Pushing the aural envelope with high-res audio evangelist Steven Wilson

Originally posted March 2015

By Mike Mettler:

“96/24 — that’s my bottom line these days, absolutely.”

Steven Wilson is standing firm. The once and future guru of high-resolution recording and surround-sound mixing (he’s been behind the board to forge 5.1 wonders for everyone from Yes to Tears for Fears) feels everyone should be recording (and listening) at the 96-kilohertz/24-bit standard, and won’t stand for compromise. “Even if the difference is 0.1 percent better, why wouldn’t you do it?” he asks. “There is information in those tracks that’s missing when you listen to a CD.”

Setting new standards and pushing the aural envelope all feed into the approach Wilson took when recording his fourth solo album, Hand. Cannot. Erase. (kScope), out today in a variety of formats. The Blu-ray edition includes an expansive surround-sound mix in 96/24 that once again raises the bar for what can be accomplished in 5.1. From the funk-meets-ELP, genre-bending blasts of Home Invasion to the all-channel, all-cylinders-firing cauldron of glorious noise on Ancestral to the climactic harmonic convergence of Happy Returns, Wilson shows no signs of curbing his creative muse anytime soon — if ever.

Digital Trends connected across the pond with Wilson, 47, to discuss his staunch 96/24 stance, the critical difference between “prog” and “progressive,” and his surround-sound mixing philosophy. Hand. Cannot. Erase. Excellence.

Digital Trends: Let’s get right to it. Why do you consider high-resolution 96/24 as your baseline for recording these days?

Steven Wilson: Well, here’s the thing: I don’t ......

Continues HERE