Dolby Surround CD's - What's Your Latest?

[surround.sound.enthusiast]

Yep Q Linda , I have to catch up with more of their Jazzone and Blues CD'S . Also the few that were available on DTS CD .
Like an idiot I sold off my 2 Junior Wells albums "Come On In This House" and "Best Of" .(both were Circle Surround)

As you already hit on Fizzy, Telarc certainly kept the dream of surround sound alive through the years, trying nearly every modern method: Spatializer, Shure Stereosurround, Circle Surround, Dolby Surround, DTS-CD, DVD-A, and SACD! And now you've even pointed out another, "Roland Sound Space System" - previously unknown to me.

I've actually managed to pick up Junior Wells' "Come On In This House" in Circle Surround and SACD in the past few years, and it will be interesting to compare the two once I'm able again.

 

[surround.sound.enthusiast]

Umm, does this technically count as a Dolby Surround "CD"? NO. But it os my first surround encoded cassette. I never look at cassettes any more, but happened to recently, and there it was.


This one is a CD however, still sealed, and a mysterious "Compatible Surround Sound". The other DMP I own is Circle Surround, so I'm guessing the same here. Find out when I open it. I love Ellington so I hope the interpretations are true, and in surround to boot.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

From Cam Records the soundtrack to

SIGNORE E SIGNORI in English, the birds the bees and the Italians.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

@national-kid


Bumpp...ity bump bump bump bump.

Lot's of Dolby cd and other similar at this site .including Spatializer cds.

 

[BrentAudi]

MOZART TV on Delos CD in Dolby Surround. Found this today for .25 cents. Fantastic sound with fun arrangements.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

RCA/BMG had 4 selections available on their Symphonic Rock series ;

Yes , Rolling Stones , Procol Harum, and Jimi Hendrix .
According to their catalog of recordings which had all the Dolby Surround selections available, only the Jimi Hendrix was not indicated as being Dolby Surround.
But all of the other 3 ,I bought the cd's along with their cassettes. Now years ago I sold off a number of my Surround cd's ,so I no longer have that Rolling Stones cd . But it wasn't very good so I don't really miss it.

And I probably should have bought the Hendrix cd on the pretense that it might of been Dolby Surround.
Oh well.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

And here are a couple of Concord Dolby Surround cassettes that I still have but no longer on cd.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

Also I had the Wendy Carlos on cd ,but sold it back when and kept the cassette.




N

Also I have this Bernie Krauss on the Northland label ,in Dolby although most of their titles were encoded in
CS ,Circle Surround .

 

[kfbkfb]

I recently went back to listening to DS encoded content with original Dolby Pro-Logic (mostly TV shows made in the 1990s).

So far, I haven't noticed the 7kHz treble limit in the surround channel, anyone else noticed any treble loss when listening with original DPL (just trying my Synergy QS CD now [close to DS encoding, but w/full bandwidth surround content]), the content routed to the back speakers sounds good, the treble loss isn't apparent.


Kirk Bayne

 

[Simon A]

Most of these will have appeared over the years in the various Listening to in Surround type threads. As great as these are, it's sometimes tricky to remember where certain discs are mentioned. I thought I'd bump this thread up and share a few of my favourite Surround Encoded CDs

I've owned a Yamaha receiver with Dolby Pro Logic II decoder for a little over two years now and I've put together a nice little set of Surround Encoded CDs.

Henry Mancini was definitely up there with Tomita as one for whom RCA released many Dolby Surround encoded CDs.

I have six of his eight Dolby Surround encoded CDs (that I can count), some of them compilations for various albums, others albums proper.

As Time Goes By and other Classic Movie Love Songs (RCA Victor 09026-60974-2) 1992

This is a laid back yet classy affair with top arrangements and playing thoughout. The tracks are songs featured in movies and written between 1931 and 1991 but with none of them sounding out of place.

Cinema Italiano: Music of Ennio Morricone & Nino Rota (RCA Victor 60706-2-TC) 1991

Mancini's interpretations of some of his favourite movie music composers' greatest works offer a wide array of styles. The Morricone cuts are all sublime. The showstoppers though, are Nino Rota's three selections from The Godfather which conclude the disc. I often find myself playing these in a loop.

Top Hat Mancini: Music from the films of Astaire & Rogers (RCA Victor 09026-60795-2) 1992

Much of the Great American Song Book was written for the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals which were released by RKO in the 1930's. Mancini not only pays a heartfelt tribute to these songs but a bonus medley of songs from Astaire movies sans Rogers shows how important a figure Astaire was for Pop Music in the 20th Century. The disc starts with a medley that features a tap dancer and the Dolby encoding allows us to hear the taps going from speaker to speaker covering all four corners. The effect actually works in the context of the music without feeling gimmicky. A treat for lovers of these fine songs.

The Godfather & Other Movie Themes (RCA Victor 09026-61478-2) 1993

This is a compilation of a few albums recorded in the 70's. My favourite tracks on this one are the Symphonic Suite from The White Dawn, The Disaster Movie Suite (Earthquake, The Towering Inferno and Jaws) and The French Collection (The Windmills of Your Mind, A Man and A Woman, Love Story and The Summer of '42).

Moon River (RCA Victor 09026-61513-2) 1993 and Mancini In Hollywood (Mr. Lucky and other Film & TV Greats) (RCA Victor 09026-61517-2) 1993

These two discs also feature some fine music but please take note that some of the tracks were recorded in the late 50's/early 60's on three-track tape, which limits the Surround experience a little, but the music is still timeless and quite enjoyable.

