What Hirez Discs Have You Purchased Recently? (1 Viewer)

[Phil A]

The Beatles Sgt Pepper Blu ray in the Sgt Pepper deluxe boxed set.

I'll probably be buying that soon. I've bought a bunch of downloads. Latest ones a couple of nights ago

Amos Lee - Spirit
The Who - Live at Leeds
Dave's True Story - Sex Without Bodies
Diana Krall - Turn Up The Quiet
Taj Mahal and Keb Mo - Tajmo

 

[Mike Frezon]

Taj Mahal and Keb Mo - Tajmo

Huh. I JUST ordered the CD of this from Amazon. Will arrive tomorrow.

I wish Keb Mo was still issuing high-rez discs...

 

[Phil A]

Huh. I JUST ordered the CD of this from Amazon. Will arrive tomorrow.

I wish Keb Mo was still issuing high-rez discs...

It would be nice - this file is hi-rez 24/44/1 (the sale was buy two and then get a discount so basically it was about $85 for 5 albums or 6 discs as The Who, which I owned many moons ago was a double album). So far I've listened to the Amos Lee and Tajmo and am happy with the purchases. Had lightning damage four months back and now more or less recovered and catching up. HDTracks does have a few hi-rez downloads of his stuff. Except for the Live album, which I don't have much info on (e.g. dynamic range database).

 

[Ruz-El]

Picked up THE BEACH BOYS - 1967: Sunshine Tomorrow which recaps the Wild Honey era after Brian Wilson's break from reality. Bought the hirez, 88/24bit files. The highlight is the WILD HONEY album in a new stero mix sounding better than ever, though not as good as PET SOUNDS and the material proceeding it. Probably due to how it was recorded in the first place (low-fi and quick, reportedly). Bonus materials features the previously unreleased "Lei'd In Hawaii" album that is absolutely dreadful and features the band in a doped slog treading through number in what sounds like an empty arena. There are some other live tracks in front of an audience that fair better, but not much. The rest is sessions outtakes from both WILD HONEY and SMILEY SMILE, which are decent enough but not as captivating as the similar material found on THE SMILE SESSIONS set.

Honestly, CD is probably just as good for this one.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

The last several months I have been on a buying spree, first in many years. All quad or surround sound high resolution, various formats.

Chicago - Quadio Box
Blu-ray Audio

The Beatles - 1
Blu-ray Audio

Diana Krall - When I Look in Your Eyes
Stereo/Multi SACD

Diana Krall - The Look of Love
Hybrid Stereo/Multi SACD

Diana Krall - The Girl in the Other Room
Hybrid Stereo/Multi SACD

King Crimson - Three Of A Perfect Pair
CD/DVD-A

King Crimson - Thrak
CD/DVD-A

XTC - Nonsuch
CD/DVD-A

Yes - Yes Album
CD/DVD-A

Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
2 CD/DVD-A

Gentle Giant - The Power and the Glory
CD/Blu-ray

Gentle Giant - Octopus
CD/Blu-ray

R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
CD/DVD-A

XTC - Drums & Wires
CD/DVD-A

Yes - Close to the Edge
CD/DVD-A

Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food
CD/DVD-A

Talking Heads - Talking Heads: 77
CD/DVD-A

Talking Heads - Remain in Light
CD/DVD-A

Rush - 2112
CD/DVD-A

Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day
Blu-ray Audio

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Trilogy
2 CD/DVD-A

I probably missed one or two, most were purchased new from Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk, Import CDs, or Rarewave Imports but a few were purchased used.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I've had those Krall discs for a long time, Chris.

You will be VERY happy with their audio quality.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

I've had those Krall discs for a long time, Chris.

You will be VERY happy with their audio quality.

I have had the DVD-As for maybe a decade, not sure why I bought the SACDs but I will worry about that later. The sound quality is good, Universal stopped Krall surround releases some time ago unfortunately. A couple of her DVD-V concert discs are great also, Diana Krall - Live in Paris, and Diana Krall - Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival are a couple I have. Paris has been released on Blu-ray and maybe a couple of other concerts.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Big price drop on a title I've had in my cart for a long time.

1615 Gabrieli in Venice -- Choir of King's College (SACD and Blu-ray Audio)

$15.59 on Amazon!

 

[KevinJ]

Gentle Giant-Three Piece Suite[Blu ray]

 

[Mike Frezon]

SACD 5.1 of The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For the Devil

This is an SACD single, of sorts. Maybe more of an EP.

The only Stones track on it is Sympathy For the Devil...but it IS a 5.1 mix. I have some other high-rez Stones studio recordings...but they are all stereo.

It also contains remixes of the same track (two each) by Fatboy Slim, Full Phatt and The Neptunes. There are a total of seven tracks altogether. This was issued in 2003 by ABKCO.

I just happened to stumble upon this during an Amazon search of SACDs. It is current listed there at just $5.95. If you think you might be interested, jump on it.

It is a pretty immersive surround experience--even if the surrounds are mostly used to contain percussion and backing vocals. But it sure does fill the room. The remixes are what they are. Fun--assuming you like that sort of thing. They strip the track down sometimes...add extraneous stuff other times...basically reimagine the song...but still using the essence of the Stones performance.

"Woo woo!"

Full Disclosure: I was never a really big Stones fan. But I have purchased a number of their concerts on Blu with high-rez audio--just because they were there and priced well--and because I knew several of their classic tracks. Because of this I have increased my admiration for their work...especially that they are still rocking at their respective ages!

 

[Phil A]

I've gotten some high rez stuff

ELO - Face the Music (download 24/192)
David Hazeltine Trio - The Jobim Songbook in New York (download 24/96)
Carmen Gomes - Carmen Gomes Sings the Blues (download 24/352.8)
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper 50th Anniversary Blu-Ray set
Christopher Cross - Christopher Cross (download 24-96)
Nils Lofgren - Acoustic Live (download DSD single rate)
Ben Webster - Ballads (downloads in DSD, double DSD and quad DSD)

Probably have a couple of more new things as well

The Carmen Gomes is an excellent recording done natively (and live) in 24/252.8 - https://www.soundliaison.com/studio-showcase-series/276-carmen-gomes-sings-the-blues

The record label at a 25% off sale a for a couple of weeks right around XMAS into first week the New Year. They have samples at the link above.

 

[Paul.S]

Grace Jones Disco BD-A.

Pentatone Classics SA-CD (my first) of Arabella Steinbacher doing the Bruch "Violin Concerto" (LA Phil and Martin Chalifour are doing it later this month), Chausson's "Poeme" and the wonderful, I've-heard-this-before-and-didn't-remember-how-much-I-like-it Korngold "Violin Concerto." Lawrence Foster conducts the Orquestra Gulbenkian (Lisbon--who knew?! Not me at least.)

Got The Jacksons Triumph album on CD recently and lamented for the umpteenth time our not having gotten any Jacksons (or Springsteen) outta Sony on SA-CD. A judicious high rez surround presentation of "Can You Feel It"!? Wicked.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I just got MoFi's SACD of the Car's Heartbeat City.

What a blast listening to these tunes that I hadn't heard in so long. And they sounded great. In stereo. Not surround (unfortunately).

 

[DavidJ]

I wasn’t aware of The Cars on SACD. Either that or I forgot about it. It’s a shame there aren’t surround mixes.

 

[Mike Frezon]

It’s a shame there aren’t surround mixes.

Expensive on Amazon. But I treated myself when it had dropped to $27.98. I wish these prices weren't so high.

Some of these tracks SCREAM for surround mixes (I'm listening to YOU, Hello Again!). But the stereo mixes do sound really good.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I knew there was another disc I had picked up recently. It was the Blu-ray audio of Southern Surroundings by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Free Bird. In HD 5.1. 'Nuff said.

This disc is revelatory. You hear things in these mixes you have never heard before. Instruments you probably never even knew were used in these songs.

Again: I'm not a huge Skynyrd fan. And I was completely unfamiliar with some of these songs. But the ones I knew I liked and I have never heard them sound better. Not even close.

 

[Jeff Brooks]

I am thrilled with the Chicago Quadio set.

 

[Paul.S]

Ouch: I haven't been using the new HRAudio.net version of the SA-CD.net site. I'm much more familiar with the latter. I went to look at the The Cars CA-CD listings on the old site and they're not listed there. I check the new and they are listed. I assumed the databases were mirroring each other, dammit. I will have to e-mail them and get clarification/confirmation.

I've long thought it a little party pooper problematic that the "new" MFSL decided to abandon surround mixes if they record wasn't recorded that way after the pre-bankruptcy company released many of them. Saying that was truer to "Original Master Recording" form seems a little disingenuous to me.

On another note, the "Boutique Revolution" continues for me on both Blu-ray (Twilight Time, Kino Lorber) and SA-CD: Audio Fidelity has recently announced/released SA-CDs of EWF's Open Our Eyes, Quincy Jones' The Dude and Rage Against the Machine's Evil Empire. I'll be trying to squeeze those first two into the diet over the next several months.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Gosh, if Audio Fidelity...or anyone else, for that matter...would ever release a high-rez version of EWF's All in All...I'd be first in line with all my credit cards to put down good money to buy it.

I see Audio Fidelity has released a couple different EWF albums now.

I wonder if All in All will ever be released in HD?

And while they're at it, I'd get in line for EWF's I Am, too.

I would hope for surround mixes (considering all that's going on in those tracks)...but I'd even take stereo at this point!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Crap. I see that HDTracks has both those EWF albums for download.

I've said for a longtime I need to pop my cherry on this music download thing. This has GOT to be the music that does it.