MULTICHANNEL / SURROUND SOUND Music

[Zing]

Kazaam's going to need his own thread too.

 

[PaulyT]

I've got my "Jazz at the Pawnshop" SACD set, but haven't had time to listen yet... :shock:

 

[Zing]

I've got my "Jazz at the Pawnshop" SACD set, but haven't had time to listen yet... :shock:

Well thank you so much for that useful and insightful post. I may not be able to sleep tonight. :roll:

 

[PaulyT]

Hey, just trying to keep up in the post count race!

 

[Kazaam]

Now if only we could get some more multichannel music releases to keep the thread relevant:

Some of y'all probably already read about this one, but Rhino Handmade just released the 1970s Quadraphonic mix of Aretha Franklin's hits in DTS 96/24. I've had it for a couple of days and think it sounds fairly nice. Kinda spendy, though.

 

[Kazaam]

I've got my "Jazz at the Pawnshop" SACD set, but haven't had time to listen yet... :shock:

Is that the title? Is it surround? I could look it up, but...well... I'm just trying to keep up in the post count race!

 

[Dennie]

Re: MULTICHANNEL / SURROUND SOUND Music/ High Resolution Aud

Can we add "High Resolution Audio" to the title?

I have SACD's and DVD-A's, also some MOFI Original Master Recordings and a few XRCD's, but I rarely listen in Multi-Channel. I only have two La Scala's, so "Hi Res Stereo" is what I prefer!

Either Way, Thanks!


Dennie :music-listening:

 

[Kazaam]

Is anyone besides me feeling nostalgic for 2005? Here's a re-print of a review that I attempted to write quite some years ago. Admittedly, I recently revised some of the wording here and there; but my overall opinion is still the same: This is a very good album in surround sound! Also, as of September 2010, this one is still available for less than twenty bucks on the used market, which is nice seeing as how so many other DVD-Audio titles have skyrocketed in price.

• • • The Polyphonic Spree - "Together We're Heavy" DVD-Audio (Kazaamies = 4.75 of 5)
      
      Should I be embarrassed for liking this album? After all, that highly regarded magazine, "Entertainment Weekly", rated it as the second-worst album of 2004. What's more, the band's stage presence involves the wearing of colorful, new-age hippie clothes that look as though they could have been borrowed from a church choir---or a cult. And, to top it off, they're always so darned happy. So much so that it's all a wee bit silly.
      
      The Polyphonic Spree formed from the ashes of the 90s alt-rock group Tripping Daisy. Remaining members Tim DeLaughter, Mark Pirro, and Bryan Wakeland got together and decided the new band should go in a different direction. Rather than work within the confines of a typical rock band, the newly-created Polyphonic Spree added approximately twenty musicians and singers. Stylistically, the group self-describes themselves as a combination of rock, chamber-pop, psychedelia, and symphonic instruments. You've got some flute, trumpet, french horn, trombone, violin, harp, keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and more. What more could there possibly be? Oh, yeah. There's an entire choir, too. Though, lead vocals are handled by DeLaughter, who tends to sound like a slightly more melodic Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips.
      
      "Together We're Heavy" feels quite uplifting. And, although The Polyphonic Spree has their own unique sound which is probably closest to the Flaming Lips out of all the music that I'm currently familiar with, a Flaming Lips album this most certainly is not! Also, I sometimes hear what I feel are homages to the trumpet sounds from the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper-era. But to be honest I'm really not sure how to best describe the Spree. So be sure to check out some audio samples online before purchasing.
      
      Sonically, the surround mix doesn’t quite have the punch or the aggressiveness that I’d look for when demoing DVD-Audio to the uninitiated. But for those of us already familiar with the format it is quite a thing of beauty! Encoded at 48 kHz / 24 bits, there is a slight yet fair amount of dynamic range considering it's a pop recording. Vocals have a pleasant openness to them and they don't seem confined to any one particular speaker. Surrounds sometimes have isolated, direct-radiating instrumentation which seems out of place until the rest of the music starts playing in the other channels. So I guess it's a trade-off of sounding somewhat odd 5 percent of the time in order to have it sound wonderfully immersive and spatial 90 percent of the time. The remaining 5 percent? It's (indescribably) incredible!
      
      I do have a couple of minor complaints, though. First is in regards to bonus content. Included are two separate videos for the song, "Light & Day / Reach For The Sun", which isn't technically part of this album. (It comes from the band's debut, "The Beginning Stages Of...".) I think it's great that the videos are included on this current package because it is easily the band’s catchiest song. Unfortunately, the song is only available in stereo. Another nitpicking gripe of mine is that the album can get a little 'samey' sounding, at least initially.
      
      Still, this release has ended up sounding less silly than I originally had thought, and it is engaging enough that I can definitely see myself returning to it for at least partial listens from time to time.

And here's one of their videos off YouTube if the link still works...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHySBlLBn7E[/youtube]

EDIT: Ouch! Dark blue text on the dark gray background is hard on the eyes, ain't it? Let's try red.

 

[Botch]

Just saw that Tom Petty's Damn the Torpedoes has been released on Bluray Audio, Amazon has it on sale $10 off but still pricey at $26. Think I'll hold off on this one; I do have his Mojo release which is also Bluray Audio, sounds fantastic.

 

[Kazaam]

Ten bucks off? Frick! I finally just ordered it the other day, and paid their full price. Though, technically, someone else will be paying for it since this is my Christmas present, even though I was the one who ordered it. But still...

Edit: Never mind. Looks like the sale price is pretty close to what I paid.
(I've gotta learn how to read!!!)

 

[Botch]

Ten bucks off? Frick! I finally just ordered it the other day, and paid their full price. Though, technically, someone else will be paying for it since this is my Christmas present, even though I was the one who ordered it. But still...

Edit: Never mind. Looks like the sale price is pretty close to what I paid.
(I've gotta learn how to read!!!)

I gotta learn how to read too, it WAS only $5 off. d'Oh!!