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| A VINTAGE LABEL ON A 21ST CENTURY DISC Decca is delighted to announce the arrival of Mercury
Living Presence on the new high resolution digital audiophile format,
Super Audio CD.  Mercury
Living Presence continues to enjoy a special reputation as one of the most
enterprising and prestigious labels in the history of classical recording,
with many of its ground-breaking 50s, 60s and 70s recordings never leaving
the catalogue. Now, at the start of the 21st century, these recordings have
been revisited and revitalised through the new high-resolution digital medium
of Super Audio CD. All
discs feature new DSD (Direct Stream Digital) analogue to digital transfers
from the original analogue master tapes. Most excitingly, they include a
multi-channel transfer of the original 3-track recordings, as well as a
new DSD stereo mix. This offers the first opportunity for Mercury Living
Presence enthusiasts to hear their favourite recordings in the original
3-track format.
All Mercury Living Presence SACDs are so-called ‘hybrid’
discs – that is, they also include the CD TRANSFERRING MERCURY LIVING PRESENCE TO SUPER AUDIO CD As with the CD transfers in the 1990s, only original masters were used for these new SACD releases. For the transfers themselves, Saki Magnetics three-channel heads (specially built for this series) were mounted on a Studer A80R 1/2” or Studer A820 1” recorder. Both machines were substantially modified to optimise tape reproduction. Playback equalisation was adjusted to provide an NAB characteristic of that used for the original recording, and the analogue to digital conversion was done exclusively via DSD, using DCS equipment. This combination of superior head construction, high quality electronics and transport, and direct-to-DSD conversion, results in a very high quality transfer: there is less risk of wow and flutter, a better signal-to-noise ratio, and because the signal path incorporates no transformers, there is less possibility of distortion. Throughout the entire process, repeated comparisons were made both to a playback of the original masters on an Ampex 300 machine previously belonging to Wilma Cozart Fine and to the original CD transfers which Wilma Cozart Fine herself prepared (and which are included as the CD recording on these ‘hybrid’ SACDs). THE LEGEND OF MERCURY LIVING PRESENCE Listen to legendary Mercury producer Wilma Cozart Fine
explain the history of the series - interview with Sedgwick Clark Windows Media
THE HISTORY OF MERCURY LIVING PRESENCE
Part
1 - "You are There!"
|
Extracts
from a booklet published to celebrate the initial CD transfer - you will
need Acrobat Reader to view these PDF files
