and 3 x Hybr MC SACDs from the latest DV Classical/Soundtrack/Musicals batch...
Sunset Boulevard, Citizen Kane & A Little Night Music
Sunset Boulevard, Citizen Kane & A Little Night Music
Well I was sitting there listening to Djabe's "Flow" DVD-A (if you haven't got any Djabe you should buy some/them all!), when I heard a Thud which was out of time and out of the room! The carrier pigeon bringing my 5 D-V SACDs escaped the evil clutches of the hungry (Space Station? ) Peregrine falcon had delivered them.
So George Benson "Body Talk", Weather Report "Tale Spinnin'" & Billy Paul "Live In Europe" the 1-fers, and the Chase "Chase + Pure Music" & Billy Paul "War Of The Gods + 360 Degrees Of" the 2-fers. Curiously they were packed as 4 in one package and 1 in another - maybe the odd/even numbers in an order have been a package problem.
So Bruce Botnick did the Tale Spinnin' quad? He's also responsible for EWF's Open Our Eyes, another lovely old Columbia quad. And of course there's his work with the Doors.
Funny how they show the Chase album cover with the gold border but missing the "QUADRAPHONIC" text. I guess Sony must still have that copyrighted, as the Sony Japan Jeff Beck releases use it.
Just got a copy of Messiaen's Turangalila symphony SACD conducted by Chailly
I don't think that this disc is demonstration quality for stereo. Nor do the instruments have a very nice tone as they can get in original DSD or high bitrate PCM recordings.
But when it comes to multichannel, this disc makes the case that aggressive multichannel mixing which completely surrounds the listener and attacks him sonically from all sides can be very effective, as opposed to simply providing a hall ambiance.
I have had a chance to listen to a few movements (only the multichannel mix, so can't speak for the stereo mix, but why bother as QQ'er (though if there is interest I can give it a listen when time permits) ?
I have had a chance to listen to a few movements (only the multichannel mix, so can't speak for the stereo mix, but why bother as QQ'er (though if there is interest I can give it a listen when time permits) ?
Here is my opinion FWIW:
The multichannel mix is fantastic. It is most definitely aggressive, in that your are sitting in the middle of the orchestra, with individual groups of instruments in each speaker. Piano in the center, brass center back & right, xylophone/percussion surround left, ondes martenot in surround right. The acoustics of Grotezaal Concertgebouw are as fine as usual, with the right amount of reverberation. To me, the tone of the instruments suits the music just fine, perhaps a bit on the colder side, with excellent clarity. It seems the other recordings of this that I have also have a similar coolness or brightness to the sound. May be other people who know this piece of music can comment more on it. I wouldn't put any weight into it not being "DSD or high rate PCM", makes no difference to the "tone of the instruments" whatsoever. And, yes the percussion instruments are recorded very well. The bass drum has solid impact and at the same time does not feel unnatural to me (if you like the overall presentation of being in the midst of the orchestra, which I like). This is a big plus for me. I typically avoid recordings with poorly recorded percussion as is.
As fas as sound quaity goes, I would easily rate it a 10, or 5/5 based on whatever scale you choose . Bottom line is, if you like this music I do not think you will find a better sounding version, certainly not in surround.
Do you have this incredible Heads~up Jazz sampler, Adam:
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