High-Resolution Downloads to die for…

[Boris75]

That is right. It seems to me a fair assumption that on HD Tracks material at 24/96 is native and converts from DSD would be 88 or 176. Those DSD conversions from Sony are pretty easy to spot as a result. Fair to assume that the EMI classical material is the 24/96 Abbey Road masterings.

 

This reasoning will work until someone at HDTracks or another outlet reads this forum and says: "mmmh, if I ask my contractors to rip SACDs in 24/96, my customers out there will think these 24/96 downloads are the source files, rather than SACD rips, and are likely to buy more of them from us. So let's do just that."

[firedog]

As you know, only a few small audiophile labels (e.g., 2L and Channel Classics) record in DSD format. SACDs from the major labels such as EMI were made by converting 24/96 recordings to DSD. In its early years, the labels usually did not send their 24/96 masters to HDtracks, so HDtracks hired Bruce Brown (Puget Sound) to convert SACDs to PCM.

 

So my question is whether we have confidence that the EMI recordings on HDtracks are not 24/96 to SACD to 24/96 conversions.

 

Bruce (when working for HDT) and HDT say they only convert SACD sources to 88 and 176k; in other words only integer multiples of the source, and never do an SACD/DSD conversion to 96 or 192. HDT has repeatedly stated publicly that they NEVER change the "sample rate family" (44.1 or 48) of source material they are given.

 

Of course that says nothing about the source of the SACD, DSD, or PCM master they receive. Apparently this information isn't usually given to them by the labels.

 

My understanding of this EMI series is the same as Robert's: EMI did a digital transfer of the analog masters to 24/96. I'd assume this master is what HDT was given and is selling. It seems a little overly suspicious to think otherwise based on no evidence.

[acousticsguru]

Yes, but my understanding is that some major labels -- Sony at least -- have been archiving old analog tapes directly to DSD and sometimes released the result in SACD format : Miles Davies Kind of Blue 2007 Japanese SACD, RCA Living Stereo SACDs (in that case it is certainty - they tell it explicitly in the liner notes), Mercury Living Presence SACD, ABKCO Rolling Stones SACDs, Dire Straits Japanese SHM SACDs. There may be others.

 

Weren't the Mercury Living Presence SACDs based on 24/192 PCM masters?

 

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

[Boris75]

Weren't the Mercury Living Presence SACDs based on 24/192 PCM masters?

 

Interesting - I hope they will be made available.

[firedog]

Weren't the Mercury Living Presence SACDs based on 24/192 PCM masters?

 

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

 

The ABKCO Stones DSD "archive" was made for the express purpose of releasing the material in DSD. Unfortunately, it has never been released in DSD, only in PCM conversions. DSD was originally invented by Sony with the purpose of using it for digital archiving, especially of their analog catalog material. Apparently very large amounts have been archived as DSD.

 

Only later did they think of a way (SACD) to exploit it commercially. Sony and others don't seem to be moving in any big way towards releasing all of this DSD archive for download, or even as SACD. Some is being released as PCM, not DSD. Too bad.

[ted_b]

The ABKCO Stones DSD "archive" was made for the express purpose of releasing the material in DSD. Unfortunately, it has never been released in DSD, only in PCM conversions.

 

F-dog, I'm confused by this comment. You know (and even mention) that they were released as SACDs. That's DSD. Those SACD's were not PCM transfers per se (although likely PCM edited, of course). Why do you say they were never released in DSD?

 

And the MLP SACDs; the only provenance we have are two interviews from Tom Fine (son of founders) who contradicts himself. In the first one (and quoted on the back cover of each SACD) is that they were direct to DSD. A later interview says they were created from hirez (no sample rate mentioned) PCm at Berliner. Hmmm...

[Boris75]

F-dog, I'm confused by this comment. You know (and even mention) that they were released as SACDs. That's DSD. Those SACD's were not PCM transfers per se (although likely PCM edited, of course). Why do you say they were never released in DSD?

 

I felt as confused as you by this remark.

