The Telarc High Resolution Fan Club

Paul McCartney's Ocean's Kingdom

2011-09-15T23:53:00.000-07:00

Paul McCartney's first ballet Ocean's Kingdom is on the Telarc label, it's a shame they no longer release SACDs.

Paul McCartney: Ocean's Kingdom
John Wilson (Conductor), The London Classical Orchestra
Hear Music / MPL / Telarc

Now that Concord Music Group has let all of Telarc's SACDs go out-of-print the ONLY high resolution Telarc recording that exists is one 24bit 96kHz download from HDTracks of Al Di Meola's Flesh On Flesh here is hoping that Paul McCartney's new ballet is at least released as a high resolution download and not just as a CD and MP3.

*** UPDATE *** Paul McCartney's Ocean's Kingdom is now available as a 24 Bit 96kHz download at HDTracks.

Lynne Hoffman-Engel Joins Five/Four Productions

2011-05-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

Lynne Hoffman-Engel former VP of Decca & Telarc Records joins 5/4 as Senior VP of Strategic Planning and Marketing.

Lynne will be focused on working with artists, orchestras, arts organizations, and record labels to expand Five/Four's relationships and business, drawing from her vast network of relationships that she has developed in the music world over the past 30 years. She will work with the Five/Four partners to further the brand of the audio production company through marketing and strategic planning initiatives.

Additionally, Lynne will act as a resource to the Five/Four team and its clients, utilizing her skills and experience in artist relations, marketing analysis, budget development, repertoire planning, and record production to help Five/Four and its music partners increase their brand through innovative recording of great music.

Five/Four Productions is half of the original Telarc recording teams (Michael Bishop, Robert Friedrich, and Thomas Moore) that were let go by Concord Music Group and now work as independent contractors for Telarc and other labels. The other half formed SonArc Music (Robert Woods and Elaine Martone)

I WANT NEW TELARC SACDs!

2011-04-05T15:12:00.001-07:00

Why did Concord Music Group buy Telarc and Heads-Up and then quit their SACD release programs? They gave us the most realistic recordings on planet Earth and then took them away.

It has been over two years since the last Telarc SACD was released. I have yet to find a recording company whose SACDs are as realistic, especially to Telarc's stateside USA recording teams. Polyhymnia who recorded most of Telarc's European recordings comes close. I have PentaTone SACDs also recorded by Polyhymnia that offer excellent sonic realism. Also some of the better Reference Recordings, Channel Classics, Chandos and a handful of Exton's. But nothing equals the absolute concert hall realism achieved on Telarc SACDs? Getting almost there is still a letdown after getting near concert hall realism in my home from Telarc SACDs. And not just in classical music, Telarc was the absolute best at recording jazz, blues and folk music.

Concord Music Group please resume your SACD program!
________________________________________________

Here is a list of new Telarc recordings NOT released on SACD because of Concord Music Group's decision to abandon SACD. The engineers are still recording in PURE DSD, in multichannel and stereo yet there are only on CD and MP3!

Troubadour Live by Eric Bibb
An Evening With by Dave Grusin
Medicine by Tab Benoit
Spanish Music for Classical Guitar by Albeniz - David Russell
That's How We Roll by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band
Brahms Works For Cello and Piano by Zuill Bailey and Awadagin
Hiromi: Solo Live at Blue Note New York
Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody by Al Di Meola
The Definitive Dave Brubeck on Fantasy, Concord Jazz and Telarc by Dave Brubeck
The Singing Rooms by Jennifer Higdon, Alvin Singleton, Alexander Scriabin, Robert Spano and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Have You Ever Been...? by Turtle Island Quartet
Great Strauss Scenes by Christine Brewer, Richard Strauss, Donald Runnicles and Atlanta Symphony Orchestrav
Pushing the Envelope by Gerald Albright
Joined at the Hip by Pinetop Perkins and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Cameron Live! by Cameron Carpenter
In Hi-Fi Stereo by Mindi Abair
Clovis People, Vol. 3 by Otis Taylor
Groove Alchemy by Stanton Moore
Interchange: Concertos by Joaquin Rodrigo, Sergio Assad, David Amado, Delaware Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
Sonidos Latinos by David Russell
Flood by Moreland & Arbuckle
Rockin in Rhythm: A Tribute to Duke Ellington by John Pizzarelli
Bach Cello Suites by Zuill Bailey
Mozart Arias For Male Soprano by Michael Maniaci, Boston Baroque and Pearlman
Booker's Guitar by Eric Bibb
Place to Be by Hiromi
Holst: The Planets; Britten: The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten, Gustav Holst, Paavo Järvi and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Blu.Black by Corey Harris
Never Far Away: Music of Bright Sheng by Bright Sheng, Jahja Ling and San Diego Symphony Orchestra
From the Top at the Pops by Edvard Grieg, Max Bruch, Stephen Feigenbaum, Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn
Caroline Goulding by John Corigliano, Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Kreisler, Paul Schoenfield and James Scott Skinner
Complete Works for Piano & Cello by Zuill Bailey and Simone Dinnerstein
Jacques Loussier Plays Bach by Johann Sebastian Bach and Jacques Loussier
For David by Sergio Assad, Francis Kleynjans, Stephen Goss, Benjamin Verdery and Philip Rosheger
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10; Veljo Tormis: Overture No. 2 by Dmitry Shostakovich, Veljo Tormis, Paavo Järvi and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Górecki: Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" by Henryk Gorecki, Donald Runnicles, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Christine Brewer
Desire by Tierney Sutton
Never Going Back by Shemekia Copeland
Keri Noble by Keri Noble
At Last by Ann Hampton Callaway
Zuill Bailey: Russian Masterpieces for Cello and Orchestra by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Dmitry Shostakovich, Martin West and San Francisco Ballet Orchestra

Telarc is why I adopted the SACD format

2011-02-24T16:15:00.000-08:00

Found an interesting quote of mine on a printout of my old now defunct website analoglovers.com dated 2/16/2007

"To my ears DSD is the least destructive of all digital but it is still digital. If Telarc made 100% pure analog LPs I would have no need for digital."

Telarc recordings are the only reason I own an SACD player. The Concord Music Group purchasing Telarc and then ending their SACD program is the biggest disappointment in my life and the greatest tragedy to befall the SACD format.

Since Telarc is not making SACDs anymore, I want someone (anyone) to give step up and equal the sonic excellence they achieved and record the basic repertoire. PentaTone, Reference Recordings, Channel Classics and IsoMike are sometimes close but not quite there yet, but I do have hope. My biggest hope is that someone buys Telarc from Concord Music Group and restarts their SACD program, so I can be excited about new SACDs again!

I remember the rush of chills that would cascade my body when a new Telarc SACD was announced! Then the anticipation as I wait for it to arrive in the mail. And then the supreme excitement of the first playing of a new Telarc SACD, which are unique as they get better and better on each additional play. My oldest and still one of my favorite Telarc SACDs is over a decade old, purchased in December 2000 - On Broadway with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops.

Whereas I would gladly replace any non-Telarc recording I own with a Telarc high resolution version, I would NEVER replace a Telarc with a recording from another label. Telarc's ARE that great!

I would prefer the Telarc SACD program to resume as that is how DSD recordings sound the best but I will settle for high resolution downloads, Blu-Ray or perhaps a yet to be invented high resolution format. However downsampling these wonderful recordings to CDs and MP3 as is being done now is totally unacceptable!

Perhaps LP will be Telarc's new high resolution format? They have reissued some of their LPs such as Round-Up Orff's Carmina Burana and Ein Straussfest: Music Of The Strauss Family Of course these are from the digital masters, 50kHz in the last two.

Concord Music Group is also now issuing Jazz and Rock LPs under it's many labels.

I would love to find a financial backer to purchase Telarc from CMG

2011-01-01T14:16:00.001-08:00

As previously noted Concord Music Group is letting most Telarc's SACDs and CDs go out of print, some now only available as MP3s.

Telarc made what I feel are the most realistic recordings ever released on SACD or any other format. They are the definition of the concert hall experience and was SACDs biggest supporter, that is until they were purchased by Concord Music Group.

