Alia Vox, an independent record label that is dedicated to recording Ancient Music on period instruments has announed that they will be releasing their first 4 SACDs in late January 2003. The first four SACD issues represent a variety of musical programs and sounds (voice, orchestra, choir, small ensemble).
The Alia Vox SACDs will be released as Stereo SACD Hybrid discs. Hybrid SACDs have Super Audio layer which can be read by SACD players and one standard CD layer which can be read in any standard CD player.
The new SACDs will be packaged in Digipaks with a sticker indicating that the disc is a “Hybrid SACD” on the front of each album jacket.
Alia Vox says that they will be releasing their SACDs in Stereo since all these projects were originally recorded in pure stereo (with a couple of microphones). With that in mind, they feel that a Stereo SACD release is more authentic and will offer the listener “an excellent stereo quality rather than an artificially reconstructed multichannel atmosphere.”
The First 4 Alia Vox SACDs
The initial Alia Vox release of Stereo SACDs will include these titles:
Alia Vox Comments on Their SACD Plans
As part of their release announcement, Alia Vox also comment on their reasons for launching the new SACD reissue series. Alia Vox officials stated that:
“Since the creation of Alia Vox in 1998, all of our recordings have been made in a high definition, digital audio format that is clearly superior to the one used for the compact disc (recordings and editing done at 24 bit/96 kHz instead of 16 bit/44.1 kHz for the CD). The sound is then “reduced” on the CD format at the last stage of the production. The time has come to release Alia Vox recordings in a better quality format – the SACD (Super Audio CD).
The SACD format seems to be the new reference in audio. The quantity of players is increasing (most of the new DVD-Video players also have the SACD player function), and both Sony and Universal are releasing SACD products.
The increase of sound quality on an SACD is undeniable: a warmer sound, a better reproduction of the acoustic of the recording venue, a deeper richness in harmonics and a more appreciable transparency of the sound image.
We are very happy to bring our listeners into this new dimension of the sound, closer to the reality of the musicians. For Alia Vox, the best reproduction of sound and of the music is our permanent goal, and technique is only the means to reach it.“
Availability
As noted earlier, the Alia Vox SACDs should be available in late January. Checking around, I found that the folks at Prelude Klassieke Muziek in the Netherlands and Amazon.Fr in France are accepting orders for the first 4 Alia Vox Hybrid Stereo SACD discs.