Music Streaming As a System Upgrade.

[Aadams]

These random thoughts may apply equally to other music genre recordings but my focus lately has been on Classical Music.

I never thought I would rent my recordings instead of purchase them but it looks like I am trending in that direction.   There are a lot of advantages but the three big ones are 1. ability to entirely, repeatedly, listen to a recording without buying 2. The option to purchase CD or Higher Res files at below CD prices, 3.   The monthly access fee is less than the cost of a new release Classical CD.  I haven't purchased a new CD for several months.

The classical music recording industry is mostly cover bands trying to create definitive versions of music from way back. Every substantial change in recording technology spawns a wave of re-recordings of standard repertoire because the industry knows the audience will buy multiple versions of the same music in the hope that a definitive combination of interpretation, performance and engineering will emerge to replace the previous best effort. Traditionally, critics and reviewers would help steer you to the next best thing.

The best streaming libraries are vast.  You can do your own comparisons and discover there are real qualitative differences in classical recordings across generations of technology as well as within the generations.  Some old recordings still hold up well but many recent captures for Hi Res release offer stunning quality, even at CD bit rates.  That is not to say Hi Res versions are always best or even better.

The incremental price for this improved listening experience is low compared to most system upgrades and can make a lot of sense if you still purchase recordings.   
Of course the only convenient way to play Hi Res files is to have a robust internet connection to a computer, of some kind, and maybe an outboard DAC . The entry cost is about the price of a pair of good speakers but the incremental cost of the music is low and is significant tweak.

 

[Aadams]

Below: Two versions of Bolero that are very good, stylish, recordings made about 40 years apart. Both adhere to Ravel's instructions for tempo and dynamics,i.e. length about seventeen minutes and loudness to span the softest soft at the beginning and slowly build to the loudest loud possible at the end. Either recording will help you tweak your ear, system and listening space for dynamic range. 

The music begins with a single pianissimo snare drum and ends with a fortissimo orchestra.  The challenge is to set your volume control at the beginning so you can hear the drum without needing to turn down the gain as the loudness relentlessly builds to the climax.

 

 

[Aadams]

According to ChatGPT

 

"The lowest pedal note in the Toccata from Widor’s Organ Symphony No. 5 is typically determined by the registration of the organ. The composer noted that to achieve a fuller sound, “16 foot” stops or couplers should be used to duplicate the same notes an octave lower. This means that if the lowest note written in the score is a C1, for example, using a 16 foot stop would produce a C0."

 

 There are at least two points in the score where a 32 Hz C1 is supported by a 16 Hz C0.

 

There are many recordings of the Widor Toccata, which now has an identity separate from the work of which it was originally a part, but the recording venue and artist have a huge impact on what is captured.   

 

The two recordings below are the best I can find that allow you to clearly hear and somewhat feel the low Cs that occur around 1.5 minutes and again at around 3.5. 

[Aadams]

There is a trend among major US orchestras to favor recordings captured from live audience concerts as opposed to dedicated recording sessions.  LA, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and NY all have in house labels that provide extremely high quality recordings of live performances released only for digital distribution. 

Of course basic youtube allows access to much of this music but the highest quality is available without interruption only as pay for play.  

This example, from 2016, the NY Philharmonic on the NYPHIL label, Dvorak's New World Symphony, recorded so often it is almost a cliche.  The audio is stunning and the performance is difficult to fault.  You hear what the audience heard.  The perspective is front row center. 

 

[Aadams]

The last movement of The Young Persons Guide To The Orchestra is among the best 3-minute runs in all classical music.  It’s definitive recording was captured by Decca in 1969 with the composer conducting.  There have been many recordings since, some better engineered, with more dynamic range, but for 52 years no one ever matched the balance of the full orchestra as presented by Britten and Decca in that last movement.   The challenge is in the last minute of the last 3 minutes.  The first two minutes are spent with the orchestra following the piccolo, descending into seeming fugal chaos until the full brass and low strings restore order with a grand restatement of the original theme while the high strings and woodwinds continue the fugue.   Most recordings allow the brass to swamp the strings.  Britten obviously wanted the strings heard singing high counterpoint flourishes over the brass.  Goose bumps when it is right.

 

These are excellent recordings and performances of the Britten work.  From left to right the recordings get technically better but the 2021 Petrenko from Onyx is the best because it achieves the orchestral balance of the Decca, while being captured in Hi res lossless format.  It appears to be available streamed or as downloadable file versions.  No hard copy versions.   Note: You really need to listen to the entire 16 minutes to fully appreciate what is happening in the last 3 minutes.

