In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

"John Atkinson" wrote
in message
oups.com
asked of Arny Krueger:
MINe 109 asked of Arny Krueger:
given the imperfections of recording, mastering and the
cd medium, what cds would you say do a good job of
preserving the massed string sound of an orchestra?

I'm asking for enlightenment in all sincerity without an
ulterior motive. I know less than little about
electronic technology. I'm told that cd is perfect at
reproducing the digital master. Is the digital master
better at capturing the live sound than
the analogue master?

I did such a comparison when I produced the Mozart
recording
reported on at
http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/804k622/. We
were recording the clarinet and orchestra using a DSD
recorder (for SACD release), analog tape at 15ips with
Dolby-A noise reduction, and with a 16-bit/44.1k PCM
recorder to make CD-Rs for me to take with me after the
sessions.

In comparisons with the mike feed, the DSD to me was
identical.
Both the PCM and analog were different from the live
feed, but listeners preferred the analog tape,
particularly in the sound of strings.

The SACD we released has versions of the concerto mastered
from DSD and from analog tape transcribed both to DSD and
16-bit PCM, as well as a CD layer transcribed from DSD and
analog. It should answer some questions. We have very few
left
in stock, but I will happily send Jenn one to audition.

Two words: sighted evaluation.

Why?

One word: invalid

True, as I would be pulling for the pure digital to have the best sound.