 

[Simon A]

RCA also gave famous conductor Arthur Fiedler a few Surround encoded discs of his own. A few Mono recorded tracks appear here and there, but overall, Motion Picture Classics Volume One (RCA Victor 60392-2-RG) 1990 and Motion Picture Classics Volume Two (RCA Victor 60393-2-RG) 1990 are entertaining additions to RCA's Dolby Surround encoded CD catalogue. My favourite tracks are Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, Laura, The Shadow of Your Smile and A Man and a Woman.

 

[Simon A]

Dutton/Vocalion has released some of Charles Gerhardt's great RCA albums covering music from classic movies. Fortunately for fans of his recordings, RCA has also released many of his albums on Dolby Surround encoded CDs.

Classic Film Scores for Bette Davis (RCA Victor 0183-2-RG)
Captain From Castille: Classic Film Scores of Alfred Newman (RCA Victor 0184-2-RG)
Elizabeth and Essex: The Classic Fims Scores of Erich Wolfgang Korngold (RCA Victor 0185-2-RG)
The Sea Hawk: The Classic Fims Scores of Erich Wolfgang Korngold (RCA Victor 60863-2-RG)

Each of these four discs offer wonderful music in superb sound. Gerhardt also recorded a few albums of more contemporary movie classics.

John Williams' Classic Film Scores Close Encounter of the Third Kind and Star Wars (RCA Victor 2698-2-RG)
great music to build giant potato mountains to...
Seriously, if you're a fan of Williams' Star Wars scores, this disc is absolutely lovely!
John Williams - Music from Star Wars The Return of the Jedi (RCA Victor 60767-2-RG)

Both discs are excellent and the sound quality is pretty impressive. The music sounds even more cinematic in Surround. Gerhardt did record an album for The Empire Strikes Back, which was released on Varèse Sarabande, but alas without any Surround encoding.

 

[Simon A]

Many have already mentioned a few of Telarc's Circle Surround encoded discs, but my favourite of the lot is
Beautiful Hollywood by Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra (Telarc CD-80440) 1997

Not only is the repertoire of movie themes rich and varied, but the disc sound is absolutely lovely with a solid Surround presentation.

 

[Simon A]

There have been a handful of Surround Encoded James Last CDs released in the late 90's. Unfortunately, none of them offered some of his Quad albums from the 70's. The one James Last disc I've purchased sounds really good. The opening track, Biscaya, was a radio staple around the world in the 80's and 90's. The crashing waves circling around the room at the beginning of the track can be surprisingly effective. The track I play most often though is Der einsame Hirte (The Lonely Shephard) with Zamfir on the pan flute. If you've seen Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies, this is the song that plays at the end of Volume 1. The rest of the disc covers material from the late 60's to the 80's, but the eclectic collection actually works and is quite entertaining for people who appreciate this type of Instrumental Pop.

James Last - The Best of The Great Instrumentals (Polydor 557 713-2) 1998

 

[Simon A]

Two more albums paying tribute to some of the great music from movies. These two, along with Telarc's Beautiful Hollywood are the Surround encoded discs I play most often because they're simply gorgeous and exquisitely recorded.

The Hollywood Sound: John Williams Conducts the Academy Awards' Best Scores (Sony Classical SK 62788) 1997
James Galway - Beauty and the Beast: Galway at the Movies (RCA Victor BG2 61326) 1993

 

[Simon A]

Dan Gibson's Solitudes series offers many Dolby Surround encoded discs and if your in need of soothing relaxation music set to wildlife and nature sounds, these do the trick. Some do sound better in Surround than others, but I find they're still worth having.

 

[Simon A]

My final entry is for a 2 disc set which was not Dolby Surround encoded during the mixing stage, but after. I find the result rather uneven surround wise, with some tracks sounding more enveloping than others, but the music is so beautifully performed and recorded that I still thought it was worthy of mention.

Nic Raine & The City of Prague Philharmonic - Space and Beyond (Silva Screen FILMXCD 185) 1996

This is a solid set for fans of Sci-Fi movies and TV shows, from 2001 to Star Trek: Generations. The substantial liner notes also add quite a lot of value to the package.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Since most of the original score from this 1922 F W Murnau classic was lost, this is a wonderful reconstruction in HDCD/Dolby Surround from Silva Screen Classics!

 

[4-earredwonder]

Many have already mentioned a few of Telarc's Circle Surround encoded discs, but my favourite of the lot is
Beautiful Hollywood by Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra (Telarc CD-80440) 1997

Not only is the repertoire of movie themes rich and varied, but the disc sound is absolutely lovely with a solid Surround presentation.

View attachment 79799

Thanks for the heads~up, Simon. Found a sealed copy from AmazonUS for under $10 delivered!

 

[MidiMagic]

I recently went back to listening to DS encoded content with original Dolby Pro-Logic (mostly TV shows made in the 1990s).

So far, I haven't noticed the 7kHz treble limit in the surround channel, anyone else noticed any treble loss when listening with original DPL (just trying my Synergy QS CD now [close to DS encoding, but w/full bandwidth surround content]), the content routed to the back speakers sounds good, the treble loss isn't apparent.

Kirk Bayne

The 7KHz treble rolloff was only in the original Dolby Surround decoder with no logic. I have an original decoder and a Pro Logic I decoder.