US specialist recording outfit Five/Four Productions has claimed the world’s highest resolution audio recording – Joseph Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis (Nelson Mass) and Symphony No. 102 in B flat major, with Martin Pearlman and the Boston Baroque.

Five/Four Recording Producer Thomas Moore, Recording Engineer Robert Friedrich, and Assistant Engineer Ian Dobie travelled to Worcester, Massachusetts for the recording, which took place at the Mechanics Hall where they worked with staff from Merging Technologies. Product Specialist Dennis Gaines of Independent Audio from Portland, Maine represented Merging Technologies at the recording sessions and provided technical support.

Merging developed the technology in its Pyramix system to capture ultra-high resolution 11.2MHz 1-bit Direct Stream Digital technology. Five/Four Productions sees this recording as a quantum leap in high resolution recording technology that promises to deliver ‘the most realistic sound reproduction to date’. The 11.2MHz Direct Stream Digital technology uses a 1-bit sampling – giving 256 times the temporal resolution of CD.

The transmission of many high-resolution audio channels is possible using the Ravenna Audio-over-IP networking technology employed by Merging’s Horus and Pyramix systems. Multiple audio streams plus control information is connected with a single Cat5e/6 cable and uses standard network components.

‘Five/Four strives to capture sound in the most natural and realistic manner that reproduces pure and true,’ Moore says. ‘To be able to merge the sounds of period instruments and singers with this very modern technology is the perfect way for us to deliver the most realistic audio experience, just as if you were standing with the performers among you.’

‘Recording to Direct Stream Digital is a must for us to deliver the most revealing and accurate sound,’ Friedrich adds. ‘Taking DSD from 2.8MHz to 11.2MHz doesn’t just step it up to the next level, it catapults it…’

‘I am excited that Boston Baroque could be part of this landmark recording,’ says Martin Pearlman. ‘Capturing the detailed nuances and transparency of our period instruments has always been important to us, and now it is possible on a higher level than ever before.’

This recording marks Five/Four’s dedication to promoting leading-edge recording technology to deliver the highest resolution recordings. The recording is tentatively planned for release in October 2013 on the Linn Records label.