 

I have one ABKCO Rolling Stones SACD, which sounds very good. One day, when I have time, I'll compare it against the high-res Grrr download I purchased a couple of months ago. My impression is that any difference is going to be tiny, but this is a premature conclusion as there were a number of weeks, and gear change, between the time when I listened to Grrr and my first listen of the ABKCO SACD last week.

[firedog]

F-dog, I'm confused by this comment. You know (and even mention) that they were released as SACDs. That's DSD. Those SACD's were not PCM transfers per se (although likely PCM edited, of course). Why do you say they were never released in DSD?

 

And the MLP SACDs; the only provenance we have are two interviews from Tom Fine (son of founders) who contradicts himself. In the first one (and quoted on the back cover of each SACD) is that they were direct to DSD. A later interview says they were created from hirez (no sample rate mentioned) PCm at Berliner. Hmmm...

 

I meant to write that the DSD Stones archive was made by ABKCO with the express intent of releasing the material as SACD. Only years later was it released as hi-res PCM.

 

I guess unlike some of you, I don't call being released as an SACD the same as being released as DSD. Why? Because 99.99% of the people interested in the music can't listen to the DSD file directly. There are what, about 2000 people in the world who have a setup to rip an SACD? (And I'm not even sure if it is technically legal.) The hi-res PCM remaster can be listened to in some form by just about anyone with a computer.

 

So in my way of looking at it, the hi-res ABKCO catalog has been "released" by ABKCO as SACD and hi-res PCM only. I'll call the DSD "released" when it is made directly available for purchase in DSD format, without having to resort to specialized and hacked hardware.

 

We don't have to get in an argument about this, just explaining my POV, since my post was questioned. If you look at it differently, that's fine.

[Boris75]

I meant to write that the DSD Stones archive was made by ABKCO with the express intent of releasing the material as SACD. Only years later was it released as hi-res PCM.

 

(...) I'll call the DSD "released" when it is made directly available for purchase in DSD format, without having to resort to specialized and hacked hardware.

 

 

Thanks for the clarification. I get your point: indeed they have not been released as DSD downloads but only as SACD discs and PCM downloads.

[regnaD kciN]

Weren't the Mercury Living Presence SACDs based on 24/192 PCM masters?

 

Don't know, but I do recall, at the time of the hi-res format war, both Polygram (Mercury) and BMG (RCA) announced their support of DVD-Audio over SACD -- thus causing me to initially go with DVD-A -- before switching to SACD when the complete flop of DVD-A became obvious.

[Robert Hutton]

I meant to write that the DSD Stones archive was made by ABKCO with the express intent of releasing the material as SACD. Only years later was it released as hi-res PCM.

 

I guess unlike some of you, I don't call being released as an SACD the same as being released as DSD. Why? Because 99.99% of the people interested in the music can't listen to the DSD file directly. There are what, about 2000 people in the world who have a setup to rip an SACD? (And I'm not even sure if it is technically legal.) The hi-res PCM remaster can be listened to in some form by just about anyone with a computer.

 

So in my way of looking at it, the hi-res ABKCO catalog has been "released" by ABKCO as SACD and hi-res PCM only. I'll call the DSD "released" when it is made directly available for purchase in DSD format, without having to resort to specialized and hacked hardware.

 

We don't have to get in an argument about this, just explaining my POV, since my post was questioned. If you look at it differently, that's fine.

 

In truth, ABKco did the Stones catalog in DSD under significant incentive from Sony to get a major catalog on SACD to jump start the format. In other words, Sony paid them to go DSD. They might not have otherwise, and the fact is that the vast majority of those hybrid disc sales were CD sales.

[oso]

Peterbj,

Those Sound Liason recordings are great finds!! Thanx. The live studio audience ones, especially...a great sense of ambiance and harmonic decay...and that simply from the store download samples!! I'm gonna buy a few for sure. Thx

Ted

I agree, the Sound Liaison recordings are absolutely fabulous,I discovered them thanks to this forum,even made me join the forum.