[Aadams]

The web site "Peter's Planets” is for fans of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets”, first recorded around 1922 and most recently in 2017.  Peter has acquired, listened to, and subjectively ranked over 80 recorded performances of the “The Planets”.   

Now, through the miracle of Lossless Streaming, you can do the same.   I won’t be doing that.

I already possess two CD versions (Peter’s No.1 and 49) but curious there might be something better, I streamed a dozen others that are offered up as great examples.  Do they sound the same? No, mostly not even close.   Just like covers of popular songs, they differ in style or interpretation and noticeably, in recording sound quality. 

 

Internet searches show the consensus top ranked recording of the “The Planets” appears to be the 1986 Montreal Symphony/Charles Dutoit on Decca, my pick as well until I heard two newer ones;  Cincinnati Symphony/ Paavo Jarvi 2009 Telarc and Dallas Symphony/Andrew Litton 1996 Delos.  There are a couple of original Hi Res recordings you may prefer or maybe something older.  Preference is totally subjective.  The only convenient way to do these comparisons and find what you like is Lossless Streaming.

[Aadams]

Originally written for virtuoso piano in 1874, "Pictures at an Exhibition" is Mussorgsky's representation, in musical sound, of ten paintings by artist Viktor Hartmann.  The work is famous today because in 1922 Maurice Ravel created an orchestral version that is a showpiece of orchestration which has become the default standard version that audiences expect to hear at concerts. There are at least 300 recordings, nearly all of them are competent but vary in the conductor's ability to put across the image of the dancing chicks or the old castle. Perhaps the witch's hut on giant fowl's legs isn't menacing .  Sometimes the Great Gate of Kiev isn't great enough. Such is how the critics sort recordings of this work for ranking.

Riccardo Muti/Philadelphia/Warner/1979 is considered the best overall recorded performance by many critics.

It turns out the critics get so picky about the musical imagery of the pictures that there is no perfect performance/recording but there are several very good ones.   For me, given the choice of being in a good seat at a competent live performance of a major work or sitting in front of speakers to hear the very best interpretation available, I would take the live performance every time, which is why I would focus on the recording sound quality more than best historical performance.  

For best sound there are only a few choices, all from the last 20 years.  My default until recently was Lorin Maazel/ Cleveland/Telarc 1979.   Jaarvi/Cincinnati/Telarc 2008 is good.  Compare those to Karabits/Bournemouth/Onyx/2011 or Gilbert/NYP/NYPhil/2012.

I prefer the Gilbert 2012.  It is lossless. The presentation is front row center. The recording is an entire concert before a live audience which adds a frisson to the performance. The sound is gorgeous. 

[Aadams]

Compared to a  good quality CD, the sound quality difference between 16/44.1 at multi Mbps  and a low bit rate file, say 128kbps, is usually easy to hear if you are paying attention.  My experience with CD quality and above is, the difference between Hi res formats and CD quality is much harder to discern.

For classical music there really aren't that many new Hi res recordings.  The majority seem to be remasters into high res of previous releases.  The ones I have heard are practically noise free but they still have the narrower presentation that does not approach the level of "you are there-ness"  that is found on the very best of recent digital Hi res captures. This is is the best example I know:

Classical music seems to benefit more from Hi res than Pop and Jazz because silence and sense of space are often a part of classical music. This is a brand new Hi res Jazz issue, very high quality but you don't feel the space.  Also available on vinyl.

The biggest factor in Hi res sound quality seems to be the engineering.  If you like the sound of a hi res file the chances are you will be satisfied with a CD quality version.  Which brings me to DACs.

I sweated for months over how much to spend and what brand DAC to purchase for my upgraded listening.   It turns out if all you need is one source in and out, you can spend $40 and not look back.  I had help.

I have the capacity to A/B compare two dacs on a passive switch playing the same source to the same system.    I have compared my old 16/44 DAC to my new USB 24/96 DAC and the short answer is,  there is no practical difference in sound quality.  I have compared my old DAC to my new computer 24/48 DAC using a mini plug to the amp and I cannot swear that I hear a quality difference.
But I have compared my old DAC  to my old computer 16/44 DAC and there is large difference in quality.
All devices were volume equalized before A/B switching was done.

Summary: If you have a relatively new computer you might be able to stream high quality sound without an outboard DAC.  If you want an outboard DAC for USB out to a power amp you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars to get high quality sound.