Karl Miller asks:

>...do some of you find that some labels/engineers capture a more realistic
>sound than others or is that important?

I want to answer the question, but don't feel comfortable with the term
"realistic sound".  It's not likely that we all have the same notion of
what constitutes realistic sound, and a real instrument will not sound
the same in all environments.

With that out of the way, I prefer a rather dry and clinical sound that
doesn't interfere with the instrument.  For keyboard recordings, I find
that the major conglomerates and independents throw in more wetness and
reverberation than ideal; it's the tiny companies that give me the best
sound with much less intervention than the majors.

What I want from orchestral recordings is a nice bloom to the orchestra,
a quality often lacking from Naxos, CPO, and a few other companies.  I
do like Hyperion's orchestral sound.

Don Satz
[log in to unmask]