Blue Coast and San Francisco Symphony in DSD or 96/192k

[firedog]

Interesting. I always 'uncompress' FLAC files using dbPoweramp, as I do find a small, but still noticeable, sonic advantage doing so. Takes up a hell of a lot of storage though.

 

Robert- I think you misunderstood. You can now use dbpA to rip CD's in "uncompressed flac" instead of compression level 0-9. This means you get a PCM file that is uncompressed (same size as a wav file) in a flac shell, with tagging etc. The file doesn't need to be uncompressed, as it is never compressed.

[Lapaix2000]

I got this one - Mahler First, recorded by Blue Coast in DSD and also available in WAV formats. This is the first high-res download I've gotten where I can easily distinguish the quality of different amps. I know that can be done with some of the more commercial music, but with this recording the differences are more dramatic.

 

Mahler Symphony No. 1 | San Francisco Symphony

 

Having read the first 51 posts about this recording, two things are very surprising: anger at the price, and, even more astonishing, hostility to Blue Coast. One can borrow a copy of a cd from a library and make a copy, get an LP, an SACD, or in have any version at any price. None will equal a copy of the original DSD master. If that is too expensive, then don' buy it. It is hard to see now it could be inexpensive.

Ad hominum comments about the value of the work itself, or its obviously dedicated producers seem completely beside the point. The greatness of Mahler's Symphony no. 1 is not in question. Kudos to Blue Coast for making it available! It is cause for celebration.

[astrotoy]

Blue Coast is currently (through January 1) having a Buy One Get One Free sale on downloads. I just downloaded the Mahler Sym 1 in DSF for $50 and am getting a $40 download for free (I didn't see any other $50 downloads that I wanted.) The one free one is the Cypress String Quartet "American" album in 96/24. One of my consultants, Mark Willsher produced the album. I was fortunate to be invited by Mark to attend one of the recording sessions for the album at Skywalker Ranch. He was using the same Pyramix software that he taught me to use for my vinyl ripping project and a stack of Pacific Microsonics Model Two's (I think he was using four of the them - one for the stereo mix and three more for a 5.1 mix as I remember). Anyway we had a delightful day which featured the Cypress Q recording two movements of the Barber String Quartet, including the famous and gorgeous Adagio movement. The Barber quartet and the Dvorak "American" string quartet make up most of the album. We also joined Mark and the Cypress Q for lunch at Skywalker. It turns out that their violist, Ethan Filner, was in the same Suzuki group violin class as our daughter (and me as a parent player) more than 25 years ago.

 

So, for those complaining about price, here is your chance.

 

Larry

[Bob Stern]

Mahler 7

 

Blue Coast now is selling Mahler 7 for $12 in any format. Was this originally recorded in PCM or DSD?

 

Cookie's above post on 12-23-2012 says the 7th did not appear to be a native DSD recording, but she may have additional information at this time.

[cookiemarenco]

Mahler 7

 

Blue Coast now is selling Mahler 7 for $12 in any format. Was this originally recorded in PCM or DSD?

 

Cookie's above post on 12-23-2012 says the 7th did not appear to be a native DSD recording, but she may have additional information at this time.

 

Thank you, Bob, for posting. The folks at the SF Symphony have since told me that the Mahler 7 were actually recorded to DSD. Our intention is to sell all of the symphonies in this Mahler series and we will alert you to those recordings not natively recorded to DSD.

 

We were not at the original sessions and rely on the information given to us by the SF Symphony. We do what we can to figure out the provenance of the recording.

 

Thanks again, Bob!

Cookie Marenco

[firedog]

Just dowloaded the Mahler 7, even though I have some good PCM recordings of it. Couldn't resist at that price, and anyway I like Mahler.

Sounds really good. If you've been waiting to hear what good DSD sounds like, but didn't like the prices, this is your opportunity.

[cookiemarenco]

Just dowloaded the Mahler 7, even though I have some good PCM recordings of it. Couldn't resist at that price, and anyway I like Mahler.

Sounds really good. If you've been waiting to hear what good DSD sounds like, but didn't like the prices, this is your opportunity.

 

Thank all of you for your support. We now have enough supporters to try out special pricing for our subscribers. If you're a subscriber to our newsletter, you've noticed we've tested the $12 pricing for a full DSD album several times over the last two months. The $12 advance price stays available for 2 weeks.

 

We make the announcements in our weekly newsletter. It's our way of saying "thank you" to our loyal fans and subscribers.

 

Not all record labels we distribute agree, so you may not see this advance release price for every album we distribute. Our agreements with the record labels at Downloads NOW! allows them to select the price.

 

With the San Francisco Symphony, we are lucky enough to test and compare the results of sales fairly quickly. If this advance pricing is effective, we'll continue.

 

The $12 price will end on Nov 30, 2013 for the Mahler Symphony No 7.

