Bach’s greatest Fugues Archive

* BACH’s Greatest Fugues Scored for Double Orch.; SIBELIUS: Sym. No. 2 – Philadelphia Orch./ E. Ormandy – HDTT audio-only Blu-ray

by Audiophile Audition | Apr 7, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

************ MULTICHANNEL DISCS OF THE MONTH *********** Two audio-only Blu-rays with four-channel surround and Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia. * BACH’s Greatest Fugues Scored for Double Orchestra – Philadelphia Orch./ Eugene Ormandy – HDTT audio-only Blu-ray * SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2 – Philadelphia Orch./ Eugene Ormandy – HDTT audio-only Blu-ray Here are two more of the HDTT super-fidelity transfers to audio-only Blu-ray using the DTS-HD MA multichannel audio codec at 24/192 resolution. They were both sourced from commercial RCA 4-track quad prerecorded tapes  dating from 1973 and 1972. So both have both a 4.0-channel surround and a 2.0 channel stereo playback option. A single Blu-ray on one layer holds 25GB of data. This means it can store the musical information without audio compression. At 24-bit resolution, the sampling is usually done at 96,600 times a second vs. only 65,536 at CD quality. DTS-HD allows for a bit-to-bit representation of the original master tapes. While Leopold Stokowski conducting his orchestra in his own arrangements and blown-up versions of the Bach fugues (on RCA Victor CD) is the standard, the Ormandy/Philadelphia Orchestra in surround (even if it is only 4.0 channels) is superior sonically, especially in this lovely transfer. Forget all the purist […]