Post by mx2005 June 16, 2008 (51 of 102)
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aoqd22 said:
mx2005 said "I just don't think that, for classical music in particular, the creation of the conglomerate Universal Music has been remotely a good thing".
When Universal Music was created I turned to the independent labels. Once I realised they were not always second rate performances & recordings I started exploring other repertoire performed by a wide range of talented musicians. So from my point of view the creation of UM has been positive!
I never looked at it that way! I miss the real Decca and Philips though.
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Post by amatala June 16, 2008 (52 of 102)
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aoqd22 said:
I am surprised and saddened to hear this perhaps this has something to do with the fact that in my case I wish my sound system and the SACD to take me to a performance rather than the SACD and my sound system bring the performance to me. All I can say is that two of the recent SACDs I have played certainly do it for me - the complete Grieg Peer Gynt (BIS 1441/42) and Verdi Falstaff (LSO Live LSO0528). These are not the only SACDs I could easy come up with a few more!
Of course that numbers can be very relative.
I can also find 50-70 SACD/DVD-A titles in my collection which I absolutely love. But considering the fact that my Music Server is quickly moving towards 2000 albums, then I consider these 50-70 discs as being almost nothing...
However, the saddest part is that I already own all SACD/DVD-A titles I was interested in - nothing special left to buy... So this makes SACD a thing of the past for me. Maybe I'll get the Dead Can Dance boxset for old times sake, even if Dead Can Dance is not exactly my cup of tea, but these discs should sound pretty amazing... Ooops here I go again... Planning to buy SACDs for sound quality and not for contents...
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aoqd22 said:
I am surprised and saddened to hear this perhaps this has something to do with the fact that in my case I wish my sound system and the SACD to take me to a performance rather than the SACD and my sound system bring the performance to me. All I can say is that two of the recent SACDs I have played certainly do it for me - the complete Grieg Peer Gynt (BIS 1441/42) and Verdi Falstaff (LSO Live LSO0528). These are not the only SACDs I could easy come up with a few more!
I could come up with several myself, but you have only to look at amatala's reviews to see that his tastes differ from ours. Between BIS, PentaTone, Channel, Capriccio, and Chandos to say nothing of the combined contribution of several smaller labels such as ATMA, Tudor, Simax, Cala, Caro Mitis, etc. there is PLENTY of truly superb content for me.
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Windsurfer said:
I could come up with several myself, but you have only to look at amatala's reviews to see that his tastes differ from ours. Between BIS, PentaTone, Channel, Capriccio, and Chandos to say nothing of the combined contribution of several smaller labels such as ATMA, Tudor, Simax, Cala, Caro Mitis, etc. there is PLENTY of truly superb content for me.
As well for me. Classic is king when it comes to SACD and I'm fine with that.
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Post by Perigo June 17, 2008 (55 of 102)
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amatala said:
However, the saddest part is that I already own all SACD/DVD-A titles I was interested in - nothing special left to buy... So this makes SACD a thing of the past for me.
In my hifi/music history, I have put together more than 4500 titles in LPs, CDs, MCs, DATs, Hi-Fi Videocassettes, SACDs. I have the best of ever (in my opinion, of course), I don't see anything similar in the musical panorama to the giants of the far and immediate past. If every day I use 5 hours of my time to listen to the music from my supports, I could'n have enough life to complete to listen to all my collection. With SACD I found the right media for my needs: few titles (not so few, indeed!) per year are enough to let me the choice to buy only what tickle my curiosity. SACDs is the right media for our days, in which we are bombed by general entertainment world to change, to buy, to consume, to throw out everything. I am tired, I am happy with my collection to which I added in these last years several hundreds of SACDs, as the witness of the best sound of ever.
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This thread really annoys me:
I am sorry that Funky Monkey has fallen, but other issues surface here:
Blu Ray. I would welcome that medium if it ever gives us a high rez (and decent mch) alternative to the standard DVD, with the opportunity to watch Yo Yo Ma, Hilary Hahn, The Emersons, oh, countless others (and some much more important to me personally).
I think DSD on SACD is probably superior in sound quality - based on what I read in a thread on this forum one or two years ago - and sound quality is much more important to me.
I have twos DVDs of the ever lovely Julia Fischer, and one of the rather beautiful Anna Netrebko, but I frequently find myself closing my eyes while I listen, even to these - so you can see that the visual aspects of these concert discs are of secondary importance. I also spend at least 60 % of my time in any live concert with my eyes closed. So how important can BluRay be for someone like me?
The post dealing with sound quality and sampling frequency had to do with the cofactor of sampling speed beyond 20,000 KHz necessary to eliminate "brick wall filtering" that plagues PCM. I think the author said just under 400K samples per second is needed to do the job. BluRay fails in that respect and so (theoretically) cannot equal, let alone exceed properly produced SACDs.
