There is a small Canadian label that calls itself Classic Reissues. They only have 8 titles, but the response has been good as to the quality of their product, which are pressed at Pallas in Germany. Michael Fremer did a review of their Elton John-Elton John reissue and gave them high points (9/music - 9/sound). Lets hope they do more.
Thanks for the information. I saw they have released two classical records, both with the Montreal Symphony recordings with Dutoit on vinyl. I looked up my data base and it looks like both (a Ravel album and Holst Planets) came from Decca. Both were originally engineered by John Dunkerley, whom I will be seeing next month in London. I don't know when Decca changed over from their 48 to 96, but I will ask John. The Ravel album was recorded in 1981 and released on vinyl (not audiophile 180g) and then CD. The Holst was done in 1986 and was also released on vinyl as well as CD. Classic Reissues says the Holst was cut from a flat transfer of the 24/96 master, but doesn't say what the origin of the Ravel is. I will ask John about the switch from 48 which Decca started with to 96.
AFAIK, no one has ever released the 24/96 files, only vinyl and CD versions of these albums.
I can't easily find a reference; my often faulty memory suggests that 24/96 became a reality in the early '90's. Even if I'm off by a few years 1986 is too early.
I can't easily find a reference; my often faulty memory suggests that 24/96 became a reality in the early '90's. Even if I'm off by a few years 1986 is too early.
Manley came out with a 2-channel 20bit ADC in 1990, the Nagra D 20 bit recorder around 1992 or 1993, and 2-channel 24/96 ADC's in about 1997, so it's safe to say that a 1986 digital recording, especially a multi-track one, would be at best 16/48.
I just talked with John Dunkerley who engineered both the Ravel and Holst albums. He said that he used the Decca Digital system which was 16/48 for both recordings. As rrbert mentioned, the higher rez recording was not available at that time. They next went to a 20 bit system before moving to higher rez. I had told John about the Classic Reissues website and he had looked at it. He doesn't know the source of the 24/96 files from which Classic Reissues say they did a flat transfer to create the vinyl. He is going to check on it. It looks like the 24/96 is an upsample from the original 16/48. I haven't looked in detail, but he said the Classic Reissues all look like they come from Universal. I'll be seeing the Universal people next month and will also ask them about the provenance of the digital files that were used.
Actually, the first orchestral digital recording was done by Soundstream on a prototype 37kHz/16bit machine. By the time they were recording for Telarc towards the end of the 1970's they were using their production 50kHz/20bit machines.
Actually, the first orchestral digital recording was done by Soundstream on a prototype 37kHz/16bit machine. By the time they were recording for Telarc towards the end of the 1970's they were using their production 50kHz/20bit machines.
One of the dealers I buy from online refunded me as they didn't have stock (although it said they did). Ordered both Harmonium LP's from Amazon CA and they've already been shipped. My original pressings are still in very fine condition, so this will be an interesting shootout coming up later this week. I'll keep you posted.
I received my Amazon order earlier this week and have been playing both Harmonium albums a number of times.
I'm very pleased with the quality of these Classic Reissues pressings (Pallas). If you are a fan of Progressive Rock or are familiar with the band, then I have no hesitation in recommending these pressings. I hope to do a comparison this weekend between my original releases and these new ones. The originals are already quite good, so it'll be interesting to hear the differences, although I have a good idea of what those are already.