Listening to now (In Surround!) - Volume 1

[himey]

Don't get me wrong...I understand that the hi rez releases are better than those remastered CD's...BUT...and I'm not taking issue with you or your statement.. because that is true....but Rush surely can do better than "don't sound too bad"...I was just playing Steve Miller's Fly Like An Eagle...and let's be honest here...Steve Miller doesn't have near the catalog or prestige that Rush has...not even in the same zip code in popularity...but his band managed to produce a DTS CD that crushes anything in the surround realm that Rush has ever produced IMO...it's not even close...and I LOVE Rush...but the sad truth is they produce mediocre hi rez recordings...and it just shouldn't be that way...the sad part is the masters that they had available had good dynamic range in the beginning..they just had the wrong people working on this material....or maybe the band influenced the people that worked on the sound quality to tailor the sound a certain way...when the mix is bad it's not always the fault of the mixer...there is a lot of micromanagement that goes on in these productions...you can see by the earlier recordings that they had a good DR base for most of their albums HERE

Preaching to the choir. Like the crappy Floyd 5.1 (DSOTM, WYWH). Good thing we have the quad mixes for them however. Rush just doesn't have any recordings that sound great. Some of the stereo stuff sound ok but no reference stuff for sure. Caress of Steel sounds good @ 24/96 stereo. They deserve the SW treatment though...

 

[kap'n krunch]

Funny, I am DEFINITELY wired differently than most of you guys...I happen to really like Signals MCH mix..at least there is some info in the rears ("Countdown")...and at least we get a direct 96/24 mix from the Multis...

yeah yeah, I know Rush is not a "got to surround mix" group, but , apparently, that's what they wanted...if not they'd have changed their approach to MCH...they are smart guys...

 

[Perp]

Funny, I am DEFINITELY wired differently than most of you guys...I happen to really like Signals MCH mix..at least there is some info in the rears ("Countdown")...and at least we get a direct 96/24 mix from the Multis...

I decided to give "Signals" another chance and have pre-ordered it for it's August release. As well as, the other two RUSH releases I'm missing.

 

[GOS]

Watching a little WITHIN TEMPTATION - Black Symphony...blu-ray concert. Of course...it's amazing.

 

[Laird_Williams]

RPWL - World Through My Eyes - Ripped to ISO from SACD, then extracted the 5.1 tracks DSF files, then converted the DSFs to multichannel 88.2/24 flac for interoperability purposes. Sounds fantastic.

After a week of almost-continual conversion, I am just one 5-disc Beethoven Cycle from having all of my SACDs ripped, extracted, converted, tagged, and deployed to the music server. Yay!

 

[0tto]

right now in background through foobar: Procol Harum - Live In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
sure it isn't surround and my computer does been set for surround playback but nevertheless great performance and
i would be among the first to buy it, if they ever will be releasing quad version.

 

[Lute]

Thanks for all the feedback! Everyone's comments were all informative and helpful.

It certainly is a shame that we can't get top notch surround sound from such an important band as RUSH. I can be forgiving about sound quality when it comes to surround...especially from a minor band or offbeat recording. But...RUSH!!? It real makes one wonder what the heck is going on! @:

Well... Thanks to some of the positive comments, I'll still hold out hope and try to find 2112 or another on the cheap. At least I've got some direction as to where to test the waters.

Many thanks! :wave

 

[Perp]

You should really read the Poll comments on these releases because opinions seem to be mixed. Hopefully, I will be adding my vote and comments soon.

 

[Lute]

You should really read the Poll comments on these releases because opinions seem to be mixed. Hopefully, I will be adding my vote and comments soon.

I love reading the Poll comments here. They have helped me tremendously. When I get the feel for the M.O. here, I'd like to add my vote as well.

Right now... I am digging Blood, Sweat & Tears - Child Is Father To The Man (hybrid SACD)

 

[Lute]

...lots of other music out there to buy that does deserve a good home

Thank the stars for that! I was glad to read your positive review of the Patsy Cline SACD. I'll have to pick that one up. And I enjoyed your post about her. Those Nat King Cole SACDs are fabulous, aren't they!

