What Hirez Discs Have You Purchased Recently? - Page 7

Ultimate Mancini - music of Henry Mancini

Peter Gunn theme in hi-rez!!

Just a note re yet another example of random Amazonian oddness. Although "Out of stock," they have SACD listings for the Warner titles Madonna's Immaculate Collection and R.E.M.'s Out Of Time.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...325857-4516600

There are even release dates and SKUs for both listings. Any ideas as to what contributed to this error?

-p

"Music for the Motherless Child" - Martin Simpson and Wu Man (WaterLily Acoustics)

"Tabula Rasa" - Bela Fleck, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, and Tie-Bing Chen (WaterLily Acoustics)

The above titles are on sale at Music Direct for $9.99 and $14.99, respectively.

"Brain" - Hiromi (Telarc)
"Slowhands" - Eric Clapton (Mercury/Polydor)
"Layla" - Derek and The Dominos (Island)
"The Gossamer Song" - Hui-Fen Min (First Impression Music)
"Best Selection" - Paula Tsui (Hong Kong Universal)
"Best of" - Danny Chan (Hong Kong EMI)
"Extraordinary Live" - Faye Wong (Sony Music Taiwan)
"SACD Classics" - Liza Wang (Crown Records)

Picked up Elton's Madman Across the Water.

Very nice in MC...have not/will not be listening to the 2CH tracks any time soon. Much smoother in the highs/upper mids than certain parts of GBYBR.

Probably will snag Honky Chateau at some point too.

BGL

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 8-11
Ronald Brautigam, fortepiano (BIS) (SACD)

Sonics are quite good, but let down by the recording venue being too reverberant (I wasn't surprised to find out in the liner notes that the recording was made in a church). It takes getting used to hearing a fortepiano performed in such a space. Because of this, people who typically stay away from fortepiano recordings will be less offended than normal. The extra reverberance makes the fp sound larger than it really is, artificially increasing its reverberation rate. Performances are excellent; I look forward to the rest of the cycle.

Stravinsky: Firebird ballet, orchestral works, Song of the Nightingale
Dorati/London Symphony Orchestra (Mercury) (SACD)

Very impressive. Despite all the hoopla over this disc, I'm going to risk any credibility I have and say that the a sonically more impressive SACD is the Copland Dance Suites disc conducted by Bernstein on Sony (yes, the Columbia engineers did do something right). It's been a while since I've listened to the full firebird ballet; I definitely prefer the 1919 suite. Stravinsky's later orchestral touch ups make this sound like a rough draft. Thankfully Szell's brilliant account is available on SACD. The filler is quite interesting and good. Fireworks is an important piece in the composer's career; upon hearing it Diaghilev hired him to compose for Ballet Russe. The Tango and Scherzo are a reminder of how diverse a composer Stravinsky was -- he wasn't just the early ballets and 12 tone.

Picked up Madman Across the Water a couple of days ago. Took a few listens to get used to the m/c mix (this is an album that's been in heavy rotation in my gear for many years) but, like Brian L I won't be going to 2 channel anytime soon. Each song benefits from the extra channels as some details that are barely noticeable in two channel come to life (backing vocals and guitars, especially). Also love the extended jam at the end of Razor Face (though I admit it might not be to everyone's taste--my wife hates extended jams, especially at live concerts).

Tumbleweed is next on my list (my favourite of Elton's albums).

my 2 most recent purchases were the Buena Vista Social Club and Steely Dan 'Everything Must Go' DVD-Audios. Enjoy the music of both a lot, great work on the Steely, I feel the BVSC could've benefited from actual use of the center channel over a 4.1 IMO.

I just picked up Allan Holdsworth's "All Night Wrong" on line on SACD, imported from Japan for about $40.00. If you are a Holdsworth fan, it is definitely worth the cash. If you are an audiophile, love jazz fusion or great sounding live music in high resolution, than this is something you definitely want and you will be in for a huge treat.

The SACD is 8 songs from a 2002 concert which takes place in a small Japanese jazz club, and the 5.1 mix provides incredible depth, clarity and a huge soundstage (it also has 2 channel version as well). The instruments are separated beautifully and sound quite real and practically right in my living room. There is an element of airiness to the music that is quite amazing. The surrounds are primarily more for ambience, however, they do add quite a bit to the overall sound of the instruments. The audience noise is low in the mix, as the music is the primary focus. It is a somewhat mellower performance in style of music, however, the trio is in fine form.