I am one of those (is it my age?) who is quite content to spin discs to listen to my music. Phooey on hard drives. Double phooey on downloads. I have everything I need except that I have spent so much time listening (and jabbering here with you lot), that I haven't completed the library shelves in my listening room needed to store my five hundred fifty plus sacds conveniently. It will happen - I keep promising myself.
Every time I try to credit the outstanding labels I feel indebted to, I find myself forgetting to mention at least one or two favorites. My, how I love my Isomike recordings! There are about 6 Tudor recordings I prize very highly - especially the Schubert 9th (despite what I said in a post or review about slow tempi during the last two movements. That disc would be worth its weight in gold to me even if the last two movements were missing, so fine do I find the first two!
I'm not so fond of my Chesky discs but the sound is VERY fine. I wish they would record music that I find appealing. So far my explorations of Chesky have come up somewhat dry. By contrast there are the "Pearls of Polish Music" on BeArTon. That Szymanowski violin concerto is so exceptional! So are the string quartets!
Hyperion has so much potential! What a shame they took such a punishing over copywrite issues! How I would like to "punch out" the individuals responsible! I have some really fine Artegra and Audite SACDs. Then there is Praga! ...and look at two wonderful discs by Hungarton, and Liza Ferschtman's recital on Brilliant Classics.
The list of outstanding classical discs produced by so many fine labels is too long for me to keep in my mind all at once. No, the love affair will never end for me!
If we ever are denied future SACDs or my hardware breaks and cannot be fixed or replaced, it will be a case of "my lost love", certainly not "the love affair endeth"!
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Post by Beagle June 17, 2008 (57 of 102)
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Windsurfer said: I have spent so much time listening (and jabbering here with you lot), that I haven't completed the library shelves in my listening room needed to store my five hundred fifty plus sacds conveniently. It will happen - I keep promising myself.
Dear Bruce,
I was going to email you but the topic is probably of interest to others here. I just installed a 700-disc cabinet from http://www.newstyleshopping.com/c-13-cd-storage-rack.aspx and am very happy with the product. Design is good, construction is good and appearance should satisfy all but the most fastidious Rothschilds (the sliding doors make much more sense than swinging doors which need somewhere in which to swing...). Also, it shipped across the continent and then up here into Canada FASTER than any CD I've ever ordered.
PS: You mention closing your eyes while listening. Whenever 'tweaks' are discussed on the forum, I restrain myself from mentioning that the greatest tweak of all is free: just shut down the visual brain and LISTEN....
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Post by Peter June 17, 2008 (58 of 102)
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Beagle, your new cabinet is full already! They look more a useful size than anything I've seen at ickaya.
PS I agree with your PS! It really works.
Peter
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Windsurfer said:
This thread really annoys me:
I am sorry that Funky Monkey has fallen, but other issues surface here:
I am one of those (is it my age?) who is quite content to spin discs to listen to my music. Phooey on hard drives. Double phooey on downloads.
The list of outstanding classical discs produced by so many fine labels is too long for me to keep in my mind all at once. No, the love affair will never end for me!
If we ever are denied future SACDs or my hardware breaks and cannot be fixed or replaced, it will be a case of "my lost love", certainly not "the love affair endeth"!
Therein lies the difference between me and many others. I love the SACD's I have, but I am not a huge classical fan. A dabbler at most. Therefore, there is no future for SACD for me.
Therefore, if I am being realistic, the future of potential high-res music for me will be in downloads - Linn are already supplying music on pre-filled Terabyte hard-drives and in "studio quality" download formats. They may not cater for my tastes (although they have opened my ears to music I would not have listened to - thanks to SACD of course!), but it gives me hope that there is life after SACD.
And that highlights the other difference - I have no prejudice against other high-res formats - at that level of technology, the recording and engineering is far more important than the nuances of the medium....to my ears.
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Beagle said:
Dear Bruce,
I was going to email you but the topic is probably of interest to others here. I just installed a 700-disc cabinet from http://www.newstyleshopping.com/c-13-cd-storage-rack.aspx and am very happy with the product. Design is good, construction is good and appearance should satisfy all but the most fastidious Rothschilds (the sliding doors make much more sense than swinging doors which need somewhere in which to swing...). Also, it shipped across the continent and then up here into Canada FASTER than any CD I've ever ordered.
PS: You mention closing your eyes while listening. Whenever 'tweaks' are discussed on the forum, I restrain myself from mentioning that the greatest tweak of all is free: just shut down the visual brain and LISTEN....
What a temptation! But I've invested tens of hours already (probably more) and hundreds of dollars on Paduak, (http://www.exotic-wood.com/african_padauk.htm)
Cherry and Oak and have constructed seven floor to ceiling vertical members 5 inches wide with fascia completed and baseboards (now between most vertical members) It's mainly finishing the cutting the shelves and fitting them to the wall in back which is sadly uneven and therefore requires a lot of painstaking fitting.
A Murphy bed that folds against the wall resides between two of the verticals and will hide behind bifold doors. (I wish I could remember what those vertical end structures are called) so the listening room serves also as a guest bedroom!
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