gevorg
1000+ Head-Fier
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I enjoy Zimmer soundtracks as well, too bad that "The Dark Knight Rises" hi-res from HDTracks is brickwalled at ~22KHz:
From what I've read across Head-Fi, some are recorded much better than others. That's of course what I am looking for .
I enjoy Zimmer soundtracks as well, too bad that "The Dark Knight Rises" hi-res from HDTracks is brickwalled at ~22KHz:
That brings up a good point, what about movie soundtracks? Certainly some scores are amazing pieces of work, one of my favourite genres.
There were sub-labels in the late 50s and early 60s that had particularly good classical music recordings - "RCA Living Stereo" and "Mercury Living Presence". Those may or may not be the best performances of the particular work, but they were always among the best recordings - minimally miked in true stereo on hand built tube consoles and tape decks.
IMHO, the "Scheherazade" (Rimsky-Korsakov) by Reiner and the Chicago Symphony on RCA Living Stereo (especially the SACD) is both the best performance of the work, and also one of the best recordings of an orchestra (I use it in testing audio gear).
I agree - both the RCA Living Stereo and the Mercury Living Presence recordings are excellent - and Reiner's "Scheherazade" is an all-time great for both sound and performance.
A few months ago, you could get the first two RCA Living Stereo box sets relatively cheap on Amazon. Volume 1 dropped as low as $60 (for 60 CDs) from some third party sellers, but is back up around $100 now. That is a great way to ramp up your classical collection very fast with some great recordings.
I have the first two Mercury Living Presence box sets, but have not yet grabbed the third. Their prices tend to stay higher than for the RCA Living Stereo boxes. Both Mercury box sets that I have include lots of classic performances in excellent sound. But the Mercury "house sound" can be somewhat dry, which which can sound shrill to some people and/or on some equipment. I'll usually listen to Mercury recordings on warmer headphones (e.g., Phillips Fidelio X2 or Sennheiser HD650) rather than on more analytic headphones (e.g., AKG Q701 or Beyerdynamic DT880).
For sound quality, a number of smaller "boutique" labels are worthwhile. The labels I gravitate toward include Harmonia Mundi, BIS, Channel Classics, Linn, Telarc, Hyperion, and Chandos. Most of these labels have both Super-Audio CDs (SACDS) and high-resolution downloads, and the quality of their regular CDs is excellent. Harmonia Mundi is particularly strong for baroque music, both popular (Bach, Handel, Vivaldi) and more obscure. Channel Classics has a range of great recordings - try Rachel Podger for baroque music (concertos and solo violin works by Bach or Vivaldi) or Ivan Fischer for Mahler symphonies. Hyperion offers a free monthly sampler for download in FLAC, ALAC, and MP3 formats, which is a great way to try out new composers and compositions -- this month's is at http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_HYP201606
Another option for great sounding classical music comes directly from some of the symphony orchestras themselves. Both the San Francisco Symphony and the London Symphony have created their own labels and released a number of excellent high-resolution recordings of major symphonic works. Many of the SF Symphony recordings of Mahler Symphonies conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas are excellent - you can sample several if you are an Amazon Prime member and then get the high-res downloads or SACDs directly from the SFSO web site.
Thanks to all who posted recommendations for well-produced classical music! I appreciate your help and especially related to the Mahler. What piqued my interest was a visit to the Nashville Symphony last w/e when they performed Mahler's Third. Absolutely blew me away. I want to hear that kind of sound on my HD800!! Therefore, the search for the best CD's goes on.
Enjoy your music,
RCB
Thanks to all who posted recommendations for well-produced classical music! I appreciate your help and especially related to the Mahler. What piqued my interest was a visit to the Nashville Symphony last w/e when they performed Mahler's Third. Absolutely blew me away. I want to hear that kind of sound on my HD800!! Therefore, the search for the best CD's goes on.
Enjoy your music,
RCB