I've been trying to put together a collection of Christmas music in surround for a couple years now... here's a rundown of what I've found and my thoughts on them. If anyone knows of any others, please post your thoughts
AIX All Stars - Surrounded By Christmas DVD-A/V - This is by far my favorite: acoustic jazz in a "Vince Guaraldi" style with excellent fidelity and an ulta-discrete, static mix (the instruments stay in their respective channels throughout the disc). It's available at AmazonUS for about $20 HERE
The Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas MonsterDisc DVD-A - A classic. Jazz Trio. Excellent fidelity and a room-filling mix (not all that discrete but warm and enveloping)
Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas Celebration DVD-A - A mix of New Age-ish synthesizer music and midieval-sounding tunes. Excellent fidelity; some songs are very discrete while others have ambience in the rear channels. Available at AmazonUS for about $13 HERE
Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas Extraordinaire DVD-A - Many of these tunes are on the "Christmas Celebration" DVD-A and the ones that aren't are just OK. I would pass on this and just get the "Christmas Celebration" disc.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Christmas Time Again DVD-A - I'm a Skynyrd fan, but I don't dig this album. Poor fidelity, bad surround mix, whatever music... maybe a Country fan might like it? I found one song that I like in a "cryin' in your beer" sort of way: "Mama's Song".
Admiral Presents Christmas in Four Channel Surround (Q8/QR) - This is a fantastic collection of classic, vintage Christmas music from various artists (The Philadelphia Orchestra, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Robert Goulet, etc)... the fidelity sounds great for it's time and the surround mix is very discrete. I've only heard the Q8, but I imagine the QR sounds even better.
Christmas With Ronnie Aldrich and The London Festival Orchestra (Q8)- I love this one. Orchestra music across the front channels and two pianos, one in each rear corner. The only thing I don't like is that the pianos in the rear channels sometimes "get confused" and sway to the side or the front at times.
London Festival Brass Ensemble - The Magic Of Christmas (QS) - Orchestral music (mainly brass) and a children's choir. Very enjoyable and a semi-discrete mix.
New York Voices - Let It Snow SACD/DVD-A - Almost forgot this one... Vocal Jazz with excellent fidelity and discrete surround mix by Elliot Scheiner... for me, the standouts are the acapella songs with a different vocal discretely mixed into each channel... these four songs are pure surround bliss.
The Nutcracker Suite - London Philharmonic/Stokowski (Pentatone SACD) - Great fidelity and a very wide, room-filling soundstage mix.
AIX All Stars - Surrounded By Christmas DVD-A/V - This is by far my favorite: acoustic jazz in a "Vince Guaraldi" style with excellent fidelity and an ulta-discrete, static mix (the instruments stay in their respective channels throughout the disc). It's available at AmazonUS for about $20 HERE
The Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas MonsterDisc DVD-A - A classic. Jazz Trio. Excellent fidelity and a room-filling mix (not all that discrete but warm and enveloping)
Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas Celebration DVD-A - A mix of New Age-ish synthesizer music and midieval-sounding tunes. Excellent fidelity; some songs are very discrete while others have ambience in the rear channels. Available at AmazonUS for about $13 HERE
Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas Extraordinaire DVD-A - Many of these tunes are on the "Christmas Celebration" DVD-A and the ones that aren't are just OK. I would pass on this and just get the "Christmas Celebration" disc.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Christmas Time Again DVD-A - I'm a Skynyrd fan, but I don't dig this album. Poor fidelity, bad surround mix, whatever music... maybe a Country fan might like it? I found one song that I like in a "cryin' in your beer" sort of way: "Mama's Song".
Admiral Presents Christmas in Four Channel Surround (Q8/QR) - This is a fantastic collection of classic, vintage Christmas music from various artists (The Philadelphia Orchestra, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Robert Goulet, etc)... the fidelity sounds great for it's time and the surround mix is very discrete. I've only heard the Q8, but I imagine the QR sounds even better.
Christmas With Ronnie Aldrich and The London Festival Orchestra (Q8)- I love this one. Orchestra music across the front channels and two pianos, one in each rear corner. The only thing I don't like is that the pianos in the rear channels sometimes "get confused" and sway to the side or the front at times.
London Festival Brass Ensemble - The Magic Of Christmas (QS) - Orchestral music (mainly brass) and a children's choir. Very enjoyable and a semi-discrete mix.
New York Voices - Let It Snow SACD/DVD-A - Almost forgot this one... Vocal Jazz with excellent fidelity and discrete surround mix by Elliot Scheiner... for me, the standouts are the acapella songs with a different vocal discretely mixed into each channel... these four songs are pure surround bliss.
The Nutcracker Suite - London Philharmonic/Stokowski (Pentatone SACD) - Great fidelity and a very wide, room-filling soundstage mix.
Last edited:
