[tokinlots]

I've read a little bit about "living stereo", but I'm not exactly sure what it is. I got a CD today

RCA Victor CD of Debussy - Respighi
Chicago Symphony
Fritz Reiner, conductor... Says its in "Living Stereo"


Has anyone heard this?

What exactly is living stereo? Is it similar to binaural?

 

[iDesign]

http://www.livingstereo-sacd.com/ls/index.jsp


Best,
iDesign

 

[Bunnyears]

This was RCA's name for a series of high quality stereo recordings made in the late 50's early 60's which they marketed as "Living Stereo." The recordings were famous as the best quality sound reproduction ever made for the consumer market. They revived the name when they started digitally remastering the master tapes from the series for the SACD market as many of the recordings were made with 3 or 4 microphones which were then downmixed to 2 channels for use on the 2 speaker systems of the day. For most people, Living Stereo was a technological breakthrough equal to color television or today's hdtv.

 

[Yikes]

Ah.. Bunny I am shocked. It is so rare that I know something about Classical that you don't. Actually I realize that you probably knew this and that you just misspoke. Since my office is where the SACD remasters are being done I have learned something about these recordings.

My greatest perk over the last couple of years is that I have been able to listen to the original session tapes of many of these recordings.


"ON OCTOBER 6, 1953, RCA VICTOR MADE ITS FIRST EXPERIMENTAL "BINAURAL" RECORDINGS. AT NEW YORK'S MANHATTAN CENTER, LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI CONDUCTED A PICK-UP ORCHESTRA IN ENESCO'S ROUMANIAN RHAPSODY NO. 1 AND TCHAIKOVSKY'S WALTZ FROM EUGENE ONEGIN. IN DECEMBER RCA CONTINUED STEREO TESTS IN MANHATTAN CENTER WITH PIERRE MONTEUX AND MEMBERS OF THE BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. THEN, IN FEBRUARY 1954, RCA TOOK EQUIPMENT TO BOSTONS SYMPHONY HALL, WHERE CHARLES MUNCH AND THE BOSTON SYMPHONY WERE RECORDING BERLIOZ'S THE DAMNATION OF FAUST. FOR THE FIRST TIME, RCA ENGINEERS CAPTURED THE PERFORMANCE ON BOTH MONO AND TWO-TRACK TAPE. THESE EXPERIMENTS, COMBINED WITH FURTHER TECHNOLOGICAL REFINEMENTS EMPLOYED IN CHICAGO'S ORCHESTRA HALL IN MARCH 1954, WERE THE FIRST FORAYS INTO THE WORLD OF STEREO.

AT THE TIME THAT RCA INITIATED MULTI-TRACK SESSIONS, DISC MASTERING AND CONSUMER PLAYBACK TECHNOLOGY WERE MONAURAL. RCA VICTOR PROCEEDED TO USE TWO- AND THREE-TRACK EQUIPMENT TO RECORD THE WORLD'S GREATEST ARTISTS--HEIFETZ, PIATIGORSKY, REINER, MUNCH, RUBINSTEIN, FIEDLER--IN ANTICIPATION THAT HOME TECHNOLOGY WOULD CATCH UP TO STEREO SOUND. FINALLY, IN 1955, 1/4" 7 1/2IPS STEREOPHONIC TAPE PLAYERS ARRIVED ON THE CONSUMER MARKET, AND RCA RELEASED ITS FIRST STEREO ORTHOPHONIC TAPES.
STEREO ORTHOPHONIC TAPES REDEFINED HIGH FIDELITY. IN 1958, THE WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY PRODUCED THE BREAKTHROUGH WESTREX STEREO DISC CUTTER, THEREBY REVOLUTIONIZING MASTER DISC PRODUCTION. STEREO PLAYBACK EQUIPMENT WAS DEVELOPED TO COINCIDE WITH THE NEW DISC CUTTING TECHNOLOGY. THE SAME YEAR, LIVING STEREO LP RECORDS WERE LAUNCHED, USHERING IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF STEREO HIGH FIDELITY.
RCA VICTOR'S FIRST TWO-TRACK SESSIONS IN LATE 1953 AND EARLY 1954 WERE CAPTURED ON PROPRIETARY RCA RT-21 1/4" 30 IPS TAPE MACHINES, WIRED TO A PAIR OF MONO MIXERS, EACH DEDICATED TO ONE TAPE TRACK. NEUMANN U-47 CARDIOID AND M-49/50 OMNIDIRECTIONAL MICROPHONES WERE FAVORED, AS WERE RCA-DESIGNED LC-1A 15" DUO-CONE SPEAKERS IN THE CONTROL ROOM. THREE TRACK RECORDINGS WERE REALIZED ON TUBE AMPLIFIER AMPEX 300-3 1/2" MACHINES RUNNING AT 15IPS AND IN LATER YEARS AT 30IPS, AND WERE MIXED DOWN TO 1/4" TWO-TRACK MASTERS. NO EQUALIZATION WAS USED IN THE ORIGINAL TRACKING PROCESS; THE MICROPHONE SIGNALS WERE SUMMED THROUGH PASSIVE ELECTRONICS AND PRINTED STRAIGHT TO TAPE. IN ADDITION, NO EQUALIZATION WAS USED TO ALTER PLAYBACK TAKES FOR ARTIST APPROVAL."

http://www.livingstereo-sacd.com/index.jsp

 

[daycart1]

That's pretty interesting, Yikes. Some of the vinyls were released in both mono and stereo...

