Must Have DVD-A's/SACD's

[alupats]

Purchases Doors L.A. Woman. What a disappointment! Have to turn bass way up, the mix is horrible. Lots of back channel bouncing around. What do they think the only people listening to this are LSD poppers or what? Don't waste your money.
As far as recourses go: Iv'e bought through buydvdnow.com and have been put on their waiting list for Eagles and Elvis for over three weeks now. Just discovered a large sellection at buy.com. but they seen to lack search capability for just DVDA. If anyone has a better source with a decent search engine (by artist), please let me know. Thanks

[jimmyp58]

For those of you older dudes (like me --- 47 years young) I fired up my Chicago II DVD-A tonight for the first time in months. Wow. From the time I first got it, I fell in love with this 'album' all over again. Tonight while listening I heard something I never heard before, the flutist breathing in between notes. While somewhat eerie, it was quite stunning actually and gave a true natural sound to the recording ... as if he was actually in front of me performing his solo.

Quite awesome indeed!

Jim

[csuzor]

Just received Romero:Un Segundo Una Vida, from CDBaby... Fabulous!

http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/1513

If you like acoutic guitars and/or latin music (such as LAGQ:Latin), and you want to hear your surround system invite the artists into the room, this is album to get.

Christophe

[Pieter]

"Moll then this"?

[mtodde]

My SACD collection has grown to 75 titles!!! Not bad for a 3 month run, LOL.

For pure surround mix, DSOTM is hard to beat. I find that some discs sound better in 2 channel than multi-channel, but some of that may be my system (Rotel 1056, Denon DVD-2900, Paradigm Studio 40s, 20s & CC470).

Nicholas is right about Telarc. I don't have a single Telarc disc that has been disappointing. Chesky is another great label although their multi-channel stuff doesn have much in the way of center channel action.

Some of my favorite SACDs include:

Pink Floyd DSOTM
Ben Webster My Romance
Art Blakey Keyston 3
Holst The Planets (MFSL)
The Patricia Barber MFSLs
Pancho Sanchez Conga Blue
FONE Esoteric Audiophile Trip
John Pizzarelli My Blue Heaven

[Burke Strickland]

Roxy Music Avalon is a great album if you are a fan of music. That the SACD also happens to be an excellent multichannel production is a bonus, IMO. Regardless of which direction you are coming from on this, "Avalon" is a "must buy".

Burke

PS -- for trivia fans, and those who occasionally watch movies in addition to listening to music on their HT rigs, :>) this album contains one of the songs Bill Murray's character did a karaoke treatment of in "Lost In Translation". Bonus points if you can "name that tune". :>)

[Foxman]

I picked up the Roxy Music Avalon on SACD.

It sounds pretty good for an old album. Not as crisp with startling depth like the Diana Krall SACD I picked up, but it's still very good none the less. Once again I notice a clarity and separation not heard on the original Redbook I own.

I just got this and gave it a spin. What a great representation of Multichannel Music this disk is. I had never heard this disk before, but it is fantastic to say the least. If you are a fan of multichannel music...and I assume you are if you are reading this, then this is a must own IMO.

I rate it a 8.5 out of 10 maybe a 9

[TunerX]

DVDA's I really hate are usually silverline, or Live at the front row.. these seem to be cheap mixes er assembly line mixes.
so far my favs are Foriegner,Foriegner4,Rumors,Hotel California,Night At The Opera,LA Woman, And 3 doors down not bad... MY hopefull wish is for some old Rush mixed for DVDA

[csuzor]

One Telarc artist that has gained my attention recently is Tierney Sutton, a jazz vocalist a la Diana Krall, although sometimes a bit more uptempo and with some scat thrown in every now and again. "Dancing In The Dark" and "Something Cool" are superb IMHO, and available in multi-channel SACD (2-channel and 6-channel). These will probably be my next SACD purchases. I have not heard how effective the 6-channel mix is on these recordings, however (I'll only be using the 2-channel mix).

I have "Dancing in the Dark", http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/435 and it is a nice album but not an excellent recording. Overall clarity is a little low, and the surround channels have been mixed too heavy, so stereo is a better choice.

