Sonia Dada, CD/DVD Digipac, Test Pattern

WOW,

As hard as it is to come across something new in surround sound, I was pleasantly astonished:yikes when I came across Sonia Dada's digipac "Test Pattern". I bought this last summer before getting into multichannel music and putting together a retro-analog system. At the time I was going to be seeing these guys in concert with Bruce Hornsby so I bought the pac on eBay to hear before the show. So, I listened/watched this on my home theatre system (pro logic I), and then saw them in concert (great show). After that I filed this away and pretty much forgot about it.

Well today I came across this while going through my CD's and it occured to me to check out the DVD in my new system through the Pioneer DV-45A in 5.1. First off let me just say that I liked this album when I first heard it and I thought they performed and sounded good in concert, but when I heard this DVD in surround I was simply amazed at how polished and truly tasteful this album was engineered and arranged.:worthy There's not a single bad track on the album and the more I hear it the more I love this album. Also the way the video is choreographed with the music you'll be reminded of those Volkswagon commercials. I dont know if this is high rez or not but I can say that sonically it sounds as good if not better than a lot of hi rez that I am aware of.

I don't know if it makes a difference quality wise , but the copy I have isn't BMG like those I see listed on eBay. It's the Calliope, Razor & Tie version. It's still selling at a low price on eBay, probably because the 5.1 versions in the pac aren't being heard properly. Once you hear this in surround I'm sure you'll love it as much as I do. Until this point my favorite that I can compare this to is Roxy Music's "Avalon".

While listening to this in surround I was reminded of music by the following artists: World Party "Goodbye Jumbo",Toni Childs "Union", Edie Brickel "Shooting Rubberbands", Lou Reed "Walk on the Wild Side", Stones "Sympathy For the Devil" and just about anything by U2.:brew Yea, you two too.

So anyway, there you have it, if your tired of waiting for Jackson Brown or Dire Straits you might want to track down a copy of this album which seems to be readily available.:steering: There are several "Buy It Now" copies on eBay.

Back to the Sweet Spot:banana: Aquadad

Neat story; I'll be looking for that since I liked all the bands you referenced. They were played quite a bit on AAA radio here in Nashville in the early to mid 90's....

aquadad said:

WOW,
So anyway, there you have it, if your tired of waiting for Jackson Brown or Dire Straits you might want to track down a copy of this album which seems to be readily available.:steering: There are several "Buy It Now" copies on eBay.

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Hello, I'm not giving up on this title. Played this the other night at Quadbob's and he immediately ran out of the room with it to see if he could burn a copy. Sadly, he returned to tell us it was copyright protected. There is good news though. I just checked and there are 11 copies available on eBay ranging from 4 to 15 dollars. Knowing what a great surround mix this is I would gladly pay up to 25$'s for it, and the DVD authoring is very refreshing also. Then there's the video, ah yes the video@: ! The tracks to listen to are the ones that say "Watch the Music " on the menu. I hope the engineers on this project don't give up on surround because if they do their talent would truly be wasted. This is a rare gem, a total package, and it's a shame it isn't getting the recognition it deserves (IMHO). Aquadad

P.S. I did end up paying 25$ for Dire Straits, hope it's as good as everyone says it is.

Thanks for posting to this thread again, after your first post I looked into it but didn't buy a copy for some reason that I don't remember now. I just found a copy with a low BIN. Hope I enjoy it as much as you do

Thanks to this post i bought a copy and enjoy it quite a bit. I had never heard of this band before. Anyway, good music and good surround mix. Thanks for the info.

Another vote of thanks for highlighting this disc. Excellent surround mix (DD 5.1 but still very good sound). One of the singers seems to be a dead ringer for Don Henley but it's amazing how many different styles the songs cover. The video stuff is good too

I posted this one on the FLAE thread because "aquadad" mentioned it there. Now I will move it here:

I listened to some samples. This is great stuff. So the 5.1 mix is aggressive? Is the entire album done in 5.1 or just some of the songs?

