Hi-Rez Highway: Re: Water Lily Russian Recordings by Chris from Lafayette

Kavi,

I fear this discussion is becoming less and less interesting and informative for other readers. By now, everyone who’s followed so far knows the routine: the parts from your post are in quotation marks.

“If we follow this logic then there should be no recording made at all, since the choice of mikes, mikes pre amps, cables and the recording medium will all impose their own color and character unto the original sound and will reflect the personal "taste" of the one who picked them! A recording is always the result of technical and artistic decisions made by the one who makes it. Yes, a very personal choice based on that persons priorities and the credence he gives to such matters as tonal purity, spatial cues/stereo image/instrument localization, overall sonic balance and dynamics. The original balance in the hall as perceived by the one who made the recording, how else could it be?”

Wait a minute – You’re agreeing with ME now! I was the one who argued that microphone placements, etc., were subjective judgements. I thought you and your minions : - ) were arguing that you were capturing THE reality with your documentary approach, as if it could only be done your way. (Go back and look at the previous posts.)

“Thus there is a Decca sound, an EMI sound, a Mercury sound and an RCA sound. It is my opinion that though entertaining, the "house sound" of these forementioned labels, are highly colored and in no way represent the real sound of an orchestra.”

As I mentioned before, you and your minions : - ) are a bit doctrinaire in this regard. I’m just guessing, but I’d say that most readers of this board would not agree with you that the sound on the labels you mention “in no way represent[s] the real sound of an orchestra”. (I assume we’re talking about the golden age of the Deccas, EMI’s, and RCA’s.) By the way, and here’s where my memory is a little foggy, I think I remember reading that SOME EMI recordings were actually made with the Blumlein technique. (Perhaps another reader could nail this bit of information down?)

“Nevertheless, what needs to be kept in mind is that the difference between these "house sounds", that were deliberatly derived through a combination of mikes/miking technique and EQ/compression and the "purist" approch of say Water Lily, which has no "house sound" in that it is deliberatly arrived at as through a formula, but is rather the result of an attempt to capture the sound of an acoustical event as "accurately" as we know how.”

So . . . when I read in any number of booklets with the Mercury CD’s (I’m looking at the Richard Strauss / Dorati booklet right now) quotes such as “. . . the recording session began in earnest, and from that time on there was no tampering with the controls of the recording machines which were putting the sound on tape – no boosting of pianissimos, no compressing of fortissimos, no disturbing of balances”, we have it on your authority that Mercury is lying? Actually, for someone who takes offense so easily, you’re pretty free with your dismissals of other companies’ efforts.

“Now, our version of "accuracy" may not sit well with you, for this or that reason, but it can not be denied that the Water Lily approch is free of ornamentation, embelishment and artifice.”

-But not free of subjective decision making – just like any other recording company!

“"My minions"? I find that utterly insulting and take offence.
Dr. Robert Greene is a professor of math and acoustics at UCLA and a dear and respcted friend and certainly no "minion" of mine. He is also a very accomplised violinist, with a vast amount of knowledge in matters audio and music.”

Use of that term was meant to be humorous. You’ll notice that I used happy faces earlier in this post to avoid misunderstanding. (Dr. Greene – This is Dr. Salocks. I hope you were not insulted!)

“And yes, me and my "minions" do by far prefer single point stereo recordings for the simple reason, that to our ears they tend to be much more realistic. Spaced omni recordings, even with just two mikes, just do not produce the precise stereo image that we prefer and they do also introduce colorations due to comb filter effects that single point stereo pairs are free of. If you and others like you prefer the sound of spaced omni recordings, that is your choice. But certainly not mine. I find ALL spaced omni recordings, old and new, employing two or more mikes, to be utterly confusing.”

I think we both agree (well, maybe not!) that no recording technique is perfect. Again, I would surmise that most listeners in this forum are not confused by most spaced omni recordings, even though you say you are.

“Since the ability to spatialy localize sounds varies with individuals and is partly based on their pinna structure, with some people utterly incapable of preceving stereo at all, it is very likly that some of us are more accutly sensitive to the spatial "deformation" caused by spaced omni mike techniques.”

Let’s look at this statement from another angle: Is it possible that some listeners, because of their pinna structure and mental wiring, are able to localize sounds even in recordings which may seem “utterly confusing” to others?

“So now we have come around to even commenting on the layout/art work?! Let me just put it to you bluntly, in case you forgot to read the credits, the cover has a reproduction of a Wassily Kandinsky painting courtesy of the Hermitage.”

OK, OK! – I’ll remember: next time I want to ensure impeccable graphic design, I’ll put a reproduction of a Wassily Kandinsky painting on the booklet cover. That certainly simplifies the whole process of graphic design!

“I never mastered my Latin in boarding school, but I do love the Persian Sufi poest Rumi who once said "Counterfiet exists because there is such a thing as real Gold". How appropriate!”

To tell you the truth, I never mastered my Latin in boarding school either. Actually, I never went to boarding school. But I’m still on kind of a Latin kick today, so here’s another one (from Virgil) for you:

Experto credite [Trust the expert]

(Yes, but then we have to decide whether it’s a real expert or a would-be expert!)

-Chris Salocks
(Take my opinions with a grain of salt – everything else being equal, I prefer DVD-Audio!)