What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[vinteuil]

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... altho' I'm no fan of 'bleeding chunks' I am enjoying this enormously - and if I wanted to choose a disc to introduce a newcomer to Rameau, this might be it -

http://amzn.eu/7Em698A

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[Bryn]

Great choice - alas, as Richard F has pointed out, they've stopped making them - physical media like CDs are just sooo not 2018.

Having recently been in the PRC and seen that there is a chain of Oppo outlets selling headphones, DACs etc - but definitely not UDP-203 players that I could see - I felt a bit sad. O tempora, o mores. Maybe I should just buy a UDP 203 and stick in the cupboard for a rainy day.

Anyway, happiest of retirements, Bryn.

Regarding my recent purchase, I got a small discount from Richer Sounds (£24), but more usefully I ordered a multi-region kit from Bluraychip the same day. It is due for delivery today. At the time I placed the order, the price wa €64. I revisited their site today. In the meantime it has gone up to €89! Still cheaper than the extra £99 for an 'out of the box' multi-region UDP 203, but . . .

[Richard Barrett]

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... altho' I'm no fan of 'bleeding chunks' I am enjoying this enormously - and if I wanted to choose a disc to introduce a newcomer to Rameau, this might be it -

Thanks Monsieur V, I will give that a listen right now. I don't mind Rameau in bits now and again. It's often individual moments that create the magic for me in his work.

(edit) ... one of which is "Viens, Hymen" from Les indes galantes, to be sure. It's a nice compilation but I thought maybe it puts too much emphasis on the more light-hearted side of Rameau.

[Pianoman]

Debussy: Preludes Book 2; La Mer (piano duet arrangement)

Superb pianism from Alexander Melnikov on his own restored 1885 Erard - striking sonorities that give these marvellous works a fresh perspective.

[Dave2002]

Regarding my recent purchase, I got a small discount from Richer Sounds (£24), but more usefully I ordered a multi-region kit from Bluraychip the same day. It is due for delivery today. At the time I placed the order, the price wa €64. I revisited their site today. In the meantime it has gone up to €89! Still cheaper than the extra £99 for an 'out of the box' multi-region UDP 203, but . . .

I wasn't sure if those UDP 203s were still available. Seems that Richer still have them. I might be tempted. Is the multi-region worth paying extra for? To some extent it would depend what one wanted to do - play CDs, SACDs etc., or DVDs/Blu Rays - and even then there should be enough UK compatible video material to play without feeling a need to have a more universal player.

Do you get the feeling, as rfg has suggested, that the Oppo really does a great job with sound quality for audio? I probably don't "need" one, but this might be the last of the really good players available at anything like an affordable price.

[Bryn]

I wasn't sure if those UDP 203s were still available. Seems that Richer still have them. I might be tempted. Is the multi-region worth paying extra for? To some extent it would depend what one wanted to do - play CDs, SACDs etc., or DVDs/Blu Rays - and even then there should be enough UK compatible video material to play without feeling a need to have a more universal player.

Do you get the feeling, as rfg has suggested, that the Oppo really does a great job with sound quality for audio? I probably don't "need" one, but this might be the last of the really good players available at anything like an affordable price.

Well, in my experience the vast majority of Blu-rays I might be interested in turn out to be all-region. However, I do have a a sufficient number of Region 1 DVDs to merit the purchase, and very simple plug-in fitting, of the multi-region kit. I know there are ways of ripping, re-regioning and re-burning DVDs, but it's quite a faff and is of challengeable legitimacy. There is a kit available for the UDP 205, too. Theey used to be available for some Cambridge Audio players, but they appear to no longer be had.

[Bryn]

Listening to, and watching:



A Region 1 DVD to check the multi-region kit upgrade to my Oppo. The one drawback is that the audio is only available in a choice of 2 channel or 5.1 surround Dolby Digital. No LPCM option. I do also have a copy which was ripped, re-regioned and burned to DVD-R, but this is the original. I may be kidding myself but i think it's better defined in both video and audo terms than the conversion.

[BBMmk2]

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... altho' I'm no fan of 'bleeding chunks' I am enjoying this enormously - and if I wanted to choose a disc to introduce a newcomer to Rameau, this might be it -

http://amzn.eu/7Em698A

.

That does look good vints!

[Bryn]

Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 (La Chambre Philharmonique, Krivine) a video downloaded from YouTube a few years ago, now sitting on a USB 'pocket' hard drive. Happy to find the Oppo UDP-203 powers such drives with ease. Looks like a couple of 4TB drives with significant content might get plugged into the pair of rear USB 3.0 ports. Just a matter of getting the file system in some sort of order. Then the fron USB 2.0 port can be used for solid state sticks.

The video is fairly low defintion, as is the audio (c. 130kbps ABR aac, so a tad better sounding than Radio 3 DAB at 190kbps, or indeed the audio aspect of the "HD" video option of last night's Prom on the iPlayer, which was of the order of 125kbps ABR aac). However, It is good to see these musicians in action.

[Bryn]

John Adams: American Standard (The New Music Ensemble Of The San Francisco Conservatory Of Music), complete work, from Obscure No. 2 LP via FLAC. Clearly a 'live' recording. Just enough audience/non-studio ambiance to demonstrate this.

[Joseph K]

Lazy hot afternoon, haven't been bothered playing guitar as much:

Schoenberg - string quartet no. 1

Berg - violin concerto

Ferneyhough - Ploetzlichkeit

Ferneyhough - La Terre est un Homme.

[Bryn]

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1 [original version] (BBCSSO, Ilan Volkov). Only a DAB mp2 but better than nothing. I do wish they would re-broadcast it, so that it might be available in 'HD Sound' via the iPlayer.

[richardfinegold]

Beethoven, Razumovsky Qt 59/2, Juilliard Quartet

[Bryn]

Beethoven, Razumovsky Qt 59/2, Juilliard Quartet

Surprised to find the Juilliard's complete Beethoven Quartets, and indeed their 'live' Lates are currently out of the catalogue, though copies of the Early, Middle and Late studio boxes can be found easily enough.

By the way, is the Op. 59/2 the analogue or 'live' digital recording? I envy you if it's the latter. While I have the 8 CD set of analogue origins, and the 'live' digital Lates, i cannot justify the current cost of the 'live' Middles.

[BBMmk2]

May I say that it would be a good idea, perhaps if members mention the artists, please?