Telarc records exactly what was in the concert hall, jazz club or studio, no tricks, no EQ, no unnecessary mixing, etc. What you hear on their SACDs is what you would hear if you were there in person. They record mostly direct to stereo and direct to surround. Even most of the sound effects on the Cincinnati Pops recordings are done in "real time' So far Telarc is the only record company to expose the full resolution of SACD. Channel Classics, PentaTone, Reference Recordings and a handful of others sometimes come close but they are not there yet. In time I hope they will be.

Highlights from a 12 year old interview with Jack Renner

2010-12-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

Jack Renner of Telarc: Direct from Cleveland!
By Jonathan Scull • Stereophile October, 1998

Lots of early history and tidbits about Telarc in this interview I just discovered. Here are some quotes from Jack Renner but I recommend reading the entire article. LINK

Reply to Tom Stockham about using his Soundstream digital system, "If you'll extend it beyond 20kHz, we'll do a project with you." To which he replied "All right, it's at 22.5k, where's the project?" Thus was born the 50kHz Soundstream recording system.

"...on April 4th and 5th in 1978 we made audiophile history with the Cleveland Symphonic Winds and Holst's Suites 1 and 2 for Military Band. It was the first commercial digital recording of symphonic music in this country. The bass drum that was heard around the world!"

"Firebird was the first commercial orchestral digital recording done in this country. Then, in October, we went back to Cleveland and recorded the now-famous Pictures at an Exhibition. And unbeknownst to us, that was to become the first digital recording with a world-class orchestra done anywhere in the world."

"I know what it's like to stand in front of a performing group. I know what it feels like. I know what it sounds like, the mix of direct and reverberant sound, for example."

"The master tape should sound like real musicians in real acoustic space."

"Well, it all really comes down to the signal path and, I think, to the combination of components. For years, when I first started making orchestral recordings with three and four microphones, I had a lot of imitators. But people just didn't quite get it right. Because it's not just putting up three or four mikes. It's which mikes you choose, it's the cable, it's the electronics—it's the whole signal path."

"We have used hot-rodded consoles. We had one that was internally wired with Monster Cable that we used for a long time. In fact, a number of years ago we were recording the Cincinnati Pops and the Monster Cable console went down—nothing to do with the fact that it was wired with Monster Cable, of course."

"We actually use a combination of Monster Cables and MIT. We're good friends with both Noel Lee and Bruce Brisson."

"So a component failed in the middle of a session. We had a backup console from the same manufacturer, Neotek, and it took us only 10 minutes to set it up. Now understand, we've got a signal that's spent its whole life from the microphone output to the A/D going through Monster Cable. Then we switched to the console with the standard cable in it. And the minute I brought up the fader, everybody in the control room—not just my technical assistants and the producer, but the orchestra manager, the musicians who weren't in that particular number—they all said, "What did you do, what happened to the sound?" Everyone could hear that the soundstage got smaller. Everything just got a little more narrow and not quite as bloomy. If you ever needed a demonstration of the effects of high-performance cable, that was it."

Personal heroes

"C. Robert Fine...that was easy! Without even realizing it, when I was a high school music teacher, I was listening to his Mercury Living Presence recordings and thinking, "Boy, that sounds like the real thing!" It was just...right. Or Lewis Layton on the RCA/Chicago Reiner recordings. They were models of simplicity that sounded absolutely natural."

Telarc SACDs disappearing

2010-12-07T23:58:00.000-08:00

Concord Music Group is not only letting Telarc SACDs go out of print, but CDs as well. many Telarc recordings are now only available as MP3s. New Telarc CDs are still being released but I wonder if they will do just one CD printing and then when it is gone just sell MP3s?

Telarc is now on Yahoo Groups

2010-09-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

Bob has started a Telarc Forum on Yahoo Groups dedicated to the discussion of Telarc LPs, Cassettes. CDs and SACDs.

Telarc SACD program at end, high resolution downloads coming

2010-09-03T18:23:00.001-07:00

Passionato.com may be offering Telarc high resolution music files this fall. Currently they offer Telarc MP3's and lossless FLAC at standard 44.1kHz resolution. Passionato's James Glicker said they are planning to offer some high-definition titles this fall and have been talking to Telarc and Universal. They are concerned about the download time because high resolution files are 2GB or more in size. I will be watching to see if this comes to fruition and will report on their sonic results. However in the meantime I advise to pickup whatever Telarc SACD titles that interest you as many of them may never be available in high resolution again.

Telarc SACD RIP - Roundup of 172 releases

Michael J Bishop of Five/Four Productions speaks about DSD recordings not released on SACD

2010-03-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

"rediscover" Spano / Brewer / ASO Gorecki Symphony No.3

"One may want to give Telarc CD-80699 a listen. Christine Brewer's interpretation of the Gorecki Symphony No. 3 lyrics brings a completely different meaning to the piece in my estimation. I always loved the Dawn Upshaw performance, but I feel Christine Brewer has summoned a much deeper understanding of the lyric content. Yes, it IS very sorrowful subject matter, but this is a performance that I could listen to many, many times - and have done so since we finished post-production more than a year ago.

While not released on SACD, this project was recorded in DSD and I did create a surround DSD master of the sessions. I positioned Ms. Brewer and the orchestra seating specifically for surround as the piece is ideally suited for a very dramatic surround presentation. Unfortunately, the label has chosen to not release this recording on SACD. Perhaps someday the surround mix will see the light of day... "

San Diego Symphony

"The Bright Sheng project with San Diego was recorded on DSD and a surround master produced. The label chose to release on CD only."

52nd Annual Grammy Awards: Best Surround Album

2010-02-04T00:27:00.000-08:00

From the Five/Four Productions Newsletter:

"The 52nd Annual GRAMMY® Awards were announced Sunday evening, January 31, 2010 in a CBS/Recording Academy broadcast event from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Among the awards announced last night, the GRAMMY® Award for "Best Surround Album" went to Michael Bishop (Recording, Mix & Mastering Engineer) and Elaine Martone (Producer) for the Telarc Super Audio CD release: Transmigration (Robert Spano, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus). The GRAMMY® for "Best Surround Album" goes to the recording engineer and producer. Michael Bishop a partner and recording engineer at Five/Four Productions in Cleveland, Ohio. and Elaine Martone an Interim Artistic Administrator with The Cleveland Orchestra. Both were former members of the Telarc Records Production team before corporate restructuring at Telarc in 2008. This is Michael's ninth GRAMMY® and his second consecutive award for "Best Surround Album." Elaine has brought home five of the coveted Grammy® Awards as producer, including one for "Classical Producer of the Year" and another as producer of "Best Jazz Instrumental Album."

About Transmigration:

From Telarc.com: "Robert Spano conducts the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Transmigration, a Recording Devoted to Honor and Remembrance. The recording features the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Choruses, the Gwinnett Young Singers, and baritone Nmon Ford.

All of us have personal heroes who inspire us. Transmigration (CD-80673 / SACD-60673), the Telarc recording by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Spano is a collection of hymns and requiems for those we wish to honor and remember. The recording comprises Samuel Barber's universal expressions of loss, Adagio for Strings and Agnus Dei; John Corigliano's Elegy to lost youth; Jennifer Higdon's setting of poetry eulogizing the slain Abraham Lincoln in Dooryard Bloom, and finally John Adams's reflection of personal grief for the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy on September 11, 2001, On the Transmigration of Souls."

Grammy® is a trademark of The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences

About Five/Four Productions:

Five/Four Productions, Ltd. is an independent audio production team based in Cleveland, Ohio. Michael Bishop, Robert Friedrich, and Thomas Moore, all former key production members of Telarc Records, created a unique team of audio specialists with Grammy®-winning (SIXTEEN!) experience across multiple music genres. Largely responsible for continuing the "Telarc Sound" over the past twenty years, the Five/Four Productions team members represent today's Best of the Best in audio production and technical innovation. Bringing unparalleled music industry experience, Five/Four Productions' work is available to artists, labels and projects worldwide.

Telarc, masters of the Art and Science of recording

2009-12-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

Making realistic and enjoyable recordings is an extremely rare commodity in the modern world. Only a handful of recording companies fully understand how to capture a symphony orchestra in a concert hall from the deepest bass to the highest treble while at the same time maintaining the complex imaging properties of this large number of instruments with a large, deep and wide soundstage. And in addition without losing any of the impact, warmth, beauty or soul projected by the players themselves.

