Thread: Signature Collection - SACDs from EMI

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Post by jgr April 30, 2012 (381 of 535)
Alan said:

I insert the discs in round bottom CD sleeves. They protrude from the jacket a couple of millimeters but are easy to pull from the pocket.

http://store.soundsourcecds.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_73&products_id=212

Does any one have a source in Europe for these sort of CD covers>

Post by canonical April 30, 2012 (382 of 535)
Polarbear said:

> The results speak for themselves!

--------------------------------------

I think the results do speak for themselves. I think they are all over the place.

* The Brahms Oistrakh and double are a distorted mess ... unlistenable, in my view.

* The Beethoven Triple: I find the soloist / chamber sections thoroughly enjoyable, and the tutti parts a bit congested ... but overall, I'm very pleased with it.

* The Elgar Sea Pictures: my original CD is far superior. What they have done to poor Janet Baker - tut tut. And for an original CD to be superior to a SACD is a fail.

* The Schubert Dieskau set: the first disc (1955) is warm and wonderful. The second is nice ... and I find the later 2 discs (the most modern of the recordings) to be harsh and digital.

* The Debussy set: the recordings are really really old and I think you really need to be a Gieseking or Debussy expert to buy these.

Overall ... the only ones of the above I am really pleased with are Schubert Disc 1 and the Triple.

I am very pleased to see EMI release older analogue recordings on SACD ... and that they appear to be doing well with them ... but compared to other labels' releases, the success rate for me is far below par.

Post by Claude April 30, 2012 (383 of 535)
I don't find the Brahms/Oistrach unlistenable. I can't say if it is better or worse than previous CD reissues.

But I compared the Triple concerto SACD with the GRotC CD. The difference was quite small, the SACD a bit more transparent.

Post by Naun April 30, 2012 (384 of 535)
canonical said:

* The Schubert Dieskau set: the first disc (1955) is warm and wonderful. The second is nice ... and I find the later 2 discs (the most modern of the recordings) to be harsh and digital.

I also find the first two discs of the Schubert/Fischer-Dieskau set to be the most satisfactory from a sound point of view, though I would describe the sound of the other two discs perhaps as "tubby" rather than in any way "harsh and digital". I wonder if their limitations have anything to do with the fact that these are early stereo recordings. It's possible the equivalent mono tapes sound better and more like the first two discs. In any event, I think this set is well worth having. The performances tend to be less sophisticated in some ways than the more familiar DG remakes, but sometimes this is not a drawback, and the voice is fresher. The "Erlkönig" on disc 4 has never been equalled to my knowledge.

Post by petrushka1975 May 1, 2012 (385 of 535)
Arnaldo said:

Yes, it's indeed a matter of principle, of whether these transfers are true copies of the originals.

When asked about what he thought of vegetarians, my good friend remarked "They are great -- more meat for the rest of us!"

Post by hiredfox May 1, 2012 (386 of 535)
canonical said:


I think the results do speak for themselves. I think they are all over the place.



I am very pleased to see EMI release older analogue recordings on SACD ... and that they appear to be doing well with them ... but compared to other labels' releases, the success rate for me is far below par.

There is no pleasing some folks.

It seems to me that your expectations are wholly unrealistic and will remain so unless or until you see this venture as an archiving exercise of historic recordings that otherwise through the passage of time would have been lost forever, as the original tapes deteriorated beyond recovery.

The conversion process to SACD may not be perfect in terms of what is possible from today's digital technology and modern recording but surely making such comparisons is rather missing the point.

I bought a lot of these recordings from the EMI Japan series and (now) several from the new UK release; all sound musical rather than digital despite the inevitable flaws in original tapes and conversion.

You buy these discs for the performances not for the technology - there are plenty of modern DSD recordings out there for perfectionists - and time and again we have found that these old performances are unrivalled by any modern interpretations, such discoveries are priceless. Their availability as SACD rather than nasty old RBCD is a dream.

Post by canonical May 1, 2012 (387 of 535)
hiredfox said:

You buy these discs for the performances not for the technology -

Nope - I already have some of the performances on CD. I buy them because I expect them to be better than the CD originals. Unfortunately, in the case where I had the CD, that was not to be: the CD was better.

[ I should find the du Pre Elgar CD and compare that too ... should have it floating around somewhere. ]

If you just want historical performances, you can often buy a box of 50 CDs for about $1 or $2 a disc.

Post by Iain May 1, 2012 (388 of 535)
petrushka1975 said:

The "uncomfortable" sound you are referring to may arise from poorly mastered discs but can also result from noise in your AC power line. In a nutshell, the quartz clocks inside CD / SACD players that control the sampling rate are sensitive to power line noise or voltage fluctuations. These anomalies don't affect lower frequencies much but can cause the higher frequencies to be ever so incoherent / unstable and thus sounding ugly. (Most notable in violin or cello sounds.) If you find the problem to be intermittent or gets worse depending on the time of day, it's most likely a power line issue and trust me every system is affected by this to some extent. In that case invest in a good power line conditioner; it's very worthwhile and a must in any decent system.

I agree with all of this, but then you destroy your credibility by including the last sentence in post.

Bollocks I say to that sentence!!!

If mains are that bad, only a quality isolation transformer will work to restore any semblance of normality.

Now, lets return to thread topic. Please!

Post by RWetmore May 1, 2012 (389 of 535)
Simon and company at EMI need to do the final DSD A/D with the Grimm converter. That would improve the results. I don't know what converter they are using, but it exhibits some artificial softness and/or roundness. Probably Meitner.

Post by audioholik May 1, 2012 (390 of 535)
RWetmore said:

Simon and company at EMI need to do the final DSD A/D with the Grimm converter. That would improve the results. I don't know what converter they are using, but it exhibits some artificial softness and/or roundness. Probably Meitner.

It could also be a dCS or Genex converter, according to this reviewer dCS 904, 954 and Genex GXA8/GXD8 DSD converters all exhibit the same artificial softness/roundness
http://www.prosoundnetwork.com/article/Genex-GXA8/GXD8-Converters/338#

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