 

[GOS]

At very high volumes.....

I'm listening to SANCTUARY...compliments of Robert Reed. Excellent...when loud.

 

[GOS]

*SIGH*

Well - due to all the talk about the poor RUSH releases in surround...I had to dig out my copy of Moving Pictures. How ironic....they used the word "moving" in a supposed surround disc.

NOT.

So - I guess what I decided is this. This is the very best I've ever heard Moving Pictures. Unfortunately.....I wanted a premium surround experience...and I don't get it. I would say at best, it sounds like a decent simulated surround. That being said...it does jam. So, if I want to ever play Moving Pictures for someone...I'll likely play this one. But....I certainly will not tell them this is the future of surround sound. Cause it ain't.

 

[Laird_Williams]

Doing a morning listen to "Fly Like an Eagle" today as a (now successful) test of ripping and converting DTS-CD to flac (not as straight-forward as one might think).

What a great surround mix on this album.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Doing a morning listen to "Fly Like an Eagle" today as a (now successful) test of ripping and converting DTS-CD to flac (not as straight-forward as one might think).

What a great surround mix on this album.

I don't think that title gets enough respect...a lot of people wouldn't buy it because it's DTS CD...another one of the phobias in the surround movement...they are missing out on an excellent sounding disc with excellent content...

 

[Laird_Williams]

I don't think that title gets enough respect...a lot of people wouldn't buy it because it's DTS CD...another one of the phobias in the surround movement...they are missing out on an excellent sounding disc with excellent content...

Agreed, whole-heartedly. Given a choice between a mix like this on DTS-CD and no surround mix, it is a complete no-brainer to get the DTS-CD.

 

[Werno]

I don't think that title gets enough respect...a lot of people wouldn't buy it because it's DTS CD...another one of the phobias in the surround movement...they are missing out on an excellent sounding disc with excellent content...

Right now I'm listening to a 20-bit 5.1 "DTS high definition surround" CD of Lyle Lovett's "Joshua Judges Ruth", and I'm hearing a beautifully recorded, dynamic, imaginative, and tasteful collection of great songs performed by amazing musicians. And it's a great surround mix. Spec wise it barely clears my hi-def bar, but as a musical and audio experience I prefer it to many higher def discs in my collection where better specs don't make up for bad musical or production choices.

Plus it's as easy to back up as a standard CD. That's gotta count for something.

 

[perzon57]

Sympathy for the Devil - Remix Single, Hybrid SACD.Really like this one.

 

[HomerJAU]

... a (now successful) test of ripping and converting DTS-CD to flac (not as straight-forward as one might think).

Foobar2000 with it's DTS decoder plug-in rips and converts a DTS-CD in a single action. That's pretty straight forward.

 

[Laird_Williams]

Foobar2000 with it's DTS decoder plug-in rips and converts a DTS-CD in a single action. That's pretty straight forward.

Yes it does...and that is how I did it. But finding out that this was the correct way to do it was a pain in the neck. And, actually, using the ripping action with conversion did NOT work for me. I had to build a playlist with the CD and then do a conversion. Still a simple operation in the end - but not like sticking a disc in and just ripping lossless like I do for regular CDs. Then again - nothing near as crazy as ripping/extracting/converting SACDs to flac though.

 

[himey]

Yes it does...and that is how I did it. But finding out that this was the correct way to do it was a pain in the neck. And, actually, using the ripping action with conversion did NOT work for me. I had to build a playlist with the CD and then do a conversion. Still a simple operation in the end - but not like sticking a disc in and just ripping lossless like I do for regular CDs. Then again - nothing near as crazy as ripping/extracting/converting SACDs to flac though.

Ripping a dts cd is the same as ripping a regular cd. It's the same format. I used EAC in the past but use foobar now. Ripping dts to flac from dvds does involve an extra step.