Dolby Surround CD Discography

[Mark Anderson]

The Dolby Surround Discography has been updated. I keep finding more encoded CD's on ebay and the likes but at some point I just need to through in the towel and stop sitting on stuff as it has been eight years since the last update. If you happen to find anything that I missed, please let me know.

 

[Mark Anderson]

Well, here is an odd one.

BENNY GOODMAN -
* Swing Legends-20 Classic Hits. Nimbus Records NI 2016 (DS) [UK]
{Newly transcribed from mint condition 78 rpm discs}

As Nimbus is the leader of Ambisonic UHJ releases this one was a surprise to me. I am aware of their Prima Voce recordings playing back classical recordings from 78rpm discs through an 18' horn and capturing the sound via their ambisonic mic rig and then encoding to UHJ stereo but never to Dolby surround!

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Well, here is an odd one.

BENNY GOODMAN -
* Swing Legends-20 Classic Hits. Nimbus Records NI 2016 (DS) [UK]
{Newly transcribed from mint condition 78 rpm discs}
View attachment 76302 View attachment 76303

As Nimbus is the leader of Ambisonic UHJ releases this one was a surprise to me. I am aware of their Prima Voce recordings playing back classical recordings from 78rpm discs through an 18' horn and capturing the sound via their ambisonic mic rig and then encoding to UHJ stereo but never to Dolby surround!

When I was married & honeymooned in the UK, I met up with fellow member and contributor to the Quad Quarterly/MCS Review, Alan Turner. He lived in Romsey & we shared a wonderful afternoon & dinner with his wife Beryl.

I mention this because while in his company he was very excited about mono to stereo conversion projects done by Robert Parker. You can see his name on the front CD cover. Now Alan was of course interested in quad but just as much in quality stereo conversions of,say, Caruso.

So this CD must be sourced from 78 RPM record, upmixed to stereo by Parker, then up mixed in some fashion to Dolby Surround. Whew!! It makes my head spin at 78 RPM!

 

[gene_stl]

I just picked up at Half Price books a very large collection of CDs that were made from 78s. All opera vocals. There were probably 30 Nimbus Prima Voce recordings. It was the collection of a Washington University professor.

Nimbus said they would play fine on regular stereo without a UHJ decoder.

 

[Soundfield]

I just picked up at Half Price books a very large collection of CDs that were made from 78s. All opera vocals. There were probably 30 Nimbus Prima Voce recordings. It was the collection of a Washington University professor.

Nimbus said they would play fine on regular stereo without a UHJ decoder.

I've got very many of the original releases of the Prima Voce series, including all of the complete opera box sets and the "The Treasury of Opera" double box set. They were rather controversial at the time employing as they did Nimbus' specially built giant horn gramophone playing the 78's in a concert hall.

The very unique sound was not to everyone's taste, but it certainly makes an impression! A lot of them are still available from Nimbus but I notice that whilst all of mine carry the note "Digital Ambisonic Transfers from 78rpm discs" the same titles on the Nimbus website now just say "Digital Transfers from 78rpm discs". So if you buy one from Nimbus today and it remains UHJ encoded is not clear.

 

[Soundfield]

I mention this because while in his company he was very excited about mono to stereo conversion projects done by Robert Parker. You can see his name on the front CD cover. Now Alan was of course interested in quad but just as much in quality stereo conversions of,say, Caruso.

I have what was an interesting series of three CDs made by ORF Radio in Austria for BMG in 2000-2003. These were a very different take on the mono-stereo conversion process. They were re-dubbings of Caruso with a modern orchestra. They isolated Caruso’s voice from the original limited backing band and re-recorded it accompanied by the Vienna RSO. The results were quite striking.

 

[gene_stl]

And supposedly on that giant horn there is some species of plant thorn they use instead of a metal needle. Supposedly it takes several thorns t get through a 78. Very interesting.

 

[Soundfield]

And supposedly on that giant horn there is some species of plant thorn they use instead of a metal needle. Supposedly it takes several thorns t get through a 78. Very interesting.

