I am sure this release has not escaped anyone's attention. The interesting aspect from my perspective was the inclusion of 24-bit 44.1 kHz FLAC files (alongside 320 kbps MP3 versions). Very irritating for those who like me already ordered the stereo boxed set on CD and were intending to rip the discs to FLAC anyway! 
Since the analog master tapes were transcribed to digital for this project at 24/192 I am wondering whether this initial FLAC release will be followed by successively higher resolution re-releases, e.g. 24/88.2 or 24/96, eventually maybe even culminating in the 'full fat' 24/192 versions - possibly accompanied, as many have speculated/wished, by silver-disc re-releases on blu-ray??
The market for high, i.e. above CD-resolution, files is probably extremely limited, but then again the material for these already exists or can be derived very easily and these would doubtless be positioned (i.e. priced) as premium products and could therefore presumably be sold extremely profitably. Note that the aforementioned USB stick is listing at a premium to the full CD Boxed Set. Although it contains superior resolution versions to the CDs it must be much cheaper to produce/distribute and therefore return a (considerably?) higher margin.
Finally of course I am sure the good folks at Apple/EMI can't have missed the potential of 45rpm 'audiophile' re-releases on 200g 'virgin' vinyl. Judging by the prices some of the long sold-out AP Jazz reissues are commanding on ebay - check out 'Saxophone Colossus' for example, well over $1000 for a mint copy! - I wouldn't be surprised to see such a set priced (and sell) at well over $10,000. My stomach churns just thinking about it.
I am sure this release has not escaped anyone's attention. The interesting aspect from my perspective was the inclusion of 24-bit 44.1 kHz FLAC files (alongside 320 kbps MP3 versions). Very irritating for those who like me already ordered the stereo boxed set on CD and were intending to rip the discs to FLAC anyway!
Since the analog master tapes were transcribed to digital for this project at 24/192 I am wondering whether this initial FLAC release will be followed by successively higher resolution re-releases, e.g. 24/88.2 or 24/96, eventually maybe even culminating in the 'full fat' 24/192 versions - possibly accompanied, as many have speculated/wished, by silver-disc re-releases on blu-ray??
The market for high, i.e. above CD-resolution, files is probably extremely limited, but then again the material for these already exists or can be derived very easily and these would doubtless be positioned (i.e. priced) as premium products and could therefore presumably be sold extremely profitably. Note that the aforementioned USB stick is listing at a premium to the full CD Boxed Set. Although it contains superior resolution versions to the CDs it must be much cheaper to produce/distribute and therefore return a (considerably?) higher margin.
Finally of course I am sure the good folks at Apple/EMI can't have missed the potential of 45rpm 'audiophile' re-releases on 200g 'virgin' vinyl. Judging by the prices some of the long sold-out AP Jazz reissues are commanding on ebay - check out 'Saxophone Colossus' for example, well over $1000 for a mint copy! - I wouldn't be surprised to see such a set priced (and sell) at well over $10,000. My stomach churns just thinking about it.