HiRez Poll Johnson, Eric - AH VIA MUSICOM [DVD-A]

[Rck60s]

I loved this disc when it was in stereo,,,The DVD-A is butchered but still it sounds good if you like Eric Johnson...He plays the s**t out of his guitar....

 

[DaneelOlivaw]

I gave this disc a 3.

I lived with that CD for months. Know it inside out. Boy, they ****** up the 5.1 mix! A lot of elements missing from it that made the cd really special. Little guitar flourishes here and there and some of the songs on here sound like demos compared to the cd.

Agree with all of this, except I bought the CD when the album debuted years ago. I bought the dvd-a just a couple days after its initial release, being very excitied one of my favorite albums was now in surround form. But pretty much as soon as the disc started playing I knew something wasn't right.

The low score I gave was mostly for the fact the music was screwed up - no amount of fancy surround mixing will make up for that & I didn't find the surround mix all that interesting anyway.

What I did find good about the disc was:

* the nice menu layout
* the fact that for dvd-video players, the DTS track was the default lossy format instead of the Dolby Digital track
* the inclusion of a 96kHz/24bit hi-res stereo track and especially the fact that it was in linear PCM form so any dvd player could play it
* the video

BTW: as far as the so-so sound quality of both the 2.0 and 5.1 tracks is concerned, IMO the CD version isn't that great either, being quite bright sounding with an almost harsh quality in certain parts. Though the hi-res stereo track did sound a bit better than the CD, with better definition & a slightly smoother character.

 

[The Rang]

Found a copy of this in a used bin this weekend.

Much to my amazement it was actually factory sealed.....for $7.99

I bought it of course but after reading this thread I'm wondering if I should be selling this before I break the seal instead of keeping it

 

[GabeL]

As a huge Eric Johnson fan who is also a rock guitarist, I would be very interested in purchasing this item from you. I have this album on every available format (except for DVDA) and have been trying to find a copy for many years. Let me know if you might be willing to sell.

Thanks,
Gabe

Found a copy of this in a used bin this weekend.

Much to my amazement it was actually factory sealed.....for $7.99

I bought it of course but after reading this thread I'm wondering if I should be selling this before I break the seal instead of keeping it

 

[rusinurbe]

I had never heard this album (or of Eric Johnson prior to this album) and it was not top of my shopping list just because of the review on here as much as anything else. However curiostity got the bettr of me and when i saw it on Ebay I placed a bid and ended up paying £15 (can't really loose when you see how much they are goig for on the shocker log).
Finally i have got to hear the album and I am not that dissappointed.
the surround mix is not upto the King Crimson standards, But i dont have a problem with the surround or the lack of parts because this is all i know. The songs are qute strong the production a bit 80's.
The Extras are pretty neat the Video is very good.

I am happy at the investment, Its never going to be top of my playlist but its nowhere near the bottom.

 

[wanners]

I just listened to a few tracks last night, and it is quite good, actually.

I haven't heard the stereo version since some time in the 90s, so I had a fresh slate. the mix won't knock you off your socks, but it's not bad, just not that aggressive for the most part.

I think this thread raises the question of how much comparing back to the stereo version should we do, if any at all (meatloaf anyone?)

BTW--Where does the notion come from that a MCH mix has to stay true to it's stereo predecessor? Did you lose your stereo version, or are you somehow unable to play it anymore? If you answered "no", then you'll be OK

 

[Bob Squires Jr]

I actually kinda liked the EJ DVD-A, and although I know from listening to it that things seemed a bit different,
it's the same with a lot of Quad and MC mixes.

Did we complain about Aqualung when the "sun streaking cold" lines were sung straight out instead of telephone like effect?
Or Black Sabbath when War Pigs didn't speed up at the end?
Or Joe Walsh where Meadows doesn't start out with the gibberish and screams like it does in the stereo version?
I can think of countless others! Grazing In The Grass by Friends Of Distinction... nothing like the original!

Although I heard the original mix of Ah Via Musicom many times,
(one of my friends drove me nuts with it when it first came out!)
I just appreciate it for what it is.
Now I'm not saying that bad MC is better than no MC, but AVM is really not all that bad.
And... we all here know for a fact what bad MC sounds like!!
One has but to listen to a few Silverline discs and
you'd appreciate anything else, trust me!
They even make the early "vocal on the left, music on the right" stereo versions sound like gems.

As for Meatloaf, hey... they tried!
The original MC masters were burned in a fire and they did their best
with what they had. (They supposedly found the backups a few months after but...)

Boston is one disc that SHOULD have been MC but Noooo!
The industry never ceases to amaze me.

We should be used to it by now!

-B

 

[timbre4]

You make a great point! I've had a sealed copy for about 18 months that I will now open and enjoy for what it is. There's not much hope of a re-do on this title, unless Eric dispatches somebody to do it. If he does there are 2 or 3 catalog titles I'd want even more than this one.

 

[BananaSlug]

I've been putting this one in the player lately - was thinking of selling it to help finance the Blu-ray upgrade. Looks like it's value may have fallen... oh well, I'm starting to like it! I think the sound quality is quite good and the mix very good. I usually don't make it past the third or forth track before my kids make me put on SpongeBob or something, but so far I'm impressed. I don't care for the vocal tracks as much, but hey, it's not like I can go out and buy something new that I really want to hear in surround.

 

[Bob Squires Jr]

Looks like it's value may have fallen...

I think the value of a lot of DVD-As have fallen... SACDs are going up.
ie: I saw T-Rex's EW as DVD-A for $60 US on Ebay. It's SACD counterpart... $169.00
Likewise with Beck's Sea Change... $55.00 DVD-A vs $135 for the SACD.
Maybe the releases of the SHM-SACDs and the new MoFi stuff coming are changing the SACD tide
even though they are stereo

I have a ton of DVD-As and was going to sell them off as I just moved and could use the cash to
fix a few things up here. But it's not worth it.
I have ELP, T-Rex, Elton John, Tommy, Diana Krall etc on both SACD & DVD-A.
Since, on DVD-A you get either spectacular Hi Res or terrible Dolby, if my DVD-A machine goes.
I'm hosed as I can't buy another in the near future. If they at least had a DTS track, (some do)
it would make playing them on standard DVD systems worthwhile. But to keep them just for the Dullby track... yeah right!
However, they aren't worth the time in selling.

At least the Genesis, Depeche Mode, Quadio Releases, King Crimson etc. are definitely keepers as they have a DTS 96/24 or have SACD counterparts.
Just in case...

 

[LizardKing]

I'd never heard of this guy.... and only got a copy because its 5.1 - so I can't comment on the issues with the mix - but to me it sounds like a great mix - sonically good also.

However - I've never been a huge fan of "guitar virtuoso" albums....so I just can't get into this....

 

[cupboy]

$135 for Sea Change? I wonder if I've still got those 4 extras or if I already sold 'em. Will have to take a look.