Libera in America released in high resolution

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Surpinto
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Libera in America released in high resolution

Post by Surpinto »

The Libera In America sound recording has been released in 96kHz/24bit on HDtracks. Just for the sake of comparison the CD is 44.1 kHz/16bit and the blu-ray 48kHz/24bit. That may not mean much to those who are not audiophiles (persons especially interested in high-fidelity sound reproduction) but it's a big deal that their music is being offered in this way. It is important to note that the sound mix on the video is not the same as on the CD; this can best be heard in the total lack of audience noise on the CD.

It has always been obvious to many of us just how good Libera has been at mixing their sound recordings. Many choirs simply put a few microphones around the group and try and record in a highly acoustic space and do little, if any, post-production. But Libera had every singly chorister individually mic'd in DC and then had a ton of other microphones all over the basilica. This then had to be mixed to perfection, which they did. Not only here but on their studio albums as well; though that is a different recording technique.

Hopefully, this offering will attract new fans among the hi-fi community! :D

By the way, if you download this ($17.98) my advice is to make certain you download in FLAC when you choose the audio format, it's playable on most music players.
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Yorkie
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Re: Libera in America released in high resolution

Post by Yorkie »

Surpinto wrote:The Libera In America sound recording has been released in 96kHz/24bit on HDtracks. Just for the sake of comparison the CD is 44.1 kHz/16bit and the blu-ray 48kHz/24bit. That may not mean much to those who are not audiophiles (persons especially interested in high-fidelity sound reproduction) but it's a big deal that their music is being offered in this way. It is important to note that the sound mix on the video is not the same as on the CD; this can best be heard in the total lack of audience noise on the CD.
Thanks for the heads up but the link you gave seems to be broken :( I went to the website and searched but nothing is coming up - has it been withdrawn or am I being thick?
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Robolib7
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Re: Libera in America released in high resolution

Post by Robolib7 »

The link worked for me. Thanks for finding this.

The webpage address is http://www.hdtracks.com/angels-sing-libera-in-america
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fan_de_LoK
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Re: Libera in America released in high resolution

Post by fan_de_LoK »

It's not available for everyone everywhere.
This is what I get "This product is not currently available due to region restrictions".

I wouldn't have bought it anyway, my ears can't make the difference from the normal CD :wink:
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Surpinto
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Re: Libera in America released in high resolution

Post by Surpinto »

fan_de_LoK wrote:It's not available for everyone everywhere.
This is what I get "This product is not currently available due to region restrictions".

I wouldn't have bought it anyway, my ears can't make the difference from the normal CD :wink:
This is very odd, the ability to download seems to come and go. Maybe they are trying to figure out some sort of copyright issue with Warner, or maybe it's a glitch with the website. :(

I agree about not really being able to tell the difference with such recordings. Most times to tell the very subtle differences you would have to have top-end audio equipment such as high quality headphones, headphone amp, etc and an experienced ear for these things. And, admittedly, while I do have a set of high quality headphones (Sennheiser HD 598, no amp, regular computer audio card) I did not hear any differences I could immediately discern. Being that this was a live recording and not one done in the studio, any differences someone with better equipment or a better ear would be able to hear would be negligible at best. So to me this offering is not so much about any particular gain in the actual quality, but in the very fact that the Libera team have managed to create this high-end mix. If they release a high-end mix on their next studio album, where differences might be apparent to audiophiles, they could gain a much deserved reputation as doing great mixing and post-production work. At the moment, even few serious fans seem to realize just how good at it they actually are. Most choirs, even some of the best and well known adult choirs in the world, are often recorded poorly and the albums are mixed poorly too. Continuing down this high resolution path won't be a game changer for them certainly but could attract positive attention and gain new fans. :D
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Re: Libera in America released in high resolution

Post by kringle »

If you apply the promo code HDSURVEY20, you get 20% off ... found the code by googling "HDtracks promo". It worked out to $3.60 off the price.
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mawi
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Re: Libera in America released in high resolution

Post by mawi »

Surpinto wrote: It has always been obvious to many of us just how good Libera has been at mixing their sound recordings. Many choirs simply put a few microphones around the group and try and record in a highly acoustic space and do little, if any, post-production. But Libera had every singly chorister individually mic'd in DC and then had a ton of other microphones all over the basilica. This then had to be mixed to perfection, which they did. Not only here but on their studio albums as well; though that is a different recording technique.
The numbers of microphones didn't say anything about the sound. I visited the Christmas Concert in Armagh and looked forward the next month for the CD/DVD. I was really disappointed when I heard the CD/DVD the first time. And I was disappointed a second time, when I got the BluRay "Libera in America" (but without getting the chance to visit the concert before). PSBS got the material from Libera, but the forgot to mix it to a really high quality sound. In my ears the sound of the Christmas Concert was better during the concert.
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Surpinto
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Re: Libera in America released in high resolution

Post by Surpinto »

mawi wrote:
Surpinto wrote: It has always been obvious to many of us just how good Libera has been at mixing their sound recordings. Many choirs simply put a few microphones around the group and try and record in a highly acoustic space and do little, if any, post-production. But Libera had every singly chorister individually mic'd in DC and then had a ton of other microphones all over the basilica. This then had to be mixed to perfection, which they did. Not only here but on their studio albums as well; though that is a different recording technique.
The numbers of microphones didn't say anything about the sound. I visited the Christmas Concert in Armagh and looked forward the next month for the CD/DVD. I was really disappointed when I heard the CD/DVD the first time. And I was disappointed a second time, when I got the BluRay "Libera in America" (but without getting the chance to visit the concert before). PSBS got the material from Libera, but the forgot to mix it to a really high quality sound. In my ears the sound of the Christmas Concert was better during the concert.
The mere fact that every chorister was mic'd says a lot about how seriously they take the importance of capturing all of that sound. Most choirs do not take the level of care that Libera does in their recording and sound quality, being content with a tiny handful of microphones, sometimes only 2, positioned around the group. Even for concerts that are not being recorded they do exponentially more sound work than almost every choir I am familiar with. I am unable to speak to the quality of the Armagh concert compared to the final DVD but I can speak about Washington and there is no doubt that both the live concert and the audio sound great. The only complaints I have with regards to the Blu-ray is the occasional picture quality blurriness and running credits over the last song and other sloppiness that PBS did as discussed elsewhere. Having said that, I would not be able to compare the acoustic of the recording versus my memory of attending the live concert because my memory is not reliable enough for that. I am not sure how anyone can compare their memory of a live concert (colored by excitement and the experience of seeing them perform live) to a recording unless the recording is simply terrible. It would be my guess that few if any fans feel that way about either CD you mention. Anyone I have ever spoken to, including one with a background in professional studio work, have complimented the recordings. But to each his own. Also remember that the CD is mixed differently than the video, so keep that in mind.
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hiskeys
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Re: Libera in America released in high resolution

Post by hiskeys »

A couple of years ago, I began showing our church choir a choir-type video at the end of our rehearsals.

When I recently showed them Wayfarin' Stranger from the DC concert, I took the CD audio (which I liked a little bit better) and lined it up with the video portion. It seemed to work well. (I actually had the DVD portion audible as well, in the background, at about 30%).
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