The Analogue Golden Age on Blu Ray

[meyers...@gmail.com]

I was cued in to these remastered Decca recordings from very favorable reviews regarding the sound in Fanfare magazine. I ordered a couple CD sets and indeed the sound was the best I ever heard on these sets. But then I tried the blu ray audio compilations with six operas on each blu ray DVd (at about 50.00 US for each blu ray set) and the sound is remarkable - the "Sound Stage" is deep yet detailed with sound that I really cannot compare to previous incarnations. Warning - if you have an aversion to del Monaco you can skip these but if you want to hear these famous sets in spectacular sound I advise you to try it out.

https://www.almarazrecords.com/collections/theanaloggoldenage

[wkasimer]

On Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 12:46:15 PM UTC-4, meyers...@gmail.com wrote:

> I was cued in to these remastered Decca recordings from very favorable reviews regarding the sound in Fanfare magazine. I ordered a couple CD sets and indeed the sound was the best I ever heard on these sets.<

I'm not really set up optimally for Blu-ray audio - my main system is audio only and isn't connected to a Blu-ray player and has no video display.

So my question is this - if you've listened to the RBCD component of these Decca reissues, do they sound better, or even different, from previous RBCD issues?

[ro...@verizon.net]

On Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 12:46:15 PM UTC-4, meyers...@gmail.com wrote:

> I was cued in to these remastered Decca recordings from very favorable reviews regarding the sound in Fanfare magazine. I ordered a couple CD sets and indeed the sound was the best I ever heard on these sets. But then I tried the blu ray audio compilations with six operas on each blu ray DVd (at about 50.00 US for each blu ray set) and the sound is remarkable - the "Sound Stage" is deep yet detailed with sound that I really cannot compare to previous incarnations. Warning - if you have an aversion to del Monaco you can skip these but if you want to hear these famous sets in spectacular sound I advise you to try it out.
>
> https://www.almarazrecords.com/collections/theanaloggoldenage

I'm very interested in these but are they only available in Mexico? I have searched for these on Presto Classical and Amazon US, UK and Canada. Strange that there's no sign of them elsewhere.

[meyers...@gmail.com]

I think so I order them directly from the site and have had no problems. They will email you on the progress of the shipment

[Ed Presson]

"wkasimer" wrote in message
news:d096d9a1-def3-4e6d...@googlegroups.com...

In my very limited experience, definitely yes. Of course, you'll need a
Blu-Ray player to get the benefits. If you decide to buy one, I'd look for
a model that also plays SACDs, so you can get the benefits of those also
(even if you listen to 2-channel stereo). You don't need a video display to
play Blu-Ray discs. Whether the benefit to you is worth the expense is
something only you can decide.

Ed Presson

[weary flake]

On 2017-09-08 19:35:35 +0000, Ed Presson said:

> You don't need a video display to play Blu-Ray discs.

You sure?

[Ed Presson]

"weary flake" wrote in message
news:201709091933024...@gmail.com...

On 2017-09-08 19:35:35 +0000, Ed Presson said:

> You don't need a video display to play Blu-Ray discs.

>You sure?

I don't have a video display, and I was able to play the half-dozen or so
Blu-Ray discs I've auditioned. There may
be Blu-Ray discs out there that would present a problem, but I haven't heard
of any difficulties. Sometimes the
packaging has instructions in fine print about what colored buttons have to
be pressed to get at various files.

So far, however, so good.

Ed Presson

[wkasimer]

On Saturday, September 9, 2017 at 4:22:51 PM UTC-4, Ed Presson wrote:

> In my very limited experience, definitely yes. Of course, you'll need a
> Blu-Ray player to get the benefits.

I don't think that you understood my question. These issues usually also include "normal" CD's, in addition to the Blu Ray disc. Do these CD's sound any different from previous issues? I *don't* need a Blu Ray player to play these.

[meyers...@gmail.com]

In this case the remastered CDs are available separately from the blu ray and sound markedly better than any previous CD editions I have heard. The enthusiastic Fanfare reviews referred to the remastered CDs

[Ed Presson]

"wkasimer" wrote in message
news:379797cf-6fc4-46a0...@googlegroups.com...

I apologize: I did not understand your question. I have no answer for your
question since all the Blu-Ray discs I heard were "stand-alone" purchases;
that is, not part of a set that included RBCD CDs also.

Sorry, Ed Presson

[wade...@hotmail.com]

On Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 9:46:15 AM UTC-7, meyers...@gmail.com wrote:
> I was cued in to these remastered Decca recordings from very favorable reviews regarding the sound in Fanfare magazine. I ordered a couple CD sets and indeed the sound was the best I ever heard on these sets. But then I tried the blu ray audio compilations with six operas on each blu ray DVd (at about 50.00 US for each blu ray set) and the sound is remarkable - the "Sound Stage" is deep yet detailed with sound that I really cannot compare to previous incarnations. Warning - if you have an aversion to del Monaco you can skip these but if you want to hear these famous sets in spectacular sound I advise you to try it out.
>
> https://www.almarazrecords.com/collections/theanaloggoldenage

What were the sources for these Blu-rays? did they go back to primary master tapes?

[meyers...@gmail.com]

Yes they did

[wade...@hotmail.com]

The Tebaldi Puccini's have been reissued to death, how do the blurays of these compare?

[meyers...@gmail.com]

Fabulous

[wade...@hotmail.com]

The Bluray collection with the mono Aida is interesting in content. The Rigoletto was recorded in stereo but never released that way. I wonder if they got access to those tapes instead of the mono ones that were used for the previous Eloquence CD release. There is no indication on the CD version case back, but I suspect its mono because the logo on the front right lower corner is FFRR not FFSS as was used on the same position of the contemporaneous Otello which HAS been released in stereo. It's a shame that there was a large block of recordings made by Decca since 1954 which were never release in stereo even though they were recorded that way.

[meyers...@gmail.com]

The Rigoletto from July 1954 is mono. Are you sure it was recorded in stereo?? The Rosenkavalier from one monthe earlier is in mono also and you would think that famous recording would be released in stereo if it was available in that form. On the other hand the Otello was recorded the same month as the Rigoletto, originally in mono and now in stereo so perhaps you are right. Quite a few of the Decca operas in mono had to wait quite a while for a stereo release the 55 Frau, Hollander and the Belgrade Russian releases were in mono for years till their rerelease on Richmond stereo

[wade...@hotmail.com]

yes, there is a Decca discography available online, for each entry during the period from 1954-57 there are notes where apparently the recordings were made in stereo but never released in that form. I presume that the person making those notes had access to the Decca recording logs that identified that as the case.