Surround Album of the Day

[DigiPete]

I have now been enjoying music in glorious surround for almost a year.

 

I urge everybody to share good surround experiences, whether the source is SACD, DVD/BluRay, ripped or from disk or any other source.

State source, way of playback and number of channels.

 

 

Let me begin with my surround album from last night:

 

 

Emil Richards - Joe Porcaro Allstar Big Band - Odd Men In

24/96 5.1 download from AIX Records - DVD Premium - The Emil Richards/Joe Porcaro All Star Big Band - Odd Men In

Played with Decibel from internal HD on system listed below.

 

Almost overwhelming big band experience, thanks Aix

 

 

 

 

PS. This thread is inspired by Chris' thread Album of the Evening.

I hope we surround connoisseurs can give the CA community a similar list of great surround experiences.

[DigiPete]

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here - Immersion

24/96 5.1-channel surround mixed by James Guthrie back in 2009 from the original 4.0 quadrophonic from 1975.

24/96 4.0 quadrophonic mix is also available on the BluRay disk both are ripped from.

The Immersion Box was released November 8, 2011 and contains 1 Blu-ray + 2 DVD + 2 CD.

 

Played with Decibel from internal HD on system listed below.

 

 

Pink Floyd as they were supposed to sound!!!

 

 

 

 

Shine On You Crazy Diamond!

[REShaman]

Steely Dan: Two Against Nature DTS 5.1. Surround is done so well.

and the backup singers are fabulous.

Enjoying being surrounded,

Richard

[DigiPete]

Frampton Comes Alive! (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition DVD-Audio Surround Sound).

24/48 5.1-channel surround mix recreated from original recordings made on Ampex 406 and 407 and Scotch 206, all recorded at 15 ips with Dolby A.

Four shows were recorded and used on the original album, but another five or six shows were recorded and dug out for the DVD-A production.

FRAMPTON COMES ALIVE IN 5.1

 

 

FLAC played with Decibel from internal HD on system listed below.

 

 

 

 

Nice live recording, very subtle surround mix and very well recorded.

[REShaman]

Laurence Juber: Guitar Noir AIX. 96/24/5.1. Won multiple Surround Music Award nominations, topped the DVD Etc list of "The 20 Best Sounding Multi-Channel Releases" AND won the 2005 "DEMMY" award from the Consumer Electronics Association for "Best High-Resolution, Multi-Channel Track". One of several AIX in my music library.

Enjoying the music,

Richard

[DigiPete]

Eric Clapton - Unplugged - Live DVD - looks like one take.

Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix ~16/48

DVD played from OWC/Panasonic external drive -> Firewire -> MacBook Pro -> firewire - > Weiss AFI-1

with Macgo Blu-ray Player on system listed below.

 

 

 

 

Nice live recording, the ambience/mood is better than the technical recording quality.

I think it's exactly the same performance as on the CD.

Enjoyable experience with or without the video.

 

[REShaman]

Eric Clapton - Unplugged - Live DVD - looks like one take.

Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix ~16/48

DVD played from OWC/Panasonic external drive -> Firewire -> MacBook Pro -> firewire - > Weiss AFI-1

with Macgo Blu-ray Player on system listed below.

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2485[/ATTACH]

 

 

Nice live recording, the ambience/mood is better than the technical recording quality.

I think it's exactly the same performance as on the CD.

Enjoyable experience with or without the video.

 

 

Concur. Have Clapton's Unplugged in my library.

 

Also,

Ernest Ranglin: Order of Distinction Collectors Edition, AIX. 5.1 Audience & Stage perspectives, 96/24.

Featuring:

Ernest Ranglin, guitar

Monty Alexander, piano

Robbie Kreiger, guitar

Elliot Easton, guitar

Jeff Lorber, keyboard

Alana Davis, vocals

Elan Atias, vocals

Laurence Juber, guitar

Joey Altruda, guitar

Phil Chen, bass

Richard Bailey, drums

 

Excellent performances and insights into his music with excellent musicians accompanying him.

Enjoyed being surrounded,

Richard

 

[Hanuman22]

One afternoon when skys are clear and sun is streaming into your listening room.. Alan Parsons "On Air" takes flight..

