Customer Reviews

Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra; Camille Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 (Organ)

5 star:		(4)
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2 star:		(1)
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This is my favorite classical recording in my whole collection. This is a true audiophile recording for those seeking recordings with above standard audio qualities. This recording uses the binaural Neumann KU 100 dummy head and 20-bit resolution. Binaural recordings produce natural '3d' audio, in 360 degree direction using only standard headphones. This is not Dolby surround. This is two-tracks. You don't need a 5 speaker setup, all you need are headphones!

If you are a headphone user you should not hesitate one moment to get this, especially if you've never heard a binaural recording before. The difference is profound. When listening with headphones you will experience the orchestra as if you were there- all the instruments will be in their proper locations and distances all without using mixing board tricks.

Plus every instrument now has their natural dynamics. You are now hearing the orchestra AS it sounded EXACTLY as it was played. Soft parts are soft- loud parts are loud. What this means is that you will hear the composer's music AS it was meant to be heard- and all the fine details between instruments and their accurate positions and dynamics. The result brings the music alive as the composer intended, and not how some audio tech decides it should sound like.

STRAUSS: "Also Sprach Zarathrustra, Op 30"

Magnificant performance. From the famous opening to the very end- you are ENGULFED with brilliance, sensitivity, and utterly beautiful tones from all instruments. Difficult to turn off once it starts.

Saint-Saëns: "Symphony No. 3 in C minor (Organ Symphony)

This is the famous 'organ symphony' and again, the binaural audio brings this work alive with extraordinary realism. And the performance is superb. The last movement is amazing. At the ending climax finale, the orchestra and pipe organ combine and create the best audio experience possible in this great work.

There are two ways to experience a concert as if you were:

1. Actually be there, or 2. Listen to a binaural recording with headphones.

If you can't do number 1, then do number 2. It's the next best thing to actually being there.

This is a great cd. Since my wife has been in the orchestra for 20 years I might be a little biased.

It is true that there is no better record of this symphony orchestra by saint-seans.

Given the challenging times with symphony orchestras I am grateful that the Pasadena symphony made this happen. I remember the night my wife had to go to the recording. It is a bit of history for me and my family. Incredible stuff.

Music is a great reminder of where we are and where we came from.

You allmost feel yourself like that you're in the concert hall (thanks for binaural recording technology). You feel that you're sitting on the 7'th-10'th row on the concert hall. I highly recomment this cd to audiophiles. I have listened with my AKG K340 headpnone. Good quality hi-fi components and headphones are a must for getting the greatest pleasure.

This is a very good performance of this work - all the more so when I consider it's not the L.A. Philharmonic. What first interested me in this performance was the high fidelity recording, with a "binaural" twist so as to sound better on headphones. Whether headphones or loudspeakers, this is the first recording of Also Sprach Zarathustra I've heard that has a full-volume rendition of the opening organ pedal, and thus could damage your loudspeakers if they are already playing at their power limit. Few loudspeakers will play the low-C tone, which you would know by whether your room shakes and how hard when playing it. As to the performance, most of it is quite good, but I prefer the sweet, romantic treatment that other orchestras have given the violin playing, which while competent here, isn't quite that satisfying to me. I think this disc is well worth the money.

While no one can argue that these compositions are well-loved classics, the recording and engineering of this CD leaves a great deal to be desired. The bottom line -- binaural recording is not what its inventors would have you believe. Perhaps, if you have a styrofoam head, you will appreciate the nuances. But I don't -- and I didn't.