QQ Top 10 Surround Music Discs of all time! (?)

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Have you heard those vanguard classics--bach and Stravinsly? incredible! then there's also Bach's the Four Great Toccatas and Fugues with one organ coming out of each of the four corners--mindblowing!!!:smokin Some of the other stuff on that list is your type, it's not all aggressive.

this thread talks about great surround mixes. to me that means at least some discrete activity in the surround speakers. Therefore, naturally i'm exlcuding most anything non-aggresseive, such as the ambient stuff you like because it would be better to run the stereo through DPLII.
 
Have you heard those vanguard classics--bach and Stravinsly? incredible! then there's also Bach's the Four Great Toccatas and Fugues with one organ coming out of each of the four corners--mindblowing!!!:smokin
Yup. I have heard all and still own most but I was ignoring the aggressiveness of the mix as an issue.

Some of the other stuff on that list is your type, it's not all aggressive.
Funny. My type. In fact, I do like some of the TaceT issues quite a bit but I would not put them in my top 10, unless I was making a list for impressive demonstration material.

this thread talks about great surround mixes. to me that means at least some discrete activity in the surround speakers.
Actually, the title of the thread is "QQ Top 10 Surround Music Discs of all time?" I see nothing explicit about the mix. So, your interpretation is a reasonable one but not a unique one.

Therefore, naturally i'm exlcuding most anything non-aggresseive, such as the ambient stuff you like because it would be better to run the stereo through DPLII.
DPLII never does the trick.
 
I was assuming that the mix would be the key thing in this thread, but you'r correct.

I might not completely understand your idea of good surround; when I say your type, i'm thinking mainly ambient in the rears, is that correct?

that leads into my dolby statement. I wouldn't say it never does the trick in the sense that with certain titles like the Silverline duds (i know there are alot of good ones), i'd rather blast the stereo through dplII than listen to faux 5.1. that's why I "dismiss" most upmixes. If they're not done right, I'd sooner listen to the dolby.

I have to admit overall, I'm impressed with DPLII, when there's no other choice, the results can be pretty neat--but not always.
 
I was assuming that the mix would be the key thing in this thread, but you'r correct.

I might not completely understand your idea of good surround; when I say your type, i'm thinking mainly ambient in the rears, is that correct?
Yes but recorded ambiance or instruments if so demanded by the composer.

that leads into my dolby statement. I wouldn't say it never does the trick in the sense that with certain titles like the Silverline duds (i know there are alot of good ones), i'd rather blast the stereo through dplII than listen to faux 5.1. that's why I "dismiss" most upmixes. If they're not done right, I'd sooner listen to the dolby.
OK. I don't listen to either.

I have to admit overall, I'm impressed with DPLII, when there's no other choice, the results can be pretty neat--but not always.
There is always a choice.
 
that leads into my dolby statement. I wouldn't say it never does the trick in the sense that with certain titles like the Silverline duds (i know there are alot of good ones), i'd rather blast the stereo through dplII than listen to faux 5.1. that's why I "dismiss" most upmixes. If they're not done right, I'd sooner listen to the dolby.

A Silverline upmix is derived from 2ch run through DPLII (or similar technology), with each channel digitally captured. But an advantage to home DPLII is that you can adjust the Center Width, Dimension and Panorama to your own taste.

It could be interesting to see how closely a DPLII upmix could be made to match a true 5.1 classical remix where there surrounds are used only for ambience. (Unlike Kal, I tend to prefer the DPLII ambience creation to straight 2ch)
 
A Silverline upmix is derived from 2ch run through DPLII (or similar technology), with each channel digitally captured. But an advantage to home DPLII is that you can adjust the Center Width, Dimension and Panorama to your own taste.

It could be interesting to see how closely a DPLII upmix could be made to match a true 5.1 classical remix where there surrounds are used only for ambience. (Unlike Kal, I tend to prefer the DPLII ambience creation to straight 2ch)

That's interesting because some of the silverline titles eg bruce dickinson just sound like some ambience in the rear (as i recall), not even as good as dplII.

to Kal--I was referring to a choice beyond the stereo. I do of course listen to stereo, but if I get bored with it, i'll run it through dplII. Sometimes it's a disaster, like with Jethro tull living in the past it sounded horrible and I immediately went back to stereo.
 
to Kal--I was referring to a choice beyond the stereo. I do of course listen to stereo, but if I get bored with it, i'll run it through dplII. Sometimes it's a disaster, like with Jethro tull living in the past it sounded horrible and I immediately went back to stereo.
I, too, get bored with it at times, especially when listening to cable radio. So, I go through the myriad options, settle on one for a bit but, inevitably, switch back to POS (plain old stereo) within a selection or two.
 
