[Ferbose]

Mercury Living Presence Hybrid SACD
Respighi: Ancient Dances and Airs for Lute
Antal Dorati/Philaharmonia Hungarica

I have bought six classical SACDs so far.
This is the best sounding.
Amazingly, its price is only $10 USD in Taiwan.
This is the second best sounding orchestral recording I own, bettered only by the Khachaturian/Karbarevsky XRCD24.
The music has a sunny feeling to it, very upbeat and intriguing.
I hope Mercury would continue to release their excellent catalog in SACD.

 

[will0957]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuberoller . Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin this is far too important a recording to be given the hack-job remastering,but that's what happened here.I am really disappointed.If you have heard this even once on any of the many vinyl remasters you'll know what I mean.If you have heard it as an mono pressing you'll just want to cry at the terrible mastering job done on this SACD issue.

You really think it's that bad?

I just got my first SACD player this morning, and bought Lady In Satin (I had never heard any previous version of it). From what I understand there is a stereo release and a multichannel sacd release of this album -- I bought the stereo version. I thought it sounded excellent.. but I don't exactly have an audiophile setup.

 

[bkelly]

I read the earlier critical post on the SACD of Lady In Satin also and soon afterwards I purchased the SACD myself. While I have'nt compared it side by side with other versions I own (including the original 50's LP) my first impression of the SACD was highly favorable. My only complaint is that the top in detail is a little rolled off but with classic recordings like this the mastering engineers are always doing a balancing act between leaving the recording in its "classic" presentation form or going ahead and using the advantages of more modern techniques and technology to update the sound of one of these recordings. I think they erred on the side of leaving this recording in its "classic" analog style presentaion. That would be my only citicism of this record. Since it has strings I would have like to hear them brought out on the record a little better.

The other thing about this recording is that this was recorded is only a few years before Billie's untimely death. At this point her health is gone, her career was over and the once naturally beautiful voice is in shreds. All Billie has left is her immense expressive talents and on these particular songs and in this setting Billie sings like she never sang before. This is one of my all time favorite recordings but, to this day, it is still very difficult for me to listen to because her dry, croaking voice on this record makes it painfully clear that this is just about the end for one of our greatest recording artists. The SACD certainly does nothing to hide this fact from the listener and in my opinion the added detail and realism provided by SACD makes the painful facts of Billie life even more obvious.

One thing I am sure of is that the SACD of Lady In Satin has a bigger sound to it than any other recording of the I own of it excluding the possibilty of the original mono LP bettering it slightly but the original is in mono and for me, in most cases, mono is not a recoridng technique that that I enjoy much. It has it strong points but in the end it is not for me.

The fact that Lady In Satin has been converted to stereo may be what the earleir criticism was aiming at, I don't know. Myself, I think it is now nearly impossible to tell if a particular recording was done originally in mono and converted or whether or not it was actually a stereo mix to begin with. It would depend on the recording I guess with complex rock recording being the easeist to make an educated guess about but, other than that, I think the only way someone could tell was by guessing at it and beyond that only a recoriding professional has any real chance of guessing it right more times than not.




Best
Brian

 

[Romanee]

My thanks also to Kevin Gilmore for several SACD series that sound very promising.

Kevin - Do the Oscar Peterson releases include the "Blues Etude" album?

Has anyone come across any good Maxim Vengerov SACDs?

 

[bkelly]

Romanee,

It is great to run across another Maxim Vengerov fan. I absolutely love him. I am certain that he is one of the most talented instrumentalist I have ever heard and possibly the very best. He is unblieveable! He has incredible command of the instrument and at the same time he is so expressive.

As far as I know there are no SACD's of Vengerov available. I wish they would release the Prokoviev/Shostokovich Violin Concerto's #1 but I haven't seen it or any other yet. Hopefully soon.

Keep in touch.





Best
Brioan

 

[Romanee]

bkelly -

Have you seen his "Master Class" special on cable? (It gets rerun frequently in NY.) Brilliant and Exhilarating!

I'll keep an eye open for future releases. Of course If I find anything I'll post a note.

{suitably exhilarated}

 

[KenW]

Marvin Gaye Collection Hybrid SACD.

If you enjoyed Let's Get It On, you'll love this collection. It's more of a greatest hits album but definitely a must have for Marvin Gaye fans.

Tracks include:

1. Ain’t That Peculiar
2. It Takes Two (with Kim Weston)
3. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (with Tammi Terrell)
4. Your Precious Love (with Tammi Terrell)
5. Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing (with Tammi Terrell)
6. I Heard It Through The Grapevine
7. What’s Going On
8. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
9. Trouble Man
10. Let’s Get It On
11. Distant Lover

Put some logs on the fire, get the wine to breathe and really enjoy this CD.

