It is possible to build a great High Resolution Classical collection.

[Teresa]

Here is my current collection of Classical Music in high resolution from my blog SACD Lives   http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:iGoA4tQqpc4J:sacdlives.blogspot.com/2009/01
[SACD] = Super Audio CD  
[DVD 24/96] = 24 Bit 96kHz on standard DVDs playable on any DVD player
[WAV 24/96] = A WAV music file at 24 Bit 96kHz

That is my Classical collection so far, I have most of the compositions I love, however there are several not yet released in high resolution.  There are also little or no works by classical composers I don't care for such as Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann or Schubert, these are personal choices and I can assure you there are plenty of high resolution recordings by all of these composers.

The entire list would make this post too long, however here is my Respighi collection so far and there are many other works by Respighi in high resolution that I didn't buy as they were not to my tastes.  This is the most Respighi I have ever owned but I am still waiting for a high resolution version of The Birds and Brazilian Impressions.

RESPIGHI, OTTORINO (1879-1936)
 Adagio con variazioni for cello and orchestra (1920)
   Baillie, Simon, Philharmonia Orchestra [SACD] Cala Records CACDS4028
 Ancient Airs and Dances Suites Nos. 1-3
   Dorati, Philharmonica Hungarica [SACD] Mercury Living Presence 470 637-2
 Ballad of the Gnomes (1920)
   Simon, Philharmonia Orchestra [SACD] Cala Records CACDS4028
 Belkis, Queen of Sheba (1931)
 Belfagor: Overture
   Ashkenazy, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland [SACD] Octavia / Exton OVCL-00216
 Burlesca for Orchestra (1906)
   Hanson, Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra [SACD] MDG Gold 935 1030-6
 Church Windows (1927)
   Ashkenazy, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland [SACD] Octavia / Exton OVCL-00216
 Fountains of Rome (1916)
   Ashkenazy, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland [SACD] Octavia / Exton OVCL-00217
 Metamorphoseon modi XII (1930)
 Passacaglia in C minor after J.S. Bach (1930)
   Hanson, Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra [SACD] MDG Gold 935 1030-6
 Pines of Rome (1923)
 Roman Festivals (1926)
   Ashkenazy, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland [SACD] Octavia / Exton OVCL-00217
 Rossiniana: Suite for Orchestra "Les Reins" (1925)
   Hanson, Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra [SACD] MDG Gold 935 1030-6
 Suite in G major for organ and string orchestra (1905)
   Pearson, Simon, Philharmonia Orchestra [SACD] Cala Records CACDS4028
 Trittico Botticelliano  "Three Botticelli Pictures" (1927)
   Simon, Philharmonia Orchestra [SACD] Cala Records CACDS4028


Has anyone else went high resolution only?

[DavidRoss]

Yes, it is possible to build a great high resolution classical recording collection.  Those of us who retained vinyl LPs have always had one.  And as much as I enjoy Ancient Airs and Dances and the Botticelli Triptych, "great" and "Respighi" are not terms I would expect to encounter in the same sentence.  Thanks for the post, however; it reminds me that it's been too long since I last listened to the Dorati recording of Ancient Airs.  Onto the turntable it goes!

[DavidW]

I don't know how anyone could like Respighi that much, but I guess you probably one of those 10,000+ cd collections anyway!

I was really not aware that there were that many sacds out, that is quite impressive. 

[drogulus]

    I've been to the SACD site a few times looking for but I never really explored it extensively. There's some really good old recordings there. It really would be a shame if all that disappeared.


   

     Whoa! How cool is this? I've never seen this in a store.

     Das Lied Von Der Erde

     Richard Lewis, Maureen Forrester, Fritz Reiner CSO

     Recorded in 1962.

     

[Bulldog]

Has anyone else went high resolution only?

When a recording I want is SACD, I certainly acquire it.  But I can't imagine not buying a recording I want because it isn't high resolution.  What's more important to you - the music or the resolution?

[Teresa]

When a recording I want is SACD, I certainly acquire it.  But I can't imagine not buying a recording I want because it isn't high resolution.  What's more important to you - the music or the resolution?

When that happens I look for a different performance of it that is on SACD, or if it is the only performance I write the record company and request the SACD, and wait until they get around to releasing.  Good things to those who are willing to wait!

[flyingdutchman]

When that happens I look for a different performance of it that is on SACD, or if it is the only performance I write the record company and request the SACD, and wait until they get around to releasing.  Good things to those who are willing to wait!

Which is never since a record company doesn't "get around to releasing something" you request.  Tell me one time a record company has released something in SACD that you have requested that they first released in RBCD.  In other words, tell me one time a SACD was released that you pushed for that was only released on RBCD and the record company had no plans to release it in SACD.

Answer?  None.

[DavidW]

Well Teresa has a good idea, sometimes if enough people write in asking for something it will happen.  It certainly doesn't hurt.

[flyingdutchman]

Well Teresa has a good idea, sometimes if enough people write in asking for something it will happen.  It certainly doesn't hurt.

Sure, but in the day and age when music is going toward download and hopes are (on the hi-rez side) that those downloads will be hi-rez, then the idea that the record companies are going to go backwards toward an unembraced format are nil.  The move now is toward downloading or bluray.  SACD will eventually die out.  I buy them still, but the day will come when SACD will be gone.

[71 dB]

Those of us who retained vinyl LPs have always had one. 

You have a funny idea of high resolution. 

