What is the world coming to? Vinyl outlives CDs at Best Buy.

[panteragstk]

But fidelity means that a bad recording or mastering still results in a bad album.

This is exactly what so many miss. I remember when Metallica's Death Magnetic came out. One of the worst sounding albums (regardless of music preference) ever made. The MUSIC was great, but I can't even begin to listen to it because of how badly it was recorded/mastered. All digital too probably.

 

[Verdinut]

Am I wrong or weren't tons of early CDs (even new ones sometimes) recorded using analog equipment and then converted to "digital" when put on the CD?

And some of them sound a lot better than a lot of digital recordings. Just think of those Mercury Living Presence CDs and RCA Living Stereo CDs., some were even transferred to the SACD format, and some of them had been recorded in 3-track stereo in the late 1950's and early 60's. So, if you have a multi-channel system, you can hear those recordings exactly as the recording engineers heard them. At the time, those engineers knew classical music and its dynamic range possibilities as well as acoustics. unlike a lot of engineers who are involved in CD recordings today.

Also, not only Mercury but the Everest Label made some analog recordings in the late 1950's, and both of them made some of the recordings on three-track 35mm magnetic film, which was the best recording medium at the time. Some of the Mercury's were also transferred to SACD (Living Presence) but Everest had some transfered to SACD and some to the DVD-A format.

People who are not familiar with classical music don't know about those outstanding recordings. Some of those are still available. As a matter of fact, I just get hold of a used Everest 3-track SACD recorded in 1958 featuring works by Villa-Lobos, Antill and Ginastera. These works were recorded on 35mm magnetic film and you can experience a very wide dynamic range. That makes an excellent demo disc if you have a multi-channel system. You better have good amplifiers and speakers that can handle the peaks with absolute clarity. I posted that disc in one of the Musical Goodness threads.

 

[Mikado463]

I wish Best Buy would focus more on getting more of the magnolia listening rooms and more speaker brands

I respectfully disagree for the half dozen or so BB's with 'Magnolia' sections that I've been in, they have so poorly represented many of the mid to top tier brands with poor set up, positioning, room interaction, etc that if I were the brands rep I'd have a fit. The classic example is Martin Logan, rarely ever set up and demo'ed correctly.

Give me a 'real' brick and mortar audio store any day !

 

[sterling shoote]

And some of them sound a lot better than a lot of digital recordings. Just think of those Mercury Living Presence CDs and RCA Living Stereo CDs., some were even transferred to the SACD format, and some of them had been recorded in 3-track stereo in the late 1950's and early 60's. So, if you have a multi-channel system, you can hear those recordings exactly as the recording engineers heard them. At the time, those engineers knew classical music and its dynamic range possibilities as well as acoustics. unlike a lot of engineers who are involved in CD recordings today.

Also, not only Mercury but the Everest Label made some analog recordings in the late 1950's, and both of them made some of the recordings on three-track 35mm magnetic film, which was the best recording medium at the time. Some of the Mercury's were also transferred to SACD (Living Presence) but Everest had some transfered to SACD and some to the DVD-A format.

People who are not familiar with classical music don't know about those outstanding recordings. Some of those are still available. As a matter of fact, I just get hold of a used Everest 3-track SACD recorded in 1958 featuring works by Villa-Lobos, Antill and Ginastera. These works were recorded on 35mm magnetic film and you can experience a very wide dynamic range. That makes an excellent demo disc if you have a multi-channel system. You better have good amplifiers and speakers that can handle the peaks with absolute clarity. I posted that disc in one of the Musical Goodness threads.

I've begun collecting multi-channel SACD's of the Living Stereo Classical Music Series. I believe all that I have are 3 channel. They are, in a word, awesome. And, they're so easy to enjoy. Just buy a Sony Ultra Blu-ray Player with SACD play capability and use its HDMI output to your home theatre AVR or pre/pro.

 

[Verdinut]

I've begun collecting multi-channel SACD's of the Living Stereo Classical Music Series. I believe all that I have are 3 channel. They are, in a word, awesome. And, they're so easy to enjoy. Just buy a Sony Ultra Blu-ray Player with SACD play capability and use its HDMI output to your home theatre AVR or pre/pro.

Sterling,
In my post above, I was referring to Everest label recordings. If you have a chance to see the Villa-Lobos, Antill & Ginastera three-track SACD, grab one and you will definitely enjoy its dynamic impact, I can assure you. That is a discontinued disc, but some show up on eBay but you won't get it at a cheap price. At present, there is one seller asking like $80 for it. Eventually, I think you should find one at a more reasonable price.

The other one that is an excellent value is another discontinued disc, an Everest DVD-A 3-track recording of Berlioz Symphonie fantastique. It comes with a CD disc as well. These discs have an acoustic presence and amazing dynamics. Another gem to have.

The Mercury Living Presence 3-track stereo SACDs are also awesome. I have several of them. Now, they're discontinued also. The SACD market never boomed. IMO, the record companies which made SACDs should have abandoned the CD format and released only hybrid SACDs, but to enjoy this format to it's full potential, you needed a five channel surround system.

 

[sterling shoote]

Sterling,
In my post above, I was referring to Everest label recordings. If you have a chance to see the Villa-Lobos, Antill & Ginastera three-track SACD, grab one and you will definitely enjoy its dynamic impact, I can assure you. That is a discontinued disc, but some show up on eBay but you won't get it at a cheap price. At present, there is one seller asking like $80 for it. Eventually, I think you should find one at a more reasonable price.

The other one that is an excellent value is another discontinued disc, an Everest DVD-A 3-track recording of Berlioz Symphonie fantastique. It comes with a CD disc as well. These discs have an acoustic presence and amazing dynamics. Another gem to have.

The Mercury Living Presence 3-track stereo SACDs are also awesome. I have several of them. Now, they're discontinued also. The SACD market never boomed. IMO, the record companies which made SACDs should have abandoned the CD format and released only hybrid SACDs, but to enjoy this format to it's full potential, you needed a five channel surround system.

Yes, thanks for the tips. I have 9 really great multi-channel SACDs. They're from the Living Stereo Label Classical Series, most are 3 channel. These usually sell for about $10 on Amazon. There are all together about 57 discs in this series. I play them on an OPPO UDP-205 with output to a Sony TA-P9000ES 5.1 analog preamp. At any rate, of all the music formats, I enjoy SACD the most. BTW, the Living Stereo Series was a competition to the Mercury Living Presence Series. And, as I have alluded, the Living Stereo Series is still available at very attractive prices.

 

[WineOfTheVeins]

On Sunday, July 1, Best Buy stopped selling CDs, but will continue to sell LPs.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cds-at-best-buy-are-going-the-way-of-the-dodo/

Heck, BestBuys around these parts don't even carry LPs.