As is the case with other formats, the sonic quality of 45rpm vinyl reissues (I'm assuming you're referring to a reissue) varies from OK to excellent. One of my favorite Four Seasons is a Deutsche Grammophon CD from 1982 featuring Stern, Zuckerman, Mintz, and Perlman with the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. Oddly enough, this Red Book recording (a DDD at that) has fine sonics as well as wonderful musicianship. The sound of the hall is there as well as the music. Format aside, some engineers and producers just do better work than others.

Perhaps the techniques that resulted in the silent backgrounds you experienced detracted from the ambience of the recording, but that is just a guess. Others who frequent this forum and who have done more recording than I can probably speak to that issue more productively.

Incidentally, which recording is it that has been disappointing to you? Who are the musicians and who made the recording?

Of interest to classical mp3 audiophiles

As a producer and compressed-audio developer I'm intimately familiar with the IPO's "Four Seasons", and have used it for many years as a benchmark in my work. On the recent occasion of Zubin Mehta's 70th birthday I was honored to present to him a Compaxx Masterworks historical restoration of this wonderful performance, both in CD as well as Compaxx-enhanced mp3. In the past I've also presented this to the late Isaac Stern, whose input was invaluable.

In developing the Compaxx restoration/enhancement process I utilize extended forensic techniques to recover vital music data actually embedded in classical recordings, but previously unplayable on stereos due CD format limitations. This information includes harmonics, subtonics, sympathetic vibrations, and spatial cuing vital to an authentic reproduction of the original live performance experience. By embedding this information within subcode and prepacketing for compression it IS possible to provide playback in mp3 format far beyond the capability of CD.

If you'd like to hear a sample of this work in both its original as well as Compaxx-restored version, please click Compaxx Classical Benchmarks to stream these samples. On the Compaxx Masterworks benchmark comparison & info page you'll also find dozens of other benchmark samples of well-known pieces in many categories. I'd be delighted to receive your feedback here. A tough audience always makes for the best gig.

Regards to all Stereophiles,
Tuvia Wertheim
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