Nimbus Records


_	The current catalog lists over 450 recordings (Including Prima
	Voice label and other historical recordings.) for a listing of current
	titles, see the web site athttp://www.nimbus.ltd.uk/nrl/index.html

*	It has been reported that all Nimbus recordings are ambisonic
	UHJ encoded.This has turned out to be incorrect. In the mid to
	late '70's during the height of the Quadraphonic era, Nimbus
	released LP's in the Sansui QS matrix format (see the Classical
	Quadraphonic Discography). 
	Those record numbers are NIM-2101 (QS),NIM-2102 (QS),NIM-2106
	(QS),NIM-2107,NIM-2110 (QS),NIM-2109 (QS) &  NIM-2111 (QS)
	A recent question came up about NIM-2125 if it was quad or 
	Ambisonic. Caractacus Downes had these comments:

Up until the late 1970s Nimbus recordings were made to (1 inch 15 ips)
4 channel tape in A-format - at least that's what we called it.  They
were recorded either with a pair of Neumann SM69s or a single Neumann
QM69, in either case arranged so that a mic capsule points at LF, Rf,
LB, RB. The LPs would have been cut from the four track master, going
through whichever HJ / UHJ matrixing box we were using at the time.

Later CD releases were made using a Dr. Halliday special brown box, 
which converted from A-format to (3 channel) B-format, and then either
a Calrec or Audio & Design UHJ encoder.

I think there were some releases in other matrixed formats, but I don't
know if they were experimental or normal commercial releases.

Nimbus 2125 would have been a standard HJ / UHJ release.

In the late 1970s we started to record B-format using a Mk. 3 and later a
Mk. 4 soundfield (1/2 inch 30 ips).  As soon as digital recording was
available in the early 1980s we recorded digital two channel UHJ.
	
_	A few classical titles showed up in storeS with no mention of
	Ambisonic UHJ encoding, this worried some folks that Nimbus might
	have abandoned the format. This prompted me to inquire with Nimbus
	the status of UHJ and their recordings. This is the response I
	received.


With a couple of exceptions, all of our recordings are UHJ encoded
Ambisonics.  We have been using essentially the same recording technique
for almost thirty years now - a single microphone going to a home made
gain control box which outputs B-format.  Until we started recording
digitally the direct output from the microphone was recorded onto 4
track analogue tape, usually 1/2" or 1".  From when we switched to
digital, some time around 1980, we recorded the UHJ only.  Now we are
starting to record B-format again.

We have used several different microphones over the years.  We have used
a pair of Neumann SM69s, then a Neumann QM69 (limited edition quad
version of the SM69), then our own B-format mic. combining two Shoeps
figure-of-eights and a B&K omni, which we still use today.

Our recordings are made without any compression, limiting or
equalisation - the trick is to find the right musicians, the right hall
and the right place to put the microphone.

The exceptions to all of this are any recordings we have have licensed
over the years (there was a Rakhmaninov Vespers we put out a couple of
years ago which we did not record ourselves), and perhaps one or two of
the World music recordings.  Our World Music producer frequently used a
Calrec Soundfield Microphone for his location recordings.  Nimbus does
not own any battery-powered Ambisonic encoders, so location recordings,
often made way out in the countryside without access to an electricity
supply, had to made in this way.  This includes some of the recordings
made in Brazil.  Most of the World Music catalogue is recorded in UHJ
encoded ambisonic, as the majority of the recordings were made either in
our own studios or in locations where electricity was in much more
plentiful supply.
the rest of the catalogue, includingthe Prima Voice and Grand
Piano series, are all UHJ encoded.

-----

-	Nimbus Released a CD with 16 tracks thru dealers in '91
	for the Mitsubishi DA-P7000. A home theater system with
	a digital Ambisonic decoder. The CD contains some, but
	not all of the same tracks as the sampler listed below
	released by nimbus that same year  NI 1417 ('91)

-	A Nimbus CD Sampler, is a compilation of Nimbus tracks.
	It comes with excerpts from critics & album covers. It also
	has a schematic of the performance space detailing the 
	location of the microphone and performers as well as a 
	color photograph of the hall so one can visualize what one
	is hearing. On one track that was recorded in a night club,
	the positions of the audience members are actually
	denoted. The disc notes which mikes were used for each
	recording NI 1418 ('91)
-----

Nimbus Music Video Discs

Playable on DVD-Video and DVD-Audio players. On a DVD-Video player the
first menu will present you with a choice of two audio streams - two 
channel (UHJ encoded) PCM, which is equivalent to CD-Audio, or four
channel DTS. If you have a Surround Sound playback system including a DTS
decoder you should choose the DTS option. Otherwise you should choose the
2 channel version. You can switch between streams during playback using the
Audio button on your remote control.

On a DVD-Audio player there are no menus - the disc behaves in a similar way
to a CD. There is only one audio stream available on DVD-Audio players - 
4 channel MLP. All DVD-Audio players are capable of decoding MLP. If your
DVD-Audio system is configured with only two speakers you will hear a downmix
derived from the four channel version, which is different from the two channel
(UHJ encoded) version available as part of the DVD-Video area of the disc.

The four channels in the DTS and MLP streams have been derived from the
original recording masters using specially optimised Ambisonic decoding
software. The four channels are front left and right, and back left and right.
The centre and LFE channels are intentionally silent. The decoding software
assumes the speakers to be arranged in a square with the listener in the middle.
Tests have been performed using a variety of speaker and listener positions,
and this target arrangement has been chosen as a compromise that works well for
a variety of speaker positions. Material decoded in this way works particularly
well with the standard ITU speaker layout which may be recommended by your home
theatre amplifier supplier.
 
*	Surround yourself with ... Elgar. Enigma Variations, Pomp and 
	Circumstance Marches, Cockaigne, Froissart. NI 9001

*	Surround yourself with ... American Classics. Sousa - Marches
	Copland - Fanfare for the Common Man, Appalachian Spring, Rodeo
	Barber - Violin Concerto, Adagio for Strings. NI 9002

*	Surround yourself with ... Rakhmaninov. Symphony No. 2, Rhapsody on a
	Theme of Paganini, Vocalise. NI 9003

*	Surround yourself with ... Beethoven. Leonore No. 2, Symphonies 5 
	and 6. NI 9004

*	Surround yourself with ... Schubert. String Quintet in C major, String
	Quartet in A minor. NI 9005

*	Surround yourself with ... Enrico Caruso. The Essential Operatic
	Recordings - Fifty Arias and Ensembles recorded between 1905 - 1920.
	NI 9006 

*	Surround yourself with ... Paco Pena. Misa Flamenca and Flamenco Guitar
	Music of Ramón Montoya and Niño Ricardo. NI 9007 

*	Surround yourself with ... Hindustani Ragas. Hariprasad Chaurasia, flute,
	Buddhadev Das Gupta, sarod Asad Ali Khan rudra, vina, Salamat Ali Khan,
	vocal Imrat Khan, surbahar and sitar, Ram Narayan, sarangi Shivkumar
	Sharma, santur, Padma Talwalkar, vocal. NI 9008
 
*	Surround yourself with ... A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare’s play
	and Mendelssohn’s complete incidental music. NI 9009 

Read more about Nimbus Music Video Discs



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