2. digital
  3. 129868-1601

Glare on Choral recordings, classical vocals

Dear all,

I'm hoping for some clarity on an issue of the quality of choral vocals in digital recordings. It's either my system or the recordings. There is a glare and harshness in the crescendos, and I wonder if it's natural room clipping in the studio or cathedrals in which they are recorded (the delay in some of these spaces can lead to a natural harshness and smearing of the sound), or if I have poor setup in terms of the DAC and/ or the preamp. I use a B&K PRO-10MC and a Schiit Bifrost Multibit. This setup has resolved any issues with digital glare except in the domain of choral music. Do I have to suck it up and consider upgrading to the Gungnir or another device? Should I consider a tubed preamp, maybe the Schiit Freya?

The problem is far less noticeable on vinyl, but most of my choral collection is in the digital domain. 

I've always had problems with the Tallis Scholars recordings on the Gimell label, which are almost always recorded in cathedrals. However, I did listen once to a Tallis Scholars CD on a dealer's rig with a Conrad-Johnson tube pre and Totem Model 1 Signatures, and there seemed to be much better resolution, though this was 20 years ago and I think my younger self was just blown away by the sound in general.

I've noticed that audiophiles and reviewers seldom write about choral music. Is it because they don't like choral music, or is it because it is just really difficult to record choirs well, therefore making choral music a poor choice to show off a system?

Any choral music-loving audiophiles care to comment on their experiences and solutions? 
 
Many thanks,


Paul
paulburnett

Showing 8 responses by schubert

schubert
7,386 posts
 
If you want the bible on choral get,
"Choral Masterworks",
 A listener's Guide .
Michael Steinberg
Oxford Univ. Press 2005 

ISBN-13:978-0-19-512644-0
schubert
7,386 posts
 
For sure, tube .
schubert
7,386 posts
 
There are many posts that say Vandy 2ce are not good on classical .
Never heard them myself .
schubert
7,386 posts
 
True North Brave and Free !
Just hope I live long enough to see a Canuck team hoist the Stanley.
Canada is totally off the American radar, I think they don’t want us dummies doing any "compare and contrast".

And yes, believers singing get a turbo boost from the creator .
schubert
7,386 posts
 
Afterthought, if you are really a choral geek MN Public Radio has a feature 
I doubt is found anywhere else in world ,

A VERY high quality 24/7 Choral streaming station .
classicalmpr.org  
schubert
7,386 posts
 
That's true rotarius , but today mostly single-driver ones .
Nearly any speaker from a grand on up is up to the job, 9 times out of ten 
its something else in the system .
schubert
7,386 posts
 
Much of Choral Music is religious music of a high level by some of the greatest  composers who ever lived . The amount  of Americans who appreciate music at that level is small .
Here in Minnesota there is a great audience for choral music because it is heavily Lutheran and Lutheran churches here have good choirs and folks
grow up listening to it . Luther said"A prayer sung is a prayer said twice" and Lutherans believe that .
I talked to the director of one of the Great English Boy Choirs from Oxford 
who said they always look forward to singing in St. Paul because it is the only stop on their tours where the audience has a true passion for the music .

schubert
7,386 posts
 
Problem with Choral , which I love and live in its US Capital , is its both often poorly recorded and shows up any fault in system .

All advice above is good, try it all. Esp. as to volume .
The problem was solved in my system by buying a good DAC, my NAD C565, which was top of line with glowing reviews, was just compressing choral.
I bought the Cambridge CXC transport(one of my best moves) and a Rein Audio X-DAC, problem solved .
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