Telarc is one such company and they are at the very top of this wonderful accomplishment, it is true recording engineering is both a SCIENCE and an ART. Most of the world's engineers learn the science but they never quite get the art! Telarc does completely. I am glad to report that the founding, now retired engineer of Telarc, Jack Renner is teaching engineering.

He is co-director of the recording engineering school at The Aspen Festival and School
Audio consulting teaching free lance recording at Renner Consulting
Adjunct professor of recording engineering at The Cleveland Institute of Music

So there is hope for a bright new crop of recording engineers being trained under the incomparable Jack Renner's wings.

About Telarc

2009-12-20T22:57:00.000-08:00

The Telarc Sound. Everything You Hear is True.®

Telarc achieved its reputation for the exceptionally clear, natural sound of its recordings. Even before the public had heard of the digital process, they were embracing the sound of Telarc. Critics have praised it, and Telarc 's artists rely on it, knowing that Telarc's recorded sound gives them the most faithful possible representation of their artistry. "From their very first recordings," said renowned conductor Robert Shaw of his twenty-year recording history with Telarc, "Robert Woods and Jack Renner have brought intelligence, care and creativity to their work, which immediately challenged the standards of the entire recording industry. All audiophiles and lovers of music are in their debt."

"Telarc prides itself on the naturalness and transparency of its recorded sound," says Vice President of Production and Artist Relations, Elaine Martone. "Coming from a musician's background, I have always valued this aspect of our craft," she continues. "In our classical, jazz and blues recordings there is a tactile presence to the instruments and voices, drawing in the listener from the opening notes."

Since 1980, Telarc has been honored with forty Grammy Awards for performance, production, and engineering, as well as Label of the Year from Gramophone, the French Grand Prix du Disque and Diapason d' Or; Japan's Record of the Year; and Germany's Audiophile CD of the Year.

Although it began as a classical-only recording company, Telarc now boasts a catalog of more than 800 recordings, ranging from classical, classical-crossover, jazz, contemporary jazz, blues and country. Look for Telarc to break into world of pop/rock music in 2005 with releases from Alana Davis and Los Super Seven. The company releases more than sixty recordings each year, along with their partner-in-music, Heads Up International, working with a distinguished roster of artists, and backed by an outstanding staff of more than fifty employees in its Cleveland, Ohio-based headquarters.

Who and what enabled this comparatively small, independent American company to achieve this revered position? How is it still successfully challenging the majors in the recording industry? And what is it doing to ensure that it will keep its leading edge into the next millennium and beyond?

Craftsmanship

"The Telarc Sound of my recordings can best be described," says jazz legend Dave Brubeck, "by a comment made by my son, Darius, who is also a pianist. This is what he said about my Christmas album: 'It felt like I was at home in the same room listening to Dad play.'" Brubeck goes on to point out that "it is presence, whether in a concert hall, night club, or small intimate room, that gives Telarc recordings their realistic, pure sound."

"There is craftsmanship in what Telarc does," says its President and Senior Producer, Robert Woods, who has won eleven of Telarc's forty Grammy Awards. "If it were only a result of the equipment we use, anybody could make recordings like ours." That craft, says Woods, is what Jack Renner and Michael Bishop have developed into an artform, and is largely responsible for setting the Telarc Sound apart from all the rest.

"We're not out to make hyped-up recordings," says Woods. "The kind of sound we hope to achieve has been best described by a prominent conductor commenting on the Telarc Sound: 'This is what I hear standing on the podium, and what I hope the audience behind me hears!'"

Renner, Chairman and Chief Recording Engineer of Telarc, has won six Grammy Awards for "Best Engineered Classical Recording." Michael Bishop, who became a full-time Telarc engineer in 1988, is known throughout the recording industry as a key member of the superb Telarc engineering team, as well as the mastermind behind the outstanding sound effects heard on Telarc' s recordings. His sound effects masterpieces include the four Grammy Award-winning P.D.Q. Bach releases.

Recently, his collaborative engineering effort with Renner on an album of the music of Copland with the Cincinnati Pops and Erich Kunzel won the 1998 Grammy Award for "Best Engineered Classical Recording." Bishop has recorded and mixed some of the industry's first DTS 5.1 Surround CDs, and has been the driving force behind Telarc's entry into surround and multi-channel recording.

The engineers and producers at Telarc are perfectionists about the sound of their recordings. "This encompasses every component in the signal chain," Renner stresses, "including microphones, cables, recording and playback electronics, speakers, and even control room acoustical materials." That perfectionism, however, begins with the natural sound of the venue itself.

Minimal Miking

The Choice of the Recording Venue

"With the advent of digital recording, the selection of a recording site became more crucial than ever before," Renner affirms. He and Bishop look for sites that possess an acoustic capable of supporting a recording made with minimal miking, which also requires that the location be as quiet as possible—inside and out. At times, the engineers have had to modify or move the acoustical shell in certain concert halls, or even add plywood over seats in order to "gently extend the reverb time in a natural way," says Renner. "It's Telarc's policy to avoid tampering with a recording's sound in an artificial manner." Once the site has been selected and physically balanced according to their satisfaction, Renner's and Bishop's next step in making the recording is to determine the type and placement of the microphones, which is critical to capturing the performance within the ambience of the venue.

The Microphone Array

When Renner talks about "minimal" miking, it means using the fewest number of microphones that are absolutely essential to get the job done. This means using only two, three, or four main microphones for recording a full symphony orchestra. Only in extreme circumstances will he employ "highlighting" mics. "It really depends on the acoustic of the hall, the size of the group being recorded, and on the repertoire—whether the texture of the score is extremely complex, and only if we can't achieve a critical detail from a certain section of the orchestra without additional mics. That is what I call a distinctive Telarc Sound. That sound is a result of using omni-directional microphones for the main pick-up, and the way they are placed so that the acoustic of the venue and the performing group are successfully integrated into a single, successfully-balanced sonic picture. In addition, the quality of the entire recording chain adds its own personality to the finished product."

Renner acknowledges he is conservative in his microphone selections and likes to stick with his favorite set-ups. He often uses two pairs of high-quality Schoeps omni-directional microphones, as well as vintage Neumann M50 omni microphones with tube electronics. "We choose microphones for their unique sonic characteristics," says Renner. "Microphone choice depends upon the acoustic, as well as the repertoire—for instance, the Bruel and Kjaer (B&K) condenser microphones tend to be particularly accurate for piano recordings." Renner emphasizes, however, that the choice of microphones is only one aspect out of many when it comes to getting the desired results.

"It's fine to take into account the laws of physics when deciding where to place microphones, but the real key is instinct achieved by working for many years in hundreds of different environments around the world," Renner reflects. "For an orchestral recording, I normally start with the inner pair of mics some ten feet above the floor of the stage, and between three and five feet from the first row of musicians. Then I position my outer mics around twelve to thirteen feet from center stage. From that point, fine-tuning adjustments are made until the desired sound picture falls into place."

Renner also prefers a simple microphone array for chamber orchestra and operatic sessions. In addition to the central microphones used in an opera recording, he will use additional mics for solo singers and choruses that help give definition and balance. The output from these microphones is integrated into the main mix only at the lowest level necessary.

Jazz recordings present different challenges to the engineers, but both agree that they transfer the "less is more" approach used in classical recordings to all other acoustic genres. "This," says Bishop, "also includes studio recording." Bishop draws on his eighteen years of studio experience before coming to Telarc, as well as his classical recording work, to create his own composite of the two techniques.

High Resolution Recording

Telarc's Proprietary A to D Converter

Long before it was an industry standard, Telarc jumped into the future by committing to true 20-bit recording, and invested in the development of its own proprietary 20-bit analog to digital converter (ADC). "This has been one of the most variable areas in all of digital recording," says Renner, "along with the digital to analog converter (DAC). If you don't get the signal properly converted from analog to digital to begin with, then the best DAC in the world isn't going to make it sound better."

