2. music
  3. 1078541747

Living Stereo SACD's are a comin

While at work today (My office is located at a mastering studio) a big box arrived. I watched as the studio manager unpacked it. It contained a treasure the likes of which I have never seen. Dozens of ORIGINAL master tapes from the original LIVING STEREO recordings. I held in my hands THE Master tapes from the Living Stereo Reiner/Chicago Strauss Also Sprach Zarathustra and Ravel Daphnis. These weren’t the safeties, they are THE Masters. As you can probably tell I am in awe.

BMG (I think it’s BMG) has decided to release SACD versions of these recordings. It will be new DSD mastering (not redoing the existing PCM masters). How they are done will depend on the master tapes. I am pretty sure that they will not be 5.1

I have nothing to do with this project. I just happen to be there. You can bet your ass I will sit in on some of the sessions and get to listen to the master tapes. Damn sometimes it’s good to be me.

I just thought that some of the classical music lovers would like to know that SACD’s of these great classic recordings are in the works.
hispeedbusa
vvrinc
323 posts
 
I think SACD may have a future. I've bought six of them, so far. However, please wake me up when more than “the usual suspects” are available and the prices on new releases are less than a full tank of high-octane gas.
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,680 posts
 
FWIW, the first 9 Mercury Living Presence SACDs came in today. Cannot wait for the weekend.

Kal
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Rcprince...Is PCM a "bad word"?. Mixing consoles have, for many years, been 24-bit PCM at a high sample rate. The Sony DSD system is designed for compatability with these existing mixing consoles, which will be around for a few years. Nothing wrong with them, or PCM, provided that the resolution and sample rate is acceptable.

I think you have been brainwashed by Sony!
rcprince
3,070 posts
 
Naw, I'm not bothered by pcm per se, but I am bothered if it's 16-bit pcm, and I do not put it by some companies to try to repackage 16-bit/44khz digital masters in a new format. I have 20 and 24-bit pcm recordings on SACD and like them quite a bit.

Kal, good news about the Mercs, I've been waiting for them for almost a year!
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Rcprince...I agree with you that 16-bit 44.1 KHz is barely adequite for audio, and that's what's wrong with CDs. However, it is my impression that professional digital recording and mixdown consoles have been 24 bits from the time they were introduced. There are plenty of reasons to criticize audio mastering practices, but, with few exceptions, I don't think you can blame the hardware.
More to discover