Artist: Antal Dorati conducting the London Symphony Orchestra

Title: Stravinsky: The Firebird

Label: Mercury Living Presence

Catalog #: 470 643-2

Format: Super Audio CD (hybrid, stereo and 3 channel stereo)

Condition: Factory sealed

Special Notes: 

See our guide below for details related to high resolution music formats and check out our store for more great music. We specialize in new and used music media including rare and out of print titles. 

Payment details:

Payment is expected within 3 days of purchase unless other arrangements are made prior to bidding or buying. After 3 days, we will relist the item and you will forfeit your right to purchase.

Shipping details:

We will cover the cost of USPS 1^st class shipping. Expedited shipping, via USPS Priority Mail, is available for $8.99 for Priority Mail. State sales tax may apply depending on your location. 

International shipping is available via the eBay Global Shipping program. We hope to resume direct shipping soon, but for now this is our only option for international buyers. 

Return policy: 

We accept returns within 30 days. Sealed items may not be returned after opening. 

Guide to music formats: 

It’s easy to be confused by the wide range of modern music media formats. Here is a quick guide to those you will find in our store. Note that sound quality varies from listener to listener and depends critically on the quality and set-up of your equipment and space. This is only meant to help readers understand some of the subtle differences in products.

Compact Disc (CD): CD is the standard music format, sometimes referred to as “red book”. The vast majority of CDs are encoded using the 16-bit pulse-code modulation (PCM). It was created by Sony and Philips with the first CDs issued in the early 1980s. The music program on CDs is generally presented in stereo. If recorded in mono, the same signal is sent to both channels for mono reproduction.

Gold Compact Disc (Gold CD): Standard CDs use a coating of aluminum. Using gold rather than aluminum serves primarily to reduce corrosion over time. Large catalogs of gold CDs were released starting in the 1980s and 1990s by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL or MoFi), Dunhill Compact Classics (DCC) and later by RykoDisc (Au20 series), Audio Fidelity (AF), and others. Gold CDs can be played on any CD player.

Extended Resolution Compact Disc (XRCD): XRCD was developed by JVC (Victor Company of Japan) in the 1990s. It uses standard CD encoding, so XRCDs can be played on any CD player. XRCD strives to reduce losses from the master tape as the recording is reduced to 16-bits. XRCD2 and XRCD24 are improved versions of XRCD.

Super Audio CD (SACD): SACD is a high-resolution format. Rather than 16-bit PCM, SACDs are encoded using Direct Stream Digital (DSD) technology, also created by Sony and Philips. The first SACDs were issued in 1999. SACD represents an improvement in frequency response and dynamic range relative to CD. SACD can also include up to 6 channels. The music program on an SACD can therefore be presented in mono and/or stereo and/or multichannel. The multichannel format can be used to recreate a studio or live recording in terms of placement of instruments, etc., or to create unique re-mixes using multi-track recordings. Most multichannel SACDs are designed for 5.1 surround systems (two front, two rear, center channel, and subwoofer).

There are two primary types of SACD, as explained below:

Single Layer SACD: Single layer SACDs can only be played on a media player that has an SACD logo on it. Generally speaking, single layer SACDs were most common with early SACD releases. Some recent releases, such as the Japanese SHM SACDs, are also single layer SACDs.

Hybrid SACD: Hybrid SACDs, also called dual-layer SACDs, include two layers (stereo) or three layers (stereo and multichannel). The first layer is the standard CD layer. The second and third (if present) layers are SACD layers. The hybrid nature of the disc allows it to be played on any CD player using standard CD playback, or with an SACD-capable player for higher quality sound. If a hybrid disc includes multichannel playback, the playback on a standard CD player will be in stereo.

By considering combinations of mono, stereo, and multichannel mixes, and single layer and hybrid formats, a range of possible SACD formats are available. Examples:

Single layer stereo SACD (high resolution stereo playback requiring an SACD player, will not play on a standard CD player)

Single layer multichannel SACD (high resolution multichannel playback requiring an SACD player, will not play on a standard CD player)

Hybrid multichannel SACD (high resolution multichannel playback on an SACD player, stereo playback on a standard CD player)

Additionally, some SACDs will include three layers. These are hybrid SACDs that will play on a standard CD player (in stereo), but also include high resolution SACD layers for both stereo and multichannel playback.

Super High Material CD (SHM CD) and Super High Material SACD (SHM SACD): SHM CD and SHM SACD are common CD and SACD formats on the Japanese market. “Super High Material” refers to the disc which is made from a polycarbonate material that enhances transparency and leads to more accurate reading of the disc by the media player. SHM CDs use standard CD encoding and can be played on any CD player. SHM SACDs are single layer SACDs (see above) and therefore require a player that can read the SACD layer.

With the advent of home theater systems in the 1990s, some music was released on formats typically reserved for video. These include:

Digital Video Disc – Audio (DVD-A): DVD-A utilizes the greater storage capacity of a DVD relative to a CD to deliver high resolution music on DVD media (and playable on DVD players). Despite the name, DVD-A releases do not usually include any video content, although some may include photo galleries and other extras. The majority of DVD-A releases include multichannel options that are compatible with either (1) a player that decodes DVD Audio Discs or (2) a player that can decode the surround sound signal using Dolby Digital. There are a number of related formats, such as DTS, Digital Audio Disc (DAD), Hybrid Digital Audio Disc (HDAD), so we recommend careful attention to system compatibility when considering these formats.

Blu-ray Audio: Blu-ray Audio represents an extension of the DVD-A format to Blu-ray discs (and playable on Blu-ray players). Blu-ray Audio discs are available in both stereo and multichannel formats and usually have high-resolution relative to CD. The large capacity of blu-ray discs has also led to the release of several titles with more than 50 songs. Like their DVD counterparts, Blu-ray Audio discs do not normally contain video content, but may include photo galleries, etc.