To accomplish this task, Telarc called upon Tom Stockham for his expertise in digital technology. Stockham, along with Kenneth Hamann of Suma Recording in Cleveland and Gary Gomes of UltraAnalog (manufacturers of the ADC chip used in the converter), designed and built the Telarc/UltraAnalog proprietary 128x oversampling 20-bit ADC. The proprietary converter gave Telarc the advantage of recording with 20-bit technology at a time when other ADCs were barely capable of delivering true 16-bit performance.

Although Telarc's engineers have used alternative converters from time to time, they believe the Telarc proprietary ADC to be one of the finest sounding PCM converters ever developed.

20/24-Bit Recording Techniques

Since 1988, Telarc has been recording in the 20-bit format. "We found that 20-bit made a substantial difference to the end result," says Renner. "Our 20-bit recordings enabled more detail to be captured, and provided us better control of dynamic range, with a far lower noise floor and increased resolution. It's been a flexible and successful medium."

"Telarc began making recordings in various 24-bit formats starting in 1996, sampling the signal at higher rates than much of the rest of the industry," says Bishop. "This has allowed us to make recordings that can exceed the dynamics found in the performance venue."

An extensive network of designers, builders, and manufacturers use Telarc to test prototypes of cutting-edge audio equipment at Telarc's recording sessions, giving the company the unique experience of working with future products and technology, as well as having a hand in their development.

Sound Effects

The Man Behind the Lions, Rockets, Steam Engines, Tornadoes and More—Telarc's SFX Wizard

Michael Bishop says that he was first "turned loose" to make digital sound effects for Star Tracks II (CD-80146). Over the years, his sound effects, included on many of the Cincinnati Pops recordings, gave a special character to those CDs, enhancing the "themes" of the recordings and delighting listeners with their realism.

Many of the SFX were made in exotic locations and required elaborate preparations. For example, the cattle stampede for Happy Trails CD-80191 was a real stampede, recorded on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. The sounds in Sailing CD-80292 were made on board the USS Brig Niagara, (a rebuilt 1812 sailing vessel from Commodore Perry's fleet used in the War of 1812 on Lake Erie), and the rocket launch from the movie Apollo 13 used in The Big Picture CD-80437 was from an actual NASA shuttle launch.

The lion and tiger roars used in various recordings, (including one of the many sound layers for T-Rex on the award-winning Great Fantasy Adventure Album CD-80342, and for the monster roars on Chiller CD-80189) were made on location in the lions' den and tigers' cages of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

"Recording the lion roars was a memorable experience," says Bishop. He recalls having had the intuition to start his recorders running prior to arriving at the zoo's "cathouse," in the morning before they opened to the public. The lions, says Bishop, were docile until he set foot inside their "house" at which point they went crazy, roaring and jumping all over the place. "I was able to record some ferocious roars that day," he says. Those roars were eventually mixed, along with recordings of whinnies from Bishop's twenty-four year-old Arabian horse, Ricky, to form the bone-chilling beasts heard on the above-mentioned recordings.

Telarc and the Dawn of Digital

Telarc was founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods, filling a niche in the growing audiophile record market. Renner had launched the roots of the company in 1962, when he established a custom recording business that produced high-quality, realistic sounding recordings, made in a variety of challenging acoustical venues. The Mercury Living Presence recordings made by C. Robert Fine in the '50s and '60s served as his sonic role models. Renner experimented and further honed his own "minimal miking" approach, which is still the primary model for the company's engineering practices today.

The first recordings under the Telarc banner were not digital, but rather modern-day direct-to-disc recordings made with The Cleveland Orchestra and with organist Michael Murray. With these singular projects in place, Renner and Woods pursued the budding technology of Tom Stockham's Soundstream, Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1978, they decided to take the first of many risks that are characteristic of Telarc's history, in order to stay on the cutting edge of recorded sound technology, by making the first commercial classical recordings in the U.S. in the digital format.

Says Woods: "Digital technology immediately broadened the dynamic palate of sound recording, and was a perfect marriage for our minimal miking approach. In particular, it allowed us to put the previously 'missing' low frequencies of the sound spectrum back into the sonic picture. The major labels had produced recordings for years that had attenuated low frequencies, due both to their perception of consumers' tastes and to the technical limitations of the disc mastering process. The digital recordings we made were a nightmare to master for LP's, but we knew it was the only way to create the realism of live performance that had just become technically possible."

Initially, the two partners were not satisfied with the digital system's high frequency response. They approached Tom Stockham, whom Renner calls "the father of digital signal processing," to see if he could improve it. Stockham agreed not only to find a way to increase it from 17 kHz to 20 kHz, but managed to take it to 22.5 kHz at a sampling rate of 50 kHz—unheard of at that time in digital processing (and beyond the response ultimately adopted for CDs). "He was," says Renner, "way ahead of his time." It was Stockham's dedication, inventive genius, and persistence that encouraged Renner and Woods to commit completely to digital in advance of all the major labels.

Paving the Way for DSD and More

Recently, working in cooperation with Canorus, Inc., dCS (Data Conversion Systems), and Nagra, Bishop made the first-ever jazz recording in the United States utilizing a high-resolution 24-bit/192 kHz recording system. The groundbreaking recording featured the Ray Brown Trio with guest vocalists. The vocals for the session were recorded in stereo with a pair of prototype microphones from Canorus, while the recording system consisted of a pair of Nagra-D digital recorders outfitted with the dCS 904 ADC and the dCS 954 DAC. "The musicians loved the 192 kHz recording," says Bishop. "Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater heard the difference immediately, remarking on how transparent it was—like a lid had been lifted off the sound." The use of highresolution PCM and DSD technology has prepared Telarc to take full advantage of the potential of DVD-audio and SACD release formats.

Invisible Editing—The Telarc Editors

The talented and precision-oriented editing team members at Telarc are deservedly proud of their artistry. Theirs are the final hands that shape Telarc recordings before they become CDs ready to go to the consumer. But though their names are listed in the CD booklets, a certain anonymity exists as part of an editor's role. "That's as it should be," according to Erica Brenner, Telarc's Manager of Editing Services. "The better the job an editor does, the more seamless, and ultimately invisible, his or her work becomes," she says.

As with every other aspect of the Telarc recording philosophy, "less is more" in the editing department. "We are all performers in one way or another," says Recording Editor Thom Moore. "We understand the performance and all of its complexities. Both artist and editor are on the same team." Telarc's editors work at the company's Cleveland production studios, using a collection of Sonic Solutions and SADiE 24-bit PCM and DSD editing systems to prepare the master tapes for CD manufacturing.

"We've had a wonderful long-term relationship with the technical staff at Sony's manufacturing facility in Terre Haute (SDM: Sony Disc Manufacturing)," says Renner. "We manufacture our CD releases for North America and Asia, and use their plant in Austria for our European distribution," he explains. "We work very closely with them to make sure that the product the consumer receives is a faithful replication of our masters."

HI-DEF Audio

In the constantly changing and rapidly advancing world of recording technology, Telarc continually evaluates the latest developments.

Ever since producing its first digital recordings in 1978, Telarc's objective has been to provide the highest quality music reproduction possible. Now With the development of the Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD), which utilizes the extraordinary Direct Stream Digital(DSD) recording technology, the foundation exists to launch a new era of high resolution stereo and multichannel surround recordings.

The new Super Audio Compact Disc format, created by Sony and Philips, provides unprecedented sound quality in stereo and discrete multi-channel surround. To achieve its sonic performance, SACD employs DSD, a radically new digital encoding technology. DSD samples the musical signal at a phenomenal 2.8 million times a second, 64 times the amount of a traditional CD. The result is an extremely smooth digital waveform with unparalleled frequency response and dynamic range.

The potential benefits of SACD do not stop with its performance. The SACD format supports several disc configurations, including a Hybrid SACD designed to be completely compatible with the millions of CD players in the market today. Hybrid SACDs actually contain two complete layers of music information. One layer contains the high density DSD recording that can be played in the new generation of stereo and surround SACD players.The other layer is a conventional CD layer, which can play on any CD player.