Off the top of my head:

Pink Floyd - WYWH (Q8)
America - Holiday (CD4)
Doobies - Captain And Me (CD4)
Chicago - CTA (SQ LP)
Beatles - Love (DVDA)
Ten Years After - A Space In Time (SQ LP)
Queen - A Night At The Opera (DVDA)
Average White Band - AWB (CD4)
Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill (QS LP)
Talking Heads - Naked (DVDA)
There are just so darn many I like, these are just a start.
 
This thread deserves to be "Stickied". If you haven't posted, what are you waiting for?
 
Did post some time back, but my interests are so diverse that it really comes down to the music first, the mix second. A great mix is fine but if it's music I really don't dig, it's not going to make a lot of difference, although the experience of hearing it a new way *might* help in understanding something a bit more (or at least make me listen one more time).

It may also depend on how well I know the music. For instance, although the ITCOTCK mix is fantastic, I haven't played the title all that much so far--maybe four times. That's partly because I knew it so well in stereo, and was trying to guess for myself how those involved would remix it. So I'd already played the hell out of the album before the 5.1 came along.

The new Chicago release was a mixture of both delight and frustration. Delight, because it was nice to hear such clean sound for and lively mixes for some fairly decent pop/rock/jazz, light but not airy, a little tough but not hard. Frustration, because some of it ("Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?") has been played to death to the point where I don't really want to hear it anymore; and the fact that some of it, frankly, was filler (think "Free Form Guitar") and dubious from the outset (although if you like Lou's MMM, this is up your alleyway too). Still, nice to have, and hopefully the first of a series of reissues.

Really, though, my favorite surround title--like any vintage nice mono mix--is the one I'm listening to at the moment.

ED :)
 
OK, I'm finally getting around to posting in this thread. This was very hard for me to narrow my list down to 10! My initial list totaled 41. Then I whittled it down to 23. Finally down to 10, however I must say to pick only the top ten leaves out so many titles that are right up there and deserve recognition. So I have listed my 10 runners up as well.

1. Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (DVD-A)
2. Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms (SACD)
3. The Temptations - All Directions (Q4)
4. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon (SACD)
(sorry guys, I just like this one better)
5. Beatles - Love (DVD-A)
6. The Who - Tommy (DVD-A / SACD)
7. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (SACD)
8. Nilsson - Shmilsson (Q4)
9. Neil Young - Harvest (DVD-A)
10. Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues (DVD-A)


11. Porcupine Tree - Deadwing (DVD-A)
12. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells (DVD-A)
13. Z Z Top - Tres Hombres (Q-8)
14. Peter Gabriel - Up (SACD)
15. Deep Purple - Machine Head (SACD)
16. LAGQ - Guitar Heroes (SACD)
17. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (DVD-A)
18. Eagles - Hotel California (DVD-A)
19. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (CD-4 / Q-8)
20. Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Long Walk To Freedom (SACD)
 
3. The Temptations - All Directions (Q4)
13. Z Z Top - Tres Hombres (Q-8)

I don't believe the Temptations album was ever released as a QR.
The version you have is most likely from the Japanese CD-4, which sounds quite good.

Tres Hombres was actually released on a QR as well as the Q8.
 
Here's the latest tally. There were a couple lists that specified "Chicago DVDA". I assumed these must be "Chicago II" since CTA didn't exist at the time of the post (and CTA isn't a DVDA anyway.) Let me know if this was a bad assumption or if I missed something.

