Various Artists - Chasing The Dragon Audiophile Recordings

Chasing The Dragon audiophile recordings 180-gram import test LP

"Throughout, Valentine's obvious goal was to produce maximum natural spaciousness while preserving instrumental timbres as all as instrumental focus. The results are uniformly engaging, three-dimensional and natural, though slightly on the warm, dark side, which is how many sound aficionados prefer it." — Music = 7/11; Sound = 8/11 — Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com. Read the whole review here.

"...the whole album is very impressive, with the combination of old and new technologies proving particularly effective at revealing timbre and reverberation, not to mention dynamics. I'm not generally a fan of audiophile recordings, but this one is so impressive that I have to make an exception." — 5 Stars. Jason Kennedy, Hi-Fi Choice Magazine

Recording engineer Mike Valentine produced and recorded an old-fashioned audiophile demo disc using 50-year-old Neumann tube microphones and a high resolution Nagra digital recorder all connected together with ZenSati cables from Denmark.

Many tracks use the "Decca tree" configuration, invented by engineers in the early 1950's using 3 Neumann M50 microphones. Some tracks were recorded with a 1/2" Studer reel to reel recorder running at 30ips. This audiophile disc was used as a reference by Michael Fremer of Analog Planet in testing various record mats. The album contains selections from composers and musicians that include Vivaldi, Mozart, Ellington, Rachmaninoff, Verdi, and more!

Music

Sound

Ratings from Michael Fremer @ AnalogPlanet.com

Side One:

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

1. Concerto for 2 Mandolins

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

2. Cello Suite No 1 (Interior)

3. Cello Suite No 1 (Exterior)

Jean-Joseph Mouret (1682-1738)

4. Rondo

Bruce Davidson

5. Improvisation

Duke Ellington (1899-1974)

6. Caravan - Finale

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

7. Force of Destiny - Finale

Side Two:

Klaus Badelt (1967)

1. Pirates of the Caribbean

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

2. Durch Zartlicheit & Schmeicheln

David Graham

3. Improvisation

Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908)

4. Tarantella

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)

5. Spanish Dance No. 1

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

6. Piano Concerto No.2 - Finale

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