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I just noticed that on their latest Stravinsky/Bartok release, Gergiev and the LSO were recorded not in their usual Barbican haunt, but rather in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (!). (They must have been on tour.) The download is available on the Hyperion site (and probably other sites) right now, but (because of my multi-channel proclivities), I'll probably have to wait until I can get the SACD (or, better yet, the blu-ray audio if the album is packaged that way).
Follow Ups:
Some of the LSO recordings in the Barbican are very good, such as the Haitink set of Beethoven symphonies. Most of the others that I've heard have a completely flat soundstage and not much reverberation. Don't know why some of these recordings are listenable and others aren't...
and I must say I was not impressed.
Rule of thumb here is that if it sounds good on QOBUZ out of my Audio-GD Master 11 DAC/Headphone amp, I can safely but the CD.
After listening on Spotify. I'm not really a Gergiev fan, even though he should be at his best with this music. Also, SQ is OK but obviously not an audiophile spectacular, nor does the NJPAC sound like anything special as a live recording venue from this sample.
But other than that ... :-)
Today, Nov. 16. Mighty good. Hellish and visceral, just the way it's supposed to be. Archived for 30 days.
" CD resolution is technology of the 80's (not that it can't still provide excellent results BTW). And this level of resolution on a brand new LSO Live album is really a bummer in this day and age. "Given that:
1. There is now only one plant pressing SACDs
2. Very few people in the great scheme of things have the ability to replay them.
3. Blu Ray audio has not been a screaming success.
4. Downloading aside from MP3s is a minority activity.It is hardly surprising that in the main record companies go where the money is; CDs (still hanging on), MP3 downloads and streaming services (uncompressed yet to prove itself economically, though I guess that's true of all streaming services at this time).
Sadly, if it is your interest, for these reasons I would not expect a great number of MCH releases in the future. Even supporters of SACD and MCH like Channel Classics are now abandoning the format.
Edits: 11/16/16
Reference Recordings has released a cd-only version, then SACD, then 24/176 Download,
and there are lots of LSO SACDs, so probably ( hopefully ) this one will have Hi-Rez release soon.
. . . not just a new classical blu-ray, but a new classical 4K ultra HD blu-ray with Dolby Atmos . Time for me to upgrade MY television and sound system - but where am I going to put the extra speakers???! I mean, after all, Khatia deserves it! ;-)
downloading has become the dominant music medium. IMO, higher-rez downloads haven't been more popular because the premiums being charged for them are just too high. When technological capabilities improve, maybe that will change.
I agree the premiums are offputting. However the main barriers IMO to hi-rez downloading include first having to know where to get them. All of the suppliers are obscure, small companies that are basically unknown as far as the great unwashed public are concerned. Secondly they require more computer expertise than many are happy to cope with including many of my, admittedly now somewhat aged, friends; installing dedicated download managers, zipped files etc. No way.
Most people downloading use services like i-tunes or Amazon: see an album or track, check a button and, zap, its on your phone and/or tablet, no worries. But it's MP3. Good enough for me, they say.
I am genuinely fearful that the great mass of music consumers really don't desire anything better than 320kb/s MP3. As mass consumption ultimately defines the market, come 5 years time that is therefore all we will be able to buy/listen to (ignoring audiophile labels with artists that you have never heard of making artisically dull but technically stunning stuff). This is why, for example, I think that all of that huffing and puffing elsewhere on these boards about MQA is just a waste of breath in the face of a real threat.
Well, if listening to better sounding music requires extra computer expertise, that's a cost, right?
But it doesn't have to be that way. I think higher resolution audio and video will come to the masses.
"I think higher resolution audio and video will come to the masses."That's a good positive hope. I don't know anything about video but as far as audio is concerned I can, however, find no evidence to support this.
