AES 117: Music for Organ, Brass and Timpani, the first Surround Sound SACD made with the new 24 Track Sonoma DSD Workstation will be featured in demonstrations of SACD sound at this weekend’s AES Convention. According to representatives from the Super Audio Center, the new recording “was produced specifically to promote ultra high quality multi-channel Direct Stream Digital (DSD) technology.”
The new SACD entitled Music for Organ, Brass and Timpani features performances by Anthony Newman playing the Grand N.P. Mander Organ and the Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble with Duncan Patton on Timpani. According to the album’s liner notes, the Grand N.P. Mander Organ at St. Ignatius Loyola Church featured on the new recording is the largest mechanical pipe organ in New York.
A Reference Quality Surround Sound SACD
According to David Kawakami, Sony America’s Super Audio CD Project Director, the goal of this new recording is to showcase the combination of the new 24 Track Sonoma DSD Workstation and the 4th Generation DSD Converters made by Ed Meitner’s EMM Labs.
Kawakami said that
“Audiophiles have often asked, ‘What is the best sounding SA-CD?’ We would respond that ‘The best SA-CD has yet to be released.’ In this spirit, we have worked closely with renowned producer Steve Epstein to develop a recording that exploits the full potential of this incredible platform. The result is a recording of startling warmth and realism.”
Comments from Producer Steve Epstein
To head up this project, 13-time Grammy winning Classical Music producer Steve Epstein and engineer Richard King were chosen. Epstein welcomed the challenge of making the first recording – a “reference quality” Direct Stream Digital (DSD) recording – on the new 24 Track Sonoma DSD Workstation.
Talking about the project, Epstein noted that
“The most outstanding modern recordings have always resulted from a successful melding of music and technology. So the chance to produce music of my choosing, played by the best musicians I could find, and using the latest recording technology was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
A Team Effort With the Super Audio Center
The Music for Organ, Brass and Timpani recording and SACD disc project was managed by the new Super Audio Center based in Boulder, Colorado and headed up by Center Director Gus Skinas. Skinas said that
“The best way to design professional recording tools is to put them to the test in actual projects. Steve Epstein and Richard King are as demanding as producers and engineers get, which makes their input all the more valuable.”
Hearing and Buying the SACD
As noted earlier, industry professionals and high resolution music fans will be able hear selections from the Music for Organ, Brass and Timpani SACD later this week at the AES Convention at the Moscone Center in San Francisco in the ATC Loudspeaker Demonstrations (sound room #224).
After the AES Convention is over, the plan is to market the SACD through Acoustic Sounds beginning in November. It sounds like a disc worth watching for.