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In Reply to: RE: Hirez Highway used to about SACD sounding great. Now posted by oldmkvi on July 02, 2014 at 19:47:25
Naysayers have been putting in their two cents here since Day One.A comparison benchmark listeners might find useful is the Paul Paray/Detroit Symphony reading of Chabrier and Roussel on a Mercury hybrid SACD sourced from the original analog master tape. Two characteristics make this disc useful: (1) Unlike other labels who put out hybrids, Mercury chose not to "DSD-ize" and transcode to PCM for the CD layer. Instead, the 16/44.1 layer is what Mercury issued in its earlier CD-only release. (And to my ears the hybrid CD layer does indeed sound identical to the original CD.) (2) With regard to the mastering and production process, there's at least theoretical consistency in the fact that Wilma Cozart Fine--who'd been with Mercury since the 1950's--oversaw the transfers to both CD and SACD.
Jim
http://jimtranr.com
Edits: 07/04/14Follow Ups:
I just checked the technical notes of my Mercury SACDs. Wilma Cozart is credited (produced, musically supervised & 2-channel conversion) with the CD transfer. However, the DSD transfer & 2-channel conversion is credited to Andrew Wedman and other associates. Wilma Cozart is thanked for her "advice" on the preparation of the SACD transfers, but that's hardly a hands-on participation.
I was always struck by the difference between the two transfers, not so much about the superiority of one over the other, but the differences in soundstage width, distance of perspective, and the sharpness of transient attack.
For superiority I still stick with the original Mercury 2-track tape issues. Of course, there are a limited number of titles (35), and most listeners will never hear these tapes. It indicates to me that we need better digital transfers. Too bad Cozart is no longer with us to do it.
but in addition to her "advice" on the SACD transfers, comparisons were made to the original masters played back on the Ampex 300 that, as the technical notes put it, "previously" belonged to her and to the CD transfers prepared by her. So whether or not--and to what to degree--the SACD transfers may have deviated from the production values embedded in those earlier efforts, her work and its working context constituted a reference point for those transfers.
Jim
http://jimtranr.com
We can all make our own judgments. The fact that the engineering team used the original Ampex 300 to compare doesn't necessarily guarantee that all the subtle decisions needed in the transfer would have been the same if Cozart had been intimately involved. It's certainly not the same as when Classic Records reissued six Mercury titles and Cozart sat at Bernie Grundman's elbow, insisted he use tube equipment, and urged him to cut another master when she thought it necessary. There's a great account of this in the December 1997 issue of Fi magazine.
With good recordings the goal of any transfer should be transparency to the original source. I'm the first one to admit that this is a subjective judgment and is system dependent. We often end up talking about different experiences. I'm only relating mine. I relistened to some of the recordings last night. I hadn't heard some of them in several years. I did notice that the digital transfers tend to diminish the acoustics of the recording venue. On the tapes and LPs it's easier to identify the characteristics of the various locations used by Mercury.
That would be the Suppé Overture to "Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna". What do you hear at the 7'14" mark? I hear (or rather DON'T hear) some missing music! For whatever reason, it sounds as if they made an edit there and bungled it - strange for the Mercury team. (I was listening to the SACD layer, but I suspect the problem is there on the CD layer too.)
Otherwise, this album is so great! Talk about your hand involuntarily starting to conduct as you listen! I also love the Järvi/Chandos 24/96 multichannel download of Suppé Overtures, but the microphones are further away on that newer recording, and some sections just don't have the visceral impact of this celebrated Paray/MLP recording. Wonderful stuff!
and after three successive close-up listens I don't detect anything missing at or around either side of the 7'14" mark on my copy. It's a fast-moving section, but everything there seems to be intact melodically and rhythmically.
Jim
http://jimtranr.com
I may try to show graphically what I mean with a piano score - that might make things clearer (if I can cut and paste like I want to and then upload the file). Thanks again for checking - I appreciate it!
Chris, I think you're talking about the Suppe-Auber disc, an equal delight. I'll check my copy and get back to you.
Jim
http://jimtranr.com
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