Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song: Audio Fidelity Hybrid Stereo SACD (November 2015)

[bmoura]

Today Audio Fidelity announced that it will be releasing Nat King Cole's classic album The Christmas Song as a Hybrid Stereo SACD in November in time for the Christmas holidays.

Here's the announcement from Marshall Blonstein at Audio Fidelity:



Coming Soon
November 13th , 2015!

Nat King Cole
"The Christmas Song"
Hybrid SACD
AFZ 225 ~ UPC 780014222529 ~ SRP $29.99

~~~~~~~~

An all-time holiday classic from one of the greats!

The Christmas Song is the most performed Christmas song of all time. Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song was originally released in 1960 and is one of the best selling Christmas albums of all time. This is the first time The Christmas Song will be on Hybrid SACD. Hearing "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire" in high resolution will be a musical experience.

The title track, beautifully sung to an accompaniment of piano and strings, has always been Cole's biggest Christmas hit and possibly his most widely heard record.

There are other superb tracks including a stirring rendition of "Adeste Fideles" in the original Latin and "O Holy Night", with a 27-string orchestra, "Deck the Halls", "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing", "Away in a Manger", "Joy to the World", "Silent Night" and "O Tannenbaum" (in its original German language).

This is a true masterwork, traditional and restrained. Cole's album honors the season and its message.


Enjoy the music!!!
Marshall Blonstein

 

[rtbluray]

Hey Brian, are there any other Multichannel SACDs planned for release this year besides "Sly", or do we have to wait until next year for more Multichannel titles to be released?

(You don't need to specifically say what the titles are if you can't. Just more of a general question to help me with budgeting for the remainder of the year.)

 

[mdmost]

Will definitely have to get this so my Charlie Brown Christmas SACD has a companion at that time of the year.

 

[bmoura]

Hey Brian, are there any other Multichannel SACDs planned for release this year besides "Sly", or do we have to wait until next year for more Multichannel titles to be released?
(You don't need to specifically say what the titles are if you can't. Just more of a general question to help me with budgeting for the remainder of the year.)

There are more Multichannel SACDs planned by Audio Fidelity.
It's not clear yet whether they will make it to the finish line by year's end.

Stay tuned....

 

[kkfan]

Any idea who mastered the album?

 

[jsulzinger]

Is it three-channel or just stereo?

 

[cupboy]

I don't need to order one. I'll get it anyway.

 

[GOS]

Instant buy for me...always one of my favorites.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bmoura]

Any idea who mastered the album?

The upcoming Hybrid Stereo SACD was remixed and remastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, the same team that did the Nat King Cole SACD Remastered Series on Analogue Productions.
This one should be another stellar SACD release.

 

[inquadwetrust]

Ordered!

But 'The Christmas Song' is on the 'The Nat King Cole Story' SACD set I have; I was wondering why the cut sheet pushes this line "This is the first time The Christmas Song will be on Hybrid SACD".

Is this version somehow different?

 

[jsulzinger]

All songs on the 'The Nat King Cole Story' are rerecordings.

 

[bmoura]

All songs on the 'The Nat King Cole Story' are rerecordings.

The tracks on The Nat King Cole Story are remixed and remastered from the original Capitol Analog Master Tapes by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray.
Similar to the other SACDs from Nat King Cole in that series.

The detail from the Acoustic Sounds web site:

"Using the original first generation 2-track and 3-track session tapes from Capitol's vaults and custom headstacks, console and monitoring chain installed at AcousTech specially for these releases, mastering engineers Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman along with DSD specialist Gus Skinas bring you an entirely incomparable SACD experience. For this deluxe 2-disc hybrid SACD set, the album is featured in stereo on the standard resolution CD layer and high resolution stereo DSD layer, while the DSD multi-channel layer features high resolution 3-channel sound for all tracks recorded in 3-channels (all but 3 songs).

There are 38 songs in this collection. Of those, three are the same recordings included on other Analogue Productions Nat "King" Cole reissues. "Stardust" (track 28) is the same version included on Love Is The Thing. "St. Louis Blues" (track 30) is the same version included on the album of that title. And "Paradise" (track 33) is the same version included on The Very Thought Of You. Three more songs - "Sweet Lorraine," "It's Only A Paper Moon" and "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" - are songs that appear on After Midnight, however these versions are stereo re-recordings of the original arrangements from the 1940s. Three of these tracks are stereo only: "Orange Colored Sky" (track 11), "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep" (track 34) and "Ay, Cosita Linda" (track 35)."

http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/6..._Nat_King_Cole_Story-Hybrid_Multichannel_SACD

 

[sf49erjohn]

Today Audio Fidelity announced that it will be releasing Nat King Cole's classic album The Christmas Song as a Hybrid Stereo SACD in November in time for the Christmas holidays.
Here's the announcement from Marshall Blonstein at Audio Fidelity:

View attachment 21788

Coming Soon
November 13th , 2015!

Nat King Cole
"The Christmas Song"
Hybrid SACD
AFZ 225 ~ UPC 780014222529 ~ SRP $29.99

