Post by tream February 27, 2006 (21 of 26)
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seth said:
Nostalgia.
Hmm - I find the overall production values of the MLP's to be fairly high, and since I wasn't buying them back in those days (before my time as a lover of classical music) the driver for me is not nostalgia. Many of the performances are in fact excellent and excellent sounding - Dorati's Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Resphighi, Starker's Bach, Paray's Berlioz, Janis's Rachmaninoff - I have found a lot more to like in the MLP's than in the Living Stereos', although a few of those are superb as well.
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I also was not familiar with the MLP or LS recordings back in the day, so I don't think nostalgia had much to do with their attraction for me either. Personally I've found their performances and recordings to be superior to most of what is being done currently.
Maybe the reason is more reactionary than nostalgic. I admit, I'm kind of fed up with the computerized, overprocessed, homogenized quality of our digitalizing world society. Two, three microphones and a reel-to-reel. It's too basic and simple for some people to understand.
I'm more attracted to the Living Stereo releases than the Mercury's but that's just personal taste.
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Post by onebit March 3, 2006 (23 of 26)
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thedogguy said:
I also was not familiar with the MLP or LS recordings back in the day, so I don't think nostalgia had much to do with their attraction for me either. Personally I've found their performances and recordings to be superior to most of what is being done currently.
Both of these reissue programs have let me "catch up" to these recordings - most of which I have never heard. I find that there is something magical about listening to great recordings made before you were born!
Let's not forget also that both sets can be had rather cheaply (especially the Living Stereo's, which are roughly half of the price of a newer SACD release).
This is certainly appealing for those starting an SACD collection.
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onebit said:
Let's not forget also that both sets can be had rather cheaply (especially the Living Stereo's, which are roughly half of the price of a newer SACD release).
This is certainly appealing for those starting an SACD collection.
Yes but if you want SACD sound quality you need to choose well because there are serious inconsistencies in the sound of these discs. Some are undeniably great performances and the reason to have them is because the SACD is probably the best sound you will ever hear them in. Some have surprisingly good sound but I don't really think that sound is competitive with today's best or even near best.
I would balance my acquisitions of these with some discs such as Schwartz's Yellow Stars (a concerto for orchestra in 7 movements) and the complete film music of Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky, both on Capriccio and both of which have superb modern multi-channel sound. On a well setup multi-channel system, these discs actually give the listener an illusion of sitting in the concert hall about ten rows back from the stage. These Capriccio discs are inexpensive from some of the vendors listed on this site.
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I would not limit my purchases based solely on perfection of the sound although I place sound quality high on my requirements for purchasing a recording. There were some outstanding performances recorded prior to the advent of stereo, let alone DSD. I still buy redbook CD's. Some are pretty darn good in sonics. Many great performances are not available in SACD. Many performances in SACD are not so great, either in sonics or in performance.
Life's too short to limit yourself to specifics.
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thedogguy said:
I would not limit my purchases based solely on perfection of the sound although I place sound quality high on my requirements for purchasing a recording. There were some outstanding performances recorded prior to the advent of stereo, let alone DSD. I still buy redbook CD's. Some are pretty darn good in sonics. Many great performances are not available in SACD. Many performances in SACD are not so great, either in sonics or in performance.
Life's too short to limit yourself to specifics.
Each to his or her own!
My advice was to someone apparently placing a bit of value on the low price of the LS SACDs. If my economic situation dictated some caution in purchasing, I would only go for those if either: 1, the SACD version was a significant improvement over the RBCD and I already owned the RBCD, or if I had no previous copy, it was a performance I wanted. But I would really rather have a new Tchaikovsky Symphony on SACD than a reissue.
The assumption of course is that the producers and engineers have done their jobs well - and in my experience, they usually have. Particularly PentaTone, Harmonia Mundi, Praga Digitals Telarc, BIS, Capriccio and several others.
For me, at this point in time vis-a-vis the SACD situation I won't purchase anymore RBCDs. Two things govern this.
1) I have something in the order of 300 SACS and almost all my NEWLY RECORDED sacds, played back in MCH sound so much more like I am actually in a live concert than when playing stereo rbcds, that I don't have much interest in the rbcds anymore.
2) There is, despite the continual moaning on this site about not enough "unusual repertoire", and "holes in the repertoire" a very rich selection of new and unusual music available. I would rather buy an SACD of Bo Linde's concertos than an umpteenth copy of Mozart violin sonatas on RBCD even if it is played by one of my favorites, Hilary Hahn.
I can't buy everything and I would rather listen to a live concert by competent musicians than stay at home and listen to rbcds. Since the MCH SACD experience in my listening room is so close to actually attending a concert, I would much rather spend my money on SACDs of music played (for instance) by Mari Kodama (she is excellent really) than a rbcd of Helene Grimaud, one of DG's superstars we are now deprived of hearing in SACD.
If I didn't already have several hundred rbcds that I never listen to anymore, I might have a different attitude - but I doubt it, there is just too much pure enjoyment in my SACD collection, something I find rbcd fails to deliver. I usually find myself turning up the volume on SACDs and turning it down when I (rarely now) play rbcds. The sound is so much more involving when you can turn it up without magnifying a bunch of rbcd deficiencies!
You go buy your rbcds I will happily limit myself to SACDs.
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