[SunTanScanMan]

  I'm looking for some good solo piano recordings of Chopin.
I could find the Ballades, Scherzos, Etudes and Polonaises in good quality, as for everything else, varying degrees of poor. I'm especially interested in the Preludes and Waltzes.

Hi froxmor welcome to the thread. What recordings have you listened to?
If you haven't already checked out - Ingrid Fliter - she has a complete waltzes recording on EMI. A previous recommendation on this thread. She has a recording of the preludes too, which I haven't listened to, but has some good reviews.
 
Lots of others too by piano aficionados here, definitely worth having a browse through.
 
Personally I find Liszt more interesting, but just my taste. Let us know what you settle on!

 

[froxmor]

 
Hi froxmor welcome to the thread. What recordings have you listened to?
If you haven't already checked out - Ingrid Fliter - she has a complete waltzes recording on EMI. A previous recommendation on this thread. She has a recording of the preludes too, which I haven't listened to, but has some good reviews.
 
Lots of others too by piano aficionados here, definitely worth having a browse through.
 
Personally I find Liszt more interesting, but just my taste. Let us know what you settle on!

Ingrid Fliter recordings stuck me as poor, every note is accompanied by some weird noise. It's a good example of how recording in 24/96 doesn't mean good quality if your recording equipment is crap or the setup is flawed.
 
Blechacz's Prelude recordings are 16/44 but they are far superior to Ingrid's.
 
I don't actually mind a noise floor as long as the recording itself was done well, for example I really like Rubinstein's Ballades and Scherzos SACD.

 

[ctemkin]

froxmor,
 
I can recommend Alexandre Tharaud's CDs of Valses and Preludes, both on Harmonia Mundi.  I liked the performances, and the recording quality of each is excellent.

 

[uchihaitachi]

  Ingrid Fliter recordings stuck me as poor, every note is accompanied by some weird noise. It's a good example of how recording in 24/96 doesn't mean good quality if your recording equipment is crap or the setup is flawed.
 
Blechacz's Prelude recordings are 16/44 but they are far superior to Ingrid's.
 
I don't actually mind a noise floor as long as the recording itself was done well, for example I really like Rubinstein's Ballades and Scherzos SACD.

IF SQ is so important, listen to Pletnev and Demidenko's recordings...
Some brilliant recordings from the past, but might not be up your alley as the SQ suffers
 
Dang Thai Son has great recordings of the complete works, so does yundi, most chopin competition winners have great recordings of chopin works
 
zimerman, argerich, and so on... although argerich only recorded the first ballade and not 2 3 4

 

[froxmor]

  froxmor,
 
I can recommend Alexandre Tharaud's CDs of Valses and Preludes, both on Harmonia Mundi.  I liked the performances, and the recording quality of each is excellent.

I cannot agree. The recording is awful, worst sibilance I encountered yet. I'm using analytical IEMs so that may be why I'm so critical. But there really shouldn't be an excuse for sibilance in recordings.
 
After quite a bit of searching, I guess I will just have to settle for Arrau for the Preludes and Ashkenazy for the Waltzes. They are less than ideal recordings but at least the performances are good and their troubles are primarily in the noise floor rather than some really poor recording gear than ruins the sound.
 
Edit: Gonna try Dang Thai Son now as the previous poster suggested.
Edit2: Dang Thai Son showed initial promise but it too is plagued by sibilance, especially the right channel. The higher notes are impossible to listen to at any decent volume.

 

[uchihaitachi]

I cannot agree. The recording is awful, worst sibilance I encountered yet. I'm using analytical IEMs so that may be why I'm so critical. But there really shouldn't be an excuse for sibilance in recordings.

After quite a bit of searching, I guess I will just have to settle for Arrau for the Preludes and Ashkenazy for the Waltzes. They are less than ideal recordings but at least the performances are good and their troubles are primarily in the noise floor rather than some really poor recording gear than ruins the sound.

Edit: Gonna try Dang Thai Son now as the previous poster suggested.
Edit2: Dang Thai Son showed initial promise but it too is plagued by sibilance, especially the right channel. The higher notes are impossible to listen to at any decent volume.

Why dont you use EQ to notch down whatever frequencies are bothering you? A lot of modern day classical recordings have an artificially boosted high end.... It's not rocket science.

 

[Quinto]

Personally I would never use analytical headphones or IEMs because of sibilance..I prefer natural sound signature..