Christophe

[hired goon]

G'day,

Since you're on a Telarc SACD spending spree why don't you give the following a try: Jacques Loussier Trio - The Best of Play Bach (SACD-63590)

"Baroque Favourites" is my (ahem) favourite Jacques Loussier CD at the moment. Handel, Albonini, etc. I get a bit jaded by the Bach intepretations, but this one sounds fresh. This is only available on CD, however.

One Telarc artist that has gained my attention recently is Tierney Sutton, a jazz vocalist a la Diana Krall, although sometimes a bit more uptempo and with some scat thrown in every now and again. "Dancing In The Dark" and "Something Cool" are superb IMHO, and available in multi-channel SACD (2-channel and 6-channel). These will probably be my next SACD purchases. I have not heard how effective the 6-channel mix is on these recordings, however (I'll only be using the 2-channel mix).

--Geoff

[TunerX]

Thanks! I love the Car can't imagine a long drive in anything else 8)

And my DVDA's do so sound so good in it.

[aud19]

That's a very nice car with a very nice system by the way TunerX :T

[TunerX]

WTF? :rofl:

I dont understand the laughter but here is a link to some info

http://www.honda-acura.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-92752.html

[Nick M]

WTF? :rofl:

[TunerX]

Nicholas,

The disadvantage to DVD-A versus SACD is the fact that DVD-A plays in the same manner as a DVD-Video disk. You have to select chapters kinda of like you do when you select scenes on a DVA-V. You also can't select tracks in the same manner that you do with CDs or SACDs. You cant just push "5" for example on your remote and have it skip to track 5.

The playing time in between tracks is also several seconds longer on DVD-A then it is on SACD or CD. The DVD-A also doesn't start playing immediately as it does with SACD or CD. The player's display reads the disk and then displays "Top Menu" for a very long time (sometimes 30 seconds or more) before it will start to play the first track. You can force it to play sooner by pressing the play button 2 or 3 times.

It also won't immediately change to the next disk in a DVD changer. It goes back to the "Top Menu" thing for a long time before switching to the next disk. This probably isn't an issue for most people who don't have a universal changer like I do.

My ride has a DVDA player and there is no video output, the player plays automaticaly and I can use track 1,2,3,4 etc
So its not out of the realm of Setop Players its just has to have that functinality built in.

2004 Acura TL

[Pieter]

Nick,

Since you're on a Telarc SACD spending spree why don't you give the following a try: Jacques Loussier Trio - The Best of Play Bach (SACD-63590)

Pieter

[Nick M]

Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture SACD
A Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas SACD
Berlioz Requiem SACD
LAGQ: Latin SACD
Dupre, Franck & Widor SACD

I just received these today...
Again, I'm blown away with everything Telarc puts out!

While I can't enjoy most of these to their fullest without my soon to be delivered subwoofer, they are still spectacular even in 5.0.

Berlioz Requiem is so deep and involving I sat through the entire 78min performance. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of it there is so much to absorb at once. Almost fitting the story, I started around sunset and finished in the dark twilight hours. Incredible!

Dupre~Franck~Widor was completely enveloping. Excellent use of all 5 channels. I can't wait until I get my sub for this one. The shear size and output of the organ and cathedral is conveyed quite vividly even without a sub.

1812 Overture will be much more fun with the sub... :twisted: :demon:
A definite thumbs up on this performance though, as well as the 6 other Tchaikovsky works.

I'm just getting into the LAGQ: Latin and listened to Carol of the Bells on the Mormon Tabernacle disc. These also seem very promising.

[Nick M]

Just ordered a couple more titles tonight on Amazon...

Queen: A Night at the Opera, DVD-A
Immersion, DVD-A

Please, PLEASE, save your money and don't order either of these. Immersion has got to be the biggest waste of money I have ever encountered. My Denon 2900 even has some trouble playing tracks 3 & 4. Most of the tracks are simply loops of distortion and pink noise. The only reason why I know this isn't simply a bug is that they'll have a nice clean sound of the ocean in the background or clear sound effects. Its not artful use of distortion/noise either (like Moby or Blue Man Group). What trash!!! :rant:

Queen: A Night at the Opera isn't as bad, but its very poorly mixed. Another one of those 5ch mixes that seem to be just a 2ch mix with matrixed surrounds. Then they just throw random things in the surrounds. The drums come out all five channels (WTF?) quite often. Chorus/backup swaps between surround and front mains in the same song? Nothing involving or spacious about it and very gimicky.

