Stuff that sounds amazing with the Surround Master

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JonUrban

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Use this thread as a place to post [DETAILS Not Files of] stereo songs or albums that shine with the Surround Master. Make sure you specify the source (CD pressing, HDTracks, SACD, etc) so members know exactly what the specific source was, as different issues and pressings may have different mixes.
 
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Beck - Mutations, HDTracks 24/192 FLAC. SM QS/Involve setting. 4.0.

This is remarkable to the point of making you feel that perhaps maybe, just maybe Elliot Scheiner got his hands on this one as well. 'Nobody's Fault But My Own' expands to fill the room, subtle guitar and sitar sit in the rear discreetly left and right respectively. Pretty much every track has something that folds out discretely but the overall feeling is one of balance and coherence throughout. Try it - I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised. I know this so well in stereo but I am hearing a depth to the mix that I seem to have missed before.

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Van Morrison - Astral Weeks HDTracks 24/192 FLAC. SM QS/Involve setting. 4.0.

From the outset this really opens up when played through the Surround Master. A second guitar and mandolin plus shakers and strings pull smoothly to the rears while Van's vocal stays stable front and center. There's a musical lightness to this synthesis, it's gentle and musical throughout. The Xylophone that chimes in the title track is sonorous and seemingly all around and as the track builds to it's gentle crescendo it feels like the shakers move a little, their subtle volume shifts being tracked by the synthesis as slides between front and back. The little licks that close the track pop out from the rears so discretely. A quietly pleasing treasure.

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It's interesting that LizardKing posted the two Alan Parsons HDADs as sounding fantastic with the Surround Master. These two titles, as well as Eye In The Sky, also sound terrific decoded in Logic 7. They actually sound like multichannel recordings played through Logic 7, and better than some actual multichannel recordings.

I really prefer not to delve through dozens of pages of posts on the Surround Master, so I would ask how does it compare vs. Logic 7 and DPLIIx in providing satisfying surround sound from 2-channel recordings? In the case of Logic 7 and DPLIIx, often one decoder can present a better surround sound experience over the other depending on the source material. Would this also be the case with the Surround Master? Would the Surround Master provide a more convincing and discreet presentation than Logic 7 or PLIIx? I no longer have any QS or SQ records, so I have no interest in the capability of the device to decode those formats.

Thanks.
 
Beck - Morning Phase Vinyl edition; SM QS/Involve setting

Maybe it's the 'phase' in the title that does it, but this is immersive and engaging. Crisp acoustic guitars and harmonies sit in the rears, a broad ambience that expands the listening space so beautifully. It's lovely and brings this distant cousin of ' Sea Change' closer to it's counterpart. Spectral pianos chime all around amongst the dappled light that suffuses this gorgeous album. Avoid the HDtracks FLAC version of this though as it's horribly brick walled by comparison to the vinyl. The vinyl has room to breath and the SM takes every track to a new width and depth.

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Gonzales (featuring the Kaiser Quartet) - Chamber Music LP (or CD); SM QS/Involve Setting 4.0

This lovely album is a great example of how the SM can bring out the ambience in the mix to great effect; the listening space expands with height and breadth. Less corner pocket discrete, this is more about wrap around coherent imaging. Brass instruments appear in the quartet later on side B and in regular stereo they sound a little lost in the mix, but the SM lifts them out and up to rest above the tug-tugging cellos, adding air to the complex sections of the mix. I had really looked forward to this album and to be honest the sonics weren't thrilling on the vinyl - Gonzales' piano especially not that engaging with a distinctly muddy timbre but I much prefer it though the SM and at greater volume than I thought I would. The record comes with a CD which lifts the slightly dirtied veil of the vinyl's sound but at the expense of a little range; just a pinch though, so don't be put off giving it a whirl.

If you own solo piano I and II then you should really give those a go as well, no additional quartet - the title is entirely accurate and via the SM they envelope you in sweet sustain and room ambience. This lovely San Francisco Sunday morning has been sound tracked so beautifully by these albums.

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A request if you have it and a Surround Master: Porcupine Tree The Sky Moves Sideways CD disc 2 (SMACD883), TSMS alternate version in particular. Sounds good through PLII but not very discrete, just wondering what the SM might do with it.

"Suzanne Barbieri is credited for vocals on "The Sky Moves Sideways", but this credit applies only for Phase 2 and the Alternate Version of this song." - Discogs
 
If anyone has the 12" single of Human League's Red, check out the b side Keep Feeling Fascination, Improvisation. It will blow your mind when played through the Surround Master. This single is cut at 45rpm and is one of my all time favorite pressings. Super deeeep groove.
 
What's the word on the new St. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 2-ch remix thru the Surround Master? Anyone done that yet? I haven't received my order yet, but I'm just as interested in the 2-ch re-mix as I am the 5.1 re-mix (maybe more) - in fact, I'm sure I'll audition the 2-ch via Surround Master before the 5.1.

John R
 
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Stevie Nicks and Kenny Loggins-Whenever I call you friend, actually from Youtube, sounds great through Involve. There's all kinds of discrete sounding background-pretty amazing.
 
Hi All

Had a visit from my good friend Thomas Pinschof today, he was the conductor of the Mozart Orchestra in Melbourne.

He played via youtube the below recording he made in 2009 - recorded by a dummy head that you see directly in front. Happy to say the SM did a great job!

Pinschofon Dvorak Humoresque live 9 April 2009

 
Obviously Suzanne Ciani's Live Quadraphonic LP released this year. I am streaming it straight into the Sound Master and it sounds breathtaking. Much better than Tubular Bells which just doesn't do it for me.
 
Pink Floyd at Pompeii - Restored 1974 Cut. When played through the SM sounds very good indeed...

View attachment 36073

The original Quad version of STCFTHOTS is quite amazing for the time period, sounds sublime late at night after a few drinky-poos ;-)
For me the rest of the songs arent as effective as this one in surround.
 
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