tremendous experience.

And that’s because its sound is outstanding: spatial (even though it’s a small space), dynamic (even though it’s a small ensemble) and incredibly clear (even though it was recorded on a reporter’s tape recorder). From the very first sounds in ˻ 1 ˺ Intro before the track ˻ 2 ˺ Limehouse Blues, the beat of the sticks, some noises from the hall, it was all so believable, as if I were there. When the band comes in, everything thickens and compresses.

The tonal balance is extremely authentic, which some may have a problem with, especially in this version. This is not the sweet sound of cymbals and vibraphone that we hear in SACD versions, but rather resembles playing from tape – in the sense that there is a lot of information from the upper end of the spectrum and it is not smoothed out. It sounds natural in its dynamics and power.

The same goes for the lower end of the range. The double bass does not have a distinct attack, but rather a full body, yet it is clear and lays a nice foundation for what is happening above. This is true both in the fast-paced Limehouse Blues and the moody ˻ 3 ˺ I’m Confesin’. What I am talking about can be heard perfectly in ˻ 7 ˺ Stuffy, where the bass is one of the leading instruments.

Again, the cymbals sounded natural here, because they had a clear attack, but also weight, something that makes them sound ‘live’. This was even more audible with the tambourine in ˻ 4 ˺ High Life, placed in the second row, yet slightly overdriven, as if its energy was jumping out of the speakers. All the versions I know try to tame its sound. Here this is not the case, it is powerful, it is elemental.

The leader’s saxophone, positioned on the axis, did not cover it all, yet it was the most important. Unless it swapped places with the vibraphone. Both instruments had excellent texture and three-dimensionality. It is rare for everything to remain so clean and selective with such “thrashing” as on this album. And yet so saturated. Sometimes you can hear drops, as in High Life, when the marimba starts playing. This is also part of the history of this album, even though it is a technical error (‘drop’). But it doesn’t matter, somehow it passes by.

Perhaps most impressive, however, is the ease with which this sound is reproduced. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s a short female laugh in ˻ 5 ˺ Here Is That Rainy Day, the audience’s laughter in ˻ 2 ˺ Limehouse Blues, or the saxophone sounding different than before in ˻ 6 ˺ Jeep’s Blues, every time we listen to it, we get goosebumps. Or when the snare drum or bass drum hits – it’s so natural that it’s unbelievable. Or in the intro to ˻ 9 ˺ Barbados. And even the slightly distorted sound of the marimba in  ˻ 13 ˺ High Live reprise doesn’t bother us but translates into even more credibility.

Interestingly, the piano sounds weaker than the other instruments. It is not very close, nor does it have the same tangibility. In this respect, it resembles the sound of this instrument on Rudy Van Gelder’s recordings.

What makes this recording so exciting is the great fun you can hear in the musicians’ playing and the equally joyful reactions of the audience. As we said, Stampen is a tiny club, so the audience had to sit almost on the stage. They were therefore in the same ‘emotional space’ as the musicians. This can be heard in the freedom of the playing, in the fact that even mistakes are part of the fun. It’s as if the musicians and the audience were driving each other on.

I can almost see the audience nodding their heads like at a rock concert and humming along to the fast version of ˻ 10 ˺ Take Five, playing ‘air instruments’. The clarity of the recording and this version on the Crystal Disc is incredible.

‖ COMPARISONS

UltraHD (2012) • In my opinion, the best version of this album to date, released in 2012 in the UltraHD series by Winston Ma’s Lasting Impression Music label, is more conservative. Michael Bishop of Five/Four Productions (formerly Telarc), who remastered it, brought out more of the low midrange and lowered the energy of the high frequencies. It’s still open sound, still selective, but still… muffled. I didn’t notice this at all before, because it was still much better than 99.9% of recordings. In a direct comparison, however, it sounds as if we were talking about two different generations of tape – LIM is generation 2 and Audionautes is generation 1. Which is funny, because it’s actually the other way around.

‖ Different issues of Jazz at the… on CD: an UltraHD from FIM (2010), version limited to 2,000 pieces, two Proprius SACDs from 2005 (Vol. 1) and 2006 (Vol. 2) and the FIM K2HD version on silver from 2008

The fact is that the Crystal Disc version sounds so incredibly fresh that the LIM recording seems to be covered with a blanket. The bass is powerful, but it lacks the freedom found in Fabio Camorani’s version. The perspective from which the instruments are shown is greater; we are no longer sitting in front of the band, but a little further away, perhaps even at the bar. It draws us into the club; we are right there, but still somehow separated.