The sound quality as well as the musician ship is top grade.

thx Ted

[regnaD kciN]

As I promised earlier, I am going to start contributing my "list" to this thread. To distinguish it from acousticguru's list, I'm prefacing my numbering with an "ND" -- I assume everyone has by now figured out that my username is "Nick Danger" backward. Also, in a few of these cases where the download is clearly sourced from SACD, my source is actually my own PCM rip of the SACD, rather than the download itself. I can only assume that the record company or retailer, depending on which did the conversion, used at least as accurate a suite of conversion software as mine, which was Foobar2000 with its SACD input plugin set to double-precision with 30 kHz filtering. In other words, if there's an audible difference between what I reviewed and what is available from HDTracks, Qobuz, etc., it would be to the sonic advantage of the download.

[regnaD kciN]

I would think my first choice might be a bit controversial, but not because of the recording itself. Indeed, if any classical recording can qualify as "legendary," this is it. The first complete recording of one (or four, depending on how you look at it) of the most important, iconic artistic works of the nineteenth century, brought to fruition just in time to catch the last great generation of Wagnerian singers, led by a conductor who would be launched into classical superstar-dom based on this set alone, and set down on tape by a producer whose "theater of the mind" concept of stereo revolutionized the recording of opera -- what's not to like? Let's put it this way: how many opera recordings do you know of that spent weeks on the U.S. popular record charts, or that inspired both a best-selling book and a documentary film?

 

No, if there's going to be controversy about this choice, it lies in the download's resolution of 24/48. For those who don't know the history, the Solti Ring was mastered for CD twice. The first time, at the dawn of the compact-disc era in 1984, the result was rich and warm through the midrange, but congested and lacking in frequency extension, and, in the minds of most CD devotees, featured an excessive level of tape hiss. In 1997, a second transfer was made, supervised by James Lock, one of the surviving members of the original production team (as well as the recording engineer for the audiophile-favorite Mehta/LAPO recording of Holst's Planets). At this session, a flat "safety" transfer was made at 24/48, with the resulting transfer then reworked in the digital domain, with equalization and (over?-)treatment with Cedar2 noise-reduction software. Possibly due to the latter, the resulting CDs receiving mixed reviews. Finally, several years ago, when Esoteric set out to remaster the set for SACD, it was discovered that the analog master tapes had deteriorated and were no longer useable. The nearest surviving alternative, for both the Esoteric SACDs and this set, was the 24/48 "flat" safety tape, and it is this that was once again re-equalized and treated with later-generation (and, from the sound of it, less audibly-damaging) noise-reduction software for this release. In short, while it may not be 24/96 or higher -- and thus, in some audiophiles' minds, fall short of "high-resolution" -- this is the highest-resolution version of the Solti Ring we're ever going to have in any digital format.

 

In this case, any questions about the sampling rate should fall by the wayside when one considers the results. The Redbook CDs from this new (sort-of-)remastering already trumped the 1997 set, with richer orchestral tone, cleaner textures, and greater soundstage depth. The 24/48 version goes better still, with more low-level definition, tonal richness, and a more well-defined space around the performers. Despite a few instances of vocal overload (the result of long takes with performers roaming about the "stage," which must have made setting recording levels as much of a bear as the one in Act I of Siegfried), which are also found in the earlier releases, both digital and analog, this is high-resolution sound, and quite glorious high-resolution sound at that, by anyone's standards.

 

Some time ago, when uncompressed audio downloads were first being made available, I cynically predicted that there would never be a large enough selection of classical albums made available, particularly of larger works that would require more download time. Specifically, I stated flat-out that I was sure we'd never, for example, see the Solti Ring available for download. Yet, here it is...and at better-than-CD resolution, to boot! Grab this, unless you want to get the whole deluxe box set (which includes the aforementioned book and documentary along with many other extras) and rip the 24/48 files from Blu-Ray yourself.

[acousticsguru]

[…]

 

I'm already looking forward to more contributions! Solti's Ring in what's in all likelihood going to be the final word sonically speaking, is a great choice to start with. Listened to some of the 24/48 remastering of the Rheingold (ripped from the Blue Ray - curious if/hoping that the HDTracks download is identical?) with a new audiophile acquaintance last weekend, no disagreement at all - too bad perhaps 96 kS/s ADCs weren't introduced until ca. 1999, but the 24/48 sounds amazing, what an enormous improvement over the early CD release (and, as an aside, in my setup, where everything is being upsampled to 192 kS/s using a dCS Purcell, the differences are negligible - the more important aspect being the 24-bit resolution).

