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Classical music listening... what is a better source High Rez or Vinyl?

For many of us who really enjoy classical music, for me it is Baroque and opera, what is the better and more consistent for source high fidelity listening?

I am a mid hifi guy and have a Pro-ject Classic SB turntable with a high output MC Sumiko Blue Point No. 2 cartridge.. I am using a Jolida JD 9II Tube phone stage, with a vintage Telefunkin tube upgrade.

I have a Rogue Sphinx 3 integrated amplifier, with a vintage Mozada tube upgrade. My digital source DAC/SACD/CD is a Yamaha CD-2100 player.

I have refurbished Ohm H's loud speakers.

I have been picking up many vintage classical albums recently, mainly 1980’s releases in excellent condition too, at my local transfer station, and it has been mixed bag in comparison to my high resolution music files and SACD collection.

I was expecting much more when it came to vinyl and classical but I have not been as won over, as I have been with rock and jazz on vinyl.

My experience with SACD and high resolution, 96/24 or higher, has been very rewarding with a wide variety of classical music. Opera really shines in digital IMHO. Strong and full on classical piece are quite stunning on many a SACD releases I own. Rachel Podger’s Vivaldi: L’estro armonico - 12 concerti, Op. 3 on SACD is an excellent example of the audio quality I demand, as this recording is exceptional! Plus there are are very few new remastered vinyl releases for classical, particularly for opera, these days. A perfect example of this is Shubert’s Winterreise featuring Joyce DiDanato and pianist Yannick Nezet-Sequin, which I saw performed at Carnegie Hall for this recording and which sounds phenomenal in 96/24, and was release recently.

That would seem counter intuitive but that is clearly what the market is showing.

On one of these threads I recall someone posting how strings of violins, and the intensity that they are played at, can lead to degraded sound quality depending on the type of cartridge used.

I want to hear back from the classical music posse here to help me get to that higher level of listening with classical vinyl.

Is it the cartridge?

Or should I just stay with my digital sources?


idigmusic64
simonmoon's avatar
simonmoon
517 posts
 
Being a big fan of mid to late 20th century, and contemporary classical music (you know, the 'thorny' sounding stuff), I have a quite a few vinyl recordings on Nonesuch records in their "Spectrum: New American Music" series. 

These were considered a budget label release at the time (late 60's to mid 70's). But despite that, I don't believe I have any other recordings in my collection, on any format, that creates such an amazingly tangible soundstage and 3d image within that soundstage. 

If you ever want to test a system for how well it images and creates a soundstage, get one of these recordings. Most good used records stores will have copies.  

Just to give you an idea what to look for, these recordings all have a similar look to this -

https://www.discogs.com/Jacob-Druckman-Joseph-Schwantner-John-Harbison-Spectrum-New-American-Music-Volume-III/release/13338316
bkeske's avatar
bkeske
5,597 posts
 
@rvpiano  @frogman 

Fantastic, I’m glad you have both heard it. I have not. It’s interesting, on Discogs there are not a lot of Mahler 9th available on vinyl, but Barbirolli’s seemed to get high marks from other owners of the set.

I have other recordings with him at the helm, and am rarely disappointed.
bkeske's avatar
bkeske
5,597 posts
 
@simonmoon 

Thanks for that. I’ll check that out. I’m a fan of similar 20th century composers. 
In fact, will be spinning some Varese tonight. Already pulled.
realworldaudio
174 posts
 
I have a reasonable vinyl collection and I can tell that having an LP does not mean automatic heaven. If you have a weak pressing, no turntable / cartridge on Earth can help. If you have a good pressing, then the situation is quite different, but that takes experience and luck to come by.
Vinyl rig is something that takes years to set up properly, even when you are an experienced vinylophile. When set up right, then vinyl vs digital issue was not an issue anymore to me, I just noticed at one point that I have not turned on my digital for over a year to listen to music.(Use them to listen to netflix every day though). That was my experience.

I think when digital is set up properly, it is fantastic for electronic music, but classical is one area where it cannot touch analogue: there's a piece of life missing, and the lowest level of details is not there, it's obscured by the artificial black-out noisefloor, that we perceive as pitch-black quietness. It sounds "correct", though.

Digital feels like a perfect recorded event, a performance brought to your room to our present day.
LP feels like I am there with the performers as the events unfold. The event is not brought to me, but I am brought back to the event, to join in with the hearts, minds and souls of the humans who created it.
melm
1,078 posts
 
@bkeske

You will probably love the Barbirolli Berlin Mahler 9.  It's a great performance and a very good recording, if just a bit dry.  If you do, and on the theory that the best pressings come from the country where originally produced, you might then want to search for a British pressing.  I have a British (EMI) pressing as well as an Angel.  Of course they are quite different.

The liner notes will tell you that Barbirolli recorded the last movement first.  He wanted the orchestra to be at their best for it.
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