HiRez Poll JIENAT - MIRA [Blu-Ray Audio/SACD]

[JonUrban]

I was alerted to this disc by forum member ArnoldLayne, so I had to check it out. Very cool package that includes a music Blu-Ray disc in 5.1 and also includes a DSD 5.1 SACD! 24/96 stereo tracks are included on both discs.

I got my copy from CD Universe and it was delivered very quickly. If you decide to get one, please stop by and post your comments on the disc(s) and be sure to vote. Your input will help other members decide whether to try this disc or not.

 

[JonUrban]

Info on the surround mix:

 

[ArnoldLayne]

It has been interesting to listen to the DTS-HD MA and SACD versions of this album in parallel, switching between the players. With my ears and gears, the blu-ray version provides a better surround image, whilst the SACD the percussion has more dynamics and the voices are sometimes maybe a bit cleaner. Anyway, these are tiny nuances and might as well be equipment-dependent.

The lady that helps us clean our home said that the music made her feel like sitting in a hut looking into the fireplace. This album is not about thrilling surround effects but rather an atmosphere thing, which I personally like very much. Regarding content, there are literally no extras but for me it is fully compensated by being a BD + SACD Hybrid edition.

I'm quite reluctant to give the highest possible grade in polls, thus leaving headroom for the rare cases of perfection. But IMHO "Mira" by Jienat is closer to a weak 10 than a strong 9. So there is a 2-digit score from me

 

[cupboy]

I searched for UPC 7090024930028 on several sites, but nobody has it in stock that I checked. Where are people buying this?

 

[MyCuff]

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/8113671/a/Mira.htm

 

[JonUrban]

Yup!

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?PID=8113671&Style=MUSIC

 

[ArnoldLayne]

It can also be ordered directly from the band's website http://www.jienat.com Shipping to Spain took 4 business days, which is better than average in Europe. 2L was involved in the production but I haven't seen it in their shop.

 

[andreas]

Greetings friends–

I've just uploaded the liner notes in full in case someone here is interested:
www.jienat.com/resources/BKLA0100840080-AFBV-NO.lo.pdf

The reason that the disc is not in the 2L shop is that it is not released on the 2L label. The mix/mastering was indeed done by the eminent Lindberg Lyd, but that is a separate entity from 2L.

The disc is indeed sold "straight from the trunk" at www.jienat.com, for US$29 including shipping. Should be the best deal.
If you don't want a personalized greeting on the cover, please let me know if ordering

-Andreas, Jienat

 

[vinylguy4]

Welcome to the site Andreas.

Also available at cdbaby.com for about $25.00 + shipping.
Some samples at cdbaby too..

vinylguy4

 

[JonUrban]

Yes, welcome Andreas. I'm glad to see you've stopped by here at QQ.

I've listened to a few tracks of the disc so far. I have to say that it's sonically spectacular. It's interesting in that it almost sounds like the lead vocal is always in the speakers you are facing! Very balanced, but immersive. I want to hear the whole disc a few times before I comment further. For those interested as to what kind of music it is, well, it's hard to say. You could call it "World Music", but I am not sure that's right. It's not pop or rock, or classical, it's a bit like Jazz, but not quite. It's very hard to describe.

Next time I have people over, I am going to put this on and see what they all say..............

More later

 

[andreas]

Thanks for the reception and encouraging words, gentlemen (predominatly, it appears?).

Yeah, the genre classification is a strange animal. The Finnish/Sámi artist Wimme and RinneRadio had their own solution by naming one release File Under: Finnish Ambient Techno Chant

Your experience with always having the lead vocal wherever you're facing is probably due to the recording being done in true 5.1; there is sonic "residue" in all channels for basically all overdubs. There's a video on www.jienat.com showing some of the recording sessions with the microphone setup (I overrode evey bit of good advice offered me by people who know much better than me what they're doing in this regard, by opting to keep the mic cluster in the same position between overdubs, thus forsaking/ignoring the optimalization of individual instrument sound in order to mantain a stable sonic 3D-perspective).