Atleast I have 5 telarc titles being delivered tomorrow. I haven't heard a single terrible thing from that label... *sigh*

[Chris D]

Of the albums I mentioned above, I think the Nickel Creek one is becoming one of my favorite. Great folk music with an Irish slant to it. Outstanding audio clarity. I bought this one blindly on recommendations here on the Guide.

I like it so much, that I just went to Best Buy last night and got their second album also on SACD.

[Don]

Just picked up a few of the RCA Living Stereo SACD's and they are impressive.

Don

[hired goon]

G'day,

I got three Patrica Barber hybrid 2-channel SACDs last week. I spent a couple of days getting used to the CD layer via my Rotel RCD-1072 CD player. Then I played the SACD layer on my Pioneer DV-676A DVD/SACD/DVD-A player. There's a difference, but it's rather subtle. I suspect that this is because the DV-676A is a cheapie (about AUD$200), and is up against the better sound of the RCD-1072. I assume that with a decent SACD player, the difference would be more pronounced.

Still, I may order a few more SACDs soon, although I'm only interested in 2-channel SACD (until I get matching speakers all round).

--Geoff

[Chris D]

Okay, I did it. Got my 3910 in, and have been listening to SACD and DVD-A while I type here. Here's what I've been testing out:

DVD-A:
Dr. Chesky's Amazing 5.1 Surround Show (weird but fun disc so far)
Blue Man Group Audio
Santana Supernatural
Bachman Turner Overdrive Live!
Silverline Surround Sampler
Aaron Neville Believe
Flaming Lips
Nickel Creek
Metallica Black

SACD:
Best of Journey
Aerosmith O Yeah!
1812 Overture
Norah Jones Come Away With Me
Best of John Denver
Aaron Copland Appalachian Spring
3 Doors Down Away From the Sun

I still have Tower of Power on backorder

I haven't spent enough time with any of these to really do critical listening, and my equipment and setup are still new and not fully installed, so I won't post reviews. But I'm impressed in general.

[mitch57]

If you do a search by SACD it will only display SACD titles. There's also a SACD link to the left hand side of the site. If you click on it you get 529 results. If you type "SACD" in the "Search For" block at the top of the screen you get 1,176 results.

Likewise, if you type in "DVD Audio" in the Search For" block you get 379 results. Those are the search words I use when I'm searching for stuff.

If I know the specific title I'm looking for I just use that. It will give you all the results which include titles for red book CDs, DVD-As and SACDs. Sometimes I will click on the red book title for a specific album that is also available in SACD/DVD-A just to listen to a sampling of the album. Most of the SACDs and DVD-As don't have any music samples.

[Nick M]

Placed an order with "Tower Records" and saved about $5 along with Fed-Ex 2-Day at no extra charge...
They were all in stock so the real test is whether or not I will actually get them all.

Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture SACD
A Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas SACD (Neighbors oughtta love this in April... )
Berlioz Requiem SACD
LAGQ: Latin SACD
Dupre, Franck & Widor SACD

You have to be careful choosing between SACDs and redbooks. They both look the same except for label number and price.

[mitch57]

Nicholas,

I have Queen - A Night at the Opera and it doesn't come close to Queen - The Game. It doesn't seem to be recorded nealry as well.

I see that you order alot of your music from Amazon. I order most of mine from www.towerrecords.com. They have a great selection and from what I've seen better prices with no tax.

You can do a search by DVD Audio or SACD on Tower's site and view all of them listed by artist, relevence, best sellers, etc.

That might give you some more options. There are a couple of other places I buy from but I can't remember the website as I am not at home.

[Nick M]

Just ordered a couple more titles tonight on Amazon...

Queen: A Night at the Opera, DVD-A
Immersion, DVD-A

Tomorrow I'm going to order a few titles from Telarc on SACD. Amazon has big delays on them once you add them to your cart... :roll:

LAGQ: Latin
Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture
Berlioz Requiem
Dupre, Franck & Widor

The following review of Immersion at Amazon is what got me to pull the trigger. Its an older DVD-A, but sounds intriguing...

This amazing DVD-Audio release explores surround sound more extensively than any other DVD-Audio that I've heard (or know of). I've never experienced anything like it. All the content here is new, and was put together especially for surround sound, unlike most other DVD-Audio recordings which tend to be re-releases of older pop/rock stuff. There are 13 different, short pieces here. In the first piece Live/Work, the performer (Pamela Z) provides a verbal, circular tour of her studio (a good way to see how consistent your surround setup is). In Tank (by Bruce Odland), you hear a trumpet playing inside a water tank with a long echo, along with some percussion. This is one of the most realistic depictions of a three-dimensional space I've ever heard. White Turbulence 2000 (by Maggi Payne) slowly changes with some complex sound processing. Luong Hai Ky Mi Gia (Carl Stone) moves really fast, with fragments of somewhat recognizable sound zooming all around you. The Housatonic at Henry Street (by Phil Kline) is a moving, haunting piece that uses multiple boomboxes and street sounds to evoke a street corner in New York City. A piece by Ellen Fullman uses layers of recordings of an instrument she invented that has strings about 100 feet long. Propeller Island (Lukas Ligeti) has different kinds of colorful percussion instruments tapping out different rhythms. Steel is attractive and is performed on the Quadrachord, an instrument invented by the composer Paul Dresher. Sayonara Sirenade 20/21 (by Pauline Oliveros) uses older electronic music sounds in a surround sound setting. Twilight's Dance (by Paul Dolden) has driving rhythms that lead to a big, exciting ending. 2000 presents intense "noise" music that apparently is typical of the composer Merzbow. Sighs and Murmurs, A Sea Song (by Ingram Marshal) is a lanquid, calm piece. The recording ends with Eclipse Variations, a lovely work by Meredith Monk that has layers of sustained voices that float in and out, creating an other-worldly ambiance. Visually, each piece has several slides that change as the piece progresses. (This is actually more advanced than some of the other rock DVD-Audio releases I've encountered.) There is also a full booklet that gives thorough info about all these composers and their pieces.

I listened to Metallica's Black Album on CD the other day for the first time in years. It was definetly nostalgic, but I don't think I'm going to get the DVD-A version.

[Nick M]

:laughat:
:rant: <- (My Neighbors soon to be...) h:

[Chris D]

... I can already hear my neighbors pounding on the door :B

Now THAT'S audio quality, too!

[Nick M]

Suppose I should go to bed. I have a job interview in 10hours. I've been listening to these 2 latest additions to my DVD-A/SACD collection (I have 6 Now! :B) for the past 8hrs... h:

This blows 2ch redbooks out of the water. Its like going from 2ch cable audio to 5.1 DTS surround. My sub is being delivered tomorrow too for me to give it a trial. While I planned on saving for a big display next, I think its going to wait while I pump some cash into these addicting audio formats!

Next I was going to get Metallica's "Black" album remix on DVD-A and Telarc's "Berlioz Requiem" on SACD. I think Telarc's "1812 Overture" will be in that order too... :demon:

... I can already hear my neighbors pounding on the door :B

[mitch57]

Nicholas,

Did I not tell you that LAGQ would blow you away? I own so many it's hard for me decide which one to recommend next.

I do agree with what Chris has to say about find what music you like on whichever format it's available on. If it's on both read the reviews.

If you like Rock check out Queen - The Game (DVD-A). "Another one Bites the Dust" will rock your world!!!

[Chris D]

Nicholas, while I don't have any Krall albums yet, nor DVD-A/SACD capability yet, I'll say this:

Isn't that cool when you get to the point in your A/V setup that you can hear individual breaths from performers, an audience member cough, etc? Now THAT's clarity.

[Nick M]

So, thumbs up on guitar heroes & diana krall?

Yup

While I dont really like the hall/echo in Love Scenes, you can actually here the saliva in her mouth when she parts her lips. Astounding!

LAGQ is simply incredible.

[junior77blue]

So, thumbs up on guitar heroes & diana krall?

[aud19]

Most universal players convert DSD anyways and for every article showing SACD being better there's one saying the same for DVD-A. In other words get what you want that's available on one or the other and if something's available on both formats read reviews to see which copy you'll likely prefer based on the reviewers comments. IMO the differences of same albums on the two formats are more likely attributed to different mastering/mixing etc than the formats themselves.

[benny]

check out Mapleshade Audio's label. they are pure dsd, i believe.

[Nick M]

Thanks for that link mitch. Good info on DSD. I think I will be buying SACD over DVD-A when given the option.