52nd Annual GRAMMY® Award Nominations for 2009

2009-12-02T23:22:00.000-08:00

The 52nd Annual GRAMMY® Award Nominations for 2009 were announced this evening in a CBS/Recording Academy broadcast event from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. Among the nominations announced tonight, the following nominees were projects recorded or produced by members of Five/Four Productions, Ltd.:

Best Jazz Vocal Album
Desire
Tierney Sutton (Band)
[Telarc Jazz]

Best Surround Sound Album
(Award to the Engineer, Mastering Engineer and Producer.)
Transmigration
Michael Bishop, surround mix engineer; Michael Bishop, surround mastering engineer; Elaine Martone, surround producer (Robert Spano, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Choruses)
[Telarc]

Best Orchestral Performance
(Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.)
Bruckner: Symphony No. 5
Benjamin Zander, conductor (Philharmonia Orchestra)
[Telarc]

Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra)
(Award to the Instrumental Soloist.)
Caroline Goulding
Caroline Goulding (Christopher O'Riley & Janine Randall)
[Telarc]

About Five/Four Productions:

Five/Four Productions, Ltd. is an independent audio production team based in Cleveland, Ohio. Michael Bishop, Robert Friedrich, and Thomas Moore, all former key production members of Telarc Records, created a unique team of audio specialists with Grammy®-winning experience across multiple music genres. Largely responsible for continuing the “Telarc Sound” over the past twenty years, the Five/Four Productions team members represent today’s Best of the Best in audio production and technical innovation. Bringing unparalleled music industry experience, Five/Four Productions' work is available to artists, labels and projects worldwide.

Recent Five/Four Productions recordings include projects with Franz Welzer Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra, Caroline Goulding, Hiromi, Eric Bibb, Michael Maniaci, Martin Perlman and Boston Baroque, Garrick Ohlsson, Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Christine Brewer, Eric Owen, Jennifer Higdon, Christopher Theofanidis, John Adams, Jennifer Koh, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, David Amado and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Michael Stern and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Time For Three, Trisha O'Brien, Cameron Carpenter, Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Grant Dermody, Gaetano Letizia, Yolanda Kondonassis, Jahja Ling and the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Ben Zander and Philharmonia Orchestra, and Paavo Jarvi and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

✇ ✇ ✇

The following nomination was produced by Erica Brenner and recorded by Tom Knab:

Best Chamber Music Performance
(Award to the Artists.)
Takemitsu, Toru: And Then I Knew 'Twas Wind
Yolanda Kondonassis, Cynthia Phelps & Joshua Smith
Track from: Debussy & Takemitsu: Air: Music For Harp, Flute & Strings
[Telarc]

Grammy® is a trademark of The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

DSD recordings never released on SACD

2009-11-08T02:46:00.000-08:00

This is a list of early DSD recordings that appeared only on CD. To honor the music and the high resolution recordings they should be released as SACDs.

Bach: Mass in B Minor - Martin Pearlman / Boston Baroque [Telarc CD-80517]
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, Four Orchestral Pieces and Hungarian Peasant Songs - Leon Botstein/London Philharmonic Orchestra [Telarc CD-80564]
Brahms: Requiem - New English Translation by Robert Shaw - Craig Jessup/Mormon Tabernacle Choir/Janice Chandler [Telarc CD-80501]
Come, Gentle Night:Music of Shakespeare's World - Ensemble Galilei [Telarc CD-80556]
Dvorak: Stabat Mater - Robert Shaw/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra/Christine Goerke [Telarc CD-80506]
From The Heart - Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops Orchestra [Telarc CD-80510]
Gluck: Iphigenie en Tauride (complete) Boston Baroque / Martin Pearlman [Telarc CD-80546]
Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major, "Titan" with "Blumine" - Yoel Levi/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra [Telarc CD-80545]
Mahler: Symphony No. 4 - Benjamin Zander/Philharmonia Orchestra/Camilla Tilling [Telarc CD-80555]
Mahler: Symphony No. 10, Revised performing version (1997) by Remo Mazzetti, Jr. - Jesus Lopez-Cobos/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra [Telarc CD-80565]
Mozart, Henneberg, Schack, Gerl, Schikaneder: Der Stein der Weisen: The Philosopher's Stone - Martin Pearlman/Boston Baroque/Buch, David [Telarc CD-80508]
Quietude: The Music of Satie, Salzedo, Debussy, Respighi, Chopin, Sibelius & Mendelssohn - Yolanda Kondonassis [Telarc CD-80533]
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2; Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14 - Jesus Lopez-Cobos/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra [Telarc CD-80543]
Renaissance of the Spirit: The Music of Orlando and his Contemporaries - Rudolf Werthen/I Fiamminghi/Erick van Nevel/Currende [Telarc CD-80521]
Respighi: Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome and Metamorphoseon Modi XII - Jesus Lopez-Cobos/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra [Telarc CD-80505]
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35 / Russian Easter Overture - Robert Spano/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra [Telarc CD-80568]
Shostakovich: Symphonies No. 1 & No. 15 - Jesus Lopez-Cobos/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra [Telarc CD-80572]
Strauss: Die Liebe der Danae: (The Loves of Danae) Complete Opera - Leon Botstein/American Symphony Orchestra [Telarc CD-80570]
Music of Szymanowski: Concert Overture, Symphony No. 2, songs of the Infatuated Muezzin, Slopiewnie - Leon Botstein/London Philharmonic Orchestra [Telarc CD-80567]
Viennafest: The Music of Franz Lehar, Johann Strauss, Jr., Edward Strauss and other favorites - Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops Orchestra [Telarc CD-80547]

An eulogy by Harry Pearson at AV Guide

2009-11-08T00:33:00.000-08:00

From 7 months ago: The Last Days of Telarc posted by: Harry Pearson at 2:02 pm, April 13th, 2009

"...the Telarc team produced the best sounding recordings from a major label since the Golden Age of Mercury and RCA some 40 years ago." HP

Telarc Records - The Living Legends

2009-11-05T19:22:00.000-08:00

The basic Telarc recording technique is a modern day version of the legendary Mercury Living Presence recordings. Jack Renner loved C. Robert Fine's natural sounding three omni microphone recordings and these served as his sonic role models. Renner experimented and further honed his own "minimal miking" approach, which is still the primary model for the Telarc's engineering practices today.

For stereo recordings Michael Bishop, one of Telarc's newer engineer's prefers to use two center microphones, thus expanding Jack Renner's three microphone technique to four microphones. Mr. Bishop's basic surround sound setup uses seven microphones. In addition he not only records a separate mix for the 2 channel stereo and multichannel but uses separate dedicated microphones for each so neither the stereo or multichannel mix is compromised.

Telarc SACDs give me the "magic" of analog in a digital format, with concert hall realism analog never approached. I am so glad I lived long enough to experience music perfected through Telarc SACDs.

Natural realistic bass response is a hallmark of Telarc recordings

2009-11-04T00:47:00.000-08:00

Telarc recordings are made naturally with no equalization or other electronic processing, what one gets is what was in the concert hall, no more, no less! Equalization should not be used on the playback end either. I bypass the tone controls using "Audio Direct" to my 2 full range speakers with 12 inch woofers.

However some listeners have complained of too much bass from Telarc recordings. There could be many possible reasons for this, here are a few:

The listener is not used to hearing realistic bass with the impact of live music. The solution is to visit their local concert hall to hear a live acoustic orchestra.
The listener has set up their speaker systems with bass light recordings thus they may be too close to the rear and side walls. Move the speakers further out into the room for full realistic bass with the speed and impact of live music. Having speakers too close to the walls can reinforce weak bass on deficient recordings but can never give the realism of recordings with full deep bass and can actually make them sound muddy. The is not the recording but the walls that are adding this artifact, just moving speakers out into the room to avoid excessive side and rear wall reflections can bring a realism to your system you never dreamed was possible.
The listener may have the bass boosted on a preamp or equalizer. This is unnecessary and potentially harmful to naturally recorded music. The tone control settings should be FLAT or bypassed if possible for realistic sound throughout the entire frequency spectrum. The only way equalization should ever be used in the home is of the corrective type with the goal of FLAT response at the listening area.