 

The Ring that from a purely musical/interpretive perspective I would love to hear in high-resolution (stage noises and all, who cares…) is Decca's live 1955 Bayreuth recording by recording engineer luminaries Roy Wallace and Kenneth E. Wilkinson (available on CD on the Testament label). Joseph Keilberth is one wonderful story-teller with no philosophic axe to grind, and the roster of singers, in my humble opinion, surpasses that of any set, historical or new (and where they're the same, such as Hans Hotter, they're still in their more youthful prime). There's this joke among Wagnerites (or those who love to hate him, sometimes difficult to tell both parties apart) that when one checks one's watch after an hour of listening to Wagner, one will find only quarter of an hour went by - listening to the Keilberth Ring seems to invert this!

 

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

[acousticsguru]

Available as 24/176.4 download, taken from the SACD's DSD layer.

 

Note the SACD set is being offered for 449 USD on Amazon - for a used copy! I remember not buying the CD set because something seemed totally wrong - I'm no musician, and learnt only later that it appears to have been transferred a semitone sharp (supposedly because the 35mm film tape was being played back at the speed of a standard open reel - hard to believe given the machines aren't the same and Wilma Cozart Fine is said to have overviewed the original Philips remastering sessions). Be that as it may, the SACD and the download sound wonderful - as fine as any solo cello recording I've heard. Indeed, as fine an instrumental solo recording as one will ever hear.

 

Sound quality does have its importance depending on the type of music. There's always room on the shelf for another interpretation of warhorses like this, even so, the combination of factors here is about as hard to beat as e.g. Ivan Moravec's recording of the Chopin Nocturnes for the Connoisseur Society label. I've always loved Starker's robust, no-nonsense approach here (he recorded the Bach Suites for every label he ever signed a contract with!), it's the recording that over the years I've come to the conclusion simply doesn't wear off on me as some have.

 

It's never sounded better, by the way. No vinyl disc can ever have little enough surface noise, and more importantly, be pressed and stored/preserved physically flat enough for instrumental solo (although this is even more true of piano recordings). It's good of whoever did the transfer to have gone for 176.4 kS/s and what seems gentle filtering. I've done some comparisons lately, and come to the conclusion that DSD to PCM conversion, especially if done on the fly and with a steep filter, may in general be best at 88.2 - except if done right. I'm not sure why, but I'm convinced a cello is one of those instruments where the difference would be most audible - and indeed, there's no 88.2 download to compare this to. As an aside, this is also one of those recordings that confirm that computer audio can profit enormously from external clocking - it's not just about sound quality, but the sheer musical impact, the rhythm, ebb and flow, the pauses, indeed, the silences between the notes, all very, very much worth it.

 

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

[ted_b]

Agree, David. I own the SACD and ripped it to DSD (DSF) for my stereo (Meitner) and multichannel (Exasound, Mytek stack) DSD DACs. It is wonderful music, in both 2 channel and, even better if you can do it, the original 3 channel (left, center, right).

[acousticsguru]

Available as 24/192 download from High Definition Tape Transfers, taken from a commercial RCA 4-track open reel tape.

 

A famous recording of which I've owned or at least heard a number of transfers, including the rare out-of-print JVC XRCD. Ironically, given the universal critical acclaim this recording has gotten (albeit only years after its initial release, since then especially also in comparison to Munch's 1954 Living Stereo recording, which is available as SACD hybrid and hence as 176.4 kS/s download), not a single release sounded wholly convincing. Already the original Dynagroove pressings were problematic.