[Nick M]

LAGQ - Guitar Heroes... Wow.
Can you say "perfect surround mix"? With a guitar in each speaker (FL, FR, SL, SR) and the occassional odd instrument in the center, its as though you are sitting right in the middle of the band. There is a very small mix in the adjacent speaker, and the smallest hint in the furthest speaker. The SACD format really does this type of recording with acoustic guitars justice. You can hear their hands moving up and down the frets, the sharp onset of a strong pluck, and the change in vibration characteristics as they let pressure off the string/fret. The guitar's body is really fleshed out. The timing of the quartet and how they interweave with one another is spectacular. "Aire para un dia" is incredible as is "Lament and Wake". William Kanengiser in the FR channel is ungodly nimble. An absolute must own for anyone with SACD capabilities.

Diana Krall - Love Scenes.
Very impressed with Diana herself along with the backup instruments, not so impressed with the mixing. I went into this expecting an intimate setting. Some songs had a real softness and warmth to the backup (which I'm not a big fan of but can understand in this circumstance). What really suprised me was the ambiance. It almost sounds like you are in a large hall rather than a cozy room. For "Love Songs" I found this out of place. Other than that I found the DVD-A to be quite relaxing, and her voice is simply incredible. Thick and controlled are the two best words I can think of to describe it. "Gentle Rain", "How deep is the Ocean", and "My Love Is" are my favorites so far.

[mitch57]

Go here for an explanation:

http://interprod5.imgusa.com/son-637/sacd_story.asp

[Nick M]

I have a few DVD-A and SACD titles already. My question was more to the audio quality differences between the two formats with the same title.

I read about MLP when researching a DVD-A/SACD player, but does anyone have any good reading on SACD's "Pure DSD" technology? It has something to do with a higher sampling rate during recording I think.

[mitch57]

Nicholas,

You won't be disappointed! It's quite impressive. The differences between SACD and DVD-A are suttle as far as sound quality goes IMHO. However, there are some noticeable differences in playability.

First off DVD-A appears to play a bit louder when set at the same volume level. The disadvantage to DVD-A versus SACD is the fact that DVD-A plays in the same manner as a DVD-Video disk. You have to select chapters kinda of like you do when you select scenes on a DVA-V. You also can't select tracks in the same manner that you do with CDs or SACDs. You cant just push "5" for example on your remote and have it skip to track 5.

The playing time in between tracks is also several seconds longer on DVD-A then it is on SACD or CD. The DVD-A also doesn't start playing immediately as it does with SACD or CD. The player's display reads the disk and then displays "Top Menu" for a very long time (sometimes 30 seconds or more) before it will start to play the first track. You can force it to play sooner by pressing the play button 2 or 3 times.

It also won't immediately change to the next disk in a DVD changer. It goes back to the "Top Menu" thing for a long time before switching to the next disk. This probably isn't an issue for most people who don't have a universal changer like I do.

An interesting note about DVD-A's losless compression technology is that it's called MLP which stands for "Meridian Losless Packing". It was developed by Meridian Audio which makes high end audio equipment including speakers. You can read about it here:

http://www.meridian-audio.com/p_mlp_in.htm

Musicality wise they both are awsome! I have about 150 albums now in my collection. I just can't seem to stop buying them! They sound simply amazing!

When I buy online I usually buy from www.towerrecords.com. They have a great selection with good prices.

Let me know what you think of LAGQ.

[Nick M]

Amazon listed only 1 DVD-A version left so I went with that one. I also ordered the LAGQ - Guitar Heroes SACD. I want to here what all the fuss is about.

[Nick M]

Anyone have detailed info on DVD-A vs SACD?

I want to get Diana Krall's "Love Scenes", and see its available on both DVD-A and SACD. Which is better?

[Nick M]

Especially with that setup of yours I've been following Chris. I'm sure you won't have any trouble with your ".1" channel with Dual Ultras... :T

[aud19]

I'm sure you'll be impressed Chris Everyone I've demoed DVD-A for has been pretty blown away. My brother especially was quite skeptical until we played Fleetwood Mac Rumours and Neil Young Harvest back to back against the CD copies I own. He did one of these: :jawdrop: :drool:

[Chris D]

Well, I should be listening to my DVD-A and SACD titles for the first time later this week. (wink wink) I'm one of those weirdos that started buying titles before I even have a player. Can't wait... I'll post my thoughts.