Frankly, I like the sound of "All Night Wrong" as good as Chesky's "4 Generations of Miles" SACD and think that this is better sounding than Chesky's "Swing Live" SACD. It is that good. I was told that when Holdsworth himself heard the SACD version of this performance, he was blown away and immediately rushed out and bought a SACD player.

For those of you who don't know who Holdsworth is, he is considered one of the greatest electric guitar players of all time, though remaining practically unknown by the masses. He is a jazz fusion jedi-master, whose skill is only outdone by his speed and accuracy. His speed is on par with Dimeola and Metheny, perhaps faster. This album is a nice reflection of his talent. out of 5

Stereo hybrid SACD from Hong Kong BMG

"Highlights From Jekyll & Hyde" - Linda Eder and Colm Wilkinson

Won brand-new copy from ebay for US$9.99!!

Just got Layla and Elton's Honky Chateau SACDs. Both spectacular in MC, IMHO. Wonderful, wonderful discs!

Layla is pretty much an ambient mix, while HC has a fair amount of discrete sounds in the rears, but both work quite well and are very pleasing to my ears....very, very smooth frequency balance.

BGL

I picked up can's tago mago and soundtracks hybrid sacd's today[ony $14.99 each]

The O, Yeah! Aerosmith Ultimate Hits SACD is a niiice Xmas gift I received. Really a terrif compilation of both the early Columbia and later Geffen hits that heretofore have only been on separate releases.

-p

Finally, my local Best Buy did some restocking of its SACD racks....

Michael McDonald - Motown II
Buddy Rich - The Greatest Drummer That Ever Lived....

Funny this thread has been revived, because I went without buying high-res for so long until just recently. The other day received a batch of hybrid SACDs:

All (to my knowledge) the new Fantasy jazz SACDS:
- Bobby Timmons, This Here is Bobby Timmons
- Art Blakey, Caravan
- Jimmy Smith & Wes Montgomery, Bags Meets Wes
- Thelonious Monk & Gerry Mulligan, Mulligan Meets Monk
- Stan Getz & Cal Tjader Sextet
- Nat Adderlely, Work Song
- Benny Carter, [i]Jazz Giant[i]

Isaac Hayes, [i]Hot Buttered Soul[/i[

Incubus, Crow Left Behind a Murder

Elton John, Honky Chateau

the NIN DualDisc and Sacd
Snow Patrol-Sacd

Mike, how 'bout that Art Blakey, Caravan, disc? Blakey is really my favorite Jazz performer...and after finally seeing (and buying) the non-SACD version in the store, I had to buy the SACD version on a subsequent trip.

His drum solo in the title track is pure bliss.

I recently purchased the Dave Brubeck, Time Out, SACD. I haven't yet received it, but I've got high hopes after really enjoying the quality of the redbook disc.

Why does it seem like all good jazz goes out on SACD, I feel like I'm being left in the dust with DVD-A.

That is exactly why I chose a universal player.

Blakey is my favorite drummer of all time- maybe he's not the greatest in terms of pure skill (Max Roach?), but his style is endlessly fun and swinging. Caravan and Moanin' are my two favorite studio albums of his (that I've heard) and yes, that solo is quite something.

I think the SACD sounds pretty sweet and am giving my redbook to my girlfriend.

The Time Out SACD is nice but it's not a hybrid. The thing with the Columbia SACDs is that the remastered redbooks sound really great, too, so it's not always that big an improvement in sound from redbook to SACD. However, this one does have a surround track which is nice.

Yes, SACD is the high-res place for jazz. One obvious aspect of it is that Columbia is owned by Sony. The killer is that they don't really put out SACDs anymore, won't license it out to boutique labels, and even when they did put them out, there weren't hybrids. They have a phenomenal stash of Monk, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, etc that isn't given the respect and reverence from Sony it deserves.

It's only natural that boutique labels followed that lead.

If Warner Brothers wanted to be a player in jazz hi-rez, they would put some of their great stuff from Atlantic on DVD-A: Coltrane, Mingus, Coleman, Kirk, Jarrett, etc, not to mention the many fantastic soul and R&B music in that catalogue.

