A 5.1 Surround Thread

[flytomars]

Which box? Most people had issues with the 75-82 box. And let's make sure your comment is about the 5.1 lossless mix? Most of the critiques have been about the stereo. The impact of compression is more severe on 2 channel mixes.

I am refering to the DSD SACD box 70-74,
From the second box I have Wind and Wuthering which is just OK and trick of a tail which is a total ear-bleed.
All in all I agree that ANYHTING is more listenable than the Trick of a tale,
but still the first box also leaves a lot to be desired.

[Grimjack]

Mike Keneally's 'Sluggo!' is probably my fave 5.1 mix. Fantastic.

[Firth]

I am refering to the DSD SACD box 70-74,
From the second box I have Wind and Wuthering which is just OK and trick of a tail which is a total ear-bleed.
All in all I agree that ANYHTING is more listenable than the Trick of a tale,
but still the first box also leaves a lot to be desired.

I receive much more enjoyment from the 70-74 Box set than the Yes album and CTTE 5.1 works by Steven Wilson. The main reason is that the low end dynamics are weak. Don't no whether to blame Wilson or not. It's possible that he tried not to stray from the original, and if that is true then these are a wasted effort.

[bobert]

I see that nobody has mentioned Quadrophenia yet , it is one if the best examples of 5.1 done properly that I have ever heard , and I have many DVD-A and SACD albums , as well as some Blu-Ray's .

And to be clear I'm talking about the studio album not a live performance of it. It is Blu-Ray , on the disc it's in DTS HD Master as well as Dolby True HD , both 5.1 ,

[shomanca]

Mike Keneally's 'Sluggo!' is probably my fave 5.1 mix. Fantastic.

I just looked on Amazon.ca, and they want $184.80 for it

[markwoll]

I just looked on Amazon.ca, and they want $184.80 for it

$49 ( US ) from Mike
http://store.keneally.com/products/m...-2dvd-download
Shipping and border taxes might push it up a bit....

[zombywoof]

I just looked on Amazon.ca, and they want $184.80 for it

Holy smokes! Glad I've got it already ...

[Firth]

I see that nobody has mentioned Quadrophenia yet , it is one if the best examples of 5.1 done properly that I have ever heard , and I have many DVD-A and SACD albums , as well as some Blu-Ray's .

And to be clear I'm talking about the studio album not a live performance of it. It is Blu-Ray , on the disc it's in DTS HD Master as well as Dolby True HD , both 5.1 ,

I'm with you the DTS master Audio 5.1 of Quadrophenia made from the original multichannel tapes is freaking awesome. Dynamic range is great, can't say enough about it. The recent concert ain't bad either, but the Bluray with the original album cover is the one!

[flytomars]

Apart for the obvious choices (Wilsons etc) I really love some releases on the Songlines label.
These are all SACDs, no LFE just 5.0, and not too discrete, (mostly ambience of the studio),
HOWEVER they sound fantastic- really lovely recordings straight to multichannel DSD, with some excellent material too-
This label offers mostly modern jazz and all the package that comes with that definition -
From free improvised jazz to fusion and world music and everything in between.

My favourite albums are:

Jerry Granelli- Sandhills reunion - spoken words over very moody jazz, feels like a road trip in the wilderness of america of a different era.

Aros - Train song - I cant explain it better than one review it got:
“[Aros] has at its fingertips an array of compositions that effortlessly span eras and genres, sounding at times like early jazz, modern jazz, impressionist salon music, and late-20th-century minimalism, occasionally all at once. Prismatic in approach and global in scope, with references that extend to progressive rock, West African drumming, and Indonesian gamelan, the tunes Armus and von Tilzer have written for their band are unique in contemporary music, and very beautiful as well.” (Alexander Varty, The Georgia Straight)

Some samples in the official page:
http://songlines.com/release/train-song/

Heck, so many albums I love from this label, if I start describing each I wont finish, so just check out the releases page for camples, all these are surround recordings:

Equilibrium -
http://songlines.com/release/equilibrium/

Michael Blake Sextet
http://songlines.com/release/amor-de-cosmos/

Poolplayers -
http://songlines.com/release/way-below-the-surface/

Quinsin Nachoff -
http://songlines.com/release/magic-numbers/

Hilmar Jensson -
http://songlines.com/release/ditty-blei/

Brad Shepik -
http://songlines.com/release/human-activity-suite/
http://songlines.com/release/places-you-go/

Chris Gestrin -
http://songlines.com/release/the-distance/
http://songlines.com/release/after-t...as-gone-quiet/
http://songlines.com/release/stillpoint/

Dylan van der Schyff -
http://songlines.com/release/the-definition-of-a-toy/

Gordon Grdina / Gary Peacock / Paul Motian -
http://songlines.com/release/think-like-the-waves/

Sean Noonan - (with Marc Ribot guesting on guitar!)
http://songlines.com/release/stories-to-tell/


Disclaimer - I am not affiliated in any way to this label, just love the stuff they put out, if you have some love for modern jazz and multichannel I urge you to check the above samples.

