The Original Source Series - a Mastering Deep Dive from Emil Berliner Studios

[@brendanoreilly2014]

The Debussy & Ravel (Abbado / Boston) is the most beautiful record to listen to. I’m blown away. Thanks for your excellent work.

[@Boatzerama]

I have ordered it from an eBay site but it has never been dispatched. I see it it sold out on the Deutsche Grammophon website.

[@pandoraefretum]

The 60s and 70s were my favourite eras for classical music. I just ordered Mahler 5 in the original source series ; can't wait to hear it. Great initiative for music lovers all over the world. Thank you

[@younghifi]

Very VERY interesting! Thank you for recording this material and showing it how it was done and how it is done today in such great detail!

[@mswdesign9164]

Ausgezeichnet video. The best possible marketing for this release series!

[@VinceWatches]

Good answer to all people on forums who are very critic against the DG sound. You are very transparent on your professional activity. Bravo for these superb re-editions. I have hundreds of DG recordings on LP and CDs and I love them all.

[@nicholasjagger6557]

Thank you my German cousins for a really in-depth discussion of the DG recording process. I started listening to music in the LP era, but bought music (and continue to) on CD: good to know that physical format is still alive.

[@anton88ist]

Thank you very much for giving this (technical) information together with all those beautiful photos from the past!!!! It would be interesting to see a similar video concerning CD and SACD/Hi-Res download production. Additionally it would be fantastic if in the future the customer could buy Hi-Res downloads or SACD made right from the Original Master Tapes with as little as possible mastering steps in between (1:1 copies so to speak).

[@Lex-nf1gp]

Ich besitze alle bisher eschienenen Titel aus der Serie und bin begeistert - (neben der Musik) zunächst natürlich von der grandiosen Klangqualität aller LP's, dann aber auch von deren hoher Pressqualität und nicht zuletzt der außerordentlichen Güte der Cover (Druck-, Material- und Fertigungsqualität). Angesichts des betriebenen Aufwands erscheinen die aufgerufenen Preise m. E. als durchweg gerechtfertigt. Ich freue mich jedenfalls bereits jetzt schon auf die für Anfang Januar angekündigten Titel!

[@AngeloKellyOfficial]

Amazing Video. Amazing work!

[@RodrigoLobosChile]

I assume it makes sense to release them on SACD, DSD?

[@gabrielperez3253]

Gracias. Por este material tan interesante y valioso. Espero muchas más de este tipo

[@johnz4860]

Will these albums come out on SACD? If this weren't the case, it would be inexcusable.

[@volpedo2000]

True. But maybe just riding the vinyl renaissance.

[@fheller347]

Thank you for your great work. They sound truly fantastic.

[@Vinyl-Go-Pilates_Reiner]

Thank you so much for your incredible efforts. So far I have bought the Sacre (unbelievable) and the Requiem (just arrived today).

[@TheSchuchter]

Great information, great job!

[@nin74]

I love quality care like this. Keep up the awesome work.

[@DGinterviews]

Thanks!

[@Boatzerama]

Hopefully you will press more Original Source as most seem to be sold out.

[@geraldb4109]

Fantastically informative video! Thank you, Deutsche Grammophon! It would be so nice if other labels were as transparent about their releases. I have 3 of the first batch and they are indeed top notch (although my copy of the Mahler has some surface noise and quite a few noisy ticks; the others are dead quiet). As Rodrigo asks, might we see these remixes on DSD (downloads or SACD)? I gather Rainer Maillard has worked on some SACD titles for Universal Music Japan, which may be remixes; however, the spars code says ADD, so maybe not the process as used here. I listen to both formats, and for the longer works, I tend to prefer DSD, for convenience, if the sound is close. I would love to hear how these new mixes sound in that format (especially 2x DSD or higher!).

[@jonathanparle8429]

I hope they will do a reprint of this new series since the first runs go into sold out status very quickly. There are quite possibly a lot of people in my situation who have been building vinyl re-issue collections over the last couple of decades but the cost of living crisis has caused me to put further acquisitions on hold. But this is hopefully not a permanent situation though unfortunately it has coincided precisely with the release of this series (and I am in Victoria, Australia where the economy had the biggest downturn in the world). I am as keen to get hold of many of these just like I was when I bought Decca, Mercury and RCA reissues. So please consider this. Thank you.

[@jeromeglick]

Thank you for explaining the process with such care and detail. In the audio excerpt played at 11:07, the OSS version appears to have more hall reverb than the 1970s version. Perhaps you have increased the ratio of the back channels to the front channels to achieve this. In the '70s were these 4-track masters intended to also be released on quadraphonic LPs (i.e. Sansui QS or Columbia SQ formats)?

[@Waitaminutesilly]

Love them so far. I noticed some releases have limited edition numbers and some don't. Can you please explain why?

[@joseluisbedmar-bg1fu]

Y no saldrán en Sacd, blu ray audio o cd?

