My rankings of some classical violin music in high resolution


Folks-

So this may be of no interest, but I thought I would provide my feedback. Upfront, let me say that I could not make it at Berklee / New England Conservatory, so I went into biomedical research instead (PhD/MD). I know a great deal about the human auditory system, and somerthing about Nyquist sampling. Music is not just some "emotional" experience - there are objective measures of comparison between individuals, shaped by our bias.

My system is modest compared to some, and was put together by the great folks at Paragon sound here in Ann Arbor, MI. It consists of almost all McIntosh components, except for computer-based downloaded high res music files, including a D150 preamp, MCT 450 SACD / CD player, C22 preamp into a MC275 tube amp. The speakers are Wilson WattPuppy 7s.

Best digital, high resolution recordings I own (so far) in this category, out of 17:
1. Josuha Bell, Tchiavoksy violin concetto, Berlin Phil., Micheal Tilson Thomas;
2. Hilary Hahn, Brahms and Stravinsky, Acad. St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Nelville Mariner;
Very Good:
3. Arthur Grumiax, Mozart, concertos 3, 5;
4. Andrew Manze, Mozart - 3 violin concerti, English consort;
Good:
5. Julia Fischer, Mozart Violin Concertos, SACD and DVD;
6. John Butt, Bach Violin Concertos (Lnn Audio);
Not recommended:
7. Hilary Hahn, Bach Violin Concertos - too brittle and "compressed" sounding, played at too rapid a tempo;
8. Henryk Szeryng (one of my favorite violinists) - Bach solo violin, Phillips - DSD SACD from Japan, but I bet the master was not great due to the age of this recording.

I find it odd that there are virtually no high res recordings available in any format from violinists such as Itzhak Perlman, Michael Rabin, and others. I love almost all music, with the exception of some pop recordings, and as a teenager listened to, and saw bands live, including the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, The Doors (infamous New Haven, CT concert), The Dead, The Who, the Allman Brothers with Duane and Dicky before they were famous, etc. I still have excellent hearing, which is remarkable. 

Thanks - Gerry
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A few hi-rez titles that I like:

Telemann: 12 Fantasias for Solo Violin (Glossa  GCD923406)
Ysaÿe: Sonatas for solo violin (Hyperion CDA67993)
Reger: Violin Sonatas, Op. 42 (CPO 7777622)
Mozart: Violin Sonatas (Hyperion CDA68091)  

My experience is that the quality of a recording is not the bits or the sampling frequency but the recording and mastering process (I suspect they record hi-rez "studio masters" with better equipment so as to differentiate the quality from 16-bit since it is impossible to hear any differences between 16 and 24 bit or 44.1 and 192 khz).

Two 44.1/16 CD's that I have that are excellent recording quality are  Reger's Sonatas for Solo Violin (Dorian  DOR90175 and  DOR90212) recorded in 1995 at the Troy Music Hall in NY. The Dorian engineers did superb job where even the reverberation of the hall is clearly audible. You can hear samples at PrestoClassical.com.


Are there any hi-rez recordings of Giuliano Carmignola?  He's worth checking out.

All Dorian’s I own  have excellent sound .As do Hyperion and BIS .
Well known in industry that the Troy Music Hall , which is the top floor
of a tall bank , is best recording venue in USA .
You can , for real, hear a pin drop in this hall . 
Try a CD rip of the recent Rachel Barton-Pine disc of Bach recordings....I'd put it against any "high-rez" downloads....


Also regarding Carmingnola......not available in high-res but his Four Seasons recording is brilliantly engineered....the CD sounds great.
Has anyone reviewed the streaming offerings from Primephonic?  I used to subscribe to a classical music streaming service (from the owner of Naxos?), but it ceased operations a few months ago.