[bobert]

I'm with you the DTS master Audio 5.1 of Quadrophenia made from the original multichannel tapes is freaking awesome. Dynamic range is great, can't say enough about it. The recent concert ain't bad either, but the Bluray with the original album cover is the one!

Let me ask you a question , I know from reading many of your posts over the years around here that you are a true audiophile.

Is the DTS-HD Master better than the Dolby True HD? I mean technically speaking of course. Because they both sound damn good to me.

[Firth]

Let me ask you a question , I know from reading many of your posts over the years around here that you are a true audiophile.

Is the DTS-HD Master better than the Dolby True HD? I mean technically speaking of course. Because they both sound damn good to me.

Both are said to be lossless, which means identical with original bit pattern after decoding.

[bobert]

Both are said to be lossless, which means identical with original bit pattern after decoding.

That's kind of what I thought , that both of those formats were lossless. Thank you.

[Onomatopoeic]

You can search for both SACD and Blu-Ray Audio titles here. They show whether they are 5.1 or stereo....



http://www.sa-cd.net/home

[ombasan]

- "Toy Matinee" is also pretty enjoyable in 5.1
- Everything with the name Steven Wilson on it (well, almost anything, at least) is good with me, be it as performer or remasterer/remixer/re-whatever
- Queen's "A night at the opera" is definitely stellar. Relatively unspectacular songs like "Good company" are suddenly very spectacular! I wished there was more old Queen in 5.1 (instead of the useless recent remasters)
- Roxy Music's "Avalon" is also very nice!

[Jubal]

Let me ask you a question , I know from reading many of your posts over the years around here that you are a true audiophile.

Is the DTS-HD Master better than the Dolby True HD? I mean technically speaking of course. Because they both sound damn good to me.

Firth is correct about them having the identical bit patterns. The main concern would be whether your receiver handles DTS-HD or Dolby True HD better. Sometimes newer technologies (in this case, the Dolby True HD) tend to have glitches when they first come out. Of course, if both are working fine on your receiver, then they should sound pretty much identical.

[Jubal]

My CTTE BluRay has a weird glitch. It won't play straight up on either of the two 5.1 files. I have to got to track 2 (And You and I) and play it for a few seconds, then if I go BACK to Close To The Edge, it plays it fine. Does anyone else have this issue with the BluRay?

[tormato]

Ditto on Porcupine Tree and SW (solo and remixes) 5.1s. Even if I wasn't totally blown away with the SW remixes (which is rare), I've been able to find things I didn't notice before that change how I listen to other mixes.

I've enjoyed my Flaming Lips releases in 5.1 (At War with the Mystics, Yoshimi, Soft Buletin)

There is a lot of good classical work which to me really opens up the orchestra, my copy of Symphonie Fantastique being a treasure.

I also love concert DVDs in the format , KC's Eyes Wide Open and Deja VROOOM are a must and Rush in Rio is a spectacular recreation of being at a concert.

[flytomars]

My CTTE BluRay has a weird glitch. It won't play straight up on either of the two 5.1 files. I have to got to track 2 (And You and I) and play it for a few seconds, then if I go BACK to Close To The Edge, it plays it fine. Does anyone else have this issue with the BluRay?

I have some problems with it too, until I found out you can run it without turning on the display (it was the HDMI handshake which seemed to do the problems).
There is a shortkey (one of the color keys on the remote) that starts playing the audio, after that I dont have a problem to start the display.

[Firth]

- "Toy Matinee" is also pretty enjoyable in 5.1
- Everything with the name Steven Wilson on it (well, almost anything, at least) is good with me, be it as performer or remasterer/remixer/re-whatever
- Queen's "A night at the opera" is definitely stellar. Relatively unspectacular songs like "Good company" are suddenly very spectacular! I wished there was more old Queen in 5.1 (instead of the useless recent remasters)
- Roxy Music's "Avalon" is also very nice!

I forgot I had that Toy Matinee 5.1 disc. Haven't listened to it since my system has been tuned. Was that a DTS 24/96 or MLP.

Queen's Night at the Opera 5.1 Dvd-A was awesome.
Never bought Avalon cause the vinyl sounds great.

[Firth]

Check out Peter Gabriel's Play the Videos, the 5.1 DTS 96/24 mixes here are awesome, a collaboration with Daniel Lanois.

