About the "2L-TWBAS 2012 Sampler" Hi-Resolution Demo

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Note: Purchase the 2L-TWBAS 2012 Sampler through this link.

The SoundStage! Network has partnered with Morten Lindberg’s 2L Records to offer the TWBAS 2012 Hi-Rez Demo (2L-TWBAS-2012), a collection of music available in the following resolutions: 16-bit/44.1kHz, 24/88.2, and 24/176.4, all in FLAC encoding. The musical selections range widely in terms of styles, but have in common inspired performances in stunning sound. You’ll enjoy each selection, and be able to use the TWBAS 2012 Hi-Rez Demo as a test of ultimate quality for audio systems of the highest fidelity. And you can enjoy some of these tracks free of charge. (See the "Yes" links in the "Try Free" column of the accompanying track list.)

To test The World’s Best Audio System 2012, I wanted the best source material I could find. The 2L recordings were perfect for the job because I had verifiable high resolution that could be tracked from the recording session to the download site. These tracks aren’t ripped from SACD or DVD-Audio discs -- they’re as close to the original masters as we can get.
. . . Jeff Fritz

2L (Lindberg Lyd) records in spacious acoustic venues: large concert halls, churches, and cathedrals. This is actually where we can make the most intimate recordings. The qualities we seek in large rooms are not necessarily a big reverb, but openness due to the absence of close reflecting walls. Making an ambient and beautiful recording is the way of least resistance. Searching for the fine line between direct contact and spaciousness -- that’s the real challenge! A really good recording should be able to bodily move the listener. This core quality of audio production is made by choosing the right venue for the repertoire, and balancing the image in the placement of microphones and musicians relative to each other in that venue. There is no method available today to reproduce the exact perception of attending a live performance. That leaves us with the art of illusion in the recording of music. As engineers and producers, we need to do exactly the same as any good musician: interpret the music and the composer’s intentions and adapt to the medium where we perform.
. . . Morten Lindberg, Balance Engineer and Recording Producer, 2L

Track 1

Vivaldi: Recitative and Aria, "Che giova il sospirar," RV679
Tone Wik, soprano; Barokkanerne
Try for free at 2L
What to listen for: Bright sound of period instruments; very articulate and energetic; string texture and articulation

Track 2

Eugène Bozza: Children’s Overture
Norwegian Armed Forces Staff Band
What to listen for: Dynamic range; sense of space; brass and woodwind timbres; percussion sounds; impact; pace, rhythm, and timing

The Norwegian Armed Forces Staff Band

Track 3

Anonymous: Crux Fidelis
Alexander M. Schweitzer, Consortium Vocale Oslo
What to listen for: Male voices blending in a naturally reverberant space

Track 4

Traditional: Bansull fra Telemark
Kjetil Almenning, Ensemble 96
What to listen for: Blending of vocal harmonies; positions of singers

Track 5

BNB: Et minne dypt
Kirsten B. Berg, Hulda Johansen
What to listen for: Natural space between performers; true violin timbre; haunting female vocals

Track 6

Gjermund Larsen: Krambupolka
Gjermund Larsen, Trondheim Soloists
What to listen for: Transient attack; speed and articulation

Track 7

Ole Bull: Allegro affetuoso (La Notte) from Concerto Fantastico
Annar Folleso, violin; Ole Kristian Ruud, Norwegian Radio Orchestra
Try for free at 2L
What to listen for: Interaction of full orchestra with a reverberant hall; contrast of solo violin with orchestra; wide dynamic range

Track 8

Trondheim Soloists, Øyvind Gimse, Geir Inge Lotsberg, Anders Nilsson
Try for free at 2L
What to listen for: Pizzicato transients

Track 9

Ola Gjeilo: Dorisk
Ola Gjeilo, piano
What to listen for: Close microphone technique brings the piano into your room; weighty bass, sparkling highs, midband purity

Track 10

Emilia Amper: Kapten Kapsyl
Trondheim Soloists
Try for free at 2L
What to listen for: Clacking sound of the Nyckelharpa’s keys

Track 11

Nordheim: Colorazione
Cikada Duo
What to listen for: Variety of percussion sounds; complexity and sparseness; sense of space and imaging

Track 12

Traditional: Havard Hedde
Vintermåne
What to listen for: Close microphone technique brings the female voice and other instruments to life in your room

Track 13

Fred Jonny Berg: Warning Zero
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Philharmonia Orchestra
What to listen for: Full orchestra; wide soundstage; large dynamic range; all parts are distinct, even in loud passages; midbass texture

Track 14

Ola Gjeilo: "North Country II"
Ola Gjeilo, piano
Try for free at 2L
What to listen for: Tonal density of piano; truthfulness of timbre

Track 15

Shchedrin: Basso Ostinato from Polyphonic Pieces for Piano
Joachim Kjelsaas Kwetzinsky, piano
What to listen for: Piano attack and dynamics

Track 16

Beethoven: Allegro con Variazioni from String Quartet No.10 in E-flat Major, Op.74, "Harp"
Engegard Quartet
Try for free at 2L
What to listen for: Texture of bow against string

Track 17

Gerald Finzi: "Come Away, Death"
Marianne Beate Kielland, mezzo-soprano; Sergej Osadchuk, piano
Try for free at 2L
What to listen for: Natural miking; balance of voice and piano; each intake of breath is clearly audible, thus adding to the intimacy

Track 18

Sigmund Groven: "Aria"
Sigmund Groven, harmonica; Iver Kleive, pipe organ
What to listen for: Contrast of organ-pipe and harmonica-reed timbres

The church where "Aria" was recorded

Track 19

Mozart: Allegro from Violin Concerto No.4 in D Major, K.218
Marianne Thorsen, violin; Trondheim Soloists
Try for free at 2L
What to listen for: High-frequency extension; delicacy of violin in the cadenza; excellent low-level detail and treble dynamics

Track 20

Arild Sandvold: Orgelimprovisata Deilig er Jorden
Kåre Nordstoga, pipe organ
Try for free at 2L
What to listen for: Interaction of organ and church acoustic; variety of timbres from different ranks of pipes; bass sustain and depth

Track 21

Paul Simon: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Extended Version)
Iver Kleive, pipe organ
What to listen for: Sense of acoustic space, air, and depth of soundstage; bass sustain

Note: Purchase the 2L-TWBAS 2012 Sampler through this link.