Guy Robinson said:

I posted this one on the FLAE thread because "aquadad" mentioned it there. Now I will move it here:

I listened to some samples. This is great stuff. So the 5.1 mix is aggressive? Is the entire album done in 5.1 or just some of the songs?

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This is the entire album in 5.1. Fairly agressive mix from what I remember. I'll have to revisit.

Thanks for the feedback. I am going onto E-Bay to order it.

Guy Robinson said:

Thanks for the feedback. I am going onto E-Bay to order it.

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Hello,

Glad to see that there is still some interest in this title. This has become one of my all-time favorites. I have probably listened to it more than any surround title that I own and it still sounds fresh every time I hear it. It is so tastefully done and yet unrecognized. The sad part is that the people involved in putting this out probably won't bother to do it again because it was never a commercial success.

Just to reassure you, it is a full blown 5.1 mix, and they do at one time or another use every mixing trick in the book, in a very appropriate manner, to enhance the listening experience.

Here's a link to a thread where I discussed one of the tracks a little more in depth to wet your appetite while your waiting for it. There are probably others if you do a Sonia Dada search because I ramble on about this title every chance I get. My hopes are that they will get so much feedback and recognition for a job well done that they continue to do more in the future.

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6253&highlight=sonia+dada

aquadad said:

Hello,

Glad to see that there is still some interest in this title. This has become one of my all-time favorites. I have probably listened to it more than any surround title that I own and it still sounds fresh every time I hear it. It is so tastefully done and yet unrecognized. The sad part is that the people involved in putting this out probably won't bother to do it again because it was never a commercial success.

Just to reassure you, it is a full blown 5.1 mix, and they do at one time or another use every mixing trick in the book, in a very appropriate manner, to enhance the listening experience.

Here's a link to a thread where I discussed one of the tracks a little more in depth to wet your appetite while your waiting for it. There are probably others if you do a Sonia Dada search because I ramble on about this title every chance I get. My hopes are that they will get so much feedback and recognition for a job well done that they continue to do more in the future.

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6253&highlight=sonia+dada

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Thanks again. I just ordered it along with a bunch of other stuff. Looking forward to getting it.

I have it and love it, Great:banana: surround mix.

A big thanks for the heads up on this one!

What a great disc! I've only scratched the surface of it, playing about 3/4 and digging some of the visuals. Musically, this is what I've always imagined The Neville Brothers sounding like if they had a great producer and great material (Yellow Moon was close). Really soulful stuff. Mixwise, it's just awesome. No wussy 5.1 here! Soundwise, it's excellent, though there is some variation from track to track. Some sound better than others. Sometimes the highs sound a tad un-natural. Overall though, a great disc.....and I still have so much to check out!

Sadly, it bothers me that such a talented band is ignored in favour of crap like Jessica Simpson. Life is not fair!

I can't find what format this is, either online or from this thread. DTS, Dolby Digital?

Chris

Chris Gerhard said:

I can't find what format this is, either online or from this thread. DTS, Dolby Digital?

Chris

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A cd/DVD digipack with Dolby Digital. Like the Fly Like An Eagle package.

I went back and played this again. If any of you are in need of a 5.1 fix, see if you can find this. Great 5.1 mixes, really good music as well. One of the best sounding Dolby discs.

daved64 said:

Sadly, it bothers me that such a talented band is ignored in favour of crap like Jessica Simpson. Life is not fair!

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Thanks for the heads up on the DVD-A/CD Package...
I had no idea this was even available on a DVD/CD combo.
(See what you learn here?? )
I just grabbed one from E-Bay.

These guys have been a favorite of mine for some years now.
I started out with the first album and the song "Lover (You Don't Treat Me No Good)" and "The Edge Of The World".
"Screamin' John" was a good one as well, and if you want a really pretty Christmas song,
look for their version of "Silver Bells"
(It was my Mother's favorite C-Mas song...tastefully done by them, unfortunately she passed before their version came out)

And Dave... don't EVEN get me on my soapbox about the horseshit they play nowadays! :zzzzz
(Do we hear our parents laughing somewhere??)

But on a lighter note, Jessica IS fun to look at!
At least until she opens her mouth... then I'd rather watch paint dry.

-Bob