I am not rejoicing. Naxos and some small labels are great, but a lot of what comes lately from the major labels really suck big time. They are mixing them to sound good on cheap stereos and boom boxes in order to sell to the mass market. On high-end equipment the instruments are all way out of balance with a boosted and bloated midrange. Since people don't like the hiss that is in all historical recording they cut off the highs to remove all the hiss, leaving a less than real sounding recording. I listened to some of those DG "Originals" recordings and the strings are a lot louder than the rest of the orchestra. I sit in live classical concerts every month, so I am use to how things should sound. If the microphones are placed well, there should be no reason to do any remixing. That is one reason the Naxos sound good. They are budget discs, so what you get is the raw recording put on discs with no tricks. Most are recorded in churches and old concerts halls in Europe, so the natural room sound comes through as if you are there. I am very wary buying any recent recording or re-mix from the major labels other than Decca/London who have got it right. The Bernstein Century discs from Sony are also good.
Classical Audiophiles Rejoice!
The audio quality of recordings now available has recently made huge gains with various remastering techniques used by major labels to greatest recordings in their past catalog, and released at mid price! EMI "great recordings of century" uses ART (Abbey Rd tech.), DG uses original image bit processing, Sony uses SBM (superior bit mapping), RCA "living stereo" uses UV22 super CD encoding, DECCA "legends" uses 24bit/96khz digital transfers, etc etc. Even budget lines like Naxos have very good sound! For example I am now listening to Mahler 2nd Sym EMI label Klemperer/Schwarzkopf remastered using ART. I had original CD, and sound was average at best for 1963 recording. What a transformation now, huge gains in every dept.....much larger gain than a Gold CD gives to average recording. Mahler 2 on one CD, mid price, excellent sound quality, great performance with SCHWARZKOPF! Some of the RCA remasters from late 1950s are better than any recordings made today! Any other comments on this subject.......
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- 24 posts total
- 24 posts total