 

We hope to have at least 2 releases a month at the $12 advance price. To receive our weekly newsletters, you can join at Blue Coast Records | Exceptional Acoustic Recordings

 

Enjoy!

Cookie Marenco

Blue Coast Records

[sauerball]

We hope to have at least 2 releases a month at the $12 advance price. To receive our weekly newsletters, you can join at Blue Coast Records | Exceptional Acoustic Recordings

 

Super news. Thanks much. Mahler No. 7, already bought and downloaded.

[REShaman]

I already own the SFSO SACDs and three other editions of the Mahler Symphonies. DLs of Symphonies 1 & 2 from Blue Coast Records were so enjoyable, that I can not resist Symphony No. 7 for a favorable price which is presently downloading as I post. With a 20% discount! I decided to DL Symphony No. 4 as well.

 

Cookie has always made herself accessible and her website and staff is very user friendly. It has always been a pleasure to correspond and purchase. The more the merrier. I have other artists in DSD and PCM and the music is so very enjoyable, like Paul Hanson's jazz bassoon recordings.

 

Thank you, Cookie. Always a pleasure.

 

Enjoy the music,

Richard

[bmoura]

The special pricing is nice. But the Multichannel SACDs are still out there and there are no Multichannel DSD Downloads available.

Oh well.

[Guidof]

We hope to have at least 2 releases a month at the $12 advance price. To receive our weekly newsletters, you can join at Blue Coast Records | Exceptional Acoustic Recordings

 

Enjoy!

Cookie Marenco

Blue Coast Records

 

Hi Cookie:

 

The $12, limited-time offer is wonderful incentive! I hope you'll make it a permanent feature for those albums for which your agreement with the label makes it possible.

 

Regards,

 

Guido F.

[Guidof]

The current $12 for the Mahler 7th is indeed irresistible, so I eagerly downloaded the DSD version. Regrettably, however, for me neither the performance nor the recording raise above the merely competent. Worth listening to, for sure, but not memorable. Hopefully, future Blue Coast DSD releases will be more compelling.

 

Guido F.

[dalethorn]

The current $12 for the Mahler 7th is indeed irresistible, so I eagerly downloaded the DSD version. Regrettably, however, for me neither the performance nor the recording raise above the merely competent. Worth listening to, for sure, but not memorable. Hopefully, future Blue Coast DSD releases will be more compelling. Guido F.

 

I can relate to that. I wonder who could get through the entire Mahler series, even if they recorded only 2 or 3 symphonies per year, and maintain an enthusiasm for the music throughout? I don't know if MTT is the right person for this music. I have a bunch of Mahler songs by Fischer-Dieskau, and he sure seems like the right person for that music.

[Kal Rubinson]

I can relate to that. I wonder who could get through the entire Mahler series, even if they recorded only 2 or 3 symphonies per year, and maintain an enthusiasm for the music throughout?

Hah. I get through several Mahler series each year. I don't claim to be quite normal. :-)

[firedog]

The current $12 for the Mahler 7th is indeed irresistible, so I eagerly downloaded the DSD version. Regrettably, however, for me neither the performance nor the recording raise above the merely competent. Worth listening to, for sure, but not memorable. Hopefully, future Blue Coast DSD releases will be more compelling.

 

Guido F.

 

May not be the worlds greatest recording, but calling it "merely competent" is surely harsher than it deserves. I'd call it a good, not great recording.

[Bob Stern]

I wonder who could get through the entire Mahler series, even if they recorded only 2 or 3 symphonies per year, and maintain an enthusiasm for the music throughout? I don't know if MTT is the right person for this music. I have a bunch of Mahler songs by Fischer-Dieskau, and he sure seems like the right person for that music.

 

If you want more modern sound in the songs, the closest modern approximation to Fischer-Dieskau is Thomas Hampson. I love his first "Das Lied von der Erde" conducted by Sawallisch, as well as all his song recordings.

 

Since you like Fischer-Dieskau, I assume your taste leans toward hyper-expressive rather than classical elegance. If so, I expect you'd share my enthusiasm for Bernstein's final cycle on DG. Early digital sound, but unbeatable performances.

 

Bernstein died before the planned recording of the 8th (partly because Haitink vetoed DG's plan to record Bernstein's 8th in Amsterdam because Haitink wanted the 8th to be his valedictory), so DG filled in the series with a very exciting but under-rehearsed 8th from the Salzburg Festival. It's sound is a step below the others. I love it nevertheless.

 

My favorite completion of the 10th is Levine/Philadelphia (Cooke 2).

 

MTT almost always sounds contrived to me. In other words, the expressive gear shifts do not seem natural.

[Guidof]

May not be the worlds greatest recording, but calling it "merely competent" is surely harsher than it deserves. I'd call it a good, not great recording.

 

You're more generous than I. Perhaps my expectations, for a recording that ordinarily fetches a premium price, were a bit high.

 

Regards,

 

Guido F.