- Ben

Votes|Artist|Title
25|Pink Floyd| Dark Side Of The Moon
20|Beatles| Love
9|Porcupine Tree| Stupid Dream
9|Porcupine Tree| Lightbulb Sun
9|Porcupine Tree| Fear Of A Blank Planet
7|Elton John| Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
7|Dire Straits| Brothers In Arms
6|Talking Heads| Remain In Light
6|Steely Dan| Gaucho
6|ELP| Brain Salad Surgery
6|Deep Purple| Machine Head
5|Roxy Music| Avalon
5|Queen| A Night At The Opera
5|Pink Floyd| Wish You Were Here
5|Eagles| Hotel California
5|America| Homecoming
4|The Who| Tommy
4|Temptations| All Directions
4|Talking Heads| Speaking In Tongues
4|Porcupine Tree| Deadwing
4|O'Jays| Ship Ahoy
4|Jeff Beck| Blow By Blow
4|Donald Fagen| Nightfly
3|Seal| Best: 1991-2004
3|Roy Orbison| Black And White Night Both
3|Richard Thompson| Rumor And Sigh
3|Porcupine Tree| The Incident
3|Porcupine Tree| In Absentia
3|Moody Blues| Days Of Future Passed
3|Metallica| Black Album
3|Flaming Lips| Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
3|Elton John| Honky Chateau
3|Depeche Mode| Ultra
3|Chicago| Chicago II
3|Bjork| Vespertine
3|Beck| Sea Change
3|Average White Band| AWB
2|Toy Matinee| S/T
2|Talking Heads| Naked
2|Talking Heads| Fear Of Music
2|T-Rex| Electric Warrior
2|Ray Charles| Genius Loves Company
2|R.E.M| Automatic For The People
2|R.E.M.| In Time: The Best Of R.E.M. 1988-2003
2|Pere Ubu| Modern Dance
2|No Man| Schoolyard Ghosts
2|Neil Young| Harvest
2|King Crimson| Red
2|John McEwen & Jimmy Ibbotson| Nitty Gritty Surround
2|James Taylor| Hourglass
2|James Taylor| Gorilla
2|Herbie Hancock| Head Hunters
2|Herbie Hancock| Gershwins World
2|Harry Nilsson| Nilsson Schmilsson
2|Grateful Dead| American Beauty
2|Graham Nash| Songs For Survivors
2|Genesis| The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
2|Foreigner| 4
2|Fleetwood Mac| Rumours
2|Edgar Winter Group| They Only Come Out At Night
2|Doors| Perception Box
2|Doors| Best
2|Diana Krall| Love Scenes
2|Depeche Mode| Violator
2|David Crosby| If I Could Only Remember My Name
2|David Bowie| Young Americans
2|Crowded House| Crowded House
2|Carole King| Tapestry
2|Bucky Pizzarelli| Swing Live
2|Bob Dylan| Blood On The Tracks
2|Black Sabbath| Paranoid
2|Billy Joel| 52nd Street
2|Beck| Guero
2|America| Holiday
2|Alan Parsons| A Valid Path
1|Zepher| Voices Unbound AIX
1|Yellow Note| We Love Everybody... You'Re Next
1|Weather Report| Mysterious Traveller
1|Tom Cochrane & Red Rider| Trapeze
1|The Raiders| Indian Reservation
1|The Manhattan Transfer| Vibrate
1|The Guess Who| Greatest Hits II
1|The Guess Who| Greatest Hits I
1|The Allman Brothers| At Fillmore East
1|Ten Years After| A Space In Time
1|Talking Heads| Brick Box
1|Sting| Ten Summoner's Tales
1|Steven Wilson| Insurgentes
1|Steely Dan| Can't Buy A Thrill
1|Sly & The Family Stone| Greatest Hits
1|Simon & Garfunkel| Bridge Over Troubled Water
1|Seal| First S/T
1|Scorpions| Moment Of Glory
1|Rush| Snakes And Arrows
1|RPWL| World Through My Eyes
1|Rick Wakeman| Six Wives Of Henry The Eighth
1|Rick Wakeman| King Arthur
1|Renee Fleming| Renee Fleming
1|R.E.M| Out Of Time
1|Pink Floyd| Atom Heart Mother
1|Peter Gabriel| Up
1|Peter Gabriel| Play The Videos
1|No man| Together we're Stranger
1|Nilsson| Shmilsson
1|Nicklecreek| This Side
1|NERD| In Search Of...
1|Moody Blues| Seventh Sojourn
1|Moody Blues| Question Of Balance
1|Moody Blues| Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
1|Macy Gray| Trouble With Being Myself
1|Lyle Lovett| Joshua Judges Ruth
1|Linkin Park| [Reanimation]
1|Linda Ronstadt| What'S New
1|Kraftwerk| Minimum-Maximum
1|Kitaro| The Sacred Journey Of Ku-Kai
1|Keb' Mo'| Just Like You
1|Joni Mitchell| Court & Spark
1|Joe Satriani| Strange Beautiful Music
1|Jethro Tull| War Child
1|Jefferson Airplane| Volunteers
1|James Taylor| Flag
1|Jackson Browne| Late For The Sky
1|Grover Washington Jr.| Winelight
1|Graham Nash| Songs For Beginners
1|Goldfrapp| Supernature
1|Genesis| 1976-1982 Box
1|Frankie Goes To Hollywood| Rage Hard....
1|Frank Zappa| Quadaudiophiliac
1|Fourplay| S/T
1|Four Tops| Main Street People
1|Faith Hill| Cry
1|Eric Clapton| 461 Ocean Boulevard
1|Elton John| Tumbleweed Connection
1|Elton John| Madman Across The Water
1|Elton John| Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
1|Eagles| On The Border
1|Dredg| El Cielo
1|Doors| LA Woman
1|Doobies| Captain And Me
1|Doobie Brothers| What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits
1|Donald Fagen| Morph The Cat
1|Diana Ross & The Supremes| Greatest Hits
1|Diana Krall| The Girl In The Other Room
1|David Sylvian| Manafon
1|David Bowie| Ziggy Stardust
1|David Bowie| Reality
1|David Bowie| Heathen
1|Cornelius| 5.1
1|Chicago| CTA
1|Chicago| Chicago VII
1|Chamber Music Palisades| Shostakovich Piano Quintet AIX
1|Carpenters| Singles 1969-1981
1|Carpenters| Now And Then
1|Carly Simon| No Secrets
1|Cardigans| Long Gone Before Daylight
1|Boz Scaggs| Dig
1|Bonnie Raitt| Nick of Time
1|Blackfield| Live NYC
1|Bjork| Medulla
1|Bjork| Homogenic
1|Bjork| Debut
1|Billy Joel| Turnstiles
1|Billy Joel| The Stranger
1|Billy Cobham| Spectrum
1|Bette Midler| The Divine Miss M
1|Bela Fleck| Blue Grass Sessions
1|Beethoven| String Quartets Vol. 1 by Tacet
1|Bass Communion| Loss
1|Barbra Streisand| Butterfly
1|Alison Krauss And Union Station| Live
1|Alice Cooper| Welcome To My Nightmare
1|Alice Cooper| Muscle Of Love
Votes|Artist|Title
 
