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What a Daphnis!. A beautiful performance with distinct character and elegant restraint. My quibble is part 1 is over 27 mins.
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sunnydaler said:
What a Daphnis!. A beautiful performance with distinct character and elegant restraint. My quibble is part 1 is over 27 mins.
Hi! Please can you comment on sound quality? Previous SACD (Strauss Ein Heldenleben) from these sources was terrible, with very narrow soundstage and low recording level. What about Daphnis?
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current93 said:
Hi! Please can you comment on sound quality? Previous SACD (Strauss Ein Heldenleben) from these sources was terrible, with very narrow soundstage and low recording level. What about Daphnis?
I'm afraid that I'm not the right person to answer that question because I am tolerable when it comes to sound quality and listen in stereo.
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Post by bissie April 8, 2015 (4 of 29)
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current93 said:
Hi! Please can you comment on sound quality? Previous SACD (Strauss Ein Heldenleben) from these sources was terrible, with very narrow soundstage and low recording level. What about Daphnis?
Whereas I will not get drawn into a discussion about the quality of the sound, I react as vehemently as ever to the caption "low recording level".
No Sir or Madame, IT IS NOT!!!!! However, it IS - like all SACD:s from my company, a true and unaltered version of what the composer, the conductor and the orchestra actually did produce on stage. Unlike almost all other companies, we don't think we're God and sit and overrule what the composer and musicians do by more or less heavyhandedly compress the music to fit the needs of someone that wants to listen to the music while showering or whatever.
I feel it is most irking that, rather than being hailed to the sky that we present the truth of what was going on, we're over and over again being accused of recording at too low a level.
Our top level is invariably 0 dB. That's the highest level allowed. All the rest is what it was. Other companies take down the loudest parts and up the softest, so that you can listen in the car, in the aforementioned shower or whatever. That seems louder - and it is - on an average. But it isn't the truth.
Now that we have a system that allows for this huge dynamic, you still want us to destroy what the musicians were doing, so as to get the soft parts loud enough for a noisy listening environment?
Sorry, but not BIS, not ever before and not in the future. We do our music for people that really can appreciate whast the musicians rather than the balancing engineer did. Having said that, we employ some of the best recording engineers and producers in the business.
Robert
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current93 said:
Hi! Please can you comment on sound quality? Previous SACD (Strauss Ein Heldenleben) from these sources was terrible, with very narrow soundstage and low recording level. What about Daphnis?
As you can see, bissie is sensitive about the "low recording level" issue, which has been belabored in countless threads here and elsewhere, often with petty nonsense. The plain fact is all recordings, whether SACD or not, require adjustment for optimal playback level to your ears in your system. That is why Almighty God himself created volume controls.
It is generally true that BIS recordings require a higher volume setting than others. Still other labels require a much lower setting than others. There is no standard whatsoever in music recording that states a "perfect" playback level. And, it varies even within label, disc by disc. So, BIS is not wrong and the others right. But, for some reason, many have brain dead inhibitions about turning up the volume when necessary, apparently believing that it is the recording engineers' job to do that for them.
Try it. I have no experience with the Heldenleben you cite. But, as we have seen many times in the past, a "bad" recording turns into a good one if the volume is set properly. And, my experience with BIS is that they are consistently among the very best sounding recordings at proper playback volume.
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PS. - I am very fortunate to live in Philadelphia and to be able to be a frequent subscriber to Philadelphia Orchestra concerts under the direction of Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Having heard him conduct a wide variety of repertoire, I am positively delighted, excited even, at his brilliance. Under him, our orchestra has achieved undreamed of new heights in their energy, dedication and ensemble playing. They play their hearts out for him. The audiences and the critics are overwhelmingly in agreement. Not only do I have that opinion, but my close critic friends Bernard Jacobson, Andrew Quint and Arthur Lingtgen wholeheartedly agree.
This is one very exciting, still young conductor and Music Director, and I greatly look forward to getting this disc. That it was recorded with typical BIS sonic quality makes it even more enticing.
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bissie said:
[...]
Dear Mr. von Bahr,
Sorry for making you angry because of my statement concerning low level recording. I only wish to get safe recommendation from SACD.net member of new Ravel disc sound quality before I order it.
I listen in stereo and I'm OK with majority of BIS discs I own. My comments were on that particular Strauss Ein Heldenleben SACD. You wouldn't deny that it has narrower than usual soundstage.
IMHO BIS purist policy on 0 dB recording is subjective and I respect it. As frequent classical concert goer what I actually hear that composer wrote and musicians play depends on my listening position in the hall. Same story with recordings. For me, BIS discs don't look like premium places in concert hall.
I wish BIS would be the same purist label in other issues such as DSD or DXD resolution and minimum mics.
Best regards, Alexander
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Post by AmonRa April 8, 2015 (8 of 29)
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The problem with "low levels" springs from the fact that the recording levels have to be set from the top down on all recording media, be it digital or analog. It would be easier if there were a fixed "volume level" and then unlimited headroom for peaks, but it does not work that way. For maximum fidelity and audio quality absolute peaks must be set at 0 dBFS or very near it, then lower levels just sit down wherever they belong. If we have a recording where there is one huge peak, average levels are bound to sit lower than in a recording containing dynamically flatter content. That is why preamplifiers (now also some digital players) have a so called "volume control". Use that. If the amps and speakers can not take the peaks, your system is not good enough.
I am 110% with Bissie on this, now, finally, we have recording systems which can contain all the dynamic range a symphony orchestra can produce, and more, and in any case more than anybody's reproduction system can handle. If somebody has problems with that, be it inadequate systems or listening conditions, it is their duty to fix the situation, by using a compressor or peak limiter, for example. Some pre-pros have those. It is not the duty of the recording company to mangle the signal for those who now actually can reproduce the signal in its full glory, because some can not.
These complaints possibly also spring from ignorance of how recordings are actually done.
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Post by Links April 9, 2015 (9 of 29)
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+11
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AmonRa said:
[...]
Well put. That's the whole issue and how we should respond to it in a nutshell.
And respect to Bissie. He's done this forever, from the very beginning AFAIK.
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