 

[soundboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears This was RCA's name for a series of high quality stereo recordings made in the late 50's early 60's which they marketed as "Living Stereo." The recordings were famous as the best quality sound reproduction ever made for the consumer market. They revived the name when they started digitally remastering the master tapes from the series for the SACD market as many of the recordings were made with 3 or 4 microphones which were then downmixed to 2 channels for use on the 2 speaker systems of the day. For most people, Living Stereo was a technological breakthrough equal to color television or today's hdtv.

Some of the Living Stereo titles were released on regular CD, remastered by the original producers. And some were released on audiophile XRCD.

 

[redshifter]

yikes,
thanks for that history. it is a thing of beauty, what living stereo did.

the redbook l.s. discs i have were mastered from the original tapes played back on the same tube based hardware used to record it originally. they sound good. i think i still have some original vinyl somewhere too.

 

[soundboy]

In many ways, by offering a legitimate center channel, SACD return those 3-channel Living Stereo recordings to its rightful glory.

 

[Bunnyears]

Yikes,

Thanks for the full explanation of the recordings that I remember my father getting so excited about! My post was purely from my memories of that time in history. I still have some of my dad's original lps bought back then (unfortunately they really are not in great condition, both time and my brother and I as mischievous kids saw to that). I addressed Living Stereo as it appeared to the consumer. Also, I was aware that some of the LS releases were made with only 2 microphones as opposed to others made with more microphones which is why some of today's releases only have 2 tracks.
Quote:

ON OCTOBER 6, 1953, RCA VICTOR MADE ITS FIRST EXPERIMENTAL "BINAURAL" RECORDINGS.

I have another question about your quoted article. The term "binaural" recording today refers to recordings made with a special microphone setup that mimics the human head and the placement of the ears. In your quoted explanation does binaural refer to this, or was it the way conventional stereo recordings were referred to at that time in history?

Edit: I realized after reading your article that 4 channels weren't introduced until a bit later (I think late 60s or early 70s) when suddenly everyone was talking about quadrophonic or quadraphonic sound, a trend which my dad and almost all of the consumer public resisted.

 

[LFF]

Yilkes, your so lucky to be able to listen to the actual original tapes. I am very envious.

'

I can't really chime in any great detail except that a lot of my older friends have told me that these were some of the greatest recordings available at the time. They not only featured great music but also first rate artists at the time. I recently purchased the entire set and an old friend of mine went ape $h1t when he saw them, since he owned them all on LP.

In short - they are fantastic records.

 

[Doc Sarvis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears I have another question about your quoted article. The term "binaural" recording today refers to recordings made with a special microphone setup that mimics the human head and the placement of the ears. In your quoted explanation does binaural refer to this, or was it the way conventional stereo recordings were referred to at that time in history?

If I'm not mistaken, the term "binaural" (as opposed to "monaural") was used in the 50s to describe what we now call stereo. The use of the term to describe a specialized type of headphone recording didn't come until later.

I'll weigh in on this thread in general: To me, the LSCs (RCA Living Stereo) and MLPs (Mercury) are some of the greatest recordings ever made (although some of the Decca/London "bluebacks" from the same era give them a run for their money, and I am on record as saying that some of the new SACDs are giving the golden age recordings some real competition.

The Mercs are often criticized for their string tone, but to me its more often a case of perspective - the Mercs sound like you are sitting in the first three rows of the hall, hence the strings are more prominent. The LSCs sound as though you are about ten rows back. An overgeneralization I know, but the rule generally holds true. For what it's worth, many of the Mercs were remixed a bit when they came out on CD in the 90s to make the string tone a little less "strident". This was done by the original engineer, Wilma Cozart, and the results are spectacular.

Also, the early Merc LPs were cut so hot that many needles of the era couldn't track the vinyl. Thus, today's high-end turntables are the first to really be able to handle these beauties.

All a matter of opinion, of course. Bunny, I'm surprised the Starker Cello solo recordings don't sound right to you; they have little of the forward perspective characteristics that the large scale Mercs can sometimes have. I find them magnificent, although there is definitely a rumble on the master tape!

 

[Senn20]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_recording
Quote:

The history of binaural recording goes back to 1881. The first binaural unit was an array of carbon telephone microphones installed along the front edge of the Paris Opera. The signal was sent to subscribers through the telephone system, and required that they wear a special head set, which had a tiny speaker for each ear.

Cool, huh?

 

[itman]

The recordings are over 60 years old but they sound like they were recorded today. How is this possible? What microphones did they use?