"A 40 CD overview of some of the most sonically-spectacular classical and film soundtrack albums ever made. With 11 albums enjoying their first international CD release, Decca here celebrates a unique chapter in its own engineering history. Created in 1961, Phase 4 used the then-new multi-mixing techniques to deliver albums of maximum immediacy, clarity of instrumentation and breadth of dynamic range. 200 classical releases were eventually released on this label, with the first major classical releases 50 years ago in 1964. This set shows Phase 4 in its prime – big classical works requiring large scale orchestras, ripe for the display of spectacular sound engineering feats. IMMEDIACY OF SOUND & A WIDE SOUND SPECTRUM Using Decca’s 20-channel mixing desk, the label aimed to deliver an immediacy of sound which new recording and the LP techniques permitted, and thus give listeners an experience they would not obtain anywhere else either in the concert hall or from other labels. Phase 4 vividly expanded the scope and spectrum of recorded sound. THE TECHNOLOGY A 4 track, 20 channel console mixer built especially by Decca. Each channel (recorded independently) of the console had equalisation and reverb/echo (electronic or chamber), and each channel was assignable to any of the 4 tracks of an Ampex tape recorder. For the early to mid-sixties this was state-of-the-art.