As soon as I saw this topic, I felt compelled to bring to Audiogon's attention the 2002 release by the Ric Sanders Group (In Lincoln Cathedral) as issued on Heliopause Records (Voiceprint Group) and now available through Music Direct (www.amusicdirect.com). This release is distinguished by to its inclusion of binaural tracks created expressly for headphone enthusiasts.
First there is the music! Like their concert performances, In Lincoln Cathedral is an instrumental potpourri of acoustic jazz with strong folk, classical and even prog-rock influences. The compositional content reflects these influences; works of Joe Zawinul, Miles Davis and Chick Corea are performed with improvisational stylings that recall Grapelli and Reinhardt. Additionally, original compositions stand alongside interpretations of lesser known pieces by Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Rick Wakeman of Yes guests on Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing.
The session was an all-acoustic live recording which captured the magnificent ambient space surrounding the musicians. The album is packaged as a 2 disc set. Disc 1 has 72 minutes of stereophonic tracks in redbook. Disc 2 is a hybrid enhanced CD organized into three sections. The first section has five tracks from disc 1 repeated in binaural. The binaural process used custom modified DPA 4060 microphones inserted into the engineer's ears and recorded at 24/96 onto a Nagra V. Next, two tracks are repeated in DTS 5.1 for discrete multichannel. Finally, there are 19 minutes of MPEG video from the same session. If you watch the video you can actually see the engineer wandering among the musicians as they perform which results in a very organic soundstage presentation. The engineer describes this approach as "three dimensional spatial choreography" which fully exploits the creative possibilities of binaural. The sense of immersive realism is unmatched by any other surround medium.
With three audio options, (stereo, binaural and DTS multichannel) plus video content, In Lincoln Cathedral may be the most diversified CD offering from a technical perspective. The sound of the violin-led small combo in a large cathedral along with these extra features present a compelling package for discriminating listeners and audiophiles alike.
