I'm going to start by saying that I am not a huge classical fan, mostly because I don't know much about it. I can't name composers, I can't identify pieces I may recognize. I mean, I can tell the William Tell Overature from Beethoven's 9th (or 5th), but if you go into the stuff that never got commercialized in ads, TV themes, movies, or cartoons, I'm pretty much a novice.
That being said, I love this disc.
First off, I have to admit that I probably played it in the lowest tech way possible to play one of these, on an XBOX 360 connected to my Denon 4806 via a fiber optic TOS-LINK cable. So, I was not listening to the DTS-HD track by any means. In fact, the Denon displayed Dolby Digital, so who knows what I was listening to.
However, I can tell you one thing, no matter what resolution or format I was hearing, it was about the finest surround mix that I have ever heard...period!
The sound that filled my room was pure, clear, very detailed, and VERY surround. In fact, it did not matter if you were standing in front of a speaker, in the sweet spot, or anywhere else in the room, you got the true surround experience. I was quite amazed.
The music is done electronically, there's no orchestra here. However, it's so fine, so detailed, you are not quite sure what you are listening to. Unlike many of the older electronic or Moog recordings, this one does not beat you over the head at all. I would almost have to say that it was "delicate"!! What is remarkable is that even when I was sitting very close to the rear left speaker, I could hear sounds coming from all around the room, almost like a cathedral. It was so open that I had to smile. This mix was done by someone who actually cares, not someone assigned to create a surround mix - you can tell that right off the bat.
On the screen you see slides of flowers, but you need no interaction with a menu or the visuals at all. Just put it in and it plays. I could find no menu, no audio selection menu, nothing. It just starts showing the flower slides.
As for the music, well, as I said, I don't know the pieces by name, but I recognize some of them. Still, it really doesn't matter to the surround sound fan, because the audio experience is truly amazing.
I can only imagine what this sounds like when played on a player/system that could playback the DTS-HD.
If, by chance, you can play a disc like this, go out and find one. This may be the future of HiRez audio. I am looking forward to more discs like this. Very cool. Of course, a 10 for me!
One last thing. It sure would be sweet if they included a plain old DTS CD in the package as well, so that those with DTS in their cars (or without HD-DVD equipment at home) could hear the material on the road, or where there might not be an HD-DVD player.