Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Rimsky-Korsakov Available Now
Some notes about the compression effects we heard on side two of a Blueback pressing of The Christmas Eve Suite album back in 2012. We wrote:
Side two is even more transparent and high-rez than side one. The texture on the strings and the breathy quality of the woodwinds make this a very special pressing indeed.
The horns are somewhat smeary and do get a bit congested when loud.
There is more compression on this side two than there was on the best copy we played, and that means low level detail is superb, but louder parts, such as when the more powerful brass instruments come in, can present problems.
Note how good The Flight of the Bumble Bee sounds here.
Compression is helping bring out all the ambience and detail in the recording, and there’s no downside because the orchestra is playing softly, unlike the piece that precedes it.
A classic case of compression having sonic tradeoffs.