 

[kevin gilmore]

Midnight Sugar Yamamoto Trio. Absolutely fabulous recording and
fun music.

Mercury living presence and rca living stereo. Absolutely the best of
the best. You have not heard this music till you hear these late 1950's
originals.

 

[tyrion]

Hilary Hahn - Bach - Concertos . My Sony SCD-CE775 full SACDMODS. I picked this disc, Kind of Blue and DSOTM. They are all great but I don't think the Hilary Hahn has been discussed here yet. I am very new to classical and have to say this disc is a great introduction. I think it is the first time I listened to a classical disc from start to finish. I can't get over the sound coming out of my speakers. This is my fist experience with SACD and I am a happy man at the moment.

 

[dolifant]

This is from the "Living Stereo" series by RCA, now re-released on SACD. The original 2 or 3 track analog masters were used. The multichannel tracks use the front 3 channels only. The stereo presented is the original mix, no remixing. The sound is great. You can hear Rubenstein breathing, and even some of his fingers hitting the keys are audible. The piano benefits from the SACD treatment...no tininess in the upper register. There are a few extraneous noises I can't explain, but they are in no way obtrusive.

The performances are heavenly. Rubenstein, Polish himself, was a lifelong exponent of Chopin, in his full romantic expression. I can always reccomend Rubenstein when listening to any Chopin. Others are also wonderful (Ashkenazy, Perahia), but you simply MUST have some Rubenstein. Buy this SACD, get a good glass of your favorite spirit, put on your best headphones and feel the music. You will then be doing a search on Amazon for Rubenstein....trust me!

 

[dolifant]

These etudes are a virtuosic tour de force. Both the Op.10 and Op. 25 are presented. When you hear the E major (op.10, No.3) even the non-classical buff will say "I've heard that". Perahia is amongst the top rung of pianists alive today. My kids piano teacher, a grad student at Rice, says he is considered #1 by the pianistas! Just listen to these and you will BELIEVE!

The sound is modern, well recorded, and the SACD well mastered. Stereo only, and only single layer, this will only play on your SACD players. Its one of the original Sonys. I rarely reccomend non-hybrids, but this is so good it is worth buying the SACD and a seperate CD, if need be.

 

[dolifant]

There are many recordings of these fine pieces, dug out of the dustbin by the legendary Pablo Casals, and made into true concert pieces. This rendition by Janos Starker is from 1963-1965, at the absolute peak of his cellistic powers. He, Rostropovich and Fournier are the greatest cellists of the late 20th century.

This is a Mercury Living Presence reissue. I owned it as an LP years ago and I remember how stunning these performances are. The sound was and still is a little too biased toward the upper register, a fault I was hoping would be corrected, but alas was or could not be. I am not sure if the SACD is any better than a straight CD. I love these and to me, a cellist, they are must have documents of one of the greatest cellists of all time, playing what amounts to a "bible", for all cellists. By the way, Starker recorded these 5 times in his carrear, the last at age 70. That set is not on SACD, and is different in that he even admits his technical powers were slightly less, so he went for coherent construction rather than on the first set, where he strove for technical perfection (and achieved it).

 

[pabbi1]

Just caught this thread, and folks wonder why I'm chomping on the M³ design team...

Totally agree with everyone on DSOM, SRV "Texas Flood", and Aerosmith "O, Yeah!".

Police - Reggatta de Blanc - If you ever bought a SACD for one song, "Walking on the Moon" is it. Absolutely hypnotic.

Dylan - Blood on the Tracks - This is labeled as a Columbia promo only NFS (eBay, and $6), DSD SACD, and absolutely shines. "Tangled up in Blue", "Lily, Rosemary and The Jack of Hearts", and "If You See Her, Say Hello" are phenomenal.... if you dig Dylan. This *might* make me get many of the other Dylan releases.

Now, if only "Harvest" was SACD as well as DVD-A. And the Hendrix estate would get on with "First Rays of the New Rising Sun". And Devo would bury the hatchet with (or in) Warners...

 

[soundboy]

it's traditional Chinese instrumental music and if you have never tried it, it will take some getting use to. But the performances are unbelievably good and the direct to DSD recording is to die for. The CD layer is HDCD-encoded as well. Even with my inexpensive gear, the recording is ultra realistic.

 

[kevin gilmore]

5 remastered elton john disks. Universal music group.
Absolutely miserable job. The person doing this has no
hearing above 8khz. Do not buy these. The original cd's
sound better.