From: Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
> The Columbia SACD I really wished was reissued -- and wasn't -- was the Quad mix of Boulez/NY doing
> Bartok "Concerto For Orchestra." It was issued on SACD with a new mix that was just a "surround"
> expansion of a typical stereo mix. The Quad was radically different -- the listener was placed
> INSIDE the orchestra, with the sections placed in a circle around the listener. It was one of the
> boldest produced-sound things Columbia ever did. I've heard the quad off the LP and even with the
> limits of matrixed-quad formats, it's really kewl. Discrete quad would be something else!
I do have the quad LP but never had a quad set-up. I got the standard
CD a year or two ago which used the original cover graphics of the the
circular orchestral set-up and I did ask here if anybody know if they
mastered the CD from an encoded tape, but nobody answered. NOW, does
anybody know???
> The other quad mix Sony never put out on SACD, and I can't understand why since it exactly fit the
> audiophile/SACD market, was "Switched On Bach." That, too, had a really trippy quad perspective and
> mix.
Likewise. Has anybody tried the regular CD thru a QS decoder?
> As far as I know, the only real-deal Columbia/CBS quad master to make it to a digital format was
> "Chicago Transit Authority," which was issued as a Dolby and DTS DVD by Rhino Handmade a few years
> ago.
I met someone from the West coast archive who was responsible for some
of the Handmade series, and they really, really care with their
releases.
Mike Biel [log in to unmask]
> Interesting quad tidbit -- the iTunes download version of John Keating "Space Experince" is a
matrixed quad mix and plays back in nice surround if you play it through
a Dolby analog de-matrixer
(which is kinda like QS and SQ but not exactly). I always mangle the
Dolby surround formats, so I
won't try to name it, but it's not the digital DVD one.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Roderic G Stephens" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2012 7:34 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Who needs vinyl?
Are we talking about SACDs, because I'm interested Bernsteins' Mahler
second in that format with the
N.Y. Phil that only seems to be available in a Japanese remastering?
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=SICC-10054
--- On Fri, 6/1/12, [Richard A Kaplan] <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: [Richard A Kaplan] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Who needs vinyl?
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Friday, June 1, 2012, 1:09 PM
Sony's release of Bernstein's Mahler cycle last year in new masterings
from
session tapes was revelatory; it shows (a) what they're capable of when
they're willing to use the resources, and (b) how inadequate the huge
bulk of
their CD reissues have (has?) been. I'm with Steve: More!
Rich Kaplan
In a message dated 6/1/2012 3:05:07 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
I recently heard the last 2 movements of the Beethoven 3d Piano Concero
on
the radio and was amazed. I had no idea who was before the public at
present who played the piece this well. What particularly grabbed me was
how
rich the piano tone was, how clear the various piiano voices and
orchestral
parts were and how well the whole thing sounded together.
Imagine my surprise. It was Leon Fleisher, George Szell and the
Cleveland
Orchestra, made in 1959.
After a bit of investigation, I learned it was a new, 2012 24 bit
ransfer
from Sony. I orderd the box of the 5 Beethoven and two Brahms Concerti
that
night. When it arrived, it also proved to contain the Brahms Handel
Variations, the op. 39 Waltzes and Mozarrt's 25th Concerto.
I'm playing the 3d now through my office listening set-up. It's far more
than the radio disclosed.
Though I've yet to see a review that addresses it, this is clearly (!) a
huge improvement over all previous releases in any format.
I am assuming they've used Capstan as there is no wow or flutter-
something
to which my my ear is particulary sensitive. The crispness of the sound
indicates corrections to problems caused by slight misphasings, firmly
and
distinctly positioning the instruments within the orchestra. A slight
cut
made here at about 2700 cycles allows the piano to sound completely
equalized throughout its range with no notes suddenly sticking out. The
occassional buzzy noise I used to think were defects in the recording
are
now revealed as piano problems. I can't hear any tape hiss at all. The
only
negative is that the time between movements is often too short and
unrelated
to the music's pulse.
Oh, yes. Setting aside a few missed notes in a few of the more elaboate
passages, the 3d is a terrific performance. They are well enough known
by
now not to require a review.
The digital millenium has arrived. More! More!
Steve Smolian
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