The best labels for the best sound in classical music

[SHANKAR]

Hello:

I am looking for a playlist of MQA.

Can anybody share it with me?

I have Tidal HIFI and Slacker premium.

 

[austinpop]

1 minute ago, SHANKAR said:

Hello:

I am looking for a playlist of MQA.

Can anybody share it with me?

I have Tidal HIFI and Slacker premium.

 

 

Hi, welcome to CA.

 

Assuming you're looking for classical, as you posted on a classical thread, you may find this thread useful:

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/39034-tidal-mqa-classical-gems/

 

[SHANKAR]

I am actually looking for a playlist of classical gems selected from several albums.

[TheoJM]

can try northsar recording or challengeclassic or anything mastered by bert van der wolf. 

[PAP]

For me it is

Native DSD, (I like baroque music)

 

 

[Kal Rubinson]

2 minutes ago, PAP said:

For me it is

Native DSD, (I like baroque music)

Me, too, and I like NativeDSD because it is the best source of high-quality downloads.  OTOH, it is not a record label.

[PAP]

Isn't it a label that also host other labels?

Jarred Sax is the owner I guess and he is also the man behind Channel Classics or?

[Kal Rubinson]

54 minutes ago, PAP said:

Isn't it a label that also host other labels?

I do not think so.  NativeDSD is a commercial website which sells recordings from many sources, including Channel Classics.  The NativeDSD may have a few offerings that are unique to them but I am not certain about it.

55 minutes ago, PAP said:

Jarred Sax is the owner I guess and he is also the man behind Channel Classics or?

Yes, Jared Sacks was the founder of Channel Classics which he recently sold to Outhere Music.

And, yes, he and his family (and others) run NativeDSD.

[pdvm]

On 3/19/2016 at 7:47 PM, Axiom05 said:

 

In my experience, any well produced classical recording will not be subject to compression. Dynamic range issues are not something I ever worry about when buying classical recordings.

It is generally not an issue in classical music, but it does happen, even in high profile recordings. Just listen to Currentzis recording of Tchaikovsky 6. It is so compressed in some places, it seems bizarre to me that most reviewers didn’t mention it. Some even laud it as ‘demonstration quality’, LOL. The distortion is SO audible! (If you download the hi-res file, you can actually see the waveform is completely square for most of the third movement). 
Same for his Mahler 6. 

Another example that comes to mind is Rattle’s Nutcracker. Just dynamically crushed, no DR.
 

So beware, there are some classical albums out there that were mastered for car radios…

[Axiom05]

2 hours ago, pdvm said:

It is generally not an issue in classical music, but it does happen, even in high profile recordings. Just listen to Currentzis recording of Tchaikovsky 6. It is so compressed in some places, it seems bizarre to me that most reviewers didn’t mention it. Some even laud it as ‘demonstration quality’, LOL. The distortion is SO audible! (If you download the hi-res file, you can actually see the waveform is completely square for most of the third movement). 
Same for his Mahler 6. 

Another example that comes to mind is Rattle’s Nutcracker. Just dynamically crushed, no DR.
 

So beware, there are some classical albums out there that were mastered for car radios…

Absolutely agree. There are some sources that I would not go anywhere near, and the whole Currentzis thing is completely bizarre, awful stuff. 

[AnotherSpin]

5 hours ago, pdvm said:

It is generally not an issue in classical music, but it does happen, even in high profile recordings. Just listen to Currentzis recording of Tchaikovsky 6. It is so compressed in some places, it seems bizarre to me that most reviewers didn’t mention it. Some even laud it as ‘demonstration quality’, LOL. The distortion is SO audible! (If you download the hi-res file, you can actually see the waveform is completely square for most of the third movement). 
Same for his Mahler 6. 

Another example that comes to mind is Rattle’s Nutcracker. Just dynamically crushed, no DR.
 

So beware, there are some classical albums out there that were mastered for car radios…

 

Currenzis' recordings are produced by Damien Quintard, who has produced recordings in a variety of musical styles, from Thom Yorke to Arca. Consequently, the approach to recording is quite different from the one traditionally adopted for serious music. And such recordings are designed for a different kind of listening. It make non sense to compare and I would move Currentzis to rock or pop music departments rather than classical.