[@andrevital8920]

Please, was Kubelik's Lohengrin also a 4-track recording

[@eliasmodernell3348]

Hi. What headphones set do the quality control pp use? I would like to get a pair and listen to the records that way. Thanks

[@grobifrank1976]

I have been involved with DG recordings for many years now. What I don't understand: Why do the original pressings from the 70s sound so ‘modest’, while the 60s recordings (e.g. Tchaikovsky with Mavrinskij) sound so audiophile? What went wrong for you in the 70s? Nobody wants to hear the 70s recordings of DG while the earlier ones with "big tulip" are really genious... Would you please offer some information about this?

[@kaswit007]

bring more works

[@driesanalog4187]

Why doesn't DG do "old style" recording (but done digital with 4-6 microphones) in 2024 - when so many people like the sound of it?

[@Gothenburgpiano]

When will be first release?

[@tomkent4656]

Would it not have been possible to send overseas factories duplicate metalwork instead of dupe master tapes?

[@csxlab]

Amazing... ME want :D

[@larry77grant43]

The whole technical part for the search for the highest quality is very interesting, however, this in the face of an excellent catalog but, as we well know, limited in dynamics and with often compressed sounds, this is a kind way of relaunching a large abused catalog for large-scale consumption needs and therefore of numbers ... the Japanese have set the standard if only in respect of orchestral dynamics and harmonic decay times, just listen to any print from the 60s/70s to understand that they have not fallen into this economic trap! I really appreciate the effort and I'm curious to hear the result!

[@grayhalf1854]

And yet the collectors' market is still fixated on the very earliest vinyl stereo pressings from the late-50s / mid-60s...

[@LPCLASSICAL]

And original DG issues are still not fetching much compared with early Decca and HMVs.

[@SamWesting]

Understand that the gimmick of this Original Source series was going direct-to-disc from these 1970s quadraphonic tapes. Lot of technical talk to hype these reissues as the “best sounding DG ever.” Let your ears be the final judge.

[@chrisguygeezer]

Why were the originals even allowed release, with such poor audio quality?

[@LPCLASSICAL]

the quality is not poor. On decent equipment the old issues - even the English pressings - sound good. Just these new issues sound better. Some quality was compromised - as they said - a safety net to take into account differences in playback equipment etc. They did not want styli jumping out of grooves.

[@CANKRAFTWERK]

Dabei hätte direkt ein 24bit 192 khz für Quoobuz erstellt werden können

[@BubbaBigDude]

They seriously need to LOWER THE PRICES of these vinyl records, not everyone is rich enough to afford them!!

[@tomkent4656]

Guess the few pressing plants today can charge a premium!

[@RichTeer]

I guess it’s subjective, but they’re not THAT expensive. The series is aimed at audiophiles who, generally speaking, are prepared to pay a premium price for a premium product.

[@analoguecity3454]

You get what you pay for, as you know , poor people don't always get to enjoy everything someone with a bigger bank account does! It's a fact of life! Your not getting something good for nothing in this world, you should be old enough to know that by now! I'm on a fixed income also, but I find a way! These people go far beyond what ordinary companies do!

[@analoguecity3454]

​@@tomkent4656there are more plants than you think, there's more brand new ones opening up everyday! Where are you, stuck in the early 2000s! 😅

[@chrisguygeezer]

DG has never been recognised for it's sound quality, as it has the performances of the artists. Compared to similar vintage EMI, Colombia, Mercury, RCA Living Stereo, and Decca, they pale in comparison.

[@LPCLASSICAL]

true. What were Decca so obviously doing right that DG were doing wrong? DGs were always regarded by collectors as dull sound - lower even than Philips. But DG had an amazing list of artists.

[@Gerta789]

Thanks for great efforts, but , yes , there is a but … I was never happy with DG records. The best pressings IMHO are French prestige series. I have huge expectations for new source releases . Finally I got my copy of Stravinsky Весна Священная. It is second press. Please let us know is this second press is good as the first one? After some moments of listening I realized is something is wrong. The sound is kind of dead. Dynamics.? No they are much better then DG records, HF, LF are excellent as well. What I’m I missing? The sound is not dead like digital. After couple of hours after I finished listening I understood. There is no reverberations. That why the sound is dead for me. Sorry guys, no more DG. Not recommended.

[@tinear2355]

Omitting ~2 tape-generations before cutting would bring benefits; but another improvement would've (imo) derived from using DMM (direct metal mastering) instead of some old cutting-gear DG had to hand. During the 80's (DG using diamond cutter styli) CHANDOS's digital masters (have around 50 LPs) were far-superior when cut/pressed by Teldec/DMM - compared to DG's efforts. EMI's digital LP's, when they began DMM mastering, were also noticeably better (clarity/articulation/attack, etc). These Original Source LP's seem to be offered as 'louder':- does that mean compression has been applied - or are peak-velocities no higher than would've been found on non-DG LP's, years back? I'm not in the market in any event - having vast-hundreds from a near 40 year pressing period!

[@hmhparis1904]

How uninteresting this is ! Where is musical spirit in this patchworking ?

[@TheSchuchter]

The musical spirit is cut into vinyl and the result is audible and noticeable. Good craftsmanship also requires expertise. What a great thing that there are people with technical expertise and musicality who can also convey this in a foreign language.