A Great Recording (and Other Stuff)
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by Dan Shanefield
(SUMMARY:
--- A record claimed to be the highest-fidelity CD ever,
--- A guide thru the maze of Wi-Fi choices,
--- Web "streaming" explained,
--- A guide to free downloads of classical music,
--- and other such stuff. )
An unusual recording was used by George Graves for reviewing a phono cartridge, as reported in The Audiophile Voice (Issue 3 of Volume 10, no date). The disc is a special 45 rpm collector's item, which was pressed into extra heavy vinyl but only on one side. A statement by Graves that caught my attention was his claim that this is "the world's best phonograph record." The music includes Stravinsky's "Firebird," played by the London Symphony, conducted by Dorati, and recorded in three channels by Bob Fine in 1959. A few years ago, the CD was remastered for present-day media by Fine's widow, Wilma Cozart Fine.
If I could find a copy, I doubt that I could afford to buy it, but I did find out that amazon.com offers a Sony hybrid CD/SACD disc for $19, designated "AISN number B0000DC15L." I bought it, and I have now played it quite a lot.
I'm not going to try to claim that it's "the world's best," but I will say that it sounds very good. The playback on my system provides an illusion of bottomless bass, and it has a ton of treble. I used EQ to cut the highest frequencies by about 4 dB, and my subwoofers (really infrawoofers?) were set at 1/4 power. While listening for a long time today, the images in my head were floating in florid fecundities. (Does that make any sense to you?) Dorati's version is dripping with drama, but is still suitably subtle. The drums really roll, and in spite of its low volume, the pizzacato has perceptible presence. (You can sense that this recording affected my brain. If this is nauseating you, just stop reading it!)
After studying my amplifier's output with a spectrum analyzer and oscilloscope (left channel to vertical, right to horizontal), I still can't say why this recording sounds so good. The extreme left and right signals are widely separated, and the middle signals are slightly but distinctly separated also, which aids in my ear's location of instrumental groups. There is a fair amount of reverb, even in the soft pizzacato notes, especially at deep bass frequencies. This all sounds pleasant to me, but some listeners might want to cut the bass a bit, if the reverbs sound artificial to their ears. Of course, I don't know how much of that was the work of Mr. or Ms. Fine's studio electronics, and how much came from the hall and mic placement. (Spaced omni mics could pick up plenty of natural reverbs.)
Overall, judging by the TAV reviewer's extremism, I expected excessive exuberance. However, the actual result was among the very best I have heard, factoring in my own tastes (and possibly also the power of suggestion).
=================================================
by Dan Shanefield
(SUMMARY:
--- A record claimed to be the highest-fidelity CD ever,
--- A guide thru the maze of Wi-Fi choices,
--- Web "streaming" explained,
--- A guide to free downloads of classical music,
--- and other such stuff. )
An unusual recording was used by George Graves for reviewing a phono cartridge, as reported in The Audiophile Voice (Issue 3 of Volume 10, no date). The disc is a special 45 rpm collector's item, which was pressed into extra heavy vinyl but only on one side. A statement by Graves that caught my attention was his claim that this is "the world's best phonograph record." The music includes Stravinsky's "Firebird," played by the London Symphony, conducted by Dorati, and recorded in three channels by Bob Fine in 1959. A few years ago, the CD was remastered for present-day media by Fine's widow, Wilma Cozart Fine.
If I could find a copy, I doubt that I could afford to buy it, but I did find out that amazon.com offers a Sony hybrid CD/SACD disc for $19, designated "AISN number B0000DC15L." I bought it, and I have now played it quite a lot.
I'm not going to try to claim that it's "the world's best," but I will say that it sounds very good. The playback on my system provides an illusion of bottomless bass, and it has a ton of treble. I used EQ to cut the highest frequencies by about 4 dB, and my subwoofers (really infrawoofers?) were set at 1/4 power. While listening for a long time today, the images in my head were floating in florid fecundities. (Does that make any sense to you?) Dorati's version is dripping with drama, but is still suitably subtle. The drums really roll, and in spite of its low volume, the pizzacato has perceptible presence. (You can sense that this recording affected my brain. If this is nauseating you, just stop reading it!)
After studying my amplifier's output with a spectrum analyzer and oscilloscope (left channel to vertical, right to horizontal), I still can't say why this recording sounds so good. The extreme left and right signals are widely separated, and the middle signals are slightly but distinctly separated also, which aids in my ear's location of instrumental groups. There is a fair amount of reverb, even in the soft pizzacato notes, especially at deep bass frequencies. This all sounds pleasant to me, but some listeners might want to cut the bass a bit, if the reverbs sound artificial to their ears. Of course, I don't know how much of that was the work of Mr. or Ms. Fine's studio electronics, and how much came from the hall and mic placement. (Spaced omni mics could pick up plenty of natural reverbs.)
Overall, judging by the TAV reviewer's extremism, I expected excessive exuberance. However, the actual result was among the very best I have heard, factoring in my own tastes (and possibly also the power of suggestion).
=================================================
posted by Daniel at 6:51 PM
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