Prom 25 - 2.08.17: Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The audience "will get" a different sound from every seat in the hall.

When Mercury made studio recordings with a single microphone, there was no ideal place for this, thought their "best guess" was generally as good as it gets.

[jayne lee wilson]

Please don't call my judgement loose - I've performed this programme more than once and am very familiar with it; I am totally allowed to say I thought the radio balance was off!

It was too top-heavy (overall) and the 'first half' was only set up for the first Schütz piece, thus loosing the space and breadth of the more polychoral works as mic placement and choirs just didn't match for Schütz pieces 2 and 3.

You mis-interpreted my train comment. The train is very quiet so doesn't interfere with listening. I don't know what 'Kbps' iplayer is......

Some iPlayer offerings are at a very respectable 320kbps "HDs" data rate (that is, the resolution of the recording's detail, dynamics, acoustic space etc.) but others where the works are listed separately reduce to 128 kbps (kilobits per second) so will give the listener a less accurate impression of the recording balance, detail etc. It's like the pixels in a digital photo - the more the better, the finer the detail, space & definition. Again, the iPad's audio output may not be ideal either, for various reasons (pre-settings or cables may further knock off clarity & resolution).

I do all my Proms listening on a neutral, highly-resolving system, well optimised for computer feeds, which I've come to trust for its accuracy, and this lovely Prom had few balance problems heard on that. I'm always keen to give credit to producers, who I feel get too much unfair criticism for their work in a difficult acoustic.
Can you get a listen on a good hifi set up Basil? It would be interesting to know if your impressions changed.

Otherwise, this great fan of JEG, MVC and ORR is looking forward to Tuesday's Berlioz' Faust. Are you singing in that? (Last year's Berlioz Romeo & Juliet was terrific!).

[Goon525]

Like Jayne, I listened to the FLAC feed on a high-end system, and stick to my original judgement. I really don't think an iPad on a train really compares.

[Once Was 4]

Well it certainly isn't Schedit !

Sorry about this one: in the 70s I played in a brass quintet which played regular gigs in the North West based on Manchester. We were pioneers in that each member had to introduce items to the audience - usually accompanied by some (good natured?) banter. Our sadly now deceased trombone player once introduced me in this manner - "once the sound of the French horn was considered rough and course; judging by what we have heard tonight - it hasn't changed much!" Anyway we had several Canzonas etc., by Samuel Sheidt in our repertoire and you had drawn the short straw if you had to introduce one of those! I wonder why it was always me? Hmmm.

[BasilHarwood]

Some iPlayer offerings are at a very respectable 320kbps "HDs" data rate (that is, the resolution of the recording's detail, dynamics, acoustic space etc.) but others where the works are listed separately reduce to 128 kbps (kilobits per second) so will give the listener a less accurate impression of the recording balance, detail etc. It's like the pixels in a digital photo - the more the better, the finer the detail, space & definition. Again, the iPad's audio output may not be ideal either, for various reasons (pre-settings or cables may further knock off clarity & resolution).

I do all my Proms listening on a neutral, highly-resolving system, well optimised for computer feeds, which I've come to trust for its accuracy, and this lovely Prom had few balance problems heard on that. I'm always keen to give credit to producers, who I feel get too much unfair criticism for their work in a difficult acoustic.
Can you get a listen on a good hifi set up Basil? It would be interesting to know if your impressions changed.

Otherwise, this great fan of JEG, MVC and ORR is looking forward to Tuesday's Berlioz' Faust. Are you singing in that? (Last year's Berlioz Romeo & Juliet was terrific!).

All interesting to read, thank you! I will endeavour to listen again... For my info could you tell me what FLAC is short for? Pardon my ignorance.

Alas, I'm already on another project for another ensemble so had to say no to the Berlioz; should be suitably epic!!

[Goon525]

All interesting to read, thank you! I will endeavour to listen again... For my info could you tell me what FLAC is short for? Pardon my ignorance.

Alas, I'm already on another project for another ensemble so had to say no to the Berlioz; should be suitably epic!!

Basil,
Literally it's Free Lossless Audio Codec, but I appreciate that doesn't tell you much. 'Lossless' is the key word - the stream (only available via a Firefox browser on a computer) is roughly CD quality. There's much more about it on the Techie thread on this forum. I think it's a significant advance in radio audio quality.