Thread: The Solti 'Ring' in 24-bit

The problem with ripping Blurays/DVDs is that it can take quite a bit of effort to get the metadata right, notwithstanding the issues of extracting the tracks themselves. Times this by 14 for the Solti Ring Bluray.

Having just gone through the process with Storm Corrosion and David Bowie's Ziggy I wonder what the right price is to get HD Tracks to provide them ready done.

Does anyone know how limited the "limited edition" Decca release is? Also I haven't seen definitively that the Bluray will have 24/96, only a translation from HMV Japan that hints at it plus a 5.1DD track.

Here's hoping they get the pitch right on Das Rheingold. The current CDs run a little sharp for Rheingold only. It's a magnificent set, though.

Hi Russell, did you find out if the Ring on Blu-ray contains files ripped at 24/96?
Was going to purchase it this wknd but I need to make sure that it's worth getting it...
Thanks

If you search Google for Solti Ring 24/48 I fear you'll get the answer.

it was a deal breaker for me over my standard CD set. No sale.

Thanks! What a disappointment! Definitively not worth investing on it just for the different packaging.

Thanks, Russell.
The only thing I didn't get yet is this: do the CDs have the same 24-bit/48kHz encode as the files on the DVD? If not, I would have to considering buying a Blu-ray DVD player as well, at some point.
BTW, I am sucker for fancy packaging too: I am expecting my box to arrive today ;-)
Roberto

Thanks, Russell. I am unimpressed with the fact that Decca did not encode CDs with the same 48/24. In 2008 they reissued Rheingold in 96/24...
Anyway, I have been comparing some parts of Siegfried and Act 1 Vorspiel is vastly superior than on 1997 issue. The brass, for instance, do not sound so brash and the strings section acquires more body. However, when I was listening to the 3rd Act, at Brünnhilde's words "Oh, wussest du, Lust der Welt", I jumped from my chair as I heard a couple of clicks and thought it might be due to a faulty impression of my CD. I played the 1997 and, at same point, I heard the same clicking noise I had never noticed before. I guess this time I was more focussed, trying to hear every detail. Will continue to explore in a few days. Tomorrow my ROH Ring cycle begins and I don't want to spoil the enjoyment of the 4 evenings by listening to something so incredible that nothing can compare to. Certainly not nowadays, anyway.
Roberto

now at HDTracks, in 24/44:

https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?f...etail&id=10505

Originally Posted by woodford

now at HDTracks, in 24/44:

https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?f...etail&id=10505

fixed now, 24/48.

I've have the limited-edition box set and have ripped the German resmastered (from original tapes) Blu-Ray in 24bit/48KHz form the Blu-Ray. Still working on entering all of the metadata!

It sounds fantastic and comes not only with all of the CD's but the out-of-print BBC documentary of it's making, 2 audio CD's that walk you through the Leimotivs, etc., John Culshaw's book, book of scores, the librietti, 5 prints, and the best music packaging I've ever seen.

For only $50 more than the digital tracks I highly recommend you just buy the reference set. Being a limited edition with only 7000 copies clearly makes it the reference edition to have. I can see no reason to buy only the digital tracks, that is, unless you miss out on this set:

Amazon.com: Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Super Deluxe): Music

Originally Posted by junker

I've have the limited-edition box set and have ripped the German resmastered (from original tapes) Blu-Ray in 24bit/48KHz form the Blu-Ray. Still working on entering all of the metadata!

It sounds fantastic and comes not only with all of the CD's but the out-of-print BBC documentary of it's making, 2 audio CD's that walk you through the Leimotivs, etc., John Culshaw's book, book of scores, the librietti, 5 prints, and the best music packaging I've ever seen.

For only $50 more than the digital tracks I highly recommend you just buy the reference set. Being a limited edition with only 7000 copies clearly makes it the reference edition to have. I can see no reason to buy only the digital tracks, that is, unless you miss out on this set:

Amazon.com: Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Super Deluxe): Music

i have the 97 remaster, ripped, and it sounds quite good. not sure it's worth investing $250 for a little better sound.

Originally Posted by woodford

i have the 97 remaster, ripped, and it sounds quite good. not sure it's worth investing $250 for a little better sound.

A little better? LOL This set is remastered in Germany from the original master tapes in 24-bit - which greatly improves digital in softer passages, as well as dynamics, all with a lower noise floor.

And that is still neglecting the entire box set contents, which is significant if you check out the video on Amazon. If you are happy, then great no need. I have the old box set, and there is absolutely no comparison.

Originally Posted by Bob Stern

This month's Stereophile says the original master tapes are now useless due to deterioration. The new reissue therefore was based on the 1997 digitization! However, in 1997 they digitized it at 24-bit, 48 KHz, then downsampled it to Redbook. So the HDtracks downloads and the Bluray disc are the first release of the 1997 24/48 remastering.

Of course, prices are likely to drop eventually.

You are correct in that this fully remastered release came from the '97 sub-master. The results, however, are dramatic.

This is a good summary:

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen - George Solti Blu-ray: Limited Edition w/ 12" Book | Blu-ray Audio

Say what you will about the supposed "sterility" of modern day digital recording techniques, if a WAV file is committed to a hard drive or other storage medium, it takes a rather major misstep for the contents of that file to suffer anything akin to the age related degradation that regularly accompanies analog masters of old. And that's the bad news about this release—Decca did indeed try to go back to the original masters to "start from scratch" for this commemorative project, only to discover that they had degraded too far to be used. Luckily several generations of submasters had been created in the many decades since the original recordings, and it was quickly ascertained that the 1997 remastering (done by one of Culshaw's assistants on the original recordings) would make a suitable new starting place for this latest version. There isn't a glut of technical information on what was done to these, other than a sort of generic reference to Decca using the "latest technology" to get at the purest sound available, as well as to correct a couple of errors in previous versions, including a sloppy edit point and a dropped measure.

If you want a thumbnail sketch of the varying storage capacities of CDs versus BDs, simply compare the fact that The Ring spans 14 CDs in this set and one (yes, one) BD. I frankly had so much material to get through to give a time sensitive review of this set that I didn't spend too much time on the CD versions. I can state that they compare veryfavorably to the 1997 "red box" Decca release, with appreciably greater dynamic range and a much more fulsome low end.

The real revelation here is the lossless audio on the BD. Now I am the first to state that The Ring would not be my first choice in how to while away 15 hours or so of listening time, but I was instantly transported into a fantastic sound world on this audio Blu-ray and found myself lost in a swirling stream of sonic color (I guess there's a reason it's called Rheingold). There is simply no comparing the audio on this Blu-ray to any previous version. It is immaculately clear and precise, with brilliant reproduction through all registers and an astounding sense of clarity. Fidelity is nothing short of superb. The Vienna Philharmonic's commanding brass section is blisteringly represented here, but there's also an almost lascivious quality to the strings in these performances, and it all bursts out of the speakers with gorgeous fluidity and nuance.


The box sets certainly won't be going down in price. I bought my #6262 from Amazon for a little over $200, and it steadily increased in price (now up to about $250). I doubt there are many copies left at this point. It may very well be one of the most "ambitious" classical box set released to date.

EDIT: It just dropped back down to about $220 on Amazon!

i assume the only way to get the 24/48 files onto a hard drive is by downloading from HDTracks (or elsewhere) or by ripping the Blue-ray?