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JULY 2009
ARE THERE ISSUES WITH PLAYING MULTI-CHANNEL SACDS IN
STEREO?
I have been listening to a new recording of the Bach Brandenburg
Concertos by Richard Egarr and the Academy of Ancient Music (AAM).
This is a multi-channel Hybrid SACD package on two discs. The
performance utilizes only one performer per part, a return to the original
“chamber” conception of these works, according to the back cover of the
package. (HMU 807461.62) www.harmoniamundi.com
I was attracted to this performance by several generally excellent reviews.
John Marks wrote about this recording in Stereophile in the June 2009
issue. His is a fairly long review. Here are a couple of quick quotes: “As
one would expect from Harmonia Mundi, the recording is of top quality,
both in CD and SACD modes…, and is accompanied by thought-provoking
liner notes and excellent packaging.” Further, he states, “So, yes, a very
strong recommendation from me…”
Stereophile music reviewer Les Berkley officially reviewed it in the July
2009 issue. He concluded, “This is a worthy and useful addition to the
catalog of Brandenburgs, and as such is strongly recommended.”
HiFi+ did a review in issue 64 and gave it 9.5/10 for both Music and
Recording. Richard S. Foster’s final remarks were, “This set of concertos
has moved to the head of the class and I wouldn’t want to be without it.
Extremely infectious music, most highly recommended.”
Gramophone reviewer Lindsay Kemp, in the June 2009 issue, voiced the
only criticism of the performance I encountered, noting “there is often
a frustrating murkiness here,” but concluded by saying, “These
Brandenburgs, then, can be both alluring and vexatious. But then
show me worthwhile ones that aren’t.”
I bought a copy of this performance. Much of my enthusiasm was based
on these reviews and the fact that the performance was on SACD. It was
expensive, over $40. In listening to it, I have found it sonically very
disappointing, the more so given the excellent reviews.
Let me use Concerto No. 4 BWV 1049 as an example of the sorts of
things that I am hearing and that have been bothering me. I should note
that the featured instrument in this concerto is the recorder.
Playing the SACD layer produces a soundstage that is almost entirely
empty in the center and clusters the instruments in the right and left
speakers. The right channel is filled with the harpsichord, the cello, and I
believe the viola. The recorder itself is somewhere in the left channel—it is
inconsistent in its location as though it is out of phase—and is played at
very low volume. When all the instruments are playing together, the
recorder is quickly overwhelmed and audibly disappears. There is no
sense of listening to a group of performers with the AAM presentation.
The listener’s own position relative to the musicians’ is also extremely
hard to determine.
Once I got over my initial surprise and disappointment with the way the
SACD recording sounded, I played it again via the CD—stereo only—layer
of the disc.
This produced some improvements. The recorder was now just to the
inside of the left speaker; the harpsichord was just right of center, and
the cello was appearing sporadically in the right rear soundstage. Better,
but hardly outstanding. Shouldn’t the recorder be more centered in the
soundstage?
To answer this I referred to another recording I have by the Orchestra of
the Age of Enlightenment. Their recording of this concerto, also on
period instruments, uses two recorders and they are placed precisely in
the middle of the soundstage. They can easily be heard whether playing
alone or with full instrumental accompaniment. This recording has a
soundstage that lies almost entirely between the speakers. Except for
the harpsichord, which is partly in the right speaker, the music has no
connection with either speaker. There is good depth here even if the
soundstage width is somewhat restricted. Still this recording gives the
impression of sitting in front of a group of people who are making music.
As I pondered what I was hearing, I got to wondering if perhaps there is
some problem converting multi-channel SACDs down to two-channel
stereo mixes. The more I considered this idea, the more it seemed to
explain some of the odd soundstaging that I have heard with other multi-
channel SACDs in my system.
Ray Brown is center stage on Soular Energy but his playing is decidedly
anemic at best. His acoustic bass utterly lacks dynamics and its volume is
very low. (Groove Note GRV1015-3)
While the singing is lovely, there is no center fill on Heavenly Harmonies
by stilo antico either. The right channel seems to be devoid of voices for
the most part although there are fairly constant low-level sounds that I
can only describe as “chuff, chuff” noises emanating from that area of the
soundstage. (Harmonia Mundi HMU 807463)
Handel’s Organ Concertos, Opus 4, offers very robust playing in the right
and left speakers. The organ itself is centered in the soundstage but,
again, sounds anemic. The organ part consists only of higher register
notes with no impact, no bass to accompany them. (Harmonia Mundi
HMU 807446)
The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Concord on a Summer Night exhibits the
same clustering of instruments in the speakers as does the Brandenburg
recording. Dave, the clarinet, and the drums are all crammed into the
right speaker, there is nothing in the middle, and the trombone is
left/center. Again the effect is odd-sounding. (Concord Jazz SACD-
1025-6)
Slow as I am to pick up on things, there seems to be a pattern here.