[71 dB]

SACD will eventually die out.  I buy them still, but the day will come when SACD will be gone.

Why would SACD die out? Even vinyl hasn't.

[DavidW]

Sure, but in the day and age when music is going toward download and hopes are (on the hi-rez side) that those downloads will be hi-rez, then the idea that the record companies are going to go backwards toward an unembraced format are nil.  The move now is toward downloading or bluray.  SACD will eventually die out.  I buy them still, but the day will come when SACD will be gone.

So what?  It still doesn't hurt to write to ask for something.

[drogulus]

   

Sure, but in the day and age when music is going toward download and hopes are (on the hi-rez side) that those downloads will be hi-rez, then the idea that the record companies are going to go backwards toward an unembraced format are nil.  The move now is toward downloading or bluray.  SACD will eventually die out.  I buy them still, but the day will come when SACD will be gone.

    I'm afraid this is right.

    I love these SACDs, especially the Mercs and Living Stereos. These latter were 3 channel recordings that are being released in this format for the first time after 50 years or so. Some day I might want to listen to them that way.

     Recording on 3 tracks does not a 3 channel recording make. The intention was always to mix them down, first to mono and then to stereo when a stereo format for consumers came along. However, from what I'm able to find out these recording were in fact made with a future 3 track stereo system in mind. They are true multichannel recordings, just like the quads made in the early '70s, only now SACD makes possible fully discrete tracks for both '50s 3 track and '70s quad.

     

Why would SACD die out? Even vinyl hasn't.

     When SACD get to the vinyl stage it's dead, dead, dead. Right now it's dead, dead.

     Or, how dead does it have to be to be really dead?

[flyingdutchman]

The move is toward download and bluray and away from SACD.  My requests would be to get those lost wanted releases on hi-rez download.  

One example, Pristine Classical releases FLAC downloads and I recently bought the Szell, Firkusny Dvorak Piano Concerto that way.  Is it available even on RBCD?  No.  Will it ever?  Probably not.  Yet I got it on hi-rez download.

[71 dB]

When SACD get to the vinyl stage it's dead, dead, dead. Right now it's dead, dead.

Or, how dead does it have to be to be really dead?

How do you define dead? SACDs are released, I buy them and I listen to them. For me the format is very much alive.

[drogulus]

The move is toward download and bluray and away from SACD.  My requests would be to get those lost wanted releases on hi-rez download.  

One example, Pristine Classical releases FLAC downloads and I recently bought the Szell, Firkusny Dvorak Piano Concerto that way.  Is it available even on RBCD?  No.  Will it ever?  Probably not.  Yet I got it on hi-rez download.

    Lossless downloads are crucial IMO. That is not because they will sound better, though they sometimes might. It's because you want the full version to archive so you can then make versions at any compression rate you want without ever double-compressing anything. Lossless downloads are as good as CDs in this respect, in fact identical. The proof of this is easy: Download a lossless HDCD (say a Reference Recordings) Burn it to disc and play it. Does the HDCD light go on? Does WMPlayer say it's an HDCD? If so you have powerful evidence that your download source is giving you the real deal.* Not that there's any doubt, but you might want to periodically check.

     _{* It doesn't matter if you care about HDCD. Another way to prove lossless integrity is to download a DTS disc. If it plays it's for real, if it makes a horrible noise or total silence the datastream is corrupted and possibly compressed. Either way you've learned something.}

[DavidW]

    
     When SACD get to the vinyl stage it's dead, dead, dead. Right now it's dead, dead.

     Or, how dead does it have to be to be really dead?

http://www.youtube.com/v/TFYJe2o2yJM

[DavidRoss]

Love that sketch, David! 

Vinyl dead?  Hardly.  Less popular than CDs or iTunes no doubt, but hardly dead, with new releases and re-releases continuing in a healthy small market whose sales have been steadily increasing the past few years.

If vinyl is dead, because its sales are dwarfed by CD sales,and its virtues appreciated by only a tiny fraction of the music-loving public, then classical music must be equally dead, for the same conditions apply in relation to pop music.

[Jay F]

Why would SACD die out? Even vinyl hasn't.

Well, not to cast darkness instead of light, but SACD never reached anything close to the critical mass of vinyl in its now ten years on the market. Honestly, I wish it had caught on. I'm especially enjoying the Gergiev Mahler now (some of which is very nicht schleppend, btw). For some reason, the MTT never really drew me in (3 and 7 are the only ones I really like).

I don't have a fancy-schmancy stereo, either (Sony 595 SACD player, Denon receiver, Paradigm Atoms), but I am able to tell on many SACDs that they sound better to me. I think I get what Theresa's talking about. My ear/brain (whichever) is just able to follow a note for a much longer time with many SACDs (Gergiev's Mahler, Tommy, a lot of Miles Davis, Tapestry (darned stupid Sony for releasing even one non-hybrid, and then following that up with...nothing).

Some sack-dees I haven't liked. Aimee Mann's Bachelor No. 2 I found unlistenable. But some just sound SO GOOD. But it's just not possible to live on a diet of SACDs only. Many of my CDs sound just fine to me, and I have so many more of them.

[71 dB]

Well, not to cast darkness instead of light, but SACD never reached anything close to the critical mass of vinyl in its now ten years on the market.

SACD doesn't really have a critical mass because of the hybrid format. You can sell a hybrid SACD to a person who has a CD-player only. That's why SACD doesn't die just like that.