About this
Amazon.com
Peter Gabriel has long been revered for his great songwriting, cinematic soundscapes, riveting concerts, and groundbreaking videos. Is it any surprise, then, that Play: The Videos is a music DVD for the ages? Nope. But that doesn't make it any less thrilling to watch--or to listen to. Gabriel has assembled and polished an evening-filling 26 clips, all of them collaborations with innovative visual artists and directors like Stephen Johnson, Matt Mahurin, Francois Vogel, and Sean Penn. From the 1977 promo for "Modern Love" to 2003's "Growing Up" and much between, it's all here, and most viewers will be pleasantly surprised to find more than a couple videos they missed along the way. The focus is explicitly on conceptual pieces, the lone visual exception being a 2004 live rendition of "Games Without Frontiers" among the extras.

Gabriel says in an accompanying essay that "music can stand more repetition than video and music together." Play gives us something extra in light of that: fresh 5.1 surround mixes in both Dolby Digital and DTS 96/24 for every track, with Gabriel/U2 production vet Daniel Lanois at the helm for most songs. (You'll get standard DTS sound from DTS-capable DVD players and, even better, lossless high-resolution audio from a DTS 96/24-compatible player.) The surround mixes are nothing short of revelatory, using all available channels to amplify Gabriel's ambient side while breaking out the percussion in fascinating ways and driving home the music's subterranean bass. --Michael Mikesell

Product Description
Peter Gabriel's impact on the music world is unparalleled. Included here in this DVD collection are the often outlandish video clips that have accompanied Gabriel's music over the years-18 visually stunning videos that capture a truly remarkable career.

Track Listing:
Father Son
Sledgehammer
Blood of Eden
Games
I Don't Remember
Big Time
Lovetown
Red Rain
In Your Eyes
Don't Give Up
The Barry Williams Show
Washing of the Water
Biko
Kiss That Frog
Mercy Street
Growing Up
Shaking the Tree
Shock the Monkey
Steam
The Drop
Zaar
Solsbury Hill
Digging in the Dirt

[flytomars]

Some more recomendations off the beaten SW track-

Per Ubu - Modern Dance - probably the only worthwhile release on Silverline label, excellent discrete mix from the multitracks of this fine album. ( avoid anything else from this label- very bad fake surrounds)
T-Rex - electric warrior
Entire discography of Bjork, Talking heads
Sea Change / Guerro by Beck

Some videos with excellent dedicated surround mixes-
Beatles - Yellow submarine
John Lennon - Lennon Legend
Paul McCartney - The McCartney years

Some classical which might be of interest here -

Stravinsky - Les Noces (on Harmonia Mundi) - great seperation on this epic piece.
Messiaen: Turangalîla Symphony - Chailly (On Decca)
Sofia Gubaidulina: The Canticle of the Sun - Wispelwey/Reuss - a very subtle avant piece, lovely and moody.

[interbellum]

Donald Fagen: Nightfly Trilogy

Bryan Ferry: Boys And Girls

Jeff Beck: Blow By Blow

Steve Miller: Fly Like An Eagle (although they edited the space-intro)

Propaganda: A Secret Wish (although they used some single-versions in stead of the original LP-versions)

Peder Af Ugglas: Beyond and Autumn Shuffle (both on Opus 3)

Still, Wish You Were Here is my favourite (I think I have about 150 5.1/surround/4.0 on SACD DVD(A) Double-Disk)

[Dusty Chalk]

Stay away from Mike Oldfields "Five Miles Out"!!

Really? Thanks for the heads-up, that's too bad.

Rob Reed has been pretty prolific over the years as far as 5.1 mixes go and they are all excellent which I'm sure many here will attest to.
You have-

Magenta - Seven
Magenta - Metamorphosis
Magenta - Chameleon
Magenta - The Twenty Seven Club
Kompendium - Beneath The Waves
Robert Reed - Sanctuary

Good to know, really liked Sanctuary, Magenta and Kompendium were already on my "go back and get" list, need to make sure I get the surround versions. Thanks!

A lot of Pete Namlook's stuff comes in surround versions, albeit they were just DTS-CDs.

[Jubal]

"albeit they were just DTS-CDs. "
DTS discs can sound really good. PT's deadwing comes on DTS and is fantastic sounding. The drums on "Open Car" are so realistic they scared me the first time I heard it.

[mkeneally]

$49 ( US ) from Mike
http://store.keneally.com/products/m...-2dvd-download
Shipping and border taxes might push it up a bit....

Actually, that's the Super Deluxe limited edition version with an extra live CD...

...if someone's mainly interested in the Sluggo! surround mix, there's a more affordable option, which is the 3-disc version with CD, DVD-A and DVD-V for $34 here: http://store.keneally.com/products/m...2-dvd-download

Thanks for the good words on the surround mix, Grimjack! We certainly worked on it hard enough