Here is Telarc's statement on Bass from the Audio Asylum: "For the record, we have never worked to emphasize the basses, low frequencies, or bass drums on Telarc recordings. We simply record with excellent FLAT omni mics, keep the recording path wide open and FLAT, and do nothing to take away low-end. The low-end on the recordings is representative of what was there AT THE SESSION and ON-STAGE. Many, many orchestral recordings have had the low-frequencies attenuated, especially the older classics originally released on LP. If one's system has been tuned for playback of the oldies, then playback of a current flat response recording will sound as if the low-end is overblown. Which one is correct? Since I'm there at the inception - and can compare to what is hitting the mics live on-stage - the FLAT RESPONSE recording is by far the closest."

Michael Bishop

Recording Engineer

Telarc - A Breif History

2009-11-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

Telarc was founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods, filling a niche in the growing audiophile record market.

Jack Renner had launched the roots of the company in 1962, when he established a custom recording business that produced high-quality, realistic sounding recordings, made in a variety of challenging acoustical venues called Advent Recording Corporation. The Mercury Living Presence recordings made by C. Robert Fine in the '50s and '60s served as his sonic role models. Renner experimented and further honed his own "minimal miking" approach, which is still the primary model for the company's engineering practices today.

Most of the recordings on the Advent Recording Corporation label were from organist Michael Murray, early music groups and chamber ensembles. In 1975 Advent Recording Corporation had to change their name when Advent Corporation (the makers of the Advent Loudspeaker) claimed trademark infringement when Advent Corporation started releasing its line of pre-recorded chromium dioxide audiophile cassettes called Advent Process CR/70. So Advent Recording Corporation changed their name to Telarc which is an acronym. "TEL" is from the Greek word Telos meaning the end of a goal-oriented process and "ARC" which is an acronym for Advent Recording Corporation.

The first recordings under the Telarc banner were not digital, but rather modern-day direct-to-disc recordings made with The Cleveland Orchestra and with organist Michael Murray. With these singular projects in place, Renner and Woods pursued the budding technology of Tom Stockham's Soundstream, Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1978, they decided to take the first of many risks that are characteristic of Telarc's history, in order to stay on the cutting edge of recorded sound technology, by making the first commercial classical recordings in the U.S. in the digital format.

Telarc was one of the first companies to embrace the CD format. as they correctly gauged it to be the future of recorded music. Problem was they had to switch to recording at the lower 44.1kHz resolution rate of the CD format, many of us who dearly loved their 50kHz Soundstream LPs were not to happy with the prospect. In time they started increasing the bit rate of their master tapes from 16 to 18 and then to 20 Bit and they were one of the very first companies to start recording in DSD, in 1995 long before SACD was even invented.

In 1999 Telarc was a among the first companies to offer SACDs and the first to offer DSD recorded SACDs, which to my ears are the finest sounding recordings in any format on the planet.

Telarc grew to become the world's largest independent record company, however several years ago Telarc was purchased by Concord Music Group and the SACD releases started slowing down. Now it has been many months since the last new Telarc SACD and many of us are very worried about the future.

Robert Woods and Michael Bishop were recently forced to go into business for themselves as Concord Music Group laid-off the Telarc recording teams, they still record for Telarc via Concord but as private contractors instead of employees.

Robert Woods formed SonArc Music with his wife Elaine Martone. The other part of Telarc includes engineers Michael Bishop and Robert Friedrich, they have started Five/Four Productions and will continue to record DSD, Mr. Bishop said many of his recordings will be issued by Telarc as well as other undisclosed record labels. Hopefully these DSD recordings will be released as SACDs. Jack Renner has retired.

All about Telarc and their exceptionally clear, natural sounding recordings.

Telarc's SACDs (so far) using the Sanken CO-100K mic

2009-11-03T18:41:00.000-08:00

Telarc is now making recordings using the Sanken CO-100K microphone for the main orchestra pickup. This mic has frequency response to 100kHz and it is being wasted on low-rez CD versions, plus no one except Michael Bishop and his close friends will ever be able to hear the multichannel hi-rez program unless Concord Music Group reinstates the Telarc SACD program.

Here is a list of Telarc recordings so far in which the Sanken 100kHz microphone was used and Michael Bishop's report on their use. http://www.sanken-mic.com/en/report/reports.cfm?top=1&id=12

Telarc and Heads Up recordings on SACD which use the Sanken microphone:

John Adams: On the Transmigration of Souls - Robert Spano/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus [Telarc SACD-60673]
Britannia - Donald Runnicles/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra [Telarc SACD-60677]
Michael Gandolfi: The Garden of Cosmic Speculation - Robert Spano/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra [Telarc SACD-60696]
Puccinni: La Boheme - Robert Spano/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and Guests [Telarc SACD-60697 (2 discs)]
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, Night on Bald Mountain, Prelude to Khovanshchina - Paavo Jarvi/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra [Telarc SACD-60705] BEST SURROUND ALBUM, 51ST GRAMMY AWARDS

Telarc and Heads Up recordings not on SACD yet which use the Sanken microphone:

Stanley Clarke Trio: Jazz in the Garden [HeadsUp HUCD-3155]
Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 - Robert Spano/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra/Christine Brewer, soprano [Telarc CD-80699]
From the Top - Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops Orchestra [Telarc CD-80745]
Holst: The Planets - Paavo Jarvi/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra [Telarc CD-80743]
Shostkovich: Symphony No. 10 / Tormis: Overture No. 2 - Paavo Jarvi/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra [Telarc CD-80702]

All of these NEED to be released as SACDs! Those of you who are hoping that these will be released on SACD by Robert Woods' and Elaine Martone's new company SonArc Music, I don't see how this is possible as SonArc and Michael Bishop's Five/Four Productions are two separate companies and Concord Music Group has already purchased these recordings. The ONLY way to get these released on SACD is intense pressure from the SACD community. If that does not work I hope Concord Music Group sells Telarc to someone who cares about high resolution.

Why I love Telarc DSD recorded SACDs

2009-10-31T02:09:00.000-07:00

SACD = Telarc

Telarc = SACD

Hundreds of recording companies have released SACDs, however if you want to hear what SACD is truly capable of, I only have one answer Telarc DSD recorded SACDs. They produce SACDs that take full advantage of the SACD format from the deepest bass to the highest treble with a realism I have only experienced in an excellent concert hall.

Most of my very best sounding, most realistic and most beautiful SACDs are from the superb engineers of Telarc which has released 172 SACDs so far with very few duds, which is an amazing achievement for any recording company!

For thirty years Telarc was the largest independent record label, until they were bought out by Concord Music Group several years ago. Our worst fears were realized when Concord fired the Telarc recording team as it was more affordable to outsource recordings rather than doing them in house.

I have been very impressed with the recordings of Robert Woods and Jack Renner since their first Telarc 50kHz PCM Soundstream LPs from the late 1970's to mid 1980's. I was so depressed when CD premiered and it was only 44.1kHz PCM as that totally ruined my enjoyment of any new Telarc recording, since they had to downgrade from 50kHz to 44.1kHz PCM with less than perfect results. But what could they do? Recording companies had no choice but to issue CDs or die, so they tried to make the best CDs they could. Like everyone else they switched to 44.1kHz PCM recording to avoid the awkward conversion from 50kHz to 44.1kHz. In other words they had to make their masters worse so they would be compatible with 44.1kHz CD. Recording at 44.1kHz resolution is not only outdated today but it was outdated in 1978 when Soundstream 50kHz recorders appeared.

It was not until the debut of SACD and DSD recordings that I could enjoy Telarc's magnificent recordings once again. Besides their DSD recordings, some of their older 50kHz PCM Soundstream recordings were reissued on SACD, so for the first time we could hear their full resolution in digital form. Since then Michael Bishop, Robert Friedrich, and Elaine Martone have joined the Telarc team and are also responsible for many wonderful Telarc recordings. A lot of the great Telarc DSD recorded SACDs of european orchestras were done by the world renowned Polyhymnia recording team who also make the superb PentaTone DSD recorded SACDs.

It is important to note Telarc began recording DSD many years before SACD was invented. Why? Because to their ears it was the most transparent and sounded the closest to live microphone feed. Even downsampled to CD, DSD recordings using Super-bit Mapping direct brought CD to new level of performance. If SACD had never been invented Telarc would likely still be making DSD mastered CDs.

Now that SACD is ten years old, the very least we can expect of new recordings is that they be DSD recorded. Anything less is a serious compromise.

