Telarc recording quality

For the most part, I like the Telarcs that I have, but they tend toward the clinical in my opinion and lack the PRAT that, for example, the Audioquests in my collection have in spades. I would tend to agree with Brouser that they can sound a bit unnatural. The Audioquests, though, are originally recorded in analogue and most are done live to two track; I think these two attributes contribute to a much more musically realistic sound. And, in my experience, the Telarcs do need to be cranked up a bit.

Brauser, are you referring to their jazz recordings (which I haven't listened to)? With full scale orchestral recordings the balances are generally quite natural as, other than for soloists, Telarc rarely uses any spot mikes, as I understand it. The one exception is from their earliest recordings, where the bass drums were generally overblown, but their recent recordings have toned that down to where it sounds quite natural.

I'm not a big fan of Telarc recordings, as a matter of fact I avoid them. While they often convey lots of information, to me they sound rather cold and clinical, and sometimes rough around the edges. I much prefer the JVC XRCDs.

Generally I've found the quality of Telarc recordings quite good. They finally quit using that bass drum! The performances were not necessarily as good. However recently I have purchased some of their new classical disc's which came out in both SACD and Redbook and on my CDP the highs were sort of edgy - distorted I think. Unpleasant to listen to. I played them them thru a DAC w/a slightly soft high end - no problem, they sounded just fine. Any one else notice this. I seem to recall Sean talked about this a year or so ago.

Well, this is interesting! Maybe I prefer that "clinical" sound? However, I don't generally think I do. Rcprince: I found the immediacy to be there, not lost.

The consensus, thus far, seems to be that Telarc, like other labels, is a mixed bag. I'm going to listen more closely to some of mine and see if I can pick up what you are all referring to. Thanks!