Every one of these SACDs is multi-channel and I am listening in stereo.
I am thinking about contacting Harmonia Mundi and asking them what
they think might be happening here. I may wait to do that, though,
until after the Sony SCD-XA5400ES arrives and I hear how it plays these
recordings. It will be interesting to see if its presentation varies in any
way with that of my aging SCD-C333ES, a stereo-only player.
I like the potential for better sound that SACDs offer and I have been
picking them up as I find them. At the same time, if listening to multi-
channel performances in stereo is going to be one of constantly irritating
soundstage anomalies, it may not be worth it.
I would be interested in hearing from anyone else who has experienced
this sort of presentation or, perhaps, might have an explanation for what
is going on.
TV WORTH WATCHING
Our local PBS channel broadcast “The Music Instinct: Science and Song”
this past week. If you see this in your PBS listings, you should really take
the time to watch it.
There are a lot of topics covered in the two hours of this show so it is
virtually impossible to summarize what it is “about.” Bobby McFerrin,
YoYo Ma, and Daniel Barenboim are some of the musicians involved.
Numerous anthropologists, music researchers, neurologists, and
psychologists all discuss different aspects of music’s interrelationship
with the human brain and body.
It is worth watching just to see the world’s oldest known musical
instrument, a flute. Made of ivory, it is around 30,000 years old.
The thing that I found most interesting was that many cultures make no
distinction between music and dance, a thought that had never occurred
to me. They are always done together. To simply sit and listen to music,
therefore, is an activity that those cultures would not remotely
understand or probably see any point in doing. Probably not the sort of
place where you would want to open an audio store.
Have a happy and safe 4th of July!
Kent Johnson
June 26, 2009
ARE THERE ISSUES WITH PLAYING MULTI-CHANNEL SACDS IN
STEREO?
I have been listening to a new recording of the Bach Brandenburg
Concertos by Richard Egarr and the Academy of Ancient Music (AAM).
This is a multi-channel Hybrid SACD package on two discs. The
performance utilizes only one performer per part, a return to the original
“chamber” conception of these works, according to the back cover of the
package. (HMU 807461.62) www.harmoniamundi.com
I was attracted to this performance by several generally excellent reviews.
John Marks wrote about this recording in Stereophile in the June 2009
issue. His is a fairly long review. Here are a couple of quick quotes: “As
one would expect from Harmonia Mundi, the recording is of top quality,
both in CD and SACD modes…, and is accompanied by thought-provoking
liner notes and excellent packaging.” Further, he states, “So, yes, a very
strong recommendation from me…”
Stereophile music reviewer Les Berkley officially reviewed it in the July
2009 issue. He concluded, “This is a worthy and useful addition to the
catalog of Brandenburgs, and as such is strongly recommended.”
HiFi+ did a review in issue 64 and gave it 9.5/10 for both Music and
Recording. Richard S. Foster’s final remarks were, “This set of concertos
has moved to the head of the class and I wouldn’t want to be without it.
Extremely infectious music, most highly recommended.”
Gramophone reviewer Lindsay Kemp, in the June 2009 issue, voiced the
only criticism of the performance I encountered, noting “there is often
a frustrating murkiness here,” but concluded by saying, “These
Brandenburgs, then, can be both alluring and vexatious. But then
show me worthwhile ones that aren’t.”
I bought a copy of this performance. Much of my enthusiasm was based
on these reviews and the fact that the performance was on SACD. It was
expensive, over $40. In listening to it, I have found it sonically very
disappointing, the more so given the excellent reviews.
Let me use Concerto No. 4 BWV 1049 as an example of the sorts of
things that I am hearing and that have been bothering me. I should note
that the featured instrument in this concerto is the recorder.
