Mercury Living Presence

As a avid audio/music fan, perhaps even audiophile, I'm increasingly becoming aware that despite the inherent dynamic range advantages of digital recording, compression is becoming more and more the norm with modern recordings due to mass marketing effects. It is perhaps the most disturbing and ironic trend I can think of in regards to the music industry and how it serves what I would call the high end listening community, as represented largely on this site. Its ironic in the sense that even as the technology to enable great recordings improves, the results, by design, are increasingly mediocre.

Unfortunately, I guess it is what it is. Thankfully there are still some niche recording shops that focus on producing the best sonic product possible.

Mapman--what you state is certainly the case with pop recordings, which are compressed so they will sound good on the radio. Most classical labels have less compression issues, unless you listen to them on your radio, in which case the radio station compresses the recording for you. Telarc is probably the modern label most akin to the spirit of the Mercuries in terms of trying to get the dynamics of a performance on tape uncompressed, but I tend to agree with Shadorne that most other companies' recordings sound dynamically compressed compared to the Mercuries. This is particularly true when comparing vinyl pressings; that was a hallmark of the Mercury label.

By the way, despite the theoretical advantages of the digital recording medium in terms of dynamic range over analog, for some reason the most dynamic recordings in my collection are the vinyl versions. Comparing the Classic Records re-issue of the Mercury Firebird against even the SACD of the same recording, the vinyl just seems to be more natural, vibrant and have more dynamic punch than the SACD or CD--more of a "jump factor", as we used to call it. Not sure why, but it just seems that way to me, and I think also to a lot of others.

Hear Hear RC !!!!
Cheers,
Detlof

Nice to hear from you again, Detlof. I know I'm preaching to the choir with you and Rush!

Russ, it's been good to see you weighing in with comments on the recordings!

Another series of recordings that are well worth seeking out for a very direct and natural reproduction of an orchestra (provided you care for the music) are the Harmonia Mundi USA recordings engineered by Peter McGrath. These are beautifully recorded with a pair of spaced omni microphones. Examples:

..Mozart Horn Concertos, McGegan/PhilBarO, Greer -hn, HMU 7012
..Vivaldi Flute Concertos, McGegan/PhilBarO, See -fl, HMC 5193
..Handel Water Music, McGegan/PhilBarO, HMU 7010

And don't forget Robert von Bahr's work with his BIS label over more than 30 years (very natural sounding, simply miked recordings), and the early work Brian and Ralph Couzens were doing with Chandos.
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