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DG Recordings

The music I listern most are Classic and Jazz. I have been reading discussions under music for a while. I got feeling that most people don't like Deutsche Grammophon recordings. some commented that they sound good only on low-fi system or in cars. I usually don't pay much attetion to labels, as long as I like the music. After read comments here, I looked my CDs and found many of my most favorate CDs were made by DG. Examples like

Vivaldi, The 4 seasons (Gil Shaham 1995) '4D recording'
Prokofiev/Bizet/Britten (1988, 423 624-2)
Mozart, Wind Serenades K. 375 & K. 388 (1991, 115273)
Domingo, Granada (1992, 445 777-2)
Yepes, Guitarra Espanola (1983)

Anne-Sophie Mutter played Carmen Fantasy recorded in DG's $D sampler is my all time favorate.

My system may not be hi-fi, but better than BestBuy/Circuit audios. AMC CD8B, Odyssey Stratos, Mirage OM-10.

Could you stereofile guys tell me - are the CDs listed above considered crap? Do I have taste problem or hearing problem? I listerned some stereofile recordings. Mapleshade-good engineer but they don't have music I like. Reference Recordings-I'm not sure I like their style. I still believe any of the record companies can have many good recordings.

I usually make a trip to mainland China every three years and randomly buy some records. Some chinese folk song CDs sound great-clean, good stereo image, very involving. But I cannot even trace the record companies. They may stay for only a short period of time.
aliu
gboren
143 posts
 
Aliu,
No, you don't have a taste problem or a hearing problem. In my experience, I was perfectly happy with every cd I listened to on my relatively inexpesive stereo setup. Then I upgraded. At first, I really didn't hear a difference and wondered if all this hifi stuff was a scam. But when I hooked up my older system a few months later, I really heard the difference. Same thing with going from poorly made cd's to better ones. The differences are not at first very apparent until you get used to a new standard. After a while, your ears will have done some passive learning and there is no turning back.

If you are happy with what you hear, and you do not yearn to hear something better, then be happy. You don't need to spend much money to enjoy music.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
I am sure I am one of those people who was critical of DG. I can agree with everything said above. I own some DG because I like the performance. I just wish they were mixed better.

Sadly I find some of their historic reissues not as good as earlier releases. I am speaking specifically of the "DG Originals"; the ones where the CD looks like a mini-LP. I bought a couple and came to the quick conclusion on concertos that they boosted the violins and the soloist on the remix. They really stick out. This sounds good in the car where noise drowns out the detail anyway; or on a portable or boombox that has no detail. The bass detail is also missing as mentioned by others. I have found a few of the older or original CD releases of these recordings on eBay, and there is more bass in the old CDs, so they actually made it worse (amazing).

In the CD of the Dvorak Cello Concerto with Rostropovich/Von Karajan, the old CD has all the nuances in Rostropovich's playing which is more in the lower cellos notes., Also some of the inner detail in the orchestra is apparent. In the new "DG Originals" the main theme played by Rostropovich and the violins is a lot clearer and pronounced, however, all the background detail and nuances in the lower notes is gone.

What I will say positively about the DG Originals project, is they did release some new (old) material never on CD before that is worth owning for the performances. (I do have some of the real orginals on LP.)

cmcdaniel5ca1d
1 posts
 
Great artists, poor sound.
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,385 posts
 
Aliu: Perhaps it depends on what other sound engineering feats one compares them to? I have some Audiophile LP's that make mince meat out of my regular LP's regarding sound quality, but what wins in the end is the music and the performance, I would think, for most of us that collect and listen to music. Some of my favorite "sounding" classical CD's are direct digital recordings done by PILZ (made in Germany). Not certain, but think that these may be budget offerings (I'm in the USA) and many do not care for DDD recording from what I read in the chat rooms. I paid $75 for 75 of them and am quite happy with the purchase, the recordings and the material. My main dislike (as far as sound goes) are the NAXOS CD's that I own (they just sound odd), but other's love this label, go figure. The DG CD's and LP's that I own sound fine to me, just a little bright on the CD's (as many older CD's do). You do have me drooling with your mention of Chinese folk music though. I love to discover and listen to traditional and popular local music of this type from around the world.
twl
3,251 posts
 
I feel the DG recordings suffer from poor miking technique. When I listen to a classical record, I want to hear the instruments located in the correct places on the stage. If the tympanies sound like they are in front of the violins, that doesn't make me feel good about listening to that recording. If a solo is going on, I want to feel like I'm hearing a solo, not an enlarged close up of the player like he is right in my face. This is common to almost all of the classical music recently recorded, not just DG. The older recordings like RCA-LSP Series, and Mercury Living Presence, got it about as right as it can get, for miking and mixing.
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