HiRez Poll Sinatra, Frank - AT THE SANDS [DVD-A]

Please post your comments, thoughts and observations.......

Whoops - I forgot to hit "post" when I wrote the review!

This disc gives you 22 live classics from Vegas, with Count Basie and his orchestra as the backing.
There is a 24/96 MLP Surround track, an MLP Stereo one and a Dolby Digital 5.1 - no Dolby Stereo.

It's been remixed from the 4 track masters in 24/192 resolution, and has been exceptionally well done - Craig Anderton did the honours for the DVD Authoring and the way Frank's voice is all around you, yet the orchestra is a lot more subtle, makes you feel as if you are truly in the room as it happens. When you remember it was all from a 4 track, you cannot help but be impressed.
The audio is pristine, it really is. I have had a DTS version of this for a while, but the DVD-A blows the DTS version clean out of the water. I can only assume the DTS is a reconstituted version from the Dolby, as there is no DTS version on this disc. Hence the 9 instead of a perfect 10.
These days, there is just no excuse for not having both alternatives included.

If you like this sort of thing - go buy this disc.
You may have a bit of a wait though, as it seems to be almost permanently OOS at Play.com - I had to wait 2 months before mine arrived.

neil wilkes said:

Whoops - I forgot to hit "post" when I wrote the review!

This disc gives you 22 live classics from Vegas, with Count Basie and his orchestra as the backing.
There is a 24/96 MLP Surround track, an MLP Stereo one and a Dolby Digital 5.1 - no Dolby Stereo.

It's been remixed from the 4 track masters in 24/192 resolution, and has been exceptionally well done - Craig Anderton did the honours for the DVD Authoring and the way Frank's voice is all around you, yet the orchestra is a lot more subtle, makes you feel as if you are truly in the room as it happens. When you remember it was all from a 4 track, you cannot help but be impressed.
The audio is pristine, it really is. I have had a DTS version of this for a while, but the DVD-A blows the DTS version clean out of the water. I can only assume the DTS is a reconstituted version from the Dolby, as there is no DTS version on this disc. Hence the 9 instead of a perfect 10.
These days, there is just no excuse for not having both alternatives included.

If you like this sort of thing - go buy this disc.
You may have a bit of a wait though, as it seems to be almost permanently OOS at Play.com - I had to wait 2 months before mine arrived.

Click to expand...

This one has been at my local Hastings for the past four months.

to me the recording quality is not that exciting.
What is good is the Ratpack DVDA...blows this one away....

Ringside table. If Frank spills his drink, you get wet. Well-thought-out imagining of the possibilities of surround. Retains the warmth of the original vinyl (I have a first pressing of the Reprise discs).

picked this up for £5:00 with postage on the amazon Market place the other day. Excellent sound really puts you in the room. great music a keeper and recommended.

An enthusiastic 9

I love Sinatra's music and admire the man for his God-given talent to interpret a song and make it his own, rendering anybody else's version as second rate.

No one can take away from his legacy, he's a true legend in an industry where it's a term bandied about on all sorts of dubious characters!

However, I just could not get into this. I was so disappointed when I first got it and gave it a spin.

It sounds nice enough, yes, but its overlong, i could do without all the spoken stuff (yawn!) and critically, the fidelity is not as breathtaking as some had suggested.

I've had a few years to really reflect on how I feel about this DVDA and to be perfectly honest I've come to the conclusion that maybe Sinatra live just isn't my preferred way to enjoy him.

Blasphemous as it sounds, if I'm in the mood for a bit of Frankie, i'd rather put on the Supreme Jazz SACD (faked surround! ouch! i know..) of Sinatra's studio recordings and enjoy all those lush orchestrations and immaculate renditions of his best-known stuff.

Ah well, it's horses for courses, horses and carriages, for love and marriages, all go together like a.. lovely package (!) and I'm sure fans of the chairman of the board lap this one up, el primo Sinatra Live at the Sands - does it get better than this for the hardcore Sinatra faithful!?

Probably not.. but it's not for me, sadly.

So it's a (rather generous, seeing as I've only played it about 3 times in the last few years) "7" for me.
5 marks for it being Sinatra, 1 for it being a DVDA and another mark for it being in surround..!

I love this disc because it's the upbeat version of Sinatra in an intimate setting...I guess you can still call it intimate with a 1,000 people crammed into the Sands to see the Chairman of The Board...as Adam said in the previous post there is a lot of talking in between songs..usually I hate that but not in this case...I don't consider this a concert...it's an event...it just takes you back to a time(60's)when big name performers ruled Las Vegas and the stars were out in full force when someone like Frank was performing on the Strip...during this series of shows(from 1/26/66-2/01/66) the front row was frequented by the likes of Judy Garland and Yul Brynner...

The song list is impressive..Come Fly With Me...I've Got a Crush On You...I've Got You Under My Skin...Fly Me To The Moon....You Make Me Feel So Young...The September Of My Years...It Was A Very Good Year...now if you know Sinatra these are awesome songs...and lets not forget about Count Basie..and a relatively unknown director named Quincy Jones...

If you like Sinatra this is the one to have..it's unique...upbeat...and is a time capsule..I think I gave this an 8 when I voted...forgot to post my thoughts when I voted..

Greatly enjoying this. Is it the best-sounding DVD-A ever? No, of course not.
I can vouch that it's leaps and bounds above the CD though. The fidelity and mix are good enough that they reveal the limitations of the source.
IMO, the mix stands out the most during Basie's instrumental numbers. I'm not sure it was the best move to mix Sinatra's voice more or less equally in all speakers.
In any case, this is great for what it is. A nice album to enjoy with Mum and a bottle of wine. Probably a strong 7 from me.

Frank front and center as it should be. Band overall mixed pretty well but bass shy. 8 for me

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SINATRA-AT-...888349?hash=item3ad4c6995d:g:6loAAOSwRMRYTaL1

Found this today..not too bad of a deal, thought I'd share..lowest I've seen it in a while

djstephan said:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SINATRA-AT-...888349?hash=item3ad4c6995d:g:6loAAOSwRMRYTaL1

Found this today..not too bad of a deal, thought I'd share..lowest I've seen it in a while

Click to expand...

Intl seller so high shipping cost to CONUS. Still a decent price.

djstephan said:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SINATRA-AT-...888349?hash=item3ad4c6995d:g:6loAAOSwRMRYTaL1

Found this today..not too bad of a deal, thought I'd share..lowest I've seen it in a while

Click to expand...

Thanks for the lead. Just picked it up

Gmat25 said:

Thanks for the lead. Just picked it up

Click to expand...

You're welcome .. enjoy it!

Just picked up a used copy. Like everyone else says, it sure beats the CD. And having Frank's voice in all four corners worked fine for me. I kind of imagine that in The Sands, they might have mic'ed his voice into speakers around the venue. This mixing style was appropriate, I felt like I was sitting eating lobster and quaffing champagne during the concert. The clinking of cutlery and glasses really puts you in the room. The Alison Krauss Live surround mix was the opposite: band in front, rears ambient. That worked OK for me too. But listening to Frank talk....good grief. Times have certainly changed. If anyone else stood on a stage and said what he did, I don't think a modern audience would be howling with laughter at every line. A time capsule.