DVD/DTS Poll Parsons, Alan - A VALID PATH [DTS/DD DualDisc]

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Rate the DualDisc of Alan Parsons - A VALID PATH

  • 7:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 6:

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  • 5:

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  • 4:

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  • 3:

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  • 2:

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  • 1: Poor Surround, Poor Content, Poor Fidelity

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  • Total voters
    27

JonUrban

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Please post your thoughts and comments on this surround DualDisc from Alan Parsons - A VALID PATH.

A Valid Path.jpg
 
great disc certainly up there with the best DTS surround mixes. very active and some pretty deep lows on this certanily gives my woofer a workout.

great easter eggs as well on this disc. Two very well hidden videos. Its a shame it was not a CD DVDA package as i feel they could have definitly got a full strength MLP track as well if they had not opted for the dual disc approach.
Oh well the wonders of record companies !!!
 
I agree with everthing said above, a great sounding disc and a fantastic multichannel mix. Who is that guitar player whamming out "one of these days" sounding licks? Why yes, that's Dave Gilmour himself.

A must have.
 
Hello Rusinrube, While I did find the TIME MACHINE easter egg, where is the other one? Will you please supply us with this info? Thank you.
 
A very good example of 5.1 surround sound, ten. Musically, Alan Parsons collaborates with other artists. Some of the collaborations work better than others. On the merits of the music, I would rate it a six. Recommended.
 
Hello Rusinrube, While I did find the TIME MACHINE easter egg, where is the other one? Will you please supply us with this info? Thank you.

The other easter egg is in the same section. Go to "special features" - then to "discography" navigate to the "Try Anything Once" album press the up arrow key to highlight the album artwork and hit play. You will get the music video for "Turn It Up" - albeit in stereo only (the video is pretty cool).

I commented on this dualdisc originally back in 04/06;

With the exception of the new Donald Fagen release, this is the finest 5.1 new title I have purchased this year (granted - there haven't been that many). Despite the fact that it is DualDisc and only DD and DTS, the MC mix and fidelity outshines any other DVD-A or SACD release this year - IMHO.

Valid Path contains collaborations with several well known Electronica mixers including Crystal Method, Nortec Collective, and Uberzone as well as a relatively unrecognizable, heavily processed guitar solo from David Gilmour on the opening track "Return To Tunguska." Primarily an instrumental record - there are a few vocal tracks but the vocals are so processed they may as well be instrumentals. Also featured are several updates of AP chestnuts - Mammagamma from Eye In the Sky and The Raven from Tales of Mystery and Imagination.

All speakers are active and discreet. The mix is effects heavy and in the case of this particular type of music, the effects compliment the music. There is a great rainstorm effect at the beginning of the track "L'Arc En Ciel" that is quite a treat.

Another note - this release highlights the benefits of DualDisc - lyrics (that actually progress along with the track), a track by track commentary by AP, live performances, full discography with complete track listings, interviews with many of the collaborators etc.

With all of the attention paid to Dark Side of the Moon and David Gilmour one would think that members of this forum would be all over this. I picked this up at Virgin Records in NY on sale for $14.99 - highly recommended


For the most part, I still feel the same - Dualdisc got a lot of criticism and deservedly so, especially after the Evil Empire started pushing "enhanced stereo" as a substitute for surround. This is chock full of bonus features and I think if more titles were done this way, it may have been a more successful product.
 
The other easter egg is in the same section. Go to "special features" - then to "discography" navigate to the "Try Anything Once" album press the up arrow key to highlight the album artwork and hit play. You will get the music video for "Turn It Up" - albeit in stereo only (the video is pretty cool).

I commented on this dualdisc originally back in 04/06;

For the most part, I still feel the same - Dualdisc got a lot of criticism and deservedly so, especially after the Evil Empire started pushing "enhanced stereo" as a substitute for surround. This is chock full of bonus features and I think if more titles were done this way, it may have been a more successful product.

Whew saved me a job
 
Are you talking here about Silverline with it's faux 5.1 mixes, or some other company?

I was referring to Sony and their actual use of enhanced stereo (not a new mix but just standard video based audio at 16 bit/48 kHZ vs 16/44 for redbook CD) as a marketing point on their product.

Silverline's woes (and Sony's foibles) are well documented on this forum. The Alan Parsons disc on Immergent (a subsidiary label of Silverline) was one of several excellent releases on Silverline that had (IMO) more to do with the decisions of the artist vs that of the label.
 
I really like this disc...

Its great sonically, its Alan Parsons, and its got Gilmour on the opening track! I like the idea of the collaborations too!

Pity ita a dualdisc, and not Dvd-a! But at least there is DTS audio.

Cheers
Mike
 
Short take: if you like electronic beats, this is amazing!

Well with another 2016 thread talking about Easter Eggs I decided to pull this one out. There are two hidden tracks, which are described earlier in this thread and here:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...GS-IN-SURROUND&p=296206&viewfull=1#post296206

So I bought this disc in April of 2011, and today I found it on my shelf - happily sealed. OK, guess I do need to do more listening. Next thing, it looks like a Redbook CD. The only thing to indicate that this is a dual disc is the sticky label on the top of the spine, which one would presumably remove and throw away. At first I thought it was a Redbook disc, but seeing the DualDisc logo on top I opened it up and sure enough. So far, so good.

I put on this disc, and was blown away. There was a solo in the first track that sounded like David Gilmour. When I pulled up this thread - lo and behold, it IS Gilmour. There is plenty of atmospheric music on this disc, but when the beat kicks in it tends to be of an electronic nature. I am not a huge fan of that, but WOW is the mix great! Makes me drool at the prospect of the summer 2016 release of Tales Of Mystery And Imagination... It just shows that this man knows how to mix in surround. I would love to turn him loose on his entire catalog, and then have him move on to Tangerine Dream and countless others. As for his own stuff, if he cannot do the entire catalog I would love it if he did a 5.1 treatment on The Instrumental Works compilation.

Back to this disc. I have not even finished the disc and I can't bring myself to vote anything less than a 10. The mixing is simply superlative, and while the music is not likely to end up on my all-time-favorite list I must say there is enough here on first listen to guarantee that I will be back to this disc.

Once upon a time I think this disc was pretty easy to come by, but today on Amazon US it goes for $56 shipped, which is a shame. As cool as the disc is, I would be hard pressed to drop that coin on a single disc. The good news is if you watch for this in the used bins, you might come across a copy that has been overlooked as dual disc.
 
I bought a copy for $21.00 4 years ago on amazon...I ended up giving it away...great sound quality....just didn't like the content...not many copies available now..

I think I paid even less, but I also don't care for the content. I still have the disk but haven't played it since I first auditioned it. I do like the cover concept quite a bit though. No vote from me on this one. I just cant bring myself to vote on content I don't like.
 
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