[net.audio] CD's I use to compare players

greg@olivee.UUCP (Greg Paley) (08/16/85)

This is a list of CD's that I've found particularly good for
comparing players.

Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet (selections) Philadelphia Orchestra/Muti, cond.
	EMI/ANGEL

	The sound on this recording is fairly bright and close-up 
	regardless of the player used.  On some players (the Sony,
	Mission, Yamaha that I've heard) the brightness turns to
	harshness and becomes very fatiguing to listen to after
	a couple of selections.  On a good player, the massive,
	dissonant chords at the beginning of the "Montagues and
	the Capulets" retain the clarity of the individual lines,
	whereas they become smudged on inferior ones.  WARNING:
	the "cable differences are B.S." school will laugh at this,
	but I've found that the quality of interconnect cable used
	can also be crucial in allowing the brightness and detail
	of this recording to emerge without harshness or stridency.

Sibelius: Symphony No. 4/Luonnatar/Finlandia  Philharmonia Orchestra/
	Ashkenazy, cond.  (Soederstrom, soprano in the "Luonnatar")
	London

	This recording has several "telling" points.  One is the
	range of massed string tone deployed in the symphony which
	shows the players ability to reproduce high frequency detail
	without hardness or edginess.  Another is the unusually good
	sense of the acoustic of London's Kingsway Hall which provides,
	if the player is up to it, a beautifully spacious acoustic
	without the muddiness of excessive reverberation.  It's a
	type of acoustic that no amount of after-the-fact knob-twiddling
	can simulate.  Yet another feature is the very wide ranging,
	difficult, soprano solo.  On a good player you can hear the
	way Soederstrom's voice blooms out as she soars in the upper
	register in the same way you can hear this characteristic of
	her voice in the opera house.  On a poorer machine, her upper
	notes sound constricted and will be lost in the orchestral
	sound.

Debussy: La Mer/Nocturnes  London Symphony/Previn, cond.
	EMI/Angel

	On players that fail to resolve ambient information, this
	recording will sound closed and claustrophic, giving the
	impression that the instruments are laid out in a very flat,
	shallow area.  Good players reveal considerably greater
	depth, particularly revealing the fact that horns and the
	trumpet are set considerably further back from the strings
	and winds, with the harp set very close.  The third movement
	of "La Mer" indicates strengths or failings in reproduction
	of low bass in the drum thwacks that punctuate climactic
	phrases.

Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man/Rodeo/Appalachian Spring
	Atlanta Symphony/Lane,cond.   Telarc

	Also tests deep bass reproduction.  The various brass
	sections are differentiated spatially front to back 
	(some sounding closer to the listener than others) as
	well as right to left in the "Fanfare".

Other recordings that offer extremely natural ambient information
and thereby test a player's ability to reproduce this are the series
of recordings made by English Decca (London Records in the U.S.)
in Montreal with the Montreal Symphony conducted by Charles Dutoit.
These include Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloe", Falla's "Three-Cornered Hat",
and Respighi's "Fountains of Rome" and "Pines of Rome".

Very realistic reproduction of operatic voices is heard on the
Colin Davis "Magic Flute" (Philips), two discs of Canteloube's
"Chants D'Auvergne" with Kiri Te Kanawa (London) (personally, I
find it rather junky music) on London, and Janacek's "Jenufa"
also on London (though this one seems hard to find in this
country).

	- Greg Paley

herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong - DCS) (08/17/85)

In article <460@olivee.UUCP> greg@olivee.UUCP (Greg Paley) writes:
>This is a list of CD's that I've found particularly good for
>comparing players.
>
>Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet (selections) Philadelphia Orchestra/Muti, cond.
>	EMI/ANGEL
>
>Sibelius: Symphony No. 4/Luonnatar/Finlandia  Philharmonia Orchestra/
>	Ashkenazy, cond.  (Soederstrom, soprano in the "Luonnatar")
>	London
>
>Debussy: La Mer/Nocturnes  London Symphony/Previn, cond.
>	EMI/Angel
>
>Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man/Rodeo/Appalachian Spring
>	Atlanta Symphony/Lane,cond.   Telarc

another one that i recommend is "One Size Fits All" by the Nylons.
they are a canadian a_cappella group that does a wide variety of
classic rock and roll with percussion accompaniment.  i have both the
CD and the analog record.  both are exceptional in quality, though
analog recorded.  the record is made by Attic records, but i forget
which dutch label handles the CD pressing.

Herb Chong...

I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble....

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