 

When it comes to HDTT in general, I must admit to have mixed feelings. First of all, a number of the DVDs I bought wouldn't play back satisfactorily - they looked so scratchy to the bare eye that I wouldn't have used such a blank to save kitchen recipes! Robert Witrak replaced some of them, but eventually, I gave up. Now that I no longer buy physical discs but mostly download my high high-resolution recordings, the remaining problems are mostly source-related (there would be a LOT to say about track lists, liner notes, typos and ill-advised label pics - I realize the original couldn't be used for legal reasons, but to use Fortuny's Fantasiá sobre Fausto, who ever came up with that idea?! At least for once not mirror-inverted…). I can hear minor tape wobbles, at least a couple not-too-prominent pops (but thankfully, none of the digital clicks that abound on the physical DVDs). Even so, one must wonder why the majors are rarely able to glean so much sonic information from their original master tapes…

 

Note one will not get the added punch or widened spatiality of the JVC XRCD release here, but a light-on-its-feet transparency and realistic depth perception that I have no doubt comes much closer to what's on the original master. It also quite simply sounds much more like Berlioz's sound world. Nothing "beefed up" here (clearly, the score, if well-performed, doesn't need any of that). What's most important (to me at least, as this aspect used to get on my nerves in each and every release thus far), is that the massed strings now sound much less steely/wiry. And the orchestral bells are finally placed where they belong (and that is not in the front!).

 

From a purely musical/interpretive perspective, there's little way around this recording anyway. Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that any performance of the Symphonie Fantastique that doesn't portray Berlioz's opium-infused sound world, that is, which does not sound/feel positively disconcerting, which does not make the average listener wonder if perhaps s/he isn't way too sober to qualify as intended audience (the classical equivalent to Pink Floyd or Bob Marley, so to speak), just totally misses the mark. There are rare performances that get the concept right yet manage to sound more "elegant"/less "raw", enough so to comfort the average listener, plus are very well recorded (Varujan Kojian's recording for Reference Recordings - to think how rare it is that a classical recording by an audiophile label makes it anywhere near the top of the heap interpretatively… - which isn't available as high-resolution download, and due to the fact that it was an early digital recording, may never be, and even if, doubtless transferred from an analogue backup, i.e. same league). But note Munch (correct spelling Münch) was Alsatian, i.e. French, and one of the rare great conductors who was not a control freak, on the contrary, more aware of when to loosen the reigns than most of his peer - no wonder then he's still being associated with the music of Berlioz more than any conductor since. Needless to say, many other well-played performances/interpretations have been caught on record. But it sure seems that in half a century, no recording has come along that can equal, let alone top this. And for the time being (that is, until RCA reawakens from the Rosebud's sleep, or e.g. Analogue Productions gets to blow the dust off the original master tape), the HDTT release is clearly the remastering to have, no doubt about that.

 

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

[acousticsguru]

Available as 24/192 download from High Definition Tape Transfers, taken from a commercial (?) 15ips RCA 2-track tape.

 

Daniil Shafran is a legend among cellists, largely unknown to the general public due to the fact that he didn't travel much, and almost exclusively recorded for the Russian Melodiya label. His stupendous range of tone colours and his highly personalized interpretations may not be for everyone, some even criticize recordings that to others, like myself, are favourites if not benchmarks, e.g. his Schubert Arpeggione Sonata (several recordings, the one with Lydia Pecherskaya being the original coupling to on the RCA disc - too bad it's missing here…) or his disc of the Debussy and Franck Cello Sonatas (with Anton Ginsburg).

 

There's probably less, if any, disagreement that his intimacy with the Shostakovich Cello Sonata, which he first recorded with the composer at the piano, was unequalled (if you've only heard Rostropovich, and come away thinking that the music doesn't speak to you, you absolutely must hear this, and if you love Rostropovich and believe his is the last word on this piece, you absolutely must hear this - I tip my hat to one, but guard the other like gold in my hunky man cave).

 

This, Shafran's third recording of the piece (if memory serves right), was made for RCA in New York in excellent sound. I've always thought it fascinating how miraculously approachable, enjoyable, even "fun" the music of some of the, let's just say, not so easily digestible Russian composers, e.g. Prokofiev, Scriabin and Shostakovich is if put into the right hands (e.g. to make someone who just won't "get" the eroticism/mysticism/ecstasy of Scriabin to listen to Vladimir Sofronitsky is to watch someone get hooked for life).

