czp@houxa.UUCP (C.PODARAS) (05/07/84)
to the gentleman who posted a query on net.music, looking for CD
recommendations (sorry, lost your path):
here's a pop item. donald fagan's *nightfly* is considered within the
industry to be one of the best reference (technically) CD's available.
reason? it's one of the few currently available which was done *correctly*
definition of correctly? linear phase (time-delay-compensated) anti-aliasing
filters used in recording. digitally mixed. digitally mastered. and, most
importantly, *the origional digital master tape was used in the CD mastering
process*. in other words, this was fully digital in creation (hmm... to avoid
flames about "the whole world is digital/analog," let's change 'creation' to
"recording and production.') ok, ok, so pop stuff is mixed and uses lots
more than two microphones.....this still sounds great.
you have to make sure, however, that you get the american-market version, as
some overseas versions were made from an analog production master tape. the
correct CD was mastered by polygram in hannover, frg, and carries a laser-cut
control number on the music side of the disc, near the center, which ends
...03.
also *highly* recommended are the windham hill CDs. phenominal recordings to
begin with; ackerman's *passage* is fully digital, as are a few others now,
but even those which were analog masters are excellent. try shadowfax, and
especially the windham hill samplers for an intro to the fine music on this
label.
also, as i'm sure you've heard, the telarc CDs are excellent...
if you listen to any of these on a good CD player -- one that creates
*simultaneous* (ie, no inter-channel half-sampling-period delay,like
the sony cdp 101) channel outputs thru appropriate data buffering
and use of dual D/A's, and has some semblance of flat-group-delay-
characteristic reconstruction filters -- you will (assuming you like the
music) be *amazed* at what this medium can sound like.
chuck podaras
bell communications research
holmdel, gnu joizee
{...,ihnp4}!houxa!czpdsj@rabbit.UUCP (David S. Johnson @ ) (09/28/84)
In response to Greg Paley's call for CD recommendations, here are a few: Copland (Fanfare, Rodeo, etc.) - Telarc Orff (Carmina Burana) - Telarc The Unknown Kurt Weill - Nonesuch Peter Gabriel "Security" The selection from the Orff (on the Telarc sampler) was what made me choose the REVOX player over the YAMAHA. I could definitely hear more room ambience with the former, and the latter sounded a little harsh during loud passages (although this last may have been the fault of the speakers I was listening through, which, although 6 feet tall and visually impressive, were far too bright). All these discs have audible "hall noise" (although Gabriel's is mostly electronically generated), good stereo imaging, and as much depth as I ever get out of my system (only two or three feet behind the speakers, not the 10 or 12 feet Phil R. claims for his system). None is "harsh" to my ears. I have to admit, however, that one of my major CD-related pleasures out of the last two comes from the lack of surface noise, which to me has real musical benefits. Without the distraction of that noise, I can almost imagine that Teresa Stratas is singing the Weill in my living room, and the soft parts of the Gabriel record come through in all their subtlety. (This record has a surprisingly wide dynamic range for rock, and spends a lot of time at both ends, the loud end being mostly percussive, with great transients. I have the LP, and although it almost equals the CD in transient response, the soft parts are buried in the surface roar.) David S. Johnson, AT&T Bell Laboratories
spj@hou3c.UUCP (Stephen P. Johnson) (09/28/84)
As far as CD recommendations go, I guess personal taste is still the major factor, however, the following CD's sound exceptional: Peter Gabriel - Security Tremendous textures and emotional experience. Joe Jackson - Body and Soul Minimal miking, Joe in your listening room. Beethoven - Piano Concerto #5 - Osawa at Boston The following are not quite as good, but still much better than the vinyl version: ( All are from analog masters) Phil Collins - Face Value There's one part where the music "ramps up" to a spine chilling peak on the CD. On the LP it's a dull thud. Dooby Brothers - Minute by Minute Joe Jackson - Night and Day I don't claim to have heard them all, but these are worth owning. ....... Steve Johnson
dave@rocksvax.UUCP (10/02/84)
My CD recommendation list is as follows: Donald Fagen "Nightfly" - quiet and well recorded. I used this one when A/Bing CD machines when I could. "New Frontier" sounded bad on the Hitachi machine, 'sandy' sounding if you will. [digital mastered] Kitaro - "Kai" (sp?) the whole thing is in Japanese so I am in the dark as how to spell it. "Silk Road" is also very good but not digilly mastered. This is 100% synthesizer music much like a Japanese sound to Synergy. I don't know what Japanese currency exchanges to but the Japanese price printed on the label was 3500 Yen. [digital master] The Who "It's Hard" - analog master but great sound, try "Emminence Front". [analog master] Michel Jarre "Magnetic Fields" or "Oxygene" - haven't heard this on my Yamaha, can't find it in Rochester, but sounded great on resonex!tggsu's machine. These are sythesizer based. [? master] Windom Hills '82 Sampler CD - great miking, excellent selections mild Jazz orientation. If you like guitar this is one you should get. You will not cry "lack of presence" with this disk. The only fault I can say about it is that it is analog mastered, and you can hear a little hiss when you crank up the volume. It is so good you soon forget about the little bit of noise. I hear that the newer Windom Hills materials are being digitally mastered, can't wait to try some! [analog master] Duran Duran "Rio" is great also [digital master] I hope that helps someone who is trying to listen to some machines. BTW, the Peter Gabriel CD mentioned in the parent article sounded great in one of the stereo shops I went to.
greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (10/02/84)
I'm grateful for the specific CD recommendations. Of David Johnson's recommendations, I had already tried out the Stratas Weill record and the Telarc "Carmina Burana" and will try to get ahold of the others. His comment about the fact that these recordings have as much depth as he can get from his equipment (2 to 3 feet) brings up point that must be emphasized. On "mid-fi" equipment (I hate to use the term, but I don't know how else to put it) there is no argument - digital, and the CD in particular, will sound better. Most equipment that will be found in your average mass-market stereo dealer does not have the kind of resolution needed to hear the best qualities of the best analogue sources, yet does reproduce their noise and obvious distortions. On such equipment the silence of CD's will register as a big plus, and the different types of distortions they have will not be as audible. Dick Grantges mentioned recently that his reference for analogue LP's is a Sony PX-600 with a Shure V-15-5. I'm familiar with both the turntable and cartridge and, not meaning to be personally offensive to someone else's choice of equipment, have to say that this combination (the Shure cartridge in particular) is not going to give the LP a real chance. If his amp, preamp, and speakers are of the same level of resolution, I can well understand why he prefers the CD since, again, the negatives of analogue recording will be audible on such a system but not the advantages. - Greg Paley
mr@isrnix.UUCP (michael regoli) (10/03/84)
Is there an "average" price for the compact discs you folks
are buying in Netland?? Is it safe to say that a disc can
cost from $20.00 to $50.00? I'm not interested in comparing
apples with oranges (your run-of-the-mill CD vs. super-audio-
phile pressings of the rarest of recordings); I'm curious as
to the prices around the country for the average (CBS/EMI,etc)
compact digital disc of your average top-40 recording.
I was quite shocked as to the price differences between an LP
here in Bloomington to an LP on the East Coast: An LP I paid
$8.80 for in Virginia was $5.50 - $6.50 here in Bloomington.
I'm wondering if the same holds for CDs: or the opposite. My
guess is that the prices on CDs are higher here. I'd just like
to know.
Thanks for letting me change the topic :-)!
--
.:.
/.\ michael regoli
'|-|` ...ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!isrnix!mrgreg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (10/16/84)
I can recommend highly the following CD presentations: Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (Ramey/Te Kanawa/Popp/Allen/London Philharmonic/Solti) London (or Decca) Rossini: Il Barbiere Di Siviglia (Allen/Baltsa/Araiza/Marriner) Philips Janacek: Jenufa (Soederstrom/Randova/Dvorsky/Vienna Philharmonic/Mackerras) London (or Decca) All three are good enough in sound to allow concentration on the performances. All three of these performances (although radically different from each other in the musical styles employed) are outstanding in that they are well and powerfully shaped by a conductor who is able to integrate beautiful (and, in the case of the "Jenufa", highly dramatic) singing by the vocal soloists with excellent orchestral playing into an effective and coherent statement of the work at hand. I found it necessary on all three of these to reduce treble in order to get a realistic semblance of violins and wind instruments. More problematic in sound (the problems I've complained about before about many digital recordings and CD issues) but also compellingly shaped and, for the most part, sung are: Verdi: Nabucco (Cappuccilli/Dhimitrova/Domingo/Sinopoli) DGG Verdi: Aida (Ricciarelli/Domingo/Obratsova/Abbado) DGG Of these the "Aida" is superbly conducted by Abbado with excellent singing by Domingo, but suffers from a persistent lack of steadiness in the singing of the female leads. I recommend avoiding, on the basis of performance rather than sound: Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Behrens/Hofmann/Minton/ Bayerische Rundfunksorchester/Bernstein) Philips Wagner: Ring (Rheingold/Walkuere/Siegfried/Goetterdaem- merung) (Altemeyer/Kollo/Jerusalem/Adam/Janowski) The "Tristan" suffers from Bernstein's exaggerations, the lack of power and amplitude in Behrens' singing of Isolde, and Hofmann's interpretive blandness as Tristan. I would wait for a CD issue of either the Goodall or Kleiber recordings. The East German "Ring" recording suffers from the general inadequacies of the singers and conductor, as well as the serious lack of clarity and impact in the recorded sound. The Solti set, from analogue masters made in the late 50's and early 60's, has been issued in CD format and would be a better bet. - Greg Paley
grob@cmcl2.UUCP (11/26/86)
I would like to thank all of those people who responded to my request.
I will post a summary of the responses to NET.AUDIO ONLY. I will do it
this weekend.
However, there was a VAST consensus of opinion in favour of magnavox for
a low/medium end cd player. There were a few people who said to save my
money and go for a nakamichi (sp). However, as you will see when I post
the summary the consensus was overwhelming and I will follow it.
Thanks again,
Lori S. Grob (NYU Ultracomputer Project)
grob@nyu.arpa
{mcvax!seismo,floyd,harpo,ihnp4,...}!cmcl2!grob [That's c-m-c-ELL-2]
Courant Institute (NYU), 251 Mercer St., NYC 10012, 212-460-7326