No hi-rez format post CD has been succesful in any true sense. The only really succesful format after CD has been MP3. I count CD as hi-rez in this respect simply so that I can include streaming services offering 16/44.1 flac streams as hi-rez. In the latter espect all of the figures that I can obtain so far (they are very difficult to find) indicate that services offering MP3 have subscriber bases many times that of hi-rez services e.g. paying subscribers: Spotify 40+ million, Tidal maybe 3+ million.
I don't think hi-rez will come to the masses simply because they have no aspiration for it.
As for needing additional computer expertise this could be seen as a "cost" but is actually a barrier. Most ordinary people (i.e. non-audiophiles) just do not find the effort of learning the skills required worthwhile as the result is not that important to them.
Just to add a little flavour in regard to the demise of true hi-rez physical medium recordings, Linn Records also now appear to have stopped issuing SACDs for new releases and only CDs are available for their latest offerings.
Edits: 11/18/16 11/18/16
I also like being able to buy one sample track before taking the plunge on a whole symphony. Save a lot of money that way.
It opened in the middle of downtown Newark, NJ in 1997, and sceptics said nobody would go.
Well, it's nearly always sold out. There is a large, nice-looking restaurant in the lobby, but I wouldn't know if the food is good there, I've never been able to get in.
Is it a good live recording venue? I guess I need to listen to the Gergiev, though I'm not a fan of his. It may be better than the Barbican, which is less than ideal based on what I've heard. But as the main hall seats 2,800, I doubt it's no. 1 in the world. Smaller is usually better.
I've never heard a better hall for live recordings than the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, which is much smaller.
We saw Gergiev do the Mahler Fifth there about six years ago. Acoustically, it's not a great place, but perhaps it's not as bad as a lot people say it is. I'd expect NJPAC to be better, possibly much better. (That's why I'm so disappointed that the new recording was made at only CD resolution.)
Sorry, Chris. It's out, and CD only. Also, only in "CD quality" on ClassicsOnline. SQ is decent. I must relisten soon. Not bowled-over by performances, but I was distracted at the time...
Apparently, it was recorded by WQXR.
24-bit recordings have been around for over 15 years - what gives? Last week, I talked to a local engineer who has small studio in Berkeley, and she said she has the capability to record in 5.1 DXD (24/352.8). So even tiny studios can do this, and WQXR can't even get beyond two-channel 16/44.1? Unbelievable.
CD resolution is technology of the 80's (not that it can't still provide excellent results BTW). And this level of resolution on a brand new LSO Live album is really a bummer in this day and age.
Rant over. ;-)
I know a guy who does location recording, thinks mp3's are all you need...
He records a Big Band in SF, and the musicians don't expect anything more.
Almost all musicians I know don't know what SACD is or Hi-Res Downloads, Dacs, etc.
Sad.
So how's retirement? I hope to unretire when I finally get a massive amount of dental work done, but being away from the biz scene sure as hell ain't all bad.
Phil Woods praised his dentist for prolonging his career!
I like retirement, but there are stages.
I was very glad to not have to keep up the schedule w/Ballet, lots and lots as the season went on.
I was still playing extra sax w/SFS until just recently, but i just don't practice and stay in shape,
and I told them I was bowing out.
There was some residual disappointment there, but I'm fine with it now.
I do still play with the Clarinet Qt, and still arrange for it, so that's ideal right now.
I still go to the Mendocino Music Festival, Lead Alto with the Big Band, but it's ear-plugs all the way,
and I don't seek out Big Band playing anymore.
I do record friends' Concerts from time to time, so that's another Hobby.
Just a Sony D100, but it's great for under $800.
I hope you will be altissimo-ready soon!
Seems like you're peachy. Having that clar. qt. outlet is no doubt a good thing. Guys I know/knew who retired, put their axes away or sold 'em and totally stopped playing seem kinda............listless.
It's the Writing/Arranging on Finale that keeps things humming for me,
even tho I'm playing only a little.
My High School teacher said a Complete Musician Plays, Writes and Listens.
2 out of 3 ain't bad...
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