Who decides if a recording is to be an SACD?

[pastoralguy]

I’m listening to two Chandos CDs this evening. One is a fine sounding SACD, Aaron Copland Ballet Scores with John Wilson conducting the BBC Philharmonic and a James Ehnes disc of Saint-Saens, Lalo and Sarasate. This sounds terrific too but it’s an ‘ordinary’ disc. So who at Chandos HQ decides what’ll be SACD or not?

[CallMePaul]

Not everyone (yours truly included) has the equipment required for SACD, nor the space (or money) to install it, so for most purchasers I suspect that it makes little difference whether a recording is issued as SACD or not. I am not aware of any SACD issues in other music genres, so it will surely remain the preserve of a few specialist classical companies such as BIS and Chandos.

[pastoralguy]

Not everyone (yours truly included) has the equipment required for SACD, nor the space (or money) to install it, so for most purchasers I suspect that it makes little difference whether a recording is issued as SACD or not. I am not aware of any SACD issues in other music genres, so it will surely remain the preserve of a few specialist classical companies such as BIS and Chandos.

Thank you for your response.

[LHC]

I’m listening to two Chandos CDs this evening. One is a fine sounding SACD, Aaron Copland Ballet Scores with John Wilson conducting the BBC Philharmonic and a James Ehnes disc of Saint-Saens, Lalo and Sarasate. This sounds terrific too but it’s an ‘ordinary’ disc. So who at Chandos HQ decides what’ll be SACD or not?

I did wonder if it might be to do with the provenance of the recording as the James Ehnes disc was recorded in MediaCity Salford with the BBC Philharmonic, but his recording of the Stravinsky Violin Concerto was made in the same venue with the same orchestra and that one is on SACD. Similarly the Wilson Copland disc was also made in the same venue and is on SACD.

Looking at Chandos's new releases most are SACD, but some are CD only. There doesn't seem to be any particular reason why only some are released on SACD. Perhaps its a choice made in consultation with the artists?

Although SACD's have been embraced by several classical companies, well over 6000 titles have been released on SACD with only around half of these being classical. The rest are rock, pop and jazz.

[Petrushka]

Would an email to Chandos supply an answer?

[Pulcinella]

Would an email to Chandos supply an answer?

Only if they replied.

[richardfinegold]

SACD is regrettably dying off. Classical Music listeners have kept it going but companies such as Pentatone now release only in CD and I expect that BIS will stop soon after having been purchased by Apple. Most SACD support is from Japan and the rest of Asia.
Who knows what goes through the minds of record executives but I imagine that they might guess how a release might do amongst the current market of SACD consumers. Not sure why John Wilson might have special appeal in Asia but whatever…
At any rate since SACD/CD are by definition dual layer and should play in any CDP it shouldn’t be a source of concern

[Petrushka]

Only if they replied.

Record companies do reply to emails sometimes. I once bought a second hand set of Mackerras conducting Janacek on Supraphon which came without the booklet. I emailed Supraphon in Prague and they replied within the hour saying they would send one free of charge. It arrived here a few days later.

[Pulcinella]

Record companies do reply to emails sometimes. I once bought a second hand set of Mackerras conducting Janacek on Supraphon which came without the booklet. I emailed Supraphon in Prague and they replied within the hour saying they would send one free of charge. It arrived here a few days later.

Indeed they do! Most recently in my case Linn, with respect to a wrong note in Barbara Hannigan's recording of Dumbarton Oaks (sadly never resolved).
Naxos had claimed a first CD release of Rorem's S3, and when I alerted them to another performance, the conductor got in touch with Rorem, who hadn't known about the reissue (on Vox) of a previous recording.

[AlanE]

It's disappointing that so few recordings are being issued as multi channel sacds and that Pentatone apear to have reverted to standard cds. I suppose the recording and production of sacds involves extra costs, and I imagine that Chandos limit surround sound recording to what they hope will be their best sellers. (I do help them out by buying quite a few of them...)

One of the advantages of sacd has been the reissue by Pentatone, Dutton Epoch and Vocalian of quadraphonic recordings from the 1970s. Vocalian's recent reissues of some of the Charles Gerhardt film music recordings are far superior to the cd transfers of the 1980s. And for a bit of over-indulgence I'd recommend Dutton's transfers of Pierre Boulez's recordings with the NYPO which were recorded with the orchestra surrounding the listener - works such as Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe and the Dukas La Peri are surprisingly effective, especially if you lie on your back and close your eyes, ideally with a gin and tonic.

The many works which use spacial effects deserve multi channel recording - I don't think Noye's Fludde has yet had the treatment - and I hope at least some of the smaller and more enterprising companies will continue with a commitment to sacds... (I should add that my fairly modest middle of the range equipment - Sony universal player, Denon Receiver, monitor audio speakers - effectively reveals the advaantages of the format.)

[richardfinegold]

[QUOTE=AlanE;n1335061]It's disappointing that so few recordings are being issued as multi channel sacds and that Pentatone apear to have reverted to standard cds. I suppose the recording and production of sacds involves extra costs, and I imagine that Chandos limit surround sound recording to what they hope will be their best sellers. (I do help them out by buying quite a few of them...)

One of the advantages of sacd has been the reissue by Pentatone, Dutton Epoch and Vocalian of quadraphonic recordings from the 1970s. Vocalian's recent reissues of some of the Charles Gerhardt film music recordings are far superior to the cd transfers of the 1980s. And for a bit of over-indulgence I'd recommend Dutton's transfers of Pierre Boulez's recordings with the NYPO which were recorded with the orchestra surrounding the listener - works such as Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe and the Dukas La Peri are surprisingly effective, especially if you lie on your back and close your eyes, ideally with a gin and tonic.

QUOTE]

Pentatone was devoted to repurposing Quad releases and to issuing new Multi Channel SACDs as their reason for existence. When they surrendered issuing SACDs it was a death knell for the format, IMO. I expect BIS to follow suit.
I agree with you about the Dutton releases.

[HighlandDougie]

I'm not sure that I agree entirely with Richard's doom-laden prognosis that Pentatone's seeming withdrawal from issuing SACDs is a, "death knell", for the format, nor do I see why BIS should follow suit. SACDs have always been something of a niche market and, while they might be "sunsetting" in the USA, that is not the case in Japan. Interestingly, Warner Music has recently dipped its toe back into the European market with its triple-SACD set of the two recordings (studio; live) of Beethoven's ninth made in 1957 by Otto Klemperer. So I wouldn't write off SACD quite yet.

[LHC]

I'm not sure that I agree entirely with Richard's doom-laden prognosis that Pentatone's seeming withdrawal from issuing SACDs is a, "death knell", for the format, nor do I see why BIS should follow suit. SACDs have always been something of a niche market and, while they might be "sunsetting" in the USA, that is not the case in Japan. Interestingly, Warner Music has recently dipped its toe back into the European market with its triple-SACD set of the two recordings (studio; live) of Beethoven's ninth made in 1957 by Otto Klemperer. So I wouldn't write off SACD quite yet.

Decca have also recently started to release deluxe SACD versions of classic recordings, including the Solti Ring and the Karajan La Boheme.

[richardfinegold]

I really don’t expect Apple to continue BIS policy of releasing everything in SACD (and for not deleting discs, for that matter).
And I did note that SACD remains a presence in Japan. However I suspect that the SACD patrons there are older veteran collectors that tend to obtain old favorites in every format conceivable, and that the younger listeners there are more likely to stream. It may take a decade or so for SACDs to completely disappear but I expect not to many new recordings to appear; most likely we will see older material reformatted.
As a supporter of SACD and Multichannel recordings, I fervently hope that I am proven wrong