But I'll be checking into Floyd's Immersion Box! Thanks DP

 

ALAN PARSONS "On Air" DTS 5.1 Surround - ROCK by 5.1 Marketing & Sales

[ted_b]

I just found this thread. Great idea. I have hundreds of surround albums (SACD, DVD-A and some files). Last night I got immersed in this, a pure DSD offering on SACD. Amazing.

 

 

My previous surround album was a few nights ago as I dusted off this classic, Beck's Sea Change (I own both DVD-A and SACD but played the SACD):

 

 

In both cases I played these back in analog 5.1 via the analog outs of my Oppo BDp-83SE and via a pure analog multihannel preamp (i.e no HDMi, etc) to dedicated 5.1 surround and center amps (and my front monoblocks via HT bypass through the Concert Fidelity CF-080). This 5.1 setup is completely equidistant full range SP Tech speakers.

[DigiPete]

Patricia Barber - Modern Cool - Pure Audio Blu-ray Disk 1998/2012

24/96 5.1-channel surround mixed by Jim Anderson at Skywalker Sound (a Lucasfilm, Ltd. company)

24/192 2.0 stereo mix is also available on the BluRay disk.

 

One of the really great jazz albums, superbly recorded and now available in glorious surround, again mixed with live chamber reverb.

 

- Great Artist

- Great Music

- Great recording

- Great Mixing

 

I LOVE it.

 

 

Morten Lindberg/Surround Producer 2L Records

"Wow! This is certainly a candidate for Best Surround Sound Album of 2012. A Marvelous product."

 

 

Ripped on Mac using DVD Audio Extractor 7.0.2.

 

Played with Decibel from Promise Pegasus 6TB on system listed below.

 

 

 

 

Jim Anderson, liner notes.

 

The oft-quoted comment from F Scott Fitzgerald that there are 'no second acts in American life', doesn't alloy in the case of Patricia Barber's "Modern Cool", since over the years there have been many releases of "Modern Cool" in different formats both digital and vinyl.

 

This Blu-Ray release is different from the others and is a true second act.

Rather than a rerelease of the 1998 stereo mix, we've gone back to the source, using the original multi-track session recordings.

We started from scratch and have remixed the music for 5.1 surround release.

Thus marks Patricia Barber's move from stereo goddess to surround vixen.

 

"Modern Cool" Surround Producer, Michael Friedman, and I determined that we needed to get far away from the distractions of everyday life in order to concentrate on the work at hand.

We set our sight on the scoring stage of Skywalker Ranch, located in Lucas Valley, Northern California.

 

In my opinion, what set Patricia's recordings apart from other albums at the time was the use of live chamber reverb in the mixing of her albums.

We painstakingly set up microphones and speakers in the stairwell of CRC (Chicago Recording Company) (Actually the CRC engineers painstakingly set it up, but I digress . . . )

to the annoyance of the entire facility and achieve a unique sonic footprint for those early albums.

Now that we were mixing in surround, I had to ponder: What could we do to emulate that live chamber effect for the surround listener?

Looking out from the console at Skywalker my answer was through the glass: the live room as live chamber.

Once again, we painstakingly set up microphones and speakers, (Once again, painstakingly set up by the assistant engineers . . . )

however, this time to the annoyance of no one.

[chumlie]

Not for everyone. But i enjoy it. The Doors Soft Parade on DVD Audio in 5.1.

[REShaman]

Albert Lee: Tearing It Up. From review at AIX website: "No Dynamic Processing / No EQ / No Artificial Reverb." I think everyone, even the novice, will notice a difference in the sound of this disc based on the lack of processing, EQ, and artificial reverb that are so overused on other recordings. Waldrep also supplies several mixes: Dolby TrueHD Stage and Audience 5.1 perspectives, Dolby Digital 5.1 Audience perspective, and 2.0 PCM 24-bit/96kHz stereo. If you have a Blu-ray drive in your computer, he offers downloads of two-channel FLAC 24/96, MP3 stereo at 320kbps, and two-channel surround mix for headphones at 24/48."

Highly enjoyable listening and superb production.