[Musicophile]

14 hours ago, pdvm said:

It is generally not an issue in classical music, but it does happen, even in high profile recordings. Just listen to Currentzis recording of Tchaikovsky 6. It is so compressed in some places, it seems bizarre to me that most reviewers didn’t mention it. Some even laud it as ‘demonstration quality’, LOL. The distortion is SO audible! (If you download the hi-res file, you can actually see the waveform is completely square for most of the third movement). 
Same for his Mahler 6. 

Another example that comes to mind is Rattle’s Nutcracker. Just dynamically crushed, no DR.
 

So beware, there are some classical albums out there that were mastered for car radios…

Are you referring to this Nutcracker? https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/100719

[pdvm]

2 hours ago, Musicophile said:

Are you referring to this Nutcracker? https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/100719

 

Yes, that one.

Ok, I was a bit too harsh on this recording, but it is limited, mostly in fortissimo passages. Listen for example to the Pas de deux (no. 14a), at the climax around 03:36.

 

Those DR stats can be deceiving... it's all about having a natural distribution of loudness levels. 

[Musicophile]

1 hour ago, pdvm said:

 

Yes, that one.

Ok, I was a bit too harsh on this recording, but it is limited, mostly in fortissimo passages. Listen for example to the Pas de deux (no. 14a), at the climax around 03:36.

 

Those DR stats can be deceiving... it's all about having a natural distribution of loudness levels. 

I can see the clipping you're referring to (see below). But I'd say beyond these fortissimo clips I find this recording to be quite acceptable (I listen to it every Christmas season). 

 

[fas42]

3 hours ago, Musicophile said:

I can see the clipping you're referring to (see below). But I'd say beyond these fortissimo clips I find this recording to be quite acceptable (I listen to it every Christmas season). 

 

 

This type of clipping is quite easy to fix - drop the volume the necessary amount, and use some smart software, readily available, to restore the clipped bits. Intelligent guessing, based on waveforms nearby, gets it mighty close - why it can sound distorted, as is, depends upon how the DAC converting reacts to the bumpstop peaks; better units handle this gracefully, poorer ones don't.

[PAP]

Which recording of Ravel's Bolero has the biggest dynamic range?

I have heard it performed live many times and there you hardly here the snare drum in the beginning of the peace. I was told that some percussionists actually don't hit the drum for the couple of bars so that you only see there hands move but there is no sound.

[Musicophile]

5 hours ago, PAP said:

Which recording of Ravel's Bolero has the biggest dynamic range?

I have heard it performed live many times and there you hardly here the snare drum in the beginning of the peace. I was told that some percussionists actually don't hit the drum for the couple of bars so that you only see there hands move but there is no sound.

I just checked my versions of Bolero, and the best DR I could find in my library are 16 for this Telarc recording:

 

 

And even 17 for Rattle:

 

[Kal Rubinson]

There are several that hit 18 or 19 in one or another movement.  Are you using an overall DR for the whole piece?

[Axiom05]

Kal, he was asking about Bolero not Daphnis et Chloe. 

[Kal Rubinson]

16 hours ago, Axiom05 said:

Kal, he was asking about Bolero not Daphnis et Chloe. 

Total brain fart on my part.   For unknown reasons, I was actually looking up R-K's Scheherazade!!!

 

Anyway, for Ravel, I have four that range from 18 to 21!

 

[FIndingit]

Probably not related to his recordings, but Currentzis sometimes uses the highly controversial electronic artificial reverberation system when performing in concert halls. 

[Kal Rubinson]

9 hours ago, FIndingit said:

Probably not related to his recordings, but Currentzis sometimes uses the highly controversial electronic artificial reverberation system when performing in concert halls. 

I fear that I am irretrievably biased against him for this and for many other recording and performance practices that I can no longer appreciate him.  The only performance of his that I enjoyed was the Verdi Requiem with the BPO on their digitalconcerthall.

[PAP]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:36 PM, Kal Rubinson said:

Total brain fart on my part.   For unknown reasons, I was actually looking up R-K's Scheherazade!!!

 

Anyway, for Ravel, I have four that range from 18 to 21!

 

Which one?

[Kal Rubinson]

4 hours ago, PAP said:

Which one?

Well, I am not at home now but, remotely, I see 3:

Haiktink, RCO, Pentatone - DR21

Jarvi, Cincinnati SO, Telarc - DR19

Kreizberg, Netherlands PO, Pentatone - DR18

[PAP]

Thanks!