Playing the SACD layer produces a soundstage that is almost entirely
empty in the center and clusters the instruments in the right and left
speakers. The right channel is filled with the harpsichord, the cello, and I
believe the viola. The recorder itself is somewhere in the left channel—it is
inconsistent in its location as though it is out of phase—and is played at
very low volume. When all the instruments are playing together, the
recorder is quickly overwhelmed and audibly disappears. There is no
sense of listening to a group of performers with the AAM presentation.
The listener’s own position relative to the musicians’ is also extremely
hard to determine.
Once I got over my initial surprise and disappointment with the way the
SACD recording sounded, I played it again via the CD—stereo only—layer
of the disc.
This produced some improvements. The recorder was now just to the
inside of the left speaker; the harpsichord was just right of center, and
the cello was appearing sporadically in the right rear soundstage. Better,
but hardly outstanding. Shouldn’t the recorder be more centered in the
soundstage?
To answer this I referred to another recording I have by the Orchestra of
the Age of Enlightenment. Their recording of this concerto, also on
period instruments, uses two recorders and they are placed precisely in
the middle of the soundstage. They can easily be heard whether playing
alone or with full instrumental accompaniment. This recording has a
soundstage that lies almost entirely between the speakers. Except for
the harpsichord, which is partly in the right speaker, the music has no
connection with either speaker. There is good depth here even if the
soundstage width is somewhat restricted. Still this recording gives the
impression of sitting in front of a group of people who are making music.
As I pondered what I was hearing, I got to wondering if perhaps there is
some problem converting multi-channel SACDs down to two-channel
stereo mixes. The more I considered this idea, the more it seemed to
explain some of the odd soundstaging that I have heard with other multi-
channel SACDs in my system.
Ray Brown is center stage on Soular Energy but his playing is decidedly
anemic at best. His acoustic bass utterly lacks dynamics and its volume is
very low. (Groove Note GRV1015-3)
While the singing is lovely, there is no center fill on Heavenly Harmonies
by stilo antico either. The right channel seems to be devoid of voices for
the most part although there are fairly constant low-level sounds that I
can only describe as “chuff, chuff” noises emanating from that area of the
soundstage. (Harmonia Mundi HMU 807463)
Handel’s Organ Concertos, Opus 4, offers very robust playing in the right
and left speakers. The organ itself is centered in the soundstage but,
again, sounds anemic. The organ part consists only of higher register
notes with no impact, no bass to accompany them. (Harmonia Mundi
HMU 807446)
The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Concord on a Summer Night exhibits the
same clustering of instruments in the speakers as does the Brandenburg
recording. Dave, the clarinet, and the drums are all crammed into the
right speaker, there is nothing in the middle, and the trombone is
left/center. Again the effect is odd-sounding. (Concord Jazz SACD-
1025-6)
Slow as I am to pick up on things, there seems to be a pattern here.
Every one of these SACDs is multi-channel and I am listening in stereo.
I am thinking about contacting Harmonia Mundi and asking them what
they think might be happening here. I may wait to do that, though,
until after the Sony SCD-XA5400ES arrives and I hear how it plays these
recordings. It will be interesting to see if its presentation varies in any
way with that of my aging SCD-C333ES, a stereo-only player.
I like the potential for better sound that SACDs offer and I have been
picking them up as I find them. At the same time, if listening to multi-
channel performances in stereo is going to be one of constantly irritating
soundstage anomalies, it may not be worth it.
I would be interested in hearing from anyone else who has experienced
this sort of presentation or, perhaps, might have an explanation for what
is going on.
TV WORTH WATCHING
Our local PBS channel broadcast “The Music Instinct: Science and Song”
this past week. If you see this in your PBS listings, you should really take
the time to watch it.
There are a lot of topics covered in the two hours of this show so it is
virtually impossible to summarize what it is “about.” Bobby McFerrin,
YoYo Ma, and Daniel Barenboim are some of the musicians involved.
Numerous anthropologists, music researchers, neurologists, and
psychologists all discuss different aspects of music’s interrelationship
with the human brain and body.
It is worth watching just to see the world’s oldest known musical
instrument, a flute. Made of ivory, it is around 30,000 years old.
The thing that I found most interesting was that many cultures make no
distinction between music and dance, a thought that had never occurred
to me. They are always done together. To simply sit and listen to music,
therefore, is an activity that those cultures would not remotely
understand or probably see any point in doing. Probably not the sort of
place where you would want to open an audio store.
Have a happy and safe 4th of July!
Kent Johnson
June 26, 2009