 

Beautiful tone portraying deep-seated sarcasm, anxiety and moodiness (seemingly straightforward, but apparently difficult to get the combination right without ever sounding droopy - sorry, but the only other examples that spring to mind just now are ones in the piano repertoire, e.g. Prokofiev concerto recordings by Dagmar Baloghová and Leon Fleisher). Lydia Pecherskaya is an able and sympathetic partner. The recording perspective is close, but not too close (Shafran's breathing is less noticeable than e.g. in his Debussy recording with Ginsburg), with real-life width and good depth. Very minor tape wobble in the first movement, and one or two analogue pops can't take away from the fact that this is a benchmark recording with one of the greatest, if elusive instrumental soloists of the 20th century in full-bodied, warm and colourful sound.

 

In a nutshell, if you've never heard of Daniil Shafran (if so, no worries - you're not alone), don't much like Shostakovich's music (if so, no worries - you're not alone), let me express my most heartfelt envy: you're in for a surprise! If you do (like one or the other, that is, or both), yet don't have this, good gracious, what are you waiting for?!

 

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

[acousticsguru]

Available as 176.4 kS/s download, taken from the LSC SACD's DSD layer.

 

I'll start with Heifetz's Beethoven not because it's the most obvious place to start, but because it was the first I ever heard him play. Not everyone likes his virtuoso approach to Beethoven, nor does everyone think highly of Münch's (an Alsatian, i.e. a Frenchman who might as well be German), but let me tell, being from a Teutonic/Allemanic background myself, it's kind of hard to explain why so many soloists, singers and conductors approach e.g. Beethoven (or even Wagner) with a philosophic axe to grind. No use burdening the greatest-ever composer's music with additional weight. I'm quite sure Beethoven would have have approved of Heifetz no-nonsense approach.

 

Having said all this, I must admit that high-resolution audio has done a lot for my appreciation of Jascha Heifetz's music-making. RCA, despite its now-legendary audiophile reputation in the early stereo years, had a knack for making string instruments more steely/wiry-sounding than they do in real life. Mediocre LP pressings (i.e Dynagroove) and redbook CD remastering only consolidate this effect. In high-resolution format(s), however, it turns out it wasn't (all) the original recording engineers'/producers' fault. Heifetz's Guarnieri, all of a sudden, sounds like, well, a Guarnieri. Better yet, he sounds human (as well as, as violinists will tell you, superhuman, or one should say inhumanly assured technically speaking). Lo and behold, there's an abundance of subtle tone colour shadings one simply did not hear in the early remasterings, and that in redbook format still don't amount to an altogether improved perception of his skills as an interpreter and musician (apart from the alleged cold-hearted technician, which I doubt he was, given my admiration for perfectionism in general).

 

Now, no self-respecting classical music aficionado I know would be able to name his or her favourite interpretation/recording of Beethoven Violin Concerto. No such thing exists. When it comes to the solo part, I've never heard it interpreted and performed better than by Leonid Kogan in his 1957 mono recording with Vandernoot conducting (acceptably well, if far from inspired). (Before anyone asks, yes, even if you know Kogan's 1959 great stereo recording with Silvestri, if you want to hear his very best, you must hear the mono account!) When it comes to the orchestral part, I've never heard it interpreted/conducted with greater inspiration than by Wilhelm Furtwängler (several recordings attest to this, perhaps none technically perfect in execution, although I couldn't care less - Furtwängler is and remains Furtwängler, I mean, guess who gets exclusive rights to performing Beethoven's 9th up in Heaven?). If one is in the mood for added weight and breadth, Henryk Szeryng live in 1959 with Otto Klemperer conducting is worth checking out, as is David Oistrakh with André Cluytens (another underrated Frenchman when it comes to conducting the music of Beethoven). Obviously a collector's list is bound to be near endless. (To give an example, I've just listened to Arthur Grumiaux and Berl Senofsky for a change, and find one could probably live with either - even if I wouldn't ever want to live with an only version.) There's too much to find, too much say in this music for a single performance to express it all - once on starts thinking about it! Heifetz seems to avoid overthinking matters, and instead goes right for the gusto (and I don't believe he did it because he lacked the ability to read much into his interpretations - maybe he was all too aware of the pitfalls?). There's a timelessness to his take on this piece that keeps his performance eternally refreshing. Even more so now that we can hear his playing in greater detail, stupendous technical polish coupled to compassion and human warmth.

