Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/192kHz/24-bit AIFF/ALAC/FLAC/WAV, Chesky Records (supplied by www.hdtracks.com)

David Chesky is committed to fostering music education in young children and composed The Zephrytine as a fantasy ballet. The booklet PDF includes the narrative – in which a young boy meets a magical creature and travels to a utopian world where people are of all colours and ice cream grows on trees – along with vibrant illustrations by artist Ângela Vieira. Chesky’s musical language is colourful and engaging, combining Prokofiev-like sections with Latin influences to create varying moods. The liner notes tell us the orchestra was recorded using a solitary Neumann KU-100 binaural head and a Mytek ADC at 24-bit/192kHz. You don’t even have to close your eyes to be transported to the concert hall. It’s not particularly intimate, but the sound is gloriously true to life and the dynamics spectacular. JB

Sound Quality: 90%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

Recorded with bags of headroom to spare (a full orchestral flourish from track 11 is illustrated above) the practical musical bandwidth does not significantly exceed that possible from a 48kHz render. (96kHz version tested here.) PM