Telarc DSD recordings are the very reason I own an SACD player and in my humble opinion they have qualities that no PCM recording can approach no matter how high the resolution, from their immensely huge well defined soundstage with its precise imaging, to the warm smooth midrange, the realistic "in the bones" bass, the delicacy in the high frequencies, and the precise realistic attack of percussion instruments. I greatly prefer DSD recordings but in my humble opinion Telarc is at the sonic pinnacle of DSD recordings, however other recording company's DSD recordings often come very close. I love most DSD recordings including those early BIS ones and the current Channel Classics, PentaTone, Exton, Chandos, and many other recording companies determined to release SACDs from the highest resolution masters they can make. It will be a real crime if Concord Music Group does kill SACD as many feel that either they will release no more classical recordings on they release them only a DSD recorded CDs.

Robert Woods formed SonArc Music with his wife Elaine Martone, both formally of Telarc. I understand SACDs will be released under the SonArc Label name. I have not heard of any release announcements yet. It is my hope that if Concord does end SACD production that they allow SonArc Music to reissue the best ones on SACD, along with new DSD recordings they will be making.

The other part of Telarc included Michael Bishop, who engineered many Telarc SACDs, he has started Five/Four Productions and will continue to record DSD, he said many of his recordings will be issued by Telarc as well as other undisclosed record labels. Hopefully these DSD recordings will be released as SACDs.

The Save Telarc SACDs email campaign

2009-10-31T01:21:00.000-07:00

A lot of SACD owners were very disappointed when Paavo Järvi's new Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 was not released as an SACD, especially considering it includes the seldom recorded Overture No. 2 by Veljo Tormis.

Michael Bishop, the recording engineer told me "an email campaign couldn't hurt! Concord thinks there is insufficient demand for SACD to justify the mastering and manufacturing costs.

No one is more disappointed than I am there was no SACD on the new Jarvi release. The DSD stereo and surround programs are stunning and it's unfortunate that no one else may never hear them. I thought the Tormis Overture turned out especially good. A lot went well with that session and project, but the timing of the release coincided with all the restructuring going on at Concord."

Michael Bishop's Five/Four Productions is committed to recording all their source masters in DSD and have an on-going relationship with Gus Skinas and the Super Audio Center in Boulder, CO. They firmly believe that DSD serves their requirements and needs best in recording "future-proof" master audio recordings, regardless of release formats.

Let's all tell the Concord Music Group (Telarc's new owners) we want Michael Bishop's PURE DSD recordings in both high resolution stereo and high resolution surround and that a downsampled 44.1kHz redbook CD is NOT an acceptable alternative.

Michael Bishop suggests everyone email Concord Music Group's Mark Wexler, label manager at Telarc, mark.wexler@concordmusicgroup.com, with a CC to customerservice@concordmusicgroup.com.

with regards to our wishes for future Telarc SACDs.

My email - SUBJECT: Future Telarc SACDs.

Dear Concord Music Group,

I was very disappointed when Paavo Järvi's new Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 was not released as an SACD, especially considering it includes the seldom recorded Overture No. 2 by Veljo Tormis.

I want Michael Bishop's PURE DSD recordings in both high resolution stereo and high resolution surround SACD, a downsampled 44.1kHz redbook CD is NOT an acceptable alternative. You will be losing a lot of sales as many of us will not buy the low resolution CD version even if the SACD version is not available.

Thanks,

Teresa Goodwin

Don't let your receiver or surround processor degrade your SACDs

2009-10-31T01:00:00.000-07:00

Very practical information from Telarc:

BEWARE of Home Theater Receivers with DSP

For the best performance, use a preamplifier or receiver with an "analog pass-through" circuit. Many multi-channel receiver/preamplifiers provide multi-channel analog inputs that are routed to analog-to-digital PCM converters for Digital Signal Processing control, often at 44.1 kHz. The signals are then passed on to digital-to analog converters for the final output to speakers. This "feature" will cause ALL signals, regardless of source, to be no better quality than that of CD playback. Since you are playing a SACD with a sampling rate 64 times that of CD, we recommend using a receiver or preamplifier that passes the multi-channel analog signals through entirely in the analog domain. Keeping the signal in analog, without any further digital inter-steps, will insure you will be enjoying the full quality of SACD. We also further recommend that all "effects" programs be disabled, such as "concert hall", "stadium", "nightclub", etc. These ambience programs, which are more suitable for home video use, will destroy the carefully mixed surround presentation you will find on Telarc Surround SACDs.

Note: This sage advise applies not only to Telarc SACDs but all SACDs from high resolution masters. Keep your signal path pure analog after conversion from DSD. Also if your equipment from preamp to speakers does not pass ultrasonic frequencies consider an upgrade with a goal of frequency response of at least 40kHz, and if possible the full 100kHz. There are plenty of preamps and power amps that are flat to 100kHz, Only a few speakers so far, and even fewer microphones that are flat to 100kHz, however this is growing as well.

A few words about Telarc's lower resolution recordings

2009-10-30T23:27:00.000-07:00

In my opinion the best way to listen to Telarc recordings is via their wonderful SACDs but that is not always possible. Sometimes we need a portable version be it cassette or MP3 and Telarc offers many possibilities in the lower resolution world as well.

Telarc Cassettes

Nakamichi Reference Recordings released many of Telarc's finest 50kHz Soundstream masters recorded in real time (1:1) on Nakamichi cassette decks using TDK Metal tape at 70μs EQ. Superb sound quality, in many areas even better than the wonderful LPs and vastly superior than the later CD versions.

Telarc's own cassettes recorded on TDK SA tape at 70μs EQ. Most were classical but a few Jazz titles and a few Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops as well. Excellent sound quality, still better than the CD versions, the I compared both "Spies" and "Chiller" with the CD versions and the TDK SA cassettes totally floored them, the difference would be obvious to anyone.

Lastly Telarc released most of their Jazz titles and some classical titles recorded on TDK Chrome or Ferric tape however at 120μs in order to make them compatible with cassette walkmans that do not have a 70μs Chrome/Metal setting. Sound quality not as good, not bad but nothing to get excited about.

Telarc CDs

I will admit I don't like CDs even the least little bit, however of the hundreds of CDs I've heard Telarc CDs are by far the finest sounding. I was deeply saddened when Sony/Philips choose 44.1kHz sampling instead of 50kHz for their new Compact Disc format in 1982, I believe I could have loved a 50kHz CD.

Telarc gave up a lot sonically when it was forced to switch from 50kHz down to 44.1kHz sampling rate for their masters between 1984-1995 in order to be compatible with the then new CD format and to avoid the awkward conversion from 50kHz to 44.1kHz. I wish Telarc had recorded with both 44.1kHz and 50kHz during those difficult low resolution years for posterity's sake.

Telarc MP3s (updated 1/27/11)

Believe it or not I find lossy MP3s at 192kbps or higher much easier to listen to than CDs. I have speculated on many of the reasons why and I believe what it boils down is MP3 throws away part of the sound of CDs I find irritating. I've also discovered MP3s high frequencies begin rolling-off at 16kHz, perhaps the range between 16kHz-20kHz is problematic due to interference from CDs low sampling rate in the audible range? Even though more comfortable to my ears than CDs, ultimately I deleted all MP3's from my hard-drive as they are just too compromised in resolution compared to high resolution music files and SACDs.

Telarc DVD-Audio Discography

2009-10-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, Capriccio Italien, Marche Slave, Waltz from Eugene Onegin, Festival Coronation March, Cossack Dance from Mazeppa
Erich Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Kiev Symphony Chorus
Telarc Stereo/Multichannel DSD to 24 Bit 88.2kHz PCM DVDA-70541

Celebrating the Music of Weather Report
Birdland, Elegant People, Badia, Young and Fine, Cannonball, Pursuit of the Woman with the Feathered Hat, Mysterious Traveller, Harlequin, Man in the Green Shirt, Palladium, Cucumber Slumber

Victor Bailey, Cyro Baptista, Jay Beckenstein, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Dean Brown, Porter Carroll, Dennis Chambers, Vinnie Colaiuta, Mary Fahl, Steve Gadd, Omar Hakim, Aaron Heick, Will Lee, Chuck Loeb, Jason Miles, Marcus Miller, Andy Narell, John Patitucci, Mike Pope, Mark Quinones, Joe Sample, David Sanborn, Tom Schuman, John Scofield, Take 6

Telarc Stereo (24 Bit 96kHz) Multichannel (24 Bit 44.1kHz) PCM DVDA-73473

Notes: Both of these titles are also on SACD and I would definitely purchase the "1812 Overture" on SACD since it is a pure DSD recording.
However "Celebrating the Music of Weather Report" may have a sonic advantage on DVD-Audio especially in 2 channel stereo. On SACD the multichannel and stereo programs of "Celebrating the Music of Weather Report" are 24 Bit 44.1kHz to DSD. I have no idea of the origins of the 24 Bit 96kHz stereo mix on the DVD-Audio. It is also my feeling that a PCM original would sound better on DVD-Audio as it can be heard in its original PCM form.
There are the only two titles Telarc ever released in the DVD-Audio format.

