What is the best sound CD label
Mar 31, 2006 at 10:13 PM Post #2 of 15
the stereophile label has a good rep.

I love the stuff on constellation records too.
 
Apr 1, 2006 at 5:01 AM Post #5 of 15
In my experience the Telarc/Teldec label takes good sound quite seriously. Their classical recordings are very natural sounding. Their CDs usually sound quieter at the same volume setting than most other discs, which indicates to me they're not compressing the dynamic range or boosting levels to sound good on cheap equipment.

Telarc/Teldec usually give detailed info in the liner notes on the recording equipment, mics, preamps, cables, speakers, and the venue - this makes me think that they have some audiophiles on staff. One of their CDs even has an apology for the fact that it was recorded on a warm day, which meant the airconditioner had to be on, resulting in some nearly-undetectable background hum!

The vintage RCA Red Seal or RCA Living Stereo recordings generally sound really, really nice.
 
Apr 1, 2006 at 6:33 AM Post #6 of 15
The two albums I have from Mapleshade Records (Midnight Blue - Inner City Blues and Bad Influence - Live at the Bad Habits Cafe) never fail to blow me away. I especially love the far-miking on Midnight Blue, so much room ambience.
 
Apr 1, 2006 at 7:09 AM Post #7 of 15
Quote:

Originally Posted by jagorev
In my experience the Telarc/Teldec label takes good sound quite seriously. Their classical recordings are very natural sounding. Their CDs usually sound quieter at the same volume setting than most other discs, which indicates to me they're not compressing the dynamic range or boosting levels to sound good on cheap equipment.

Telarc/Teldec usually give detailed info in the liner notes on the recording equipment, mics, preamps, cables, speakers, and the venue - this makes me think that they have some audiophiles on staff. One of their CDs even has an apology for the fact that it was recorded on a warm day, which meant the airconditioner had to be on, resulting in some nearly-undetectable background hum!

The vintage RCA Red Seal or RCA Living Stereo recordings generally sound really, really nice.




x2 I had a BUNCH of telarc CDs in the early 90s. They were my demo material of choice for IASCA events. I wish I still had them, they were stolen in 1993.
 
Apr 2, 2006 at 3:06 AM Post #10 of 15
Quote:

Originally Posted by jagorev
In my experience the Telarc/Teldec label takes good sound quite seriously.


Those are completely different labels. Teldec is a fairly large German label, while Telarc was an independent American label until being acquired by Concord Records last December.

Telarc's original claim to fame was that they were first label to record exclusively in the digital domain in the US, even before CD's were available.

Their philosophy has always been to use minimal miking, primarily with spaced omni pairs, which IMHO is the best technique to capture the true sound of a large orchestra/ensemble. There are some interesting threads on some pro recording forums that detail their typical setups in various venues. Even so, if you listen to a few of their Cincinnati Pops recordings, you probably can learn quite quickly if Jack Renner (more detail/immediacy) or Michael Bishop (more ambiance, greater distance) was the engineer for any particular session.

I have a number of Reference Recordings CD's, too, primarily Oue/MN Symphony and some Junkin/Dallas Winds. More hall sound/ambiance than Telarc, perhaps a bit much in some cases--to the point that some detail is blurred a touch.

An interesting label for wind music in the classical genre is Klavier--if you are a fan of symphonic winds, the Klavier Wind Project recordings conducted by Eugene Corporon with the Cincinnati or UNT Winds are quite good.

If you like progressive bluegrass/acoustic music, the recordings on David Grisman's Acoustic Disc label are usually excellent. He has licensed and re-released some older recordings that are obviously not the last word in sonics, but any of the "contemporary" discs that I have heard are great.
 
Apr 2, 2006 at 3:11 AM Post #11 of 15
What? No DCC fanboys?!?
 
Apr 2, 2006 at 3:53 AM Post #12 of 15
Quote:

Originally Posted by sejarzo
Those are completely different labels. Teldec is a fairly large German label, while Telarc was an independent American label until being acquired by Concord Records last December.


You're completely correct. My apologies for the confusion. My statements apply to both companies actually - I really appreciate Telarc's minimalist philosophy on a bunch of their recordings; and the Teldec cycle of Barenboim's Beethoven symphonies has probably the best sound I've ever heard in a digital record.
 
Apr 2, 2006 at 8:00 AM Post #13 of 15
Actually Teldec is known for thin-sounding digital recordings.
I like some of their artists but the sound is often too dry--bad digital.

But I am happy with Telarc recordings.
It is a trustworthy audiophile label.
 
Apr 2, 2006 at 2:39 PM Post #14 of 15
Telarc fan-girl here!
600smile.gif

Have not been dissappointed yet.
 
Apr 2, 2006 at 5:03 PM Post #15 of 15
Naive and Harmonia Mundi are my faves: relaxed and natural sound (especially Naive, their engineers consistently make you feel "there"). Linn is the only audiophile label I have tried (4cds) and, while impressive in detail, sometimes it feels a little bit overengineered. Speaking of engineers, the WDR 3 team(s) that I have heard e.g. in Jacobs Mozart operas, and Bertini Mahler cycle, produced great sounding recordings no matter which label they were working with.
 

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