On 05/09/06, David Lennick wrote:Wasn't the first LP from digital originals an Odyssey release (c. 1978) of flute sonatas, recorded in Japan a couple of years earlier? I remember that info being proclaimed on the jacket. Telemann flute sonatas or trio sonatas or something along those lines.
Gawd those first "Digital!" lps from Angel, London and DGG were ghastly..Angel's were also low level, not what we needed in those days of lousy vinyl.
A Decca two LP set of the 1979 Vienna New Year's Day concert was advertised as being the first digital release in the UK.
Reviewers were generally impressed but commented on hardness and shrillness in the upper strings.
The first public demo of the Philips CD was given early in 1979, the material on the disc deriving from analog tapes. They thought it would be available in the shops "before the mid 80s".
I remember some time in the 70s visiting a lab in Cambridge belonging to PA Consultants, where they were doing R & D on the compact disc for Philips.
Regards
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Don Cox
doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx