.......George Strait's Honkeytonkville or Vince Gill's High Lonesome Sound on either sacd or dvd-audio? If you did, what was the surround mix like? I'm asking because I have NEVER seen a review of these albums in hi-res form and wondered what the mixers are doing with country music as far as surround is concerned. Thanks. LJ
I bought George Strait's Honkeytonkville SACD for my wife but unfortunately it never made it into the house to try out. It is buried somewhere in the minivan along with many more cds. Since it is a hybrid she played it in the van but I haven't seen it since. If I can find it I will try it out and let you know. I'm glad that you mentioned it. I had completely forgotten about it. I like to keep all of my SACD and DVD-A collection together but it doesn't allows happen. One night I went out partying with my neighbors in their limo and I brought my Fleetwood Mac: Rumours DVD-A along to play in their DVD player and I haven't seen it since. This was one of my favorites too.
I have George Strait's Honkytonkville on DVD Audio. IMO the sound is incredible, the mix is a discrete surround mix (but nothing annoying) that just adds to the experience - it still sounds like a country album. On the DVD-A'S, the surround mix for both is done by Chuck Ainlay while the High Rez mastering on GS is done by Hank Williams (someone else on the Vince Gill - haven't picked it up yet). As someone with only a passing interest in country music, I must admit this is on my 'heavy' playlist.
Thanks guys. Yep, for some people CDs and other music carriers are like an empty beer can, to be left sliding around underneath the car seats because.......????? Why do some people treat other people's stuff like that? There's a mastering engineer named Hank Williams? Wow, what a name to have in the music biz, eh? I'm glad that (some) country is getting some quality attention. While for a year or so back in the 80s I went through a country music stage (living in Texas helps this to happen ) right now I don't listen to it much. I used to own a George Jones greatest hits CD which I liked a lot--that stuff seemed like "real" country music to me. But due to being poor at college & needing to get back there one Sunday in my trusty-but-inefficient 305 V-8 Monte Carlo, Mr. Jones' CD, an Ian Tyson and a Chris LeDoux CD were sold to accomplish that end but I still have two Ian Tyson, two George Straits, a Reba McIntire and a few others in vinyl form though. I really would like to check out more of that real country music when I am able to because it's nothing like the polished pop country crap polluting the airwaves these days. I guess that sounds weird compared to the trip-hop/lounge/prog rock I usually write about here but I've always liked hearing stories told about people and real country is good at doing that. It may seem depressing to some ("I'm drunk again, my wife and my dog left me, and all I got left is my ol' pickup truck.........") but so is a lot of Pink Floyd, Morissey, Rush, etc. etc. I'm not so sure older country music (and folk music too) would sound good in surround form even if the multitrack masters allowed for it. IMO straightfoward music like real country & folk is usually telling literal stories about real people and/or everyday events, so I think it might be best to keep everything in front of the listener to avoid any sonic distractions. But as far as instrumentals are concerned.......I think these would sound good using an immersive mix. I like hearing those guitars, mandolins and other stringed instruments and IMO the true three dimensional airiness provided by surround really helps them to come alive. LJ
I've got both (Honkeytonkville on SACD and High Lonesome on DVD-A). Still a 2ch wanker here, but have every confidence that Chuck Ainlay, who is a fine engineer, has done some terrific, appropriate mixes, esp. on cuts like "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" and "My Pretty Little Adriana." Too bad the output I had expected of other Tony Brown-produced albums on hi rez has not continued. George's One Step At A Time and Vince's awesome Breath Of Heaven were released on DTS CD and haven't even been re-released hi rez. -p
Interesting: UMG's Website is now showing that they're gonna double dip on High Lonesome as well. There's a July 13 release date listed for a High Lonesome SACD (of course, already out on DVD-A). http://consumers.umusic.com/sacd/future.html I really wish UMG would release additional titles--including those that m.c. mixes have obviously been done for already, such as those UMG albums that have been out on DTS CD since circa 1998--instead of continuing this release of one album in both formats. Lance, I hope you don't mind my posting a request that the Admin change the title of your thread to something like "Any one bought hi rez High Lonesome Sound and/or Honkeytonkville?" It's more descriptive and I think it would increase thread traffic if people could tell at a glance what albums you're asking about. -p