Yes, I think I've got a box of old thorn (Prickly Pear?) needles somewhere that were for use with my father's gramophone - they only last for one side of a 78, but you could sharpen them if you were skilled with a penknife! They were used because they didn't wear the records much and had a softer tone and were quieter than hard steel needles.

 

[MidiMagic]

Well, here is an odd one.

BENNY GOODMAN -
* Swing Legends-20 Classic Hits. Nimbus Records NI 2016 (DS) [UK]
{Newly transcribed from mint condition 78 rpm discs}

As Nimbus is the leader of Ambisonic UHJ releases this one was a surprise to me. I am aware of their Prima Voce recordings playing back classical recordings from 78rpm discs through an 18' horn and capturing the sound via their ambisonic mic rig and then encoding to UHJ stereo but never to Dolby surround!

Ambisonic encoding is close enough to Dolby Surround that playing it on Dolby Surround should work.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

A little bit of the birds , the bees and Italians on Cam records.

 

[humprof]

A story on NPR's Sunday Weekend Edition about Latinx composers in Hollywood (part of a larger series) had a short section on Lalo Schifrin, and it prompted me to dig out my copy of this wonderful ProArte CD, where Schifrin leads the San Diego Symphony on a program split between scores & themes by Bernard Herrmann, Franz Waxman, and Schifrin himself. Still easy to find, as it even had a BMG Record Club release.


https://www.discogs.com/release/218...San-Diego-Symphony-Hitchcock-Master-Of-Mayhem

Schifrin has blended jazz and Latin American rhythms and sounds for more than 100 film and TV shows. The 90-year-old composer once described to NPR his ideal musical style: "There's an imaginary world in which a street of Vienna intersects an avenue from New York. And in that corner, there is a tavern. And in the tavern, there is a piano, and there you can encounter Gustav Mahler, Beethoven and Dizzy Gillespie, and they are exchanging ideas. It's a gigantic jam session."

 

[kfbkfb]

How does the original Dolby Surround sound through the newer DSU decoder?


Kirk Bayne

 

[humprof]

How does the original Dolby Surround sound through the newer DSU decoder?


Kirk Bayne

I haven't tried it--though as much as like the DSU on stereo material, I generally haven't cared for what it does with old "Dolby Surround" encoding. Luckily, I also have a digital conversion of an original decode. Saves me from having to drag my ancient Onkyo AVR out of storage.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I haven't tried it--though as much as like the DSU on stereo material, I generally haven't cared for what it does with old "Dolby Surround" encoding. Luckily, I also have a digital conversion of an original decode. Saves me from having to drag my ancient Onkyo AVR out of storage.

Have you tried any QSound titles through the DSU?

 

[humprof]

Have you tried any QSound titles through the DSU?

I don't think I have any QSound titles--at least not knowingly. . . .

 

[kfbkfb]

^^^
Old 90s Computer Audio QSound Commercial


(this actually has a good F/B effect w/DPL2 music)


Kirk Bayne

 

[J. PUPSTER]

^^^
Old 90s Computer Audio QSound Commercial


(this actually has a good F/B effect w/DPL2 music)


Kirk Bayne

Yeah, it's actually pretty impressive stuff there Kirk. I see where QSound advertised chips on their web site, but no direct hardware AFAIK for decoding into 5.1 etc. Yes I know, it's supposed to be for a stereo (extending out the sound) but with their chips, might be in some older AVR's etc??? But they mention more about some

• Dolby Surround decoder capability

http://www.qsound.com/products/qsurround.htm
https://www.qsound.com/products/analog-processors.htm
https://www.qsound.com/products/analog-processors.htm#QS7779

 

[Barbazul]

Excellent sounding disc! Mix very immersive and the music is great!

 

[kfbkfb]

https://www.discogs.com/release/224642-Andreas-Vollenweider-Down-To-The-Moon
(going OT)...the vinyl version doesn't mention being Dolby Surround encoded, I thought it might be a rare DS encoded LP.


Kirk Bayne

 

[MidiMagic]

DS encoded LPs are not that rare. I have many. But they are not labeled as such.

They are soundtrack albums taken from DS encoded films.