I guess we are lucky in the Netherlands to have quite a few - relatively small but independant - record companies that take great care and pride in the quality of their dsd and pcm recordings. Channel Classics is a company well known to our members and I have praised their - only dsd 64 - recordings in the past in another thread I started on WBF. You can find their - almost only classical - recordings on www.channelclassics.com as well as on www.nativedsd.com.
Another fine Dutch recording company is Pentatone. Most Pentatone recordings are native dsd 64 although some are available in pcm 24/96 as well. See www.pentatonemusic.com as well as www.promephonic.com. The primephonic website is interesting because - like www.nativedsd.com - not only Pentatone recordings are offered but also other brands like Caro Mitis (recorded btw in Russia by the Pentatone crew; some of the Caro Mitis recordings sound very impressive indeed), Chandos, etc. Unlike www.nativedsd.com not only native dxd and dsd recordings can be downloaded but also pcm recordings. Furthermore the primephonic website offers interesting background stories.
Recently I rediscovered the topic of this thread, Challenge Classics. It was a rediscovery for me because in the past I bought quite a few Turtle Records (sa)cd's. Some of these Turtle Record (sa)cd's were quite famous for their lifelike and high quality recordings. Some of you might remember recordings of many years ago like Op of Tony Overwater, Prokofievs Romeo & Juliet by Carrefour and various Franz Liszt piano recordings by Yoram Ish-Hurwitz. Now you might raise the question: what has Turtle Records to do with Challenge Classics? Well, if you go to www.spiritofturtle.com you can find some dsd 64 downloads of these old Turtle recordings. Bert van der Wolf of Northstar Recording was the driving force behind the old Turtle Records (sa)cd's but is also the driving force behind the current Challenge Classics recordings.
As an audiophile I am always on the look out for better musical home reproduction. In that regard it is very interesting that Bert is offering his current Challenge Classics recordings in various formats. Bert records his current Challenge Classics recordings in dxd but these recordings are offered to the public in various formats such as in red book, pcm 24/96, pcm 24/192 and pcm 24/352.8 (DXD) as well as in dsd 64, dsd 128 and dsd 256. For a technical explanation why Bert is recording in dsx I refer to: http://spiritofturtle.com/what-is-high-resolution-audio. According to Bert he is combining the best of both worlds by recording in dxd but offering these recordings in dsd format.
Recently I bought some Challenge Classics recordings in the 24/192, dxd and dsd 256 format. They sound absolutely awesome in my Tidal LA/Kondo/Lampi GG dac system (notwithstanding the fact that I am currently facing some problems with my Lampizator GG dac/server combo) and belong to the best files I have heard to date. Therefore I refer all classical music lovers to the spiritofturtle website.
Currently Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium by Sigiswald Kuijken's La Petite Bande is the Challenge Classics album of the month and available against a 25% discount on the spiritofturtle website. To my ears - in dxd as well as in dsd 256 - this is an absolute fantastic recording, not only from a quality of sound perspective but also from an interpretative point of view. So I would say: try it out in these Chrismas days and I promise you will not regret it!
Lastly, may I ask all other WBF members to add their sonic experiences with various Channel Classics recordings to this thread?
Another fine Dutch recording company is Pentatone. Most Pentatone recordings are native dsd 64 although some are available in pcm 24/96 as well. See www.pentatonemusic.com as well as www.promephonic.com. The primephonic website is interesting because - like www.nativedsd.com - not only Pentatone recordings are offered but also other brands like Caro Mitis (recorded btw in Russia by the Pentatone crew; some of the Caro Mitis recordings sound very impressive indeed), Chandos, etc. Unlike www.nativedsd.com not only native dxd and dsd recordings can be downloaded but also pcm recordings. Furthermore the primephonic website offers interesting background stories.
Recently I rediscovered the topic of this thread, Challenge Classics. It was a rediscovery for me because in the past I bought quite a few Turtle Records (sa)cd's. Some of these Turtle Record (sa)cd's were quite famous for their lifelike and high quality recordings. Some of you might remember recordings of many years ago like Op of Tony Overwater, Prokofievs Romeo & Juliet by Carrefour and various Franz Liszt piano recordings by Yoram Ish-Hurwitz. Now you might raise the question: what has Turtle Records to do with Challenge Classics? Well, if you go to www.spiritofturtle.com you can find some dsd 64 downloads of these old Turtle recordings. Bert van der Wolf of Northstar Recording was the driving force behind the old Turtle Records (sa)cd's but is also the driving force behind the current Challenge Classics recordings.
As an audiophile I am always on the look out for better musical home reproduction. In that regard it is very interesting that Bert is offering his current Challenge Classics recordings in various formats. Bert records his current Challenge Classics recordings in dxd but these recordings are offered to the public in various formats such as in red book, pcm 24/96, pcm 24/192 and pcm 24/352.8 (DXD) as well as in dsd 64, dsd 128 and dsd 256. For a technical explanation why Bert is recording in dsx I refer to: http://spiritofturtle.com/what-is-high-resolution-audio. According to Bert he is combining the best of both worlds by recording in dxd but offering these recordings in dsd format.
Recently I bought some Challenge Classics recordings in the 24/192, dxd and dsd 256 format. They sound absolutely awesome in my Tidal LA/Kondo/Lampi GG dac system (notwithstanding the fact that I am currently facing some problems with my Lampizator GG dac/server combo) and belong to the best files I have heard to date. Therefore I refer all classical music lovers to the spiritofturtle website.
Currently Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium by Sigiswald Kuijken's La Petite Bande is the Challenge Classics album of the month and available against a 25% discount on the spiritofturtle website. To my ears - in dxd as well as in dsd 256 - this is an absolute fantastic recording, not only from a quality of sound perspective but also from an interpretative point of view. So I would say: try it out in these Chrismas days and I promise you will not regret it!
Lastly, may I ask all other WBF members to add their sonic experiences with various Channel Classics recordings to this thread?
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