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Do classical CDs made from early analog tapes sound better on your system than new CDs?

I find that classical CDs produced from analog recordings originally made in the late 50’s and early 60’s really make my system sing, and, by far, give me the best sound staging over most modern recordings.  This is especially true in those produced in the pre-Dolby era.  The overtones are just there in abundance and the space is endless and real.
 I’m wondering if others have that experience.
128x128rvpiano
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
I agree about the chesky stuff.  Petrouchka on chesky is amazing as well.  Beethoven Cycle, Sir Adrian Boult Concert favorites all recorded by  the great Kenneth Wilkinson.  Beethoven's Seventh is amazing and Night on Bald Mountain found on Sir Adrian Boults Concert favorites is incredible on CD.  The lp analog version is reference quality and is actually taken off of A festival of  Light Classical Music from Readers Digest Collection, also, insanely good.
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charles1dad
10,239 posts
 
Hi Rvpiano, 
My music genre is predominantly jazz but your listening experiences I can relate to.  I own many jazz recordings from the mid 1950s - 1960s (analogue tape and surely tube microphones ) AAD CDs.  With rare exception there is beautiful natural tone/timbre and the capturing of space and presence. Just a joy to listen to.

I think modern recording has been kinder to the jazz genre than much of classical music. Most jazz recordings are well done these days.  My limited collection of classical does include RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence of the era you mention, they are very enjoyable. 
Charles 
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,239 posts
 
Al,
If I can find the Chesky Jascha Horenstein I’ll buy it, thanks. I really like the classical recordings without the multi miking. Two or three good microphones was the better method IMHO.
Charles
rcprince
3,062 posts
 

The Cheskys Al mentions are indeed great recordings and very well-made CDs.  I think that while many of the analog recordings have been well-transferred to CD, many were not, particularly early on when the major labels started reissuing their old recordings in a rush to sell CDs of their old catalogs without taking much care in what they were doing (like using original masters, paying closer attention to the analog to digital conversion, etc.).  Specialist companies like Chesky and Classic Records took the plunge on doing quality reissues of excellent recordings, and eventually major labels like RCA and, especially, Mercury, started to reissue their old catalogs with quality in mind.

I do find that many current all-digital classical recordings can be excellent as well, as digital recording has come a long way.  However, I do think that certain instruments, solo piano, in particular, sound better on recordings that were originally analog recordings--to my ears the overtones and decay are better preserved, as the OP notes. 

Just my two cents.


willemj
1,036 posts
 
I don’t share that experience - for me the picture is far too mixed for that. There were great recordings in the old days, but there are also great modern recordings. The problem with old recordings is the limitations of the technology (not enough headroom so a need for manual compression, higher distortion levels, tape saturation etc). The problem with modern recordings (though less so in the classical genre) are intentionally limited dynamic range (the loudness wars), excessive manipulation of the original sound in the mastering stage, and as Shadorne observes, lower budgets for classical recordings. There are quite few Youtube videos that demonstrate all this (both the limitations of old recording technologies and the evils of the modern mastering). Seeing a graph from an audio spectrum analyzer can be a sad experience.
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