Groundbreaking Mozart DXD recording

Press release, December 2006.

DAD converters used for groundbreaking Mozart DXD recording by Morten Lindberg and Hans Peter L'Orange from Lindberg Lyd.

The DAD engineered AD/DA converter Sphynx-2 have been used for this groundbreaking project – the first-ever recordings in the new DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition) format being made by Norwegian company Lindberg Lyd AS. DXD is a high sampling rate and multi-bit processing format that preserves the audio quality of DSD in terms of pulse response and bandwidth compared to conventional PCM, and is available to consumers in SACD format. Due to the significant improved impulse response and there by improved time correctness of the high frequency harmonics of the music, DXD is a superior format for capturing the ambience and acoustics “around” the instruments.

The recording of Mozart's violin concertos took place in Selbu Church in Norway with violinist Marianne Thorsen and the Trondheim Soloists. “For this project we wanted to optimize the recording for the multi-channel layer of the SACD-format,” explains Morten Lindberg, the project’s recording producer and balance engineer, who worked together with recording engineer Hans Peter L'Orange. “The stereo became second priority. Previously we’d tried putting up individual microphones for the 5.1 and the stereo, but we found it very hard to monitor both with equal priority.”

“The listener is placed in such a way to not only hear, but feel the presence of the players around you,” said a reviewer of the Mozart DXD recording on SA-CD.net. “The balance is quite remarkable and life-like, and truly gives you the feeling of being there. The recording quality is I believe quite the best there is in the world today."

Lindberg is among the very first companies in Europe to utilise DXD- and SACD-technology in commercial audio production. The signal path is as simple and short as it is technically advanced. With a minimal microphone approach they have optimized this Mozart recording for the multi-channel layer of the SACD-format.

The recording has been made made using DPA 130 V microphones, AD converted by the Sphynx-2, and recorded into a Merging Technologies Pyramix DAW.

Lindberg Lyd (2L) is well known in the classical recording communities. This year a recording by Lindberg Lyd are nominated for US Grammy twice in the categories “Best Surround Sound Album” and “Best Choral Performance.

This SACD can be purchased at:
http://www.2l.musiconline.no/shop/displayAlbum.asp?id=31396

For details about DXD and impulse response please read:
http://www.digitalaudio.dk/technical_papers/axion/dxd%20Resolution%20v3.5.pdf

For details about the minimal microphone approach please read:
http://www.dpamicrophones.com/page.php?PID=1679&backid=110&LANG=3