 

The coupling is Heifetz's acclaimed take on the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto No. 1. Violinists will go to great lengths to tell you no one played it better, and maybe that's true. My to-go-to interpretation is by the violinist who performed the piece in public more often than any other (some 900 times, if memory serves right), Alfredo Campoli (1958 Decca, with Adrian Boult conducting). It's so emotionally and intellectually satisfying (music for one's belly and one's soul, as I'm used to saying in my mother tongue) from a musical perspective, you'll never want to hear the piece played by anyone else again, numerous great versions in the catalogue (and on my shelf) notwithstanding.

 

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

[regnaD kciN]

I will freely admit that the Saint-Saens "Organ" Symphony is one of my favorite works of the Romantic era. It obviously was one of Charles Munch's favorites as well, as he chose it as the centerpiece for his debut concert as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and, a decade later, committed it to the still-new format of stereo recording. For me, it's a performance for the ages -- there are few moments more thrilling and moving than the introduction of the final movement's theme, first on hushed strings over piano arpeggios, then by the full orchestra with organ. The BSO plays it like angels, and RCA captured it in some of their finest vintage stereo; possibly a step below their Reiner/Chicago recordings in terms of sheer transparency, due to Symphony Hall being a trickier recording venue, but very close to the best from the Land of the Shaded Dog.

 

Unfortunately, what wasn't the finest was the treatment this recording received in later decades, as RCA, after deleting the original LSC, first released an "audiophile" half-speed mastered LP that managed to throw a blanket over the sound, then followed it up with a series of early-digital CD masterings that left the work only a ghost of itself. Fortunately, the Living Stereo series came to the rescue with a remastering that finally revealed the glories of the master tape, and paired it with the full contents of "The Sea," another acclaimed Living Stereo album of Munch's readings of Debussy's La Mer and Ibert's Escales. About a decade later, SoundMirror's DSD transfer of the whole program -- the source for this PCM download -- was, if anything, even better, with the whole sonic landscape shined to a brighter polish and richer hues. If you enjoy classical music, the more spectacular the better, or even just relish showing what your audio system is capable of, pick this one up today!

[regnaD kciN]

The Ring that from a purely musical/interpretive perspective I would love to hear in high-resolution (stage noises and all, who cares…) is Decca's live 1955 Bayreuth recording by recording engineer luminaries Roy Wallace and Kenneth E. Wilkinson (available on CD on the Testament label).

 

That, coincidentally, is the other set I own. An amazing performance, and I emphasize that "performance," because you really get the feeling of the electricity in the air during a great Bayreuth cycle, and that you really will never get from a studio recording. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much high-res remastering would improve the sound on that cycle; although amazingly good for 1955 live-recording standards, I would never rate it as higher than good-to-very-good sonically -- nowhere near the audio glories of the Solti set.

[acousticsguru]

I will freely admit that the Saint-Saens "Organ" Symphony is one of my favorite works of the Romantic era. It obviously was one of Charles Munch's favorites as well, as he chose it as the centerpiece for his debut concert as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and, a decade later, committed it to the still-new format of stereo recording. For me, it's a performance for the ages -- there are few moments more thrilling and moving than the introduction of the final movement's theme, first on hushed strings over piano arpeggios, then by the full orchestra with organ. The BSO plays it like angels, and RCA captured it in some of their finest vintage stereo; possibly a step below their Reiner/Chicago recordings in terms of sheer transparency, due to Symphony Hall being a trickier recording venue, but very close to the best from the Land of the Shaded Dog.

 

Unfortunately, what wasn't the finest was the treatment this recording received in later decades, as RCA, after deleting the original LSC, first released an "audiophile" half-speed mastered LP that managed to throw a blanket over the sound, then followed it up with a series of early-digital CD masterings that left the work only a ghost of itself. Fortunately, the Living Stereo series came to the rescue with a remastering that finally revealed the glories of the master tape, and paired it with the full contents of "The Sea," another acclaimed Living Stereo album of Munch's readings of Debussy's La Mer and Ibert's Escales. About a decade later, SoundMirror's DSD transfer of the whole program -- the source for this PCM download -- was, if anything, even better, with the whole sonic landscape shined to a brighter polish and richer hues. If you enjoy classical music, the more spectacular the better, or even just relish showing what your audio system is capable of, pick this one up today!