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A little late, but here's my list

Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells (SACD)
Tony Mottola - And the Quad Guitars
Dan Hicks - Strikin' It Rich
The Beatles - Love
LAGQ- Guitar Heroes
Hugo Montenegro - Hugo In Wonderland
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
Firesign Theatre - Everything You Know Is Wrong
Firesign Thetare - I Think We're All bozos On This Bus

J. D.
 
Wow. I have a couple of these but, frankly, I could live happily without any of them. Too much same old, same old.
 
Top Ten Popular Surround Discs

Beatles - "Love" (DVD-A)
Roxy Music - "Avalon" (SACD)
Talking Heads - "More Songs About Buildings & Food" (DVD-A)
Crowded House - "Crowed House" (DVD-A) [How A 5.1 Surround Disc Should Be Made]
Queen - "Night At The Opera" (DVD-A)
Alison Krauss & Union Station - "New Favorite" (SACD)
Genesis - "And Then There Were Three" (SACD)
Genesis - "Duke" (SACD)
Simple Minds - "Once Upon A Time" (DVD-A)
Toy Matinee - "Toy Matinee" (DVD-A)

Top Ten Follow-up

Elton John - "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (DVD-A)
Simple Minds - "New Gold Dream" (DVD-A)
Genesis - "We Can't Dance" (SACD)
Doors - "Strange Days" (DVD-A)
Talking Heads - "Fear Of Music" (DVD-A)
Talking Heads - "Speaking In Tongues" (DVD-A)
Sheryl Crow - "The Globe Sessions" (SACD) [The Only Sheryl Crow Record I Like]
Bryan Ferry - "Boys & Girls" (SACD)
Don Henley - "The End Of Innocence" (DTS)
R.E.M. - "In Time" (DVD-A)
 
Not off hand. One day, when I have the time and appropriate frame of mind, I might sit down and make one up. But I think we have been down this road before.

Of the ones on the big summary list, the only one I would choose to keep if I had to decimate my collection is the Orbison B&W Night on BluRay, for the music and only secondarily for the mix. Other than that, my tastes run in a different direction.
 
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