Not to thread crap, but I'll be much more excited when BMG releases the vast number of RCA only Japan releases outside of Japan. I'd rather see recordings that have never been released on CD before on CD and easily available than recordings that have long been available as very good redbooks.
Not being released in the US never stopped anyone before. I'll buy them from mdt.co.uk Great place for buying non-US released discs of classical music.
There's a place up in Toronto that sells them for $48.00 cdn. I picked up the Stokowski - Rhapsodies (one of my favorite all time recordings) & was not very impressed. It sounds too (get ready for this) digital! By that I mean the top end is very harsh. I prefer my original cd version of it over the SACD version (the sacd also has a cd layer but I really haven't listen to it). I saw something about these on the Hoffman board a week or 2 ago, where the man himself mentioned the secret of these recordings was the way they cut the (original)lp's.
Namely that the SACD series will use the original analog master tapes for each release and that the 2 Channel recordings will be made available as Hybrid Stereo SACDs with 2 Channel Stereo SACD and 2 Channel Stereo CD tracks while the 3 Channel recordings will be issued as Hybrid Surround Sound SACDs - complete with 3 Channel SACD, 2 Channel SACD and 2 Channel CD tracks.
Keep an eye open also for a story on the similar Mercury Living Presence SACDs in The Absolute Sound by resident Mercury expert Harry Pearson...
no fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd
in her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud
~skateaway
