It is interesting to note that, of the original Audiophile record labels, Reference Recordings is one of the very few that is both alive and kicking. Much of that success is down to their ability to evolve and adapt. The ultra purist approach on which the label was founded has relaxed to embrace recordings from a number of sources and it is no surprise that amongst their most popular and well-regarded releases is the Pittsburgh Live! series. Reflecting the changing landscape facing classical orchestras, where few if any now hold exclusive major label recording contracts, the Pittsburgh S.O. under the baton of the impressive Manfred Honeck, have carved themselves an enviable reputation. These (often live concert) recordings are captured by the Sound Mirror team and released by RR on their Fresh! imprint. Nor is the Pittsburgh alone, with RR embracing artists and recordings from around the world, offering them as high-res physical media and downloads. These, alongside musically and technically superb offerings direct from the London and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras, suggest that there is a new market model emerging and real hope for quality music reproduction moving forward.
Different strokes…
Prejudice is pretty much universal and few if any of us are immune. Once upon a time – back when I was in retail – I was always deeply suspicious of any customer who spent more (time or money) on their system than they did on their record collection. These days, the price of high-end audio equipment renders the equation void, but it’s still a question worth asking, if only in the spirit of self-realisation. Are you using your system to play the widest rage of material, or are you playing the same material on an ever-changing system? Despite deep-rooted prejudices (mine own include), it’s not that one is better or morally superior to the other – they really are just different. As a reviewer, I find myself with a foot in both camps: my natural inclination is to use the system to play new and ever changing discs, but reviewing means referring back to familiar musical references. Few if any of the serious listeners I’ve met can claim to be immune to sonic considerations or interest. Conversely, there are plenty of people (and not a few manufacturers) that own seriously expensive systems, but rarely if ever use them to really enjoy music. For them, system performance (as opposed to musical performance) is everything. That’s their choice and their fascination, yet the ‘music lovers’ see fit to look down their noses at them. I can see both sides of the coin and can appreciate just how different the two things are: different enough to account for some of the more vitriolic (and unhelpful) disputes and schisms that increasingly litter the online audio landscape. Understanding that difference might go a long way to diffusing those arguments – except that increasingly, one suspects, there is a third category of ‘audiophile’ emerging; one that is more interested in the argument itself than either musical or sonic performance…
