Not to be confused with a well-known audio console manufacturer, Lawo Classics is a specialist recording label from Norway, taking its title from owners Vegard LAndaas and Thomas WOlden – who have recently completed their most ambitious recordings to date.

Mahler’s First Symphony with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by new Chief Conductor Vasily Petrenko at Oslo Konserthus in front of a sell-out audience of 1,400. Merging Technologies Pyramix and Horus Networked Audio Converters allowed Wolden to capture 48 tracks of DXD (24-bit/352.8kHz) for SACD release and Hi-Res Download.

Two Horus converters were used, the first handled the suspended microphones and the second was placed on-stage to take the feeds from the microphones in the orchestra. In the control room, Pyramix with MassCore was controlled by an Avid MC Control and MC Mix. A DirectOut Producer.com handled the monitoring, red light, talkback and headphones with a custom-built Madi sampling rate converter to convert from 352.8kHz to 176.4kHz. The monitoring was provided by Sennheiser HD800 headphones and PSI A21 active loudspeakers.

Microphones were a combination of Neumann, Schoeps and Sennheiser, with three Neumann TLM50 omnis on a Grace Design Decca Tree.

‘We were absolutely amazed by the sound we heard from Horus,’ says Wolden. ‘Compared with other systems we have used, the dynamic reproduction was so detailed. It was free of any harmonic distortion and the extremely low noise floor was very noticeable on the pianissimo sections.’

‘This transparency coupled with the advantages of recording in DXD achieved the result we were dreaming of,’ adds Landaas. ‘Memorable performances demand this level of quality, and Merging has provided the tools again.’