Please some confirm that this posting is getting to the ARSC List, as previous postings I've made have not.
The RCA Rachmaninoff LPs were not transferred by Ward Marston; he was still in school at the time. The BMG CDs made in 1991 were transferred by Ward, and the newer set probably uses those transfers. Although Ward did do the transfers, they were CEDARed (declicked) after the fact at BMG Studios, an early CEDAR effort that was overdone to my ears, and that therefore somewhat compromised the sound that Ward provided.
--Jon Samuels
On Tuesday, September 2, 2014 2:24 PM, Don Cox <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
On 02/09/2014, James Roth wrote:
> Hello everyone
>
> A while back I bought "Sergei Rachmaninoff - The Complete Recordings
> (10 CDs)". This is the box set with a picture of Rachmaninoff on the
> front. I just played them for the first time last week. It seems to me
> that they (RCA or BMG) could have chosen better styli for many of
> those old 78s. There is so much surface noise on some of those
> transfers!
>
Perhaps they are still using the transfers that were made for the LP
series ?
> I just learned that there's been a reissue of that set and the box has
> a picture of trees on the front. Does anyone know anything about THAT
> reissue, specifically, did they use better styli for the transfers
> this time?
>
The current RCA/Sony box has a coloured photo of Rachmaninoff on the
front. The older box has a slightly blue-toned photo of him.
I don't know whether the new box uses fresh transfers, but I doubt it.
More likely would be new transfers from the tapes prepared for the LPs.
The Naxos issues have better sound; the Naxos issues of the electrical
solo recordings are very much better (transferred by Ward Marston, who also did the original
LP transfers decades ago). Naxos haven't done the solo acoustics.
Regards
--
Don Cox
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