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5. Problems of HS-2088 series by Toshiba-EMI
Toshiba-EMI's HS-2088 series(High Sampling rate 20bit/88.2kHz) surely succeeded commercially, but raised considerable disputes in Korea. It was mainly due to not only its sound quality but also musical problems - different playing time from former versions, signal dropout, and misseditings. To the extent of my knowledge, minimum four record reviewers in Korea (including me) pointed out problems of this series. The reviews are here.
1) BEETHOVEN ; Symphony No.5 in c minor, op.67
SCHUBERT ; Symphony No.8 in b minor, D.759 "Unfinished"
- Wilhelm Furtwängler/Vienna Philharmonic
- Record No. ; TOCE-3004
- Contribution ; The Classical Music, No.3(Nov. 1996)
 |
... Sound quality of this CD is
better than the international version(EMI CDH 7 69803 2),
but it's very unhappy that I can find some serious
problems. First, playing time is different from former
versions ;
As seen from upper table, Beethoven is shorter and Schubert is longer. This give subtle difference in listening, which is so difficult to be explained by words*. |
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The second
problem is more serious. See score below. In the 4th movement, a
4th rest is cut at 62th bar, and the tempo accelerates a
bit from a bar before.
These are not in the former versions and all groundless.
These errors surely result from missediting master
tapes, and tempo fluctuation from tape speed. Of course I
do not hat e to
exert efforts to give better sound, but the thing I can't
look over is the doubt whether the remaster
engineer(Y.Okazaki) and series producer listened the
master tape carefully before releasing CD. If they have minimum musical
senses, why did they let this CD released though it has
such a problem? Or are they indifferent to quality of
their remastered CD?
|
2) BERLIOZ ; Symphonie Fantastique, op.14a
- Charles Munch/Orchestre de Paris
- Record No. ; TOCE-3036
- Contribution ; Hwaseop LIM, The Classical Music, No.1(June 1996) [ by courtesy of the author ]
... Is this reissue successful? Frankly speaking, I
think this has some problems, which is obvious even if it is not
compared to international version(EMI CDC 7 47372 2). Volume level is so high as to cause
distortion by volume saturation - the
international version has no such a problem, at least(I think
it's basic concept to control master volume following fortessimo
level in producing CD). There
are several points with dropout - playing time 3:46 of 1st mvt., etc.(I can't ascertain what results in
dropout - defect of source tape, missediting in the remastering,
and CD processing) Toshiba-EMI overused frequency
filtering(especially, bass hums too much) and raised volume in
this CD. I cannot but doubt this is "the remastering
reflected sound of LP". I can't know what is the difference
from 20-bit remastering at least in listening this CD.
There are many strangenesses in the
Grandmaster remastering of orchestral works. Why did the sound of
Furtwangler become lean? Though I consider Japanese remastering
style(increasing signal level and emphasizing treble and bass),
could the condition of which the master Toshiba used be so bad
that I was able to find dropout which there is not in
international version? Is
the missediting error in Furtwängler's
Beethoven 5th symphony only a small mistake, or the tip of
the iceberg?
I saw an interview article HS-2088 remastering staffs said experts always inspect their remastering before releasing. I want to put a question to them ; What did the experts do on earth?
 |
3) HÄNDEL ;
Oratorio "Messiah" - Otto Klemperer/Philharmonia
Orchestra & Chorus, Solists ... Sound quality is not fairly good. Low resolution is unpleasant as if behind a curtain, and volume saturation peculiar to the Grandmaster(HS-2088) series..... |
4) MAHLER ; Symphony No.9 in D major
- John Barbirolli/Berlin Philharmonic
- Record No. ; TOCE-3039
- Contribution ; Hwaseop LIM, The Classical Music, No.1(June 1996) [ by courtesy of the author ]
I
have some doubt on HS-2088 series by Toshiba from last year('95).
Surely, this series completely sounds different from former
issues, but is it better? What did they do at the original
sources on earth?
On the whole, it is sure that HS-2088 sounds
better than former issues. In special, Furtwangler series are
surprisingly different and vocal works was eminent in reissued
ones. But, in these items, many record collectors say that
orchestral sound becomes lean. Better and easier to listen, I
cannot know whether it was really original or good
makeup by Y.Okazaki, the series remaster engineer.
I want to say in this review whether the sound
of this issue(TOCE-3039) is more natural than former one(CDM 7
63115 2)... Studio series issue is fairly different from
this HS-2088 issue. The former has low signal level and decreased
background hiss noise much. I think it is fairly successful
remastering(maybe original LP listeners are not satisfied, of
course). The signal level of latter is considerably higher and
did not decrease hiss much. The most different thing is that the
treble(in special, violin) is unpleasantly rough. Of course, it
maybe results from high resolution, but I think too much increse
of resolution was done. Moreover, I was suspicious that volume saturation took place
at ff due to high signal level. Why so?
| I compared playing time of these two issues. HS-2088 is longer by 14 seconds in 1st movement, and others are not so(it's frequent to be different by about 5 second in remastering CD, and blank time can cause it). Toshiba's former version(not HS-2088) has the same jacket to Studio issue, and it has almost no difference from Studio in playing time, judging from CD |
|
| back jacket. I think one can have suspicion only by playing time of 1st movement. Toshiba's former issue and international version has same playing time, but HS-2088 has serious difference. Of course this don't result in easily discernable difference*, but suffices to say that I have suspicion that there was quite many manipulation by Y.Okazaki in remastering... Of course, as in their advertising this series, maybe they do in this style in order to 'activate the natural nuances of Analogue master'. But at least in orchestral works, do only I have strange feeling to the engineer's saying? |
* Footnote by Youngrok LEE; This is 0.87%, about 3.8Hz higher in case of reference A note(=440Hz), which is detectable by trained listeners and string players. In case of 2nd movement of Schubert's 'Unfinished' by Furtwängler, the difference is 1.49%(different by 10sec from 670sec total), which causes 6.6Hz lower pitch in reference A. I can discern it without fail.
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These are only representative cases. Reissues of Dinu Lipatti's recording has problems of volume saturation and harsh sounds(Taejin KIM, The Classical Music, No.3), which are usually pointed out by Korean reviewers.
Let's make a conclusion. I have pretty many
experiences in listening HS-2088 series, but cannot say that
there is always a positive side to buy this series on the whole.
I inspected the differences between HS-2088 and international
versions(and older one of Toshiba) including orchestral
works(Furtwängler, Klemperer's), vocal(Schwarkopf's), and solo(Gieseking, Walcha, S.Richter's), and can't help concluding so(The Classical Music, No.5). Especially to collectors to have
international version already, I definitely want to say "It is not necessary to
change them by HS-2088 except for some items".
Then, Why did Toshiba's staffs release this series
and advertise so much? Really did they think they enhanced sound
quality? Or did they have no ability to make such a decision? I
can't know...
(c) 1996~ , Youngrok LEE ; Link free, but please get my approval before you reuse, copy, or quote this materials.
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Created ; 26th
Dec. 1999
Last Update ; 17th Jan. 2001
