HiRez Poll America - HOMECOMING [DVD-A/SACD]

[kap'n krunch]

oh, man... this was one of a few that a friend from Madrid who has a record store pulled out a few years ago when I asked him if he had received any "De uve Des de Audio".. he had them in the back stashed away...still have to truly get into it but it is an exquisite MCH mix iirc...

 

[The56Kid]

My very first DVD Audio purchase and still love it today. A friend of mine is writing the authorized bio on the group coming out later this year!

Awesome!

 

[WBP]

I have the original Warners/Rhino - great mix and a fine album too - 9

 

[salsdali]

I have a confession. Many years ago before I was really invested in surround I DL'ed this from the nether regions (I have since purchased it so..).

Anyway, besides Ventura Highway sounding the absolute crazy best it's ever going to sound the DL that I acquired had 5 bonus tracks (including Tin Man which is one of my favorite America songs) and it was explained that these were procured from the Romanotrax Q4 conversions. These 5 songs in question are in 6-channel (5.1) MLP 24/96 DVD-A format, sound fantastic fidelity wise albeit not 5.1 discrtete (no center channel), very stereo heavy but still outstanding in the surround quads, and the author of the disc must have known how to make a proper homemade DVD-A.

The 5 tracks in question:

11: Sister Goldenhair
12: Daisy Jane
13: Lonely People
14: Tin Man
15: Woman Tonight

So my question is what is Romanotrax Q4 conversions?

 

[Simon A]

So my question is what is Romanotrax Q4 conversions?

'Tis the stuff of legends...

 

[salsdali]

'Tis the stuff of legends...

now I'm even more intrigued

I will say I'm listening to this now and I'm in love with America. My youth was in Colorado at this time and this music was the spirit of America at that time, pure Freedom.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I have a confession. Many years ago before I was really invested in surround I DL'ed this from the nether regions (I have since purchased it so..).

Anyway, besides Ventura Highway sounding the absolute crazy best it's ever going to sound the DL that I acquired had 5 bonus tracks (including Tin Man which is one of my favorite America songs) and it was explained that these were procured from the Romanotrax Q4 conversions. These 5 songs in question are in 6-channel (5.1) MLP 24/96 DVD-A format, sound fantastic fidelity wise albeit not 5.1 discrtete (no center channel), very stereo heavy but still outstanding in the surround quads, and the author of the disc must have known how to make a proper homemade DVD-A.

The 5 tracks in question:

11: Sister Goldenhair
12: Daisy Jane
13: Lonely People
14: Tin Man
15: Woman Tonight

So my question is what is Romanotrax Q4 conversions?

The 5 extra tracks likely came from Q4 reels as add-ons because there was enough room on the disc to do it. #13 and 14 are from Holiday, and the remainder are from Hearts. Each was released as a Q4 back in the 70's. Hearts was eventually released by Audio Fidelity as a 4.0 SACD. Holiday has not yet had a digital quad release. Both Q4 conversions sound magnificent.

A Romanotrax Q4 conversion is a quad reel converted to a digital format by an esteemed QQ member. You can guess his name.

 

[John Svensson]

Roman Polanski....um, Augustus of Rome.... Bob Romano?

 

[GOS]

Spilled cheese?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Spilled cheese?

It's spilled beans isn't it? I never heard anyone talk about spilling the cheese. You cut the cheese.

You do spill the milk, but that's a whole different cliché.

Do you "spill the cheese" in Illinois?

 

[Philip Spinner]

What about squeeze the cheese.

 

[himey]

Surprised I didn't vote on this one.

Quality/reference production and center channel done right. Easy 10 for mix and sound quality.

 

[salsdali]

All three sons of American Servicemen. I never knew that.

Sandman (not on this album) is quite poignant:

This being the height of the Vietnam War, the trio would often encounter soldiers that had seen action and hear their war stories. Bunnell wrote this song based on some of those tales he heard, stories about how when stationed in Vietnam, they were afraid to sleep for fear of attack, so they would stay up as long as they could (sometimes with the help of various substances), since sleep could mean death. The "sandman" represents sleep, which they feared. Thus they were always "running from the sandman."

 

[Matt Wilson]

A 9. Decent album, great 5.1 mix. One of those albums which has been forgotten over the decades since. I still say their best is the debut, but this may be next in line.

 

[jaybird100]

A 9. Decent album, great 5.1 mix. One of those albums which has been forgotten over the decades since. I still say their best is the debut, but this may be next in line.

I ran this one through the Involve encoder for playing in the car. As I was doing it, I used the SM to monitor. It was very hard to tell it wasn't discrete.

 

[Shikoku]

Review #7


PACKAGING
JP DVDa edition (?) Comes with a translation book of lyrics and sleeve notes, besides the standard glossy insert.

CONTENT
I've been trying to track this down and decided to bite the bullet and pay ~$38 for a used copy from a Tokyo used shop...And it came in the mail today! (whoooo~!!!) Love this disc!! I have the LP and CD version as well. America was part of the soundtrack for a road trip across the US back in '82. "Ventura Highway" still takes me back to the summer skies and golden fields of the Midwest. For me, not a bad song on the whole release. As far as bonus features, loved the short interview and digital picture book as well.

5.1 + FIDELITY
Wow! Wow!! Wow!!! It has such balance and clarity. I'll give this a lot more spins in the near future!. Another to add to the overcrowded top 10 list!

SCORE
10+

 

[Scott65]

Great surround mix. I'm giving this one an easy 9.

 

[gvl_guy]

I have both America CD-4 albums. This was my first and only non-vinyl version of anything America that I own. I was so utterly blown away with the separation and surround mix. I heard things I never heard in the stereo versions. Their harmony in 4 (or in this case 5.1) is stunning. I definitely have a new affinity for this group because of this album. (Please please someone release some CSN or CSNY in surround!!!)

This was an easy 10 for me.