Tidal MQA Classical Gems

[Daverz]

I don't have the MQA service, only the "lossless" service, but I'll often see duplicates of Warner stuff, like

 

https://listen.tidal.com/album/32966322

https://listen.tidal.com/album/74351532

 

Is one of those MQA?  I don't see any difference between them in the web interface.

 

...OK, figured out that I can already set quality to "Master" in the desktop app.  Unfortunately Airplay is stuck at 44.1k. 

[Daverz]

Karajan's Bruckner 7 on EMI is marked [M] (I'm in the U.S.)

 

https://tidal.com/album/68733754

 

A great recording of the Bruckner 7.  His EMI recordings in Berlin were always warmer than the DG recordings.

 

Is it consistently the first entry in an album listing that gets the [M] (if it gets an M at all)?

 

Anderzewski plays Mozart PC 25 & 27.  Beautiful playing.

 

https://tidal.com/album/82500042

 

Ah, sometimes it's the second entry that gets the M:  

 

Kyung-Wha Chung plays Bach Sonatas & Partitas: 

 

https://tidal.com/album/71458707

 

So my search strategy is to go to Presto and look for new Warner releases:

 

https://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/classical/new-and-future-releases?date_range=Last+90+Days&search_query=warner&size=10&view=large&page=4

[Daverz]

I haven't found any Sony MQA releases.  I notice a lot of the recent Bernstein remasters have duplicates, but no [M] over here.

 

So I searched on Decca Hi-Res downloads at Presto:

 

https://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/classical/search?format=3&search_query=decca&size=10&view=large&sort=date&page=3

 

Example:

 

Freire plays Brahms: https://tidal.com/album/79118250

 

Nilsson: 

Salome: https://tidal.com/album/77735491

Elektra: https://tidal.com/album/79118104

 

No Ma Vlast yet, but we have

 

Dvorak: Stabat Mater: https://tidal.com/album/77600975

              Symphonies & Concertos: https://tidal.com/album/77552639

 

The latest Kertesz Dvorak hi-rez remaster is there, too. 

 

I'll stop here because this is a fabulous recording of the Shostakovich Trios (Ashkenazy and friends):

 

https://tidal.com/album/77610682

[Daverz]

So what happens when you can see the MQA album, but you don't get the [M] in your region?   Is the MQA played back unfolded in "compatibility" mode, or is the true 16/44 PCM file?  If the former, it would seem that one could accidentally end up play the lossy unfolded MQA.

[Daverz]

[Daverz]

5 hours ago, Norton said:

 

I can't find  these catalogue  #s at all, what is it?

 

Sorry, it's the Karajan Sibelius disc in the post above.

[Daverz]

38 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

Dave - are you in the US? If so, not sure where you found it in MQA.

 

There are 2 listings here, but neither are MQA.

https://tidal.com/album/32966322

https://tidal.com/album/74351532

 

Just like @Norton found in the UK.

 

Right, I see both without an M here in the US.  So neither has an M in the UK, either?  Perhaps the duplication is  just an error.

 

BTW, it's available as a hi-Rez download 

 

https://www.primephonic.com/album23779

[Daverz]

32 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

Just listened to this. Agree. Another great recording. Maybe it’s nostalgia, but I still prefer Uchida, but this is right up there.

 

 

You must be pretty young, because my sentimental favorites would be Fleisher and Gilels.

[Daverz]

4 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

 

Groovy.

[Daverz]

23 minutes ago, RJeff said:

Every one of the great Everest Stereo albums listed below is on Tidal in MQA. Those of you who read Audio Magazine in the 80s might remember Bert Whyte's reminiscences of the recording sessions. (I learned enough about studio technique to impress the hell out of an old girlfriend who was a recording engineer.)
http://evereststereo.com/ 

 

Wow, lots of great listening there.  Thanks!

 

I like Ludwig's Ein Heldenleben (my copy is from HDTracks) more than the usual suspects like Karajan, Beecham, Bohm, etc.  

[Daverz]

22 minutes ago, rodrigaj said:

Thanks for the heads up.

 

Everest Stereo albums were a mixed bag - like Vox. Some were outstanding recordings and some were awful. I am glad to see that some have somehow made their way to Tidal as Masters. 

 

The fun part now is finding them.?

 

According to Wikipedia:

 

Quote

Collectors have determined that the only Everest LPs worth having are those that were recorded and pressed while Belock was at the company.^{[citation needed]} Identifying these records is relatively easy: the first issues sport a silver/turquoise label (with the earliest of these having a wood dowel on the outside edge of the inner sleeve). The silver paper used on these covers usually becomes brittle and deteriorates with age. The second label is a purple mountain. The entire classical catalog of Belock Everests is relatively small, fewer than 100 LPs.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everest_Records

 

[Daverz]

On 5/23/2018 at 1:23 PM, austinpop said:

Thank you guys for exposing this treasure trove of Everest tape transfers! 

 

I tend to favor modern recordings, but the couple I sampled so far (Sibelius 5/Finlandia and Scheherazade) have incredible SQ for a because it's a circa-1959 recording.

 

 

FTFY.  That was the Golden Age of Stereo.