Glare on Choral recordings, classical vocals


Dear all,

I'm hoping for some clarity on an issue of the quality of choral vocals in digital recordings. It's either my system or the recordings. There is a glare and harshness in the crescendos, and I wonder if it's natural room clipping in the studio or cathedrals in which they are recorded (the delay in some of these spaces can lead to a natural harshness and smearing of the sound), or if I have poor setup in terms of the DAC and/ or the preamp. I use a B&K PRO-10MC and a Schiit Bifrost Multibit. This setup has resolved any issues with digital glare except in the domain of choral music. Do I have to suck it up and consider upgrading to the Gungnir or another device? Should I consider a tubed preamp, maybe the Schiit Freya?

The problem is far less noticeable on vinyl, but most of my choral collection is in the digital domain. 

I've always had problems with the Tallis Scholars recordings on the Gimell label, which are almost always recorded in cathedrals. However, I did listen once to a Tallis Scholars CD on a dealer's rig with a Conrad-Johnson tube pre and Totem Model 1 Signatures, and there seemed to be much better resolution, though this was 20 years ago and I think my younger self was just blown away by the sound in general.

I've noticed that audiophiles and reviewers seldom write about choral music. Is it because they don't like choral music, or is it because it is just really difficult to record choirs well, therefore making choral music a poor choice to show off a system?

Any choral music-loving audiophiles care to comment on their experiences and solutions? 
 
Many thanks,


Paul
paulburnett
Paul, I had the the 2CE sigs once upon a time and large scale classical just sounded horrible no matter what amp they were hooked too.  I recall pairing them with a Bryston 4BST and a Belles 150a, pretty good amps imo.  That midrange driver got congested and harsh.  Replaced them with ET LFT8B and they did a lot better in that regard.
Should I consider maybe the Schiit Freya?
Yes definitely, as you have the choice of passive, tube or solid state to pick from.

And you can send it back if it doesn’t do the job.

Cheers George
Run a good 2L digital recording thru itThe Himmelrand is excellent
i have Vandersteen 7 which I consider brutally revealing to source
but I also record a bit of voice direct to digital and on high speed analog tape - fewer things are more difficult to get right IMO
i would start with source material of excellent provenance and work to end of chain
changing speakers first is IMO inane...
Also if your speakers and system are doing analog well without glare... that tells ya something...

I listen to Classical exclusively and am familiar with the problem that the OP describes.  Fwiw I have found that as I upgraded my DAC the problem resolved.  I went from an Oppo 105 to the Mytek Manhatten (Oppo is the transport) and now the congestion and glare are things of the past