 

[jdpark]

In my experience sibilance occurs when the DAC is not very good, or with MP3 files. Sometimes the amplifier could be to blame, as well. I don't think analytical headphones are to blame if everything else is working properly. I haven't had problems with sibilance outside of a few compressed Pop CDs I purchased by mistake in the 2000s like "Queen's Best" or something. I've never had any sibilance with a jazz or classical CD recorded post-1990. Seriously. If there is sibilance on that album, it must be a very poorly recorded classical album, a real exception to the norm. I don't think any respectable labels are highly boosting the treble. Actually, some classical albums I've purchased in recent years were unusually dark, with slightly boosted bass, if anything. The only time I've had something close to sibilance from a decent classical album was with some operatic work where the sibilance probably couldn't be taken out of the recording without loosing the clarity of the libretto.
 
I highly doubt that Harmonia Mundi would put out a piano work in CD quality with sibilance (though I'm not saying it's impossible). That said, there are some pianos nowadays that are known for being strident in the treble and fatiguing, such as those that are all the rage now from the Italian Fazioli brand. I could also see HM putting in just a bit of extra treble to give the sensation of greater detail to those piano freaks who need to hear whether the player cut their nails properly before the show 

 

[ctemkin]

froxmor,
 
I was intrigued by your comments, because these recordings do not strike me as having overemphasized treble.  I compared a few of the waltzes side by side with a Dinu Lipatti CD on EMI, and the tonal emphasis seems to me similar, although--and this may be what you mean by sibilance--the Tharaud recordings have better resolution.  For me, the Tharaud recordings just sound more like having the piano right there next to me, but not in a way that produces any fatigue. 
 
Although I am reluctant to make any further recommendation to you, you may want to try the Lipatti CD.  Also a master performance, and maybe it will sound better to you.

 

[froxmor]

 
froxmor,
 
I was intrigued by your comments, because these recordings do not strike me as having overemphasized treble.  I compared a few of the waltzes side by side with a Dinu Lipatti CD on EMI, and the tonal emphasis seems to me similar, although--and this may be what you mean by sibilance--the Tharaud recordings have better resolution.  For me, the Tharaud recordings just sound more like having the piano right there next to me, but not in a way that produces any fatigue. 
 
Although I am reluctant to make any further recommendation to you, you may want to try the Lipatti CD.  Also a master performance, and maybe it will sound better to you.

Maybe your DAC and/or headphones don't reproduce the recordings as faithfully but if you listen to tracks that have a lot of higher notes played in isolation you can hear the sibilance and even some resonance mostly in the right channel. If you reduce it to mono using only the left channel it goes away and with the right channel it's present in both (meaning that it's not my IEMs).
 
I guess it's the curse of analytical sound, if the recording was done properly it's the best way to listen to classical music, otherwise you hear all the sad flaws.

 

[Quinto]

Hearing is very subjective, unfortunately I hear sibilance where others don't..heard a solo recital while back and couldn't stand it..nobody else was complaining  The HD650 is just right for me on my V200 amp.
 
On the Master11 dac/amp I can handle it on medium levels for about 30 minutes. Bought the Oppo PM3, see how that will work out.

 

[uchihaitachi]

  Maybe your DAC and/or headphones don't reproduce the recordings as faithfully but if you listen to tracks that have a lot of higher notes played in isolation you can hear the sibilance and even some resonance mostly in the right channel. If you reduce it to mono using only the left channel it goes away and with the right channel it's present in both (meaning that it's not my IEMs).
 
I guess it's the curse of analytical sound, if the recording was done properly it's the best way to listen to classical music, otherwise you hear all the sad flaws.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-0SznC0eKE
 
How does this sound?

 

[froxmor]

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-0SznC0eKE
 
How does this sound?

Surprisingly good. You can hear either some artifact or a noise the piano hammers make when striking a string, microphone is probably too close.

 

[uchihaitachi]

  Surprisingly good. You can hear either some artifact or a noise the piano hammers make when striking a string, microphone is probably too close.

Obviously, they wouldn't remove piano action from the recording, it's part of a live performance.
 
Which earphones are you using?

 

[froxmor]

  Obviously, they wouldn't remove piano action from the recording, it's part of a live performance.
 
Which earphones are you using?

Etymotic HF5 and RE400.