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DG Recordings

The music I listern most are Classic and Jazz. I have been reading discussions under music for a while. I got feeling that most people don't like Deutsche Grammophon recordings. some commented that they sound good only on low-fi system or in cars. I usually don't pay much attetion to labels, as long as I like the music. After read comments here, I looked my CDs and found many of my most favorate CDs were made by DG. Examples like

Vivaldi, The 4 seasons (Gil Shaham 1995) '4D recording'
Prokofiev/Bizet/Britten (1988, 423 624-2)
Mozart, Wind Serenades K. 375 & K. 388 (1991, 115273)
Domingo, Granada (1992, 445 777-2)
Yepes, Guitarra Espanola (1983)

Anne-Sophie Mutter played Carmen Fantasy recorded in DG's $D sampler is my all time favorate.

My system may not be hi-fi, but better than BestBuy/Circuit audios. AMC CD8B, Odyssey Stratos, Mirage OM-10.

Could you stereofile guys tell me - are the CDs listed above considered crap? Do I have taste problem or hearing problem? I listerned some stereofile recordings. Mapleshade-good engineer but they don't have music I like. Reference Recordings-I'm not sure I like their style. I still believe any of the record companies can have many good recordings.

I usually make a trip to mainland China every three years and randomly buy some records. Some chinese folk song CDs sound great-clean, good stereo image, very involving. But I cannot even trace the record companies. They may stay for only a short period of time.
aliu
cmcdaniel5ca1d
1 posts
 
Great artists, poor sound.
dekay's avatar
dekay
2,959 posts
 
Aliu: Perhaps it depends on what other sound engineering feats one compares them to? I have some Audiophile LP's that make mince meat out of my regular LP's regarding sound quality, but what wins in the end is the music and the performance, I would think, for most of us that collect and listen to music. Some of my favorite "sounding" classical CD's are direct digital recordings done by PILZ (made in Germany). Not certain, but think that these may be budget offerings (I'm in the USA) and many do not care for DDD recording from what I read in the chat rooms. I paid $75 for 75 of them and am quite happy with the purchase, the recordings and the material. My main dislike (as far as sound goes) are the NAXOS CD's that I own (they just sound odd), but other's love this label, go figure. The DG CD's and LP's that I own sound fine to me, just a little bright on the CD's (as many older CD's do). You do have me drooling with your mention of Chinese folk music though. I love to discover and listen to traditional and popular local music of this type from around the world.
twl
3,251 posts
 
I feel the DG recordings suffer from poor miking technique. When I listen to a classical record, I want to hear the instruments located in the correct places on the stage. If the tympanies sound like they are in front of the violins, that doesn't make me feel good about listening to that recording. If a solo is going on, I want to feel like I'm hearing a solo, not an enlarged close up of the player like he is right in my face. This is common to almost all of the classical music recently recorded, not just DG. The older recordings like RCA-LSP Series, and Mercury Living Presence, got it about as right as it can get, for miking and mixing.
detlof
1,899 posts
 
I am all with Greg and Rcprince on this one. Generally DG's multimiking and processing techniques don't do the recording much good. The latest example is Abado's wonderful rendering of all the Beethoven Symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic, which musically exiting, is sonically a disaster. On the other hand, as suggested above, some of their small ensemble stuff can be quite good. I have the Yepes recording, Aliu has mentioned on LP and I also find it very good indeed, as most of the Stravinsky Ballets on LP as well, done in the late 70, I think. I don't have them here, so I cannot say what conductor or orchestra. If of course, as TWL has mentioned, you are familiar with the early offerings of big orchestral music from Mercury or the RCA Shaded Dogs on LP, you are indeed spoilt for life as far as the sonics of tinned music is concerned. Cheers,
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