Request for help - problem with RCA Living Stereo classical SACD

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MCDave

400 Club - QQ All-Star
Joined
Oct 4, 2016
Messages
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Location
Colorado
I have a bunch of these Living Stereo SACD reissues and love them. But there are a couple of them that have a problem I just noticed. There's a great deal of really low bass noise (subsonic?) that I never noticed before. The worst offense is on the Munch/BSO SACD of Saint-Saens Symphony #3/Debussy-La Mer/Ibert-Escales.

If any of you reading this (Kal? I know you have all of these releases) would care to check for me, here's what I'd like you to do:

On track 8, fast forward to about 4:25 and listen carefully to your subwoofer, or speakers if they're large enough to go down really low. There's a very noticeable and distracting rumble that shouldn't be there. Unfortunately it exists on all the tracks to a greater or lesser degree, but seems most pronounced between 4:25 and 4:35 on track 8. It's really bad. Can you confirm you hear it too?

I've checked about a dozen discs, including CDs and DVD-Audio, and only found it occurring on one other one - the Living Stereo Franck symphony/Stravinsky-Petrouchka, IIRC, and this one, though to a lesser extent on the Franck. It sort of sounds like subsonic noise from a turntable, but I think these SACDs were mastered from tape. At any rate, the noise appears to be in the recording itself, as I hear it the same way on a separate system.

When playing the organ symphony, it sounds a lot like there's an car outside with someone's subwoofers thumping. It's irregular, very distracting and ruins the experience.

Thanks in advance.
 
I have a bunch of these Living Stereo SACD reissues and love them. But there are a couple of them that have a problem I just noticed. There's a great deal of really low bass noise (subsonic?) that I never noticed before. The worst offense is on the Munch/BSO SACD of Saint-Saens Symphony #3/Debussy-La Mer/Ibert-Escales.

If any of you reading this (Kal? I know you have all of these releases) would care to check for me, here's what I'd like you to do:

On track 8, fast forward to about 4:25 and listen carefully to your subwoofer, or speakers if they're large enough to go down really low. There's a very noticeable and distracting rumble that shouldn't be there. Unfortunately it exists on all the tracks to a greater or lesser degree, but seems most pronounced between 4:25 and 4:35 on track 8. It's really bad. Can you confirm you hear it too?

I've checked about a dozen discs, including CDs and DVD-Audio, and only found it occurring on one other one - the Living Stereo Franck symphony/Stravinsky-Petrouchka, IIRC, and this one, though to a lesser extent on the Franck. It sort of sounds like subsonic noise from a turntable, but I think these SACDs were mastered from tape. At any rate, the noise appears to be in the recording itself, as I hear it the same way on a separate system.

When playing the organ symphony, it sounds a lot like there's an car outside with someone's subwoofers thumping. It's irregular, very distracting and ruins the experience.

Thanks in advance.

I'm hardly an expert on this subject but if the Munch disc with the BSO WAS indeed recorded in Boston's symphony Hall it might be the rumble of the underground subway system which is situated nearby: https://www.revolvy.com/topic/Symphony (MBTA station)

New York City's Carnegie Hall was plagued with similar rumblings on Live Recordings from the underground subway system so I thought there might be a correlation with the BSO's recording venue.
 
Sheesh...subway rumble, seriously?

I've listened to this disc several times and never heard it before. Maybe I can EQ it down.

Still hoping someone can confirm it's on theirs too though.
 
Sheesh...subway rumble, seriously?

I've listened to this disc several times and never heard it before. Maybe I can EQ it down.

Still hoping someone can confirm it's on theirs too though.

You make 'light' of it but seriously, I have read that this WAS a pervasive problem with certain recording venues located above subway terminals. And of course, early analogue turntables were hardly as sophisticated as today's equipment so more often than not it went undetected.

Seriously.:yikes
 
I believe you. If that's what it is, it's really disappointing as the performances and sound quality of these pieces are stunning otherwise. The rumble is very distracting.
 
I believe you. If that's what it is, it's really disappointing as the performances and sound quality of these pieces are stunning otherwise. The rumble is very distracting.

It's on mine, but I had already read about the subway issue (can I admit to finding it a bit funny?). Some friends of mine from big cities would find it comforting ;)

Otherwise, what a fantastic series! Was a stepping stone, believe it or not, into my love for tiki music from the period :yikes
 
If any of you reading this (Kal? I know you have all of these releases) would care to check for me, here's what I'd like you to do:
I have only the 3track versions in my library but I can give them a try later today.
 
Thanks Kal. On track 8 starting at about 4:25 and continuing for 30 seconds or so, you'll hear a rhythmic double-thumping similar to a heartbeat pattern. It's so low it's more felt than heard.

This type of noise is present on virtually every track on the disc but it's most obvious on track 8.
 
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