Donald Johanos - Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances & Vocalise

Mastered at AcousTech by Kevin Gray.  Pressed on virgin vinyl at Pallas in Germany.

"I heard the new Analogue Productions 45 RPM 180 Gram LP pressing of Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances with Donald Johanos conducting the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, in the Blue Light Audio suite and it was the best sounding recording I have ever heard and I have heard 2 Track 15 IPS master tapes. It was amazing, I got goose bumps galore...the highlight of the entire show!" Best Sound at CES and T.H.E. Show 2011 - Teresa Goodwin, Positive Feedback, January/February 2011

"The best sound I heard at CES was from audiophile LPs. As much as I love SACD and high resolution downloads I have to admit this painful simple truth, high resolution digital is getting closer but it is still not the equal of the best analog.

I heard the new Analogue Productions 45 RPM 180 Gram LP pressing of Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances with Donald Johanos conducting the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, in the Blue Light Audio suite and it was the best sounding recording I have ever heard and I have heard 2 Track 15 IPS master tapes. It was amazing, I got goose bumps galore. It was like Telarc on steroids, the deep bass was "finally" like what I hear in a good concert hall, those who do not like realistic deep bass may wish to avoid. This also proves that LP still does the deepest and most powerful bass, well at least at 45 RPM! The LP was killer and was my highlight of the entire show!

I've always believed that belt drive turntables were the best, however this wonderful LP was played on a newly designed Wave Kinetics NVS Reference Direct Drive turntable with a $7900 Durand Talea II Reference tonearm and the $4200 Ortofon MC A90 moving coil cartridge, which turns this widely held belief on its head" - Teresa Goodwin, Positive Feedback, Jan/Feb 2011

"...Analogue Productions' 45rpm remastering improves upon the venerable Athena LP release from the late 80s, with better dynamics and a fuller 'middle' to the orchestral sonority." - Andrew Quint, The Absolute Sound, October 2010

Donald Johanos conducts the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Little needs to be said about this audiophile classic. Known for its demonstration qualities with very low, deep bass and overall smooth and warm sound.

"The tape recording was made at a speed of 30 inches-per-second, using a transport modified to produce exceptionally good motion: a specially developed constant-velocity recording curve was employed for improved signal-to-noise ratio. The lacquer masters were made directly from the original tape, thus avoiding further transfer degradation. The result is a recording of exceptional clarity, naturalness and freedom from vices prevalent generally in the art." - from the original liner notes

Originally released in 1967.