Enjoying the music,

Richard

[DigiPete]

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon - Immersion BluRay

24/96 5.1-channel surround mixed by James Guthrie back in 2003 (released only on SACD) from the original 4.0 quadrophonic recordings.

24/96 4.0 quadrophonic mix by Alan Parsons Quad Mix (previously released only on vinyl LP/8 track tape) is also available on the BluRay.

24/96 2.0 Original stereo mix (1973) is also available in the BluRay

The Immersion Box was released September 27, 2011 and contains 1 Blu-ray + 2 DVD + 3 CD.

 

 

Ripped on Mac by backing up to HD with MakeMKV and then using DVD Audio Extractor 7.0.2.

 

Played with Decibel from Promise Pegasus 6TB on system listed below.

 

 

Pink Floyd as they originally were supposed to sound!!!

I have listened to this and WYWH so many times, I can't count them, and yet they newer fail to pull me in.

30 years with Pink Floyd, and nobody told me this level of immersion existed.

 

 

 

A good enough reason to get an audiophile surround rig in itself!

[DigiPete]

Leonard Cohen - Songs From The Road DVD Video

24/48 5.1 Dolby Digital surround mix

24/48 2.0 Uncompressed PCM Stereo mix

Video of both concert and backstage with interviews

 

Ripped on Mac with DVD Audio Extractor 7.0.2.

 

Windows rip guide by Chris: Computer Audiophile - Ripping Blu-ray The Easy Way

 

Played with Decibel from Promise Pegasus 6TB on system listed below.

 

Nice songs, very careful surround mix, good SQ but not spectacular

 

 

Warning - The BluRay has 24/96 in both 2.0 and 5.1.

I would have gotten that had I noticed.

 

 

[REShaman]

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon - Immersion BluRay

24/96 5.1-channel surround mixed by James Guthrie back in 2003 (released only on SACD) from the original 4.0 quadrophonic recordings.

24/96 4.0 quadrophonic mix by Alan Parsons Quad Mix (previously released only on vinyl LP/8 track tape) is also available on the BluRay.

24/96 2.0 Original stereo mix (1973) is also available in the BluRay

The Immersion Box was released September 27, 2011 and contains 1 Blu-ray + 2 DVD + 3 CD.

 

 

 

 

Ripped on Mac by backing up to HD with MakeMKV and then using DVD Audio Extractor 7.0.2.

 

Played with Decibel from Promise Pegasus 6TB on system listed below.

 

 

Pink Floyd as they originally were supposed to sound!!!

I have listened to this and WYWH so many times, I can't count them, and yet they newer fail to pull me in.

30 years with Pink Floyd, and nobody told me this level of immersion existed.

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2911[/ATTACH]

 

A good enough reason to get an audiophile surround rig in itself!

 

With the Immersion edition of Wish You Were Here in my collection and three versions of DSOTM, you persuaded me to order the Immersion edition of DSOTM. So happy I did. Played the blu-ray disc in surround, then Disc 3 converted by DVDAE to AIFF, 48/24 LPCM to AIFF, and played the stereo version through Amarra Symphony version 2.4.5, build 4436. Iam now listening to that same stereo version with BitPerfect's 1.04 downloaded hot off the press from the App store.

 

To get to the point, thank you for your recommendation. It is doubtful I would have ordered the Immersion Box Set without your very comprehensive recommendation.

 

With appreciation,

Richard

[REShaman]

Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here Immersion 5 Disc Box Set. Blu-ray. Similar in Box Set contents as DSOTM except 5 Disc vs 6 Disc. DVDAE conversion of Disc 3 from DVD-Audio 48/24 to AIFF. But DVDAE could not read the LPCM 48/24 Stereo format, and would only convert the 48/24 6Ch. Excellent Blu-ray surround and AIFF conversion.

