Notes about the recordings:
Tracks are recorded using only two microphones, however, up to 4 recorders running in-sync, allowed us to use two, three or four pairs of microphones and later compare the differences
between them. The distance from the microphones to the nearest performer was usually more than 25 feet. However, for a few of the tracks with a small number of performers the distance
could be as close as 15 feet. Microphones owned by KIMBER KABLE include: Neumann M-150, TLM-50, TLM-170, DPA 3529A, 4003, 4007, 4004, Sennheiser MKH-800, MKH-20, Earthworks QTC1, and
B.L.U.E. BOTTLE w/B4-B6-B7. Some view the addiction to buying microphones as a sickness, I think of it as buying precious metal. (
www.neumannusa.com,
www.sennheiser.com,
www.earthwks.com,
www.bluemic.com,
www.dpamicrophones.com)
Recording system used custom KIMBER KABLE silver microphone cables, KK Select interconnects and KK Palladian Power cables.
The recordings were made with Tascam DS-D98 HR recorders (
www.tascam.com). The recordings were then transferred to a Pyramix Mastering System (
www.merging.com) for edit selection.
No gain changes or processing was done, so some tracks will be of a softer or louder level than other tracks. However, the dynamic range within a track is the same range as the original
live performance. All recordings were made at a low enough level to assure no clipping, therefore you may need to turn your volume control a bit higher than when playing commercially available
CDs which have had their volume "normalized" and/or compressed. Use caution on first playback as some of the tracks do nearly reach 0VU, tracks 19 and 20, for example might scare the cats.
The DSD tapes will only play in a Tascam DS-D98HR tape recorder. If you use the internal DAC converters you may want to experiment with changing the filter setting in Menu #D to "custom" instead
of "standard." Super high performance will be obtained by using a high quality external DAC that will convert SDIF-3, such as the Ed Meitner EMM DAC. Hint: use the EMM as the clock source.
All DSD recordings have highband noise, this might cause audible "sparklies" at high volume settings on playback. Nothing is broken, this is the normal result of playing raw DSD, mastered
DSD material will have filtered the 80KHz noise, call if this happens when playing the DSD tapes.
The CDRs are Redbook 44.1KHz/16bit down-converted from DSD, playable in a normal CD player.
