Pristine Classical

[Shrunk]

Has anyone else sampled the "XR" remasterings from this company?  I've downloaded three recordings:  Weingartner's Eroica, Heifetz and Beecham playing the Sibelius concerto, and Die Schone Mullerin by Gerhard Husch (of whom, I must admit, I had never heard before).

I must qualify my opinion by saying I have no other versions of any of these performances.  However, taken on their own, they have to be the most impressive digital remasterings of 78's I have ever heard.  I have not previously heard remasterings that manage to achieve this level of noise reduction while retaining such full, vivid sound.  The performances, meanwhile, are all potentially reference quality.  Heretofore, my undisputed heavyweight champion of Eroica's was Klemperer's mono recording with the Philharmonia.  However,the Weingartner is forcing me to rethink this.  He seems to combine Klemperer's monumental sweep with the urgency of Toscanini.

Even a techno-dolt like myself was able to download the MP3's and burn them onto CD in a matter of minutes, and the printable CD covers are a nice touch, though I still miss liner notes.

Anyway, I think I'm going to go back for more.  The Feuermann Dvorak looks very tempting, and Horowitz/Toscanini playing the Tchaikovsky seems like a no-brainer.

The website:

http://www.pristineclassical.com

[Bogey]

Wow....thanks for the link.

[George]

Wow....thanks for the link.

They have 2 or 3 full CD's that you can download for FREE and check out their work.

[Mark]

I liked what I heard from Pristine last time I sampled stuff on their site. There's a superb (but quite idiosyncratic, IMO) Grieg Piano Concerto on there from a woman who was better known for her non-classical music making: Winifred Atwell was apparently a pop sensation, too.

[squarez]

Have to awaken the thread...

I've just listened to some samples from the website, some of their transferings are stunningly good IMHO. Could't wait to join their mailing list.

Anyone who are familiar with the brand? Does the CDs contain booklets? Any suggestions or caveats?

Thanks in adv.

[springrite]

Just became aware of this site and am very intrigued. Anyone here have experienced it? Comments and suggestions?

[Brian]

Bump bump bump!

This morning I've been listening to samples of more and more recordings: Schnabel's Beethoven, Casadesus' Beethoven, Rostropovich and Talich in Dvorak, and the premiere of the RVW 9th. They sound amazing to my ears. Any audiophiles have thoughts on Pristine? Anybody have experience buying their stuff?

(I do own a physical CD of theirs - of William Steinberg, which is totally fantastic. The free sample is of a Pizzicato Polka which, you'll notice, features a LOT more than just pizzicato strings.)

Also, is their line in Ambient Stereo - taking mono and turning it stereo - worth hearing or a bunch of baloney? Their description.

[George]

Bump bump bump!

This morning I've been listening to samples of more and more recordings: Schnabel's Beethoven, Casadesus' Beethoven, Rostropovich and Talich in Dvorak, and the premiere of the RVW 9th. They sound amazing to my ears. Any audiophiles have thoughts on Pristine? Anybody have experience buying their stuff?

(I do own a physical CD of theirs - of William Steinberg, which is totally fantastic. The free sample is of a Pizzicato Polka which, you'll notice, features a LOT more than just pizzicato strings.)

Also, is their line in Ambient Stereo - taking mono and turning it stereo - worth hearing or a bunch of baloney? Their description.

These days, I like my old transfers to sound like old transfers, as close as possible to the original source (no fake stereo, extra reverb, excessive no noise, etc) so I am not a fan of Pristine's work. I heard enough samples to realize Andrew Rose and I share very different tastes.

Having said that, if you enjoy their stuff, Brian, I say buy away! If they still offer a lot of free samples, you should be able to try before you buy anyway.

[Todd]

Casadesus' Beethoven

Strikes me as inferior to Sony's last transfer, though I am listening to Pristine transfer from the site through good but not great headphones.  Not hearing the value in this one.

[Brian]

(no fake stereo, extra reverb, excessive no noise, etc)

The fake stereo does bother me. I don't get how it's an improvement... but every mono recording's available in mono.

[George]

The fake stereo does bother me. I don't get how it's an improvement... but every mono recording's available in mono.

I think the problem with some transfer engineers is that they try too hard t make it sound like a modern recording, when clearly it isn't. Other transfer engineers seek only to reveal and best highlight, what is there. That means more surface noise, but also more clarity and a more honest sound.

[bigshot]

Andrew Rose and I started doing 78 transfers at about the same time. We both used to post at rec.arts.classical-recordings. We used entirely different sorts of techniques. I focused on proper equalization and impulse noise reduction, and he focused on broadband noise reduction and digital reverb. Even our approach to stylii was different. My transfers are considerably dryer, and they sound more like a very clean 78. His transfers attempted to make the sound more modern. Two different approaches.