Telarc SACD Discography

2009-10-30T03:38:00.000-07:00

Telarc SACD Discography at SA-CD.net

The above link will take you to the Telarc database at SA-CD. net which offers not only the complete discography of all Telarc SACDs, but reviews and recording information as well.

The best sounding are Telarc's PURE DSD recorded SACDs. However many of the SACDs from high resolution PCM and 50kHz Soundstream masters sound superb as well.

The 50kHz Soundstream masters will reveal to the digital crowd something us LP collectors have known for decades, 44.1kHz PCM is too low in resolution for accurate music reproduction.

Telarc Soundstream 50kHz LP Discography

2009-10-30T03:06:00.000-07:00

Holst: Suite No. 1 in E-flat, Suite No. 2 in F
Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks
Bach: Fantasia in G
Frederick Fennell conducting the Cleveland Symphonic Winds
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo 5038 / 10038

Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite
Borodin: Overture & Polovetsian Dances
Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG –10039

Malcolm Frager plays Chopin
on the Bosendorfer Imperial Concert Grand
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10040

Tchaikovsky: 1812, Capriccio Italien, “Cossack Dance” from Mazeppa
Erich Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10041

Moussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, Night On Bald Mountain
Lorin Maazel conducting the Cleveland Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10042

Macho Marches
Frederick Fennell conducting the Cleveland Symphonic Winds
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10043

Mel Lewis: Naturally
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10044

Boito: Prologue To Mefistofele
Verdi: Te Deum
Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10045

Chausson: Concerto, Op. 21
Lorin Maazel (violin) Israela Margalit (piano) the Cleveland Orchestra String Quartet
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10046

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
Lorin Maazel conducting the Cleveland Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10047

Bizet: Carmen Suites
Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites
Leonard Slatkin conducting the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10048

Bach: Passacaglia & Fugue in C Minor, Fantasia & Fugue in G Minor, Toccata in F
Michael Murray plays The Great Organ at Methuen
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10049

Arnaud: Three Fanfares for Brass & Percussion
Vaughan Williams: Toccata Marziale, Folk Song Suite
Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy, Shepherd's Hey
Frederick Fennell conducting the Cleveland Symphonic Winds
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10050

Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 “Organ”
Michael Murray (organ) Eugene Ormandy conducting The Philadelphia Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10051

Ravel: Bolero, Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloe, Pavane pour une infante defunte
Leonard Slatkin conducting the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10052

Dvorak-Symphony No. 9 "New World"
Leonard Slatkin conducting the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10053

Stravinsky: The Rite Of Spring
Lorin Maazel conducting the Cleveland Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10054

Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol
Debussy: Iberia
Turini: Orgia
Eduardo Mata conducting the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10055

Orff: Carmina Burana
Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphoses
Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10056/57 (2 LP set)

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris
Eric Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10058

Vaughan-Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Barber: Adagio for Strings
Grainger: Irish Tune from County Derry
Leonard Slatkin conducting the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10059

Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, Egmont Overture, Op. 84
Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10060

Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5 (complete)
Rudolf Serkin (piano) Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10061-5

Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2
Rudolf Serkin (piano) Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10062

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3, in C minor, Op. 37, Choral Fantasy, Op. 80
Rudolf Serkin (piano) Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10063

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
Rudolf Serkin (piano) Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10064

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73
Rudolf Serkin (piano) Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10065

Mahler: Symphony No. 1 "Titan"
Leonard Slatkin conducting the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10066

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
Lorin Maazel conducting the Cleveland Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10067

Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet, Nutcracker Suite
Lorin Maazel conducting the Cleveland Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10068

Encores a la Francaise
Michael Murray playing The Organ at Symphony Hall, Boston
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10069

Vivaldi: Four Seasons
Joseph Silverstein (violin) Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10070

Debussy: La Mer, Danse sacree et danse profane for Harp and Strings, Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune
Frances Tietov (harp)
Leonard Slatkin conducting the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10071

Tchaikovsky: Marche Slav
Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture
Glinka: Ruslan & Ludmila: Overture
Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia
Gliere: Russian Sailor’s Dance
Leonard Slatkin conducting the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10072

OMNIDISC
Tone Arm/Cartridge Mechanical Alignment Disc, Test Signals, Tracking Tests, Imaging And Music
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10073/74 (2 LPs)

Schumann: Fantasia in C, Op. 17
Liszt: Rhapsodie Esapgnole
Schubert: Der Muller und der Bach
Schubert / Liszt: Aufenthalt, Widmung
Nina Lelchuk (Piano)
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10075

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Lorin Maazel conducting the Cleveland Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10076

Poulenc: Gloria, Concerto for Organ
Sylvia McNair (Soprano) Michael Murray (Organ)
Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10077

Copland: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Fanfare for the Common Man
Louis Lane conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10078

Beethoven: Wellington's Victory, Op. 91
Liszt: Battle of the Huns, Hungarian March to the Assult
Erich Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10079

Pachelbel: Canon in D
Borodin: Nocturne for String Orchestra from String Quartet No. 2
Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves
Tchaikovsky: Serenade in C for Strings, Op.48
Leonard Slatkin conducting the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10080

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, "Resurrection"
Kathleen Battle (soprano) Maureen Forrester (contralto) Leonard Slatkin conducting the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10081/82

Wagner: Prelude to Act 1 from "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg", Seigfried's Rhine Journey from "Gotterdammerung", Overture to "Rienzi", Overture to "The Flying Dutchman".
Neville Marriner conducting the Minnesota Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10083

Respighi; Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome, Gli Uccelli "The Birds"
Louis Lane conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Telarc 50kHz Soundstream Stereo DG-10085

Note: I believe this was the last of the Soundstream LPs, there were more LPs released after this date but if I remember correctly they are released after the introduction of CD and were from lower resolution 44.1kHz PCM master tapes. Telarc had no choice but to make new recordings in lower resolution to avoid the awkward conversion from 50kHz to 44.1kHz of the CD format. If you know of any other confirmed Telarc recordings from 50kHz Soundstream masters please submit the titles. Thanks, Teresa

Jack Renner and Robert Woods were enthralled with the technology of Tom Stockham's Soundstream, Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1978, they decided to take the first of many risks that are characteristic of Telarc's history, in order to stay on the cutting edge of recorded sound technology, by making the first commercial classical recordings in the U.S. in the digital format.

Robert Woods says "Digital technology immediately broadened the dynamic palate of sound recording, and was a perfect marriage for our minimal miking approach. In particular, it allowed us to put the previously 'missing' low frequencies of the sound spectrum back into the sonic picture. The major labels had produced recordings for years that had attenuated low frequencies, due both to their perception of consumers' tastes and to the technical limitations of the disc mastering process. The digital recordings we made were a nightmare to master for LP's, but we knew it was the only way to create the realism of live performance that had just become technically possible."

Telarc Direct to Disc Discography

2009-10-30T00:10:00.000-07:00

DIRECT FROM CLEVELAND
De Falla: Final Dance from The Three Cornered Hat
Bizet: Farandole
Tchaikovsky: Polonaise
Berlioz: Le Corsaire Overture & Hungarian March
Lorin Maazel conducting The Cleveland Orchestra
Telarc Direct to Disc Stereo 5020

THE GREAT ORGAN in the METHUEN MEMORIAL MUSIC HALL VOL.1
Michael Murray
Telarc Direct to Disc Stereo 5036