In records mixed to 5.1 from mono/stereo sources, the various instruments and vocals will often only be assigned to one or two speakers– the "if you yank the cable from these speakers, the instrument will disappear"-syndrome.

The "eyes-of-the-painting-are-always-looking-at-you" experience will also vary by which track you're listening to on the Jienat disc. On some tracks the notion is natural– there's one voice overdub per speaker

 

[JonUrban]

This is some atypical music, that's for sure, but it's very interesting to listen to. I am not quite sure how to vote, so I won't yet. However..........

TRACK 7: This is an amazing track. I can't tell if it's real dogs or not, but I played it at a loud volume with my cat in the room, and the thing went mental. It's head popped up as the sounds were eminating from all around the room. It could not tell what or where the creatures were, and the panting really made it's ears twist and turn. It was so funny to watch. The cat really freaked out. Finally, it bolted out of the room.

Track 7 is a winner for sure!

 

[The Rang]

This is some atypical music, that's for sure, but it's very interesting to listen to. I am not quite sure how to vote, so I won't yet. However..........

TRACK 7: This is an amazing track. I can't tell if it's real dogs or not, but I played it at a loud volume with my cat in the room, and the thing went mental. It's head popped up as the sounds were eminating from all around the room. It could not tell what or where the creatures were, and the panting really made it's ears twist and turn. It was so funny to watch. The cat really freaked out. Finally, it bolted out of the room.

Track 7 is a winner for sure!

I played a sample of this track through my cheap computer speakers.

Same thing, my two dogs went bonkers ! Hilarious

Music sure is....different. I'm very tempted to get this disc.

 

[andreas]

No real canine voices, just me. We decided that it would make the studio catering simpler...
Regarding the feline reaction, that seems to be universal. Norwegian cats are doing the same thing. It must be the ultimate Amityville experience– being surrounded by monsters up close that you cannot even see.

Turns out that cats have a higher hearing range than dogs, all the way up to 75KHz. So there may also be something in the hi-res sound that the cats are picking up. Since the resolution of this disc is 96KHz, it will reproduce sounds up to 48KHz.

Morten Lindberg who did the mix told me about a client who was bringing along his dog for a listening session of a mix of conventional acoustic music. When playing the regular CD version, the dog was calm. When playing the hi-res version, Fido obviously started hearing voices.

I watched a spectrogram of one of the regular tambourines, and there was plenty of info all the way up to 48KHz. Now, the 2L recordings are often done at 384KHz, which means that even bats would miss out on things.

The track actually has gotten some sporadic airplay. Never would have thought that. Even in the context of this disc, this one is fairly off-center.

 

[patrick1]

Hello. Thankfully this is a Blu-ray/SACD combo, because the Blu-Ray wouldn't play on my OPPO (it read "BDMV" and no playback). This was a very interesting first time listen. GREAT recorded sound with a "play it often" aquired feel for what is going on aurally AND most of all, lyrically. Lyrics are not in English. I'm still very glad that I have this disc in my collection, because I want to hear it all. It was also very nice to receive the disc with a personal inscription from Andreas. Nice touch. Thanks

 

[andreas]

Hi patrick1! Regarding the BDMV message, here's a thead thay may be relevant:
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/blu-ray-hardware-general-discussion/102241-oppo-bdp-83-freeze.html

 

[patrick1]

Hello Andreas, I knew it was the OPPO. Thanks for the thread. I will put the fix in when I get home tonight. Without the assistance of the great QQ'rs, I would at times be completely clueless. Thanks.

 

[Steve Schoultz]

Patrick,
Have downloaded the most recent firmware update? I had a Blu-Ray freeze up on me last night. Same BDMV thing. I tried the factory reset thing and it didn't work. The firmware update solved the problem. Still buggy, but workable.

 

[patrick1]

Hello and thanks to all. I did both of the abovementioned tasks last night and everything is fine. Thanks for cluing me in. Happy Friday!

 

[oxenholme]

What an excellent offering! Sound quality truly superb and very interesting content.