K2HD ‘Silver’ (2008) • And yet, the 2008 silver-based version of Lasting Impression Music sounds even more distant and closed. Don’t get me wrong – it’s still an excellent transfer and excellent sound. However, if we listen to the next version of the LIM release, and then Crystal Disc, we will scratch our heads in amazement, so great are the changes.

There is less treble, the bass is less clear, and the atmosphere ‘sinks’. Because this is probably what Crystal Disc has turned into a gem – we feel as if we were there, having fun, drinking beer with the participants of the recording. I don’t know how it’s possible, but the Audionautes transfer seems to come from a completely different tape. A fresher one, not worn out by hundreds of instances of playing (I did the listening part before Fabio sent his text, in which he confirmed my observations).

In this comparison, the ‘silver’ version performs the worst, sounding the most muffled. It lacks the spark and energy that we get with the Crystal Disc. And yet, both it and UltraHD sound louder and are clearly more compressed, which should promote the foreground and bring the sound closer to us. But this is not the case. An interesting fact – in this version, the reverb added to the recording is much more noticeable. And maybe that’s the point – that something was done with this tape in post-production, while the tape for Audionautes was ‘live’?

SACD/CD (2006) •

When we listen to the Proprius remaster, prepared by Andrew Lang and released in 2006 on SACD, we know that Winston Ma tried to preserve the similar character of this recording. The SACD version sounds very similar to the 2008 version and the K2HD disc. It is open and dynamic, yet boosted in the low midrange and lacking clear bass. Everything is in place here, and there is less compression than in the CD versions. And yet, after listening to the Crystal Disc for a moment, we wonder what is going on here, what happened to half of the information. Even though a moment ago we could have sworn that UltraHD is outstanding, and SACD and K2HD are really very good.

I really don’t know how to answer that except with a short: we were wrong. But that’s how the ‘wow’ effect works, that’s what we’re looking for in audio. Comparison is everything. What was perfect a moment ago suddenly turns out to be flawed. And yet it is still outstanding and better than almost anything else we have heard before. A moment with something better and our minds are reset, and we compare the sound only to that, thinking with pity of the ideal that has been knocked off its pedestal.

 ‖ The Wadax Studio Player was used to listen to the Crystal Disc with decoded MQA.

MQA-CD • The same applies to the Crystal Disc version. This becomes even more apparent when we compare this disc with earlier releases, but playing it on an MQA-CD player; in my case, it was the Wadax Studio Player. Played this way, Jazz at the Panwshop is even more sublime and makes an even greater impression. Ayon Audio, playing it as a CD, showed more energy and tangibility. But it was Wadax with MQA-CD that warmed it up slightly, bringing it closer to the SACD Proprius version, and thus to the original. Let me put it this way: you can buy an MQA-CD player for just one title and you will be happy. You can also buy just this one disc without such a player and you will also be happy. Yes, it’s expensive as hell. But if we’re talking about the top of the range, there’s no other way.

░  Conclusions

So, if I say that this is one of the best-produced jazz albums in history, now released in a way that resembles the sound of the “master” tape, will I make a fool of myself? So be it, because it’s worth it. Fabio Camorani and his remastering team have done a job that is worth spending money on, as I have done. This is the best version of this album that I know. And then there is that explosion of dynamics in the bonus track on the High Live reprise!

This is an outstanding album, an outstanding recording and top-notch remastering. Together with the Crystal Disc, it produces a sound that will convince even non-audiophiles that music played in a perfectionist manner makes more sense because it moves us more, evokes more emotions and is, quite simply, more beautiful than music played any old way on any old equipment. We are giving this release a double award – both the BIG RED BUTTON for the sound and the GOLD FINGERPRINT for the emotions. ●

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‖ HOW WE LISTENED • Listening tests were conducted using a High Fidelity reference system. Discs were played on an Ayon Audio CD-35 HF Edition SACD player and a Wadax Studio Player SACD/MQA-CD player.

The signal to the Ayon Audio Spheris Evo line preamplifier was transmitted via a Siltech Triple Crown RCA interconnect. The system also included a Soulution 710 power amplifier and Harbeth M40.1 speakers. Cabling – Crystal Cable Absolute Dream, Siltech Triple Crown, with Siltech, Acoustic Revive and Acrolink power supply.

→ www.AUDIONAUTESRECORDINGS.com

text WOJCIECH PACUŁA

photo “High Fidelity”, Audionautes Recordings, JacoTen/Wikipedia CC 3.0

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