Thoroughly entertaining with superb SQ,

Richard

[chumlie]

Not much is gonna top Pink Floyd in surround. BUT, if your a fan of The Beatles you should really give the LOVE album in dvd audio a listen in 5.1

[REShaman]

Not much is gonna top Pink Floyd in surround. BUT, if your a fan of The Beatles you should really give the LOVE album in dvd audio a listen in 5.1

 

My wife and I have been fans ever since they existed as we are old enough to be fans in those days. I have just about everything they've published. And concur with your assessment of George Martin and son's Love album. It's highly enjoyable. I just did not mention that particular album. But glad you did. Another is Steely Dan's Two Against Nature in 5.1. There are so many wonderful surround albums/DVDs.

 

Good call. Enjoying being surrounded,

Richard

[Synfreak]

The (surround-)album, that convinced me to build up a (at least) 4.0 setup was:

 

Roxy Music - Avalon (Remix/Remaster SACD)

 

 

And not to be missed, if some electronic music is on your agenda:

 

Kraftwerk - Minumum Maximum (One don't need the expensive SACD(s) - the corresponding DVDs do have DTS 5.1 sound)

[chumlie]

I've heard great things about Avalon on SACD. Crazy prices they go for now. Wish i was on the ground floor when that one came out.

[DigiPete]

Spending Christmas with my family is the only gift I crave.

 

This year I did splash on myself - 12 glorious surround Audio Blurays from 2L - the Nordic Sound

I'll get back to the rest of them as I get them ripped and find time to savour them.

 

Celebrating Christmas listening to:

 

Souvenir by Trondheim Solistene Audio BluRay

24/192 5.1-channel surround recorded and mixed by Morten Lindberg

 

Also available on the Bluray:

24/192 2.0-channel stereo

24/96 7.1-channel surround

24/96 Auro-3D 9.1-channel surround

 

 

Ripped on Mac by backing up to HD with MakeMKV and then using DVD Audio Extractor 7.0.2.

 

Played with Decibel from Promise Pegasus 6TB on system listed below.

 

 

Glourious music and recording!

 

What a Christmas!

[DigiPete]

The 2nd of 12 glorious surround Audio Blurays from 2L - the Nordic Sound i gifted myself for Christmas.

 

Quiet Winter Night by Hoff Ensemble Audio BluRay

24/192 5.1-channel surround (DTS) recorded and mixed by Morten Lindberg

 

Also available on the Bluray:

24/192 2.0-channel stereo

+ mShuttle MP3 and FLAC

 

 

Ripped on Mac by backing up to HD with MakeMKV and then using DVD Audio Extractor 7.0.2.

 

Played with Decibel from Promise Pegasus 6TB on system listed below.

 

 

Glorious lyric jazz and recording!

Crisp and clear as a Quiet Winter Night in Norway.

 

What a Christmas!

[ted_b]

Yes, that one is up for this years Surround Album Grammy!

 

I have a dear friend who does some reviewing, and his editor sent him 3 2L BluRays for Christmas. Problem is, he's a redbook only (MBL transport, Concert Fidelity DAC) kind of guy so I get his "re-gifts"!! Both your albums today are part of that threesome coming this way. Can't wait. I love 2L and everything young Mr Lindberg does.

 

My surround album for today is the SACD of Stile Antico's Music for Compline.

 

This is an amazingly airy reproduction of a young chorus singing evening monastic hymns in a beautifully resonant church. I put it on for a family member visiting for Christmas, and she was blown away.

 

It's a pure DSD recording, and although I have the ripped stereo DSF files available for my Meitner... the surround, via the Oppo and my dedicated analog multichannel preamp setup, is another world.

 

[DigiPete]

harmOrgan - Harmonica & Organ by Sigmund Groven & Iver Kleive Audio BluRay

24/192 5.1-channel surround (DTS) recorded and mixed by Morten Lindberg

 

Also available on the Bluray:

24/192 2.0-channel stereo

+ mShuttle MP3 and FLAC

Multi channel SACD also included

 

 

Ripped on Mac by backing up to HD with MakeMKV and then using DVD Audio Extractor 7.0.2.

 

Played with Decibel from Promise Pegasus 6TB on system listed below.

 

 

 

The 3rd of 12 glorious surround Audio Blurays from 2L - the Nordic Sound i gifted myself for Christmas.

 

Who could have guessed that the largest and the smallest instrument suited each other so perfect?

 

Listen here: https://shop.klicktrack.com/2l/40691