One thing you may have noticed about the albums in my LP to CD comparisons so far, is that they are studio recordings.
I thought I'd shift gears and listen to some albums that were recordings of live concerts to hear how the CD 5.1x handled those.
First up was the Der Ring des Nibelungen of Richard Wagner, conducted by Joseph Keilberth, and recorded live at the 1955 Bayreuth Festival in stereo by Decca.
These are very early stereo recordings from the magnetic era of recording (the stereo period of the magnetic era is usually considered to start in 1957), and they represent the first complete ring cycle ever recorded in stereo. They were a historic first in the stereo recording arts.
More generally known as the "Keilberth Ring Cycle", my LP version (19 LPs) and CD version (14 CDs), are from Testament. Testament transferred these performances to digital in 2006.
The overall tonal balance was very similar when playing CDs through the CD 5.1x and when playing LPs on my turntable.
While listening to the LPs I noticed lots of natural timbral textures from the strings. There was a silky smooth and liquid analog sound quality present. Voices were captured beautifully and had good presence, particularly considering the early period of these stereo recordings. The way the vocals trailed off sounded very natural. Soundstage was not particularly deep, but seemed relatively consistent with the live performances I've heard at other European opera houses.
When playing back the CDs through the CD 5.1x, I thought there was consistently more dynamic 'authority' to the music, making it sound more dramatic and engaging. The images were more resolved playing the CDs through the CD 5.1x as well, with more of a sense of 'space' around them on the soundstage. Lower frequencies were more resolved and dynamic, and timbral textures of individual instruments were more evident.
The smoothness and liquidity of the LP presentation is beautiful to hear, but comes at a cost of resolution and clarity. In the CD the images were more vivid and distinct on the stage, and stringed instruments had more resolution of timbral textures and were more identifiable in the recordings. The CDs captured the drama or 'authority' of the performances better, while the LPs were more relaxed sounding, and presented more of the sense of beauty of the performances.
While playback of the CDs and the LPs sound somewhat different, the overall performance of CD 5.1x playing CDs was at least the match of my turntable playing LPs.
For the "Keilberth Ring Cycle," I somewhat preferred the performance of the CD 5.1x to that of my turntable, but both were able to provide thoroughly impressive performances from these historically important recordings.
Bill Evans at Town Hall was a live recording of the Bill Evans Trio - Bill Evans (piano), Chuck Israels (bass), and Arnold Wise (drums) - performing at the Town Hall in New York City in 1966.
The LP version I have was from the Verve Acoustic Sounds series (V6-8683), and my CD was from PolyGram Classics (831 271-2). The CD includes 3 additional tracks: "Beautiful Love," "My Foolish Heart," and "One for Helen" that aren't on the LP.
Originally released in both mono and stereo versions on LP, both my CD and LP are the stereo versions. The original sessions were engineered by Rudy Van Gelder, whose recordings of jazz are known for their "transparency, clarity, realism, warmth and presence." The transfer to digital was from the original stereo master tapes by Dennis Drake, at PolyGram Studios, in 1986.
There is one glaring difference when playing back the CD and LP versions of Bill Evans at Town Hall, as the stereo image is reversed on the CD version for "I Should Care" compared to the LP version. Weird, but thought I should mention it. Still sounds great though!
That difference aside, both the CD and LP versions of Bill Evans at Town Hall had a tonal balance across the frequency range that was very similar, and one that seems relatively realistic in terms of what you might hear at a live performance.
The CD 5.1x reveals a tonally realistic sounding piano, as does the LP played on my turntable, with a nice long decay on the notes.
This Van Gelder recording does not have the transparency or clarity I hear from the Riverside recordings of Bill Evans, but it does have a nice sense of realism, warmth, and presence that is consistent with attending a live performance.
I didn't hear that increased resolution the CD 5.1x generally offers over my turntable, and the sound of the LP played on my turntable was remarkably similar to that of the CD 5.1x.
For example, the bass lines sounded realistic in timbre, and with discernible pitch changes in bass lines—not the "one note bass" like you get in some recordings, with both the CD 5.1x and my turntable.
I would call the playback from my turntable and the CD 5.1x as a draw for Bill Evans at Town Hall.