 

Me too, I love Saint-Saëns's Organ Symphony, and used to compare recordings with regularity, although I may only have five or so left (I tend to tidy out, basically, if you come to tea, you get to take home a CD or two). Among my three top favourites, curious if you know the other two (neither available as high-resolution downloads, thus inapplicable in this list, much like 99% of the records I own): the 1994 Jean Guillou with Eduardo Mata conducting the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (on Dorian, long out of print, gorgeous sound), and the 1973 Christopher Robinson with Louis Frémaux conducting England's City of Birmingham Symphony (an EMI record licensed by Klavier Digital)? It's such a beautiful piece, worth enjoying a different benchmark version every now and then.

 

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

[acousticsguru]

That, coincidentally, is the other set I own. An amazing performance, and I emphasize that "performance," because you really get the feeling of the electricity in the air during a great Bayreuth cycle, and that you really will never get from a studio recording. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much high-res remastering would improve the sound on that cycle; although amazingly good for 1955 live-recording standards, I would never rate it as higher than good-to-very-good sonically -- nowhere near the audio glories of the Solti set.

 

True, it's never going to make it onto an audiophile's favourite list, unless of course the term "audiophile" implies what it does to me, i.e. that what I hear is a sonic experience for all the senses, that is, beyond just my ears. To me, it's mainly the extraneous noises (e.g. what sounds like rain at one time, and like a wind machine at another) that I find disturbing, although high-resolution releases (without dynamic compression!) tend to do exactly that on a highly revealing stereo: put the extraneous noises into perspective, so they're less bothering, much like in concert, where it can be easier to focus on the performance because one's eyes guide one's ears.

 

Where, to me, the Roy Wallace/Kenneth E. Wilkinson magic truly comes is in the palpability of the voices - and what voices those are…!

 

The intensity of e.g. Die Walküre, Act III, Scene 3 ("War es so schmählich"), with Astrid Varnay and Hans Hotter, for example, even surpasses that of the much better recorded benchmark performance with Birgit Nilsson and again (of course) Hans Hotter (Leopold Ludwig conducting). On my system, the singers sound so realistic, it's almost scary.

 

As an aside: if you love this, you absolutely must hear Keilberth's 1955 Bayreuth Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman), also on Testament, there also in stereo, same Decca recording team, in slightly more distant yet overall cleaner sound. Awesome!

 

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

[jwbrent]

Available as 24/176.4 (alternatively 88.2) download. A DSD remastering using the dCS ADC, the download appears to be an integer downsampling of the SACD's DSD layer.

 

If this were a ranking list, Reiner's Scheherazade would have been closer to the top, but I'm adding as I'm browsing. An audiophile classic if there ever was one, not much to add. Asking wind players, they'll tell you the final movement being recorded in one take is a tour de force. Apparently Rimsky-Korsakov in his position as professor of composition, harmony and orchestration used this piece to incorporate just about all that springs to mind, and the result is a musical orgy of immense proportions. When well-performed it's also, quite simply, a story well-told.

 

I'm ever so slightly hesitant in recommending this download because in this particular instance, I very much happen to like the warmer, admittedly bass-heavy and less wide-band (possibly less neutral, more "coloured") XRCD remastering - although without access to the original master tape, we can only guess, the higher-resolution DSD remastering seems to bring out minor tape flaws, as well as putting emphasis where it doesn't belong, such as on distracting noises like conductor's/soloist's breathing. Perhaps the problem is that the DSD remastering presents us with what the master tape sounds like "naked", whereas the XRCD was produced by someone who may have had the sound of the (prohibitively expensive) original vinyl in mind.

 

Be that as it may, Fritz Reiner's Scheherazade belongs in everyone's collection. It's also one of those classical scores that will delight audiophiles that won't usually listen to classical music. It's an audiophile showpiece - just as Rimsky-Korsakov intended it.

 

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

 

I fully agree ...