Classical is also under-represented on DVD-A.

This is why I have 230+ SACDs and 3 DVD-As.

I don't know how much of Blakey you've heard, but, IMHO, The Big Beat and most especially Orgy in Rythm (which is really one of my favorite jazz (if you can call it that) albums of all time) are must haves. 'It's only a paper moon' is such a cool track on Big Beat.

I've only recently purchased Moanin' so I'm not as familier with it... I better listen a few more times.

Also, Orgy in Rythm was really cool to listen too on my newley assembled system. I only have a 2-channel system, but the soundstaging of 9 percussionists was quite enjoyable.

Funny, mine is doing just the opposite. They have this teeny little rack and the SACDs and DVD-A are combined on only one side of it. Not only that, but they keep moving the rack around the store so I have to keep asking where it is. Absolutely ridiculous. I know I can get these discs online, but sometimes I just love going to a store and picking them up on release date. Seems like those days are over for me. Sorry for the rant...

Anyway, I just read the AMG review on "Orgy in Rhythm" and it sounds intriquing, especially since I really enjoy the drums. Is Vol. 1 & 2 on the same CD?

Robert,

In response to your anticipation of the quality on the "Time Out" SACD, you may want to check out http://www.sa-cd.net/home. It is an excellent site to determine how a SACD sounds.

Yes, they are on the same CD. You'll love this disc.

According to MusicTap, "Out Of Time" is being released (along with several others) on DVD-A on 2/22/05. I for one am looking forward to "OOT" and "Monster" as "Automatic For The People" sounds excellent.

I feel I may have to upgrade my player soon. My big draw to DVD-A was that I have one of the 3 or 4 models of Car CD players (Panasonic CQ-DVR909U) that supports DVD-Audio, and since I spend a fair amount of time in my car, I figure why not be able to listen to hi-res? However I'm increasingly seeing just how frusturating it is searching for titles on DVD-A, only to see so many more available of what I really want on SACD.

For those of you with universal players (SACD and DVD-A), which model do you have, and do you recommend it?

There are a number of them out there, at all price points. I have a Marantz DV6400 and am quite satisfied with it. I only use it for hi-res audio, though. I can't use a prog scan player and while I have another player for movies and CD, if I had to live with just one player, I would be quite happy to do so with the Marantz. Others will no doubt offer additional suggestions.

I recently purchased "Tapestry" by Carol King in 5.1 channel SACD and "How the West Was Won" by Led Zepplin in DVD-Audio. Both sound great on my Samsung DVD HD841.

Carpenters - The Singles 1969 - 1981

I was almost in tears as I found this SACD at my local Best Buy 2 days after its release.

Naxos DVD-A of Sibelius Violin Concerto and RCA Living Stereo SACD Bartok Concerto w/Reiner conducting.

The Sibelius is great, haven't had time to listen to the Bartok yet.

Last week, the Living Stereo SACD L. Price arias and Saint-Saens w/Munch conducting.

Most recently picked up:

Elton John's Goodbye Yellowbrick Road DVD-A
Sinatra's Live from the Sanda DVD-A
The Crystal Method's Legion of Boom DVD-A

The crystal method disc has some wonderful panning across the 5 speakers, and some decent bass (though I think there's something wonky in the bass management on my toshiba SD-4900).

Elton is very clear though it was a bit pricey.

Sinatra is very nice, good sonics for the age of the recording. I find the lengthy monolog/standup routine in the middle a bit annoying. Especially if you wanted to put the disc on for background music and forget about it. Oh well, it was part of the show so you have to appreciate that I guess.

In regards to selection, I'm in Vancouver BC Canada and notice that, finally, the stores around here are expanding their hi-res sections rather than shrinking. We finally have a couple of Best Buy's here and they have pretty big sections of high-res, about 50/50 dvd-a/sacd. Future Shop, another big-box store (actually BB bought them a couple of years back) have a small section, and tend to be heavier on DVD-A. A&B, another local chain a bit smaller than futureshop and limited to western canada, have about 65/35 dvd-a/sacd, and a good selection.

And finally over the past month or so I've started seeing DVD-A titles I'd never seen before (such as the 3 I purchased). It seemed like it had been ages prior to that.

Cheers,
Scott.