~~~~~~~~

An all-time holiday classic from one of the greats!

The Christmas Song is the most performed Christmas song of all time. Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song was originally released in 1960 and is one of the best selling Christmas albums of all time. This is the first time The Christmas Song will be on Hybrid SACD. Hearing "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire" in high resolution will be a musical experience.

The title track, beautifully sung to an accompaniment of piano and strings, has always been Cole's biggest Christmas hit and possibly his most widely heard record.

There are other superb tracks including a stirring rendition of "Adeste Fideles" in the original Latin and "O Holy Night", with a 27-string orchestra, "Deck the Halls", "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing", "Away in a Manger", "Joy to the World", "Silent Night" and "O Tannenbaum" (in its original German language).

This is a true masterwork, traditional and restrained. Cole's album honors the season and its message.


Enjoy the music!!!
Marshall Blonstein

I am on the fence on this disc and haven't decided to preorder yet. I really dislike and have little interest in a XMAS music SACD for the most part. On the other hand I respect the work of Nat King Cole and really like the previous 11 AF SACDs (Let It Snow is not one of them) I have purchased. They are great sounding MC discs and I am grateful AF has made them available.

Getting "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire" in high resolution by the iconic NKC is one reason I may bite. Will wait and see what the lowest price is before deciding. Hello Mr. Eastwood?

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I am on the fence on this disc and haven't decided to preorder yet. I really dislike and have little interest in a XMAS music SACD for the most part. On the other hand I respect the work of Nat King Cole and really like the previous 11 AF SACDs (Let It Snow is not one of them) I have purchased. They are great sounding MC discs and I am grateful AF has made them available.

Getting "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire" in high resolution by the iconic NKC is one reason I may bite. Will wait and see what the lowest price is before deciding. Hello Mr. Eastwood?

It's early....but so far this is the best price...it might be wise to hold out for a 10% discount sale on that site..

 

[bmoura]

Ordered!

But 'The Christmas Song' is on the 'The Nat King Cole Story' SACD set I have; I was wondering why the cut sheet pushes this line "This is the first time The Christmas Song will be on Hybrid SACD".

Is this version somehow different?

True. I brought your point to Audio Fidelity's attention today.

 

[bmoura]

Is it three-channel or just stereo?

Stereo SACD and Stereo CD. No 3 Channel Stereo SACD tracks.

 

[cupboy]

The Christmas Song is 3-channel on the Nat King Cole Story, disk 1, track 6.

 

[ArmyOfQuad]

Would be nice if they could make it a more complete disc. My current CD is 20 tracks, as enticing as this is, the smaller track listing makes it harder to justify. Usually when I'm listening to Christmas music, it's in the background, and in that case I'll reach for the disc with more tracks on it. Any way this disc could be filled out? If you could at least get the other 3 recordings of The Christmas Song thrown on as bonus tracks, that would make it a definite purchase for me.

 

[cupboy]

Check out this odd comment I found on another forum: "I'm going to look at it as a positive sign that Capitol has loosened its grip on this particular title. As with other recordings that have received audiophile treatment, if it sells well enough, perhaps MFSL can take a run at it and at getting the master tapes for their treatment once AF's license expires."

 

[steelydave]

I think maybe it was Tad who said it a while back, but the problem that reissue labels that license content face is that there are different licensing rates for whole albums and individual tracks or compilations. As soon as you add any bonus tracks to an album, it's considered a compilation and not only do you have to pay the extra money for licensing the bonus tracks but the cost of licensing the original album goes up as well. I can only assume this pushes licensing costs in to the realm of unprofitable for AF as none of their SACDs have bonus tracks, even when previous versions have had them like the George Benson 'Breezin' 5.1 disc for example.