Listening to Now (In Surround) - Volume 2

[GOS]

Thanks everyone for your understanding and encouragement! I was deeply touched.

Classical music often relies on ambient surround sound because the venue of the performance is often as important as the instruments performing the music. The venue itself becomes an instrument...just like the body of an acoustic guitar or cello that resonates the sound of the strings. The natural resonance of the cathedral or hall expands and carries the voices of the performers. Many classical music aficionados relish this natural resonance and want recordings to capture this aspect as naturally as possible. And so, some feel immersive surround mixes take away this vital element of a recording. (But, some are just stubborn and don't want to try anything new. LOL!)

I am kind of on both sides of the fence. I enjoy lots of ambient Classical recordings. They sound absolutely beautiful to my ears. But, I also love an aggressive mix that fills the room with sounds from all over. I often get into (friendly) arguments over on SACD.net about this. Tacet and 2L are labels that are extemely good at immersive surround recordings. There are some other labels that occasionally release an immersive recording. I will try to post them as much as possible. But, forgive me if I post an ambient recording. Sometimes I just can't resist because I love this music so much. :burnout

One style of music that is very dear to my heart (and ears) is Renaissance and Baroque polyphony. The natural resonance of the venue that I referred to above can be heard spectacularly in this Audite release of music for chorus, brass, and organ. And fortunately for us, this Audite recording discretely uses the rear channels to recreate the sounds of the 4 galleries inside the Abbey Church of Muri. Giovanni Gabrieli and Heinrich Schütz are absolute masters of this style and 2 of my favorite composers!

View attachment 17995

Nice. It is very clear that you have listened to MUCHO classical music. who are any of us to doubt your opinion? I'm pretty sure many of us would love if you could direct us to some critical listening.....what should we buy?

 

[wavelength]

Classical: discrete surround vs ambient surround? My experience is that Classical recordings are no different then any other type of music. We've all heard discrete and ambient recordings of other types of music and we all have our opinions about what we like when comparing those two mixing styles. You are going to feel the same way about any Classical surround recordings you listen to. Personally I don't hear "the concert hall sound" when I listen to ambient recordings - I just hear ambient sound in the rears.

 

[Cibola]

Lute, could you give an example of a truly discrete classical piece? I saw your earlier post and got to thinking that Ravel's La valse would be fantastic in full blown discrete surround.

 

[0tto]

when i agree in general with Lute, my perspective about recorded classical performances depends on which type of performance were recorded.
if that's sort of small venue which consist let's say quintet, listener placed among performers seems very appropriate location, thus discrete mix
with minimum ambience would be preferable.
if was recorded huge orchestra, to be inside the orchestral pit seems like very weird choice. i personally would prefer atmosphere of auditorium
and leave "sweet spot" for conductor.
in regards of acts such as opera, perhaps more appropriate would be approach similar to use in the movie surround soundtrack, because mainly
attention of the listener anyway concentrated on action and particular performers.

 

[Lute]

Lute, could you give an example of a truly discrete classical piece? I saw your earlier post and got to thinking that Ravel's La valse would be fantastic in full blown discrete surround.

Tacet's Ravel recording is immersive... not simply ambient. La Valse IS fantastic in discrete surround. I think you'll enjoy it very much.

Please read Castor (Graham Williams) enthusiastic review from SACD.net...http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/8909.

...another for the Bluray version... http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/9541

 

[Lute]

Classical: discrete surround vs ambient surround? My experience is that Classical recordings are no different then any other type of music. We've all heard discrete and ambient recordings of other types of music and we all have our opinions about what we like when comparing those two mixing styles. You are going to feel the same way about any Classical surround recordings you listen to. Personally I don't hear "the concert hall sound" when I listen to ambient recordings - I just hear ambient sound in the rears.

Staying with the late Renaissance/early Baroque, this SACD from Pentatone beautifully captures the rich resonance of the Berliner Dom. Some tracks of the recording are ambient, but others are discretely recorded with the musicians placed around the church. But the ambient tracks are just as impressive as the discrete tracks. Having said that, I am SURE GLAD they decided to make an immersive mix. This is a magnificent recording... pure Gabrieli!!



Here are some video clips...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zkmPpyBMPnA

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l_bjf9kbNZk

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0pCCBes-WI

 

[Lute]

Nice. It is very clear that you have listened to MUCHO classical music. who are any of us to doubt your opinion? I'm pretty sure many of us would love if you could direct us to some critical listening.....what should we buy?

You give me too much credit. The reviewers over at SACD.net know much more than I do. :worthy

But, give me a moment to think of some good places to start.

Do you think you'd be into big orchestral works? Or... smaller ensemble or piano pieces?

 

[Cibola]

Tacet's Ravel recording is immersive... not simply ambient. La Valse IS fantastic in discrete surround. I think you'll enjoy it very much.

Blu it is then.

 

[Lute]

Blu it is then.

I'll be very interested to hear your opinion of the surround mix. I am still kind of new to this site. I don't know how much activity you all need in the rear channels. It's funny because I often have the opposite problem over on SACD.net. Many people get riled up when there is too much activity in the rears. I've gotten so used to such reactions with immersive classical recordings that I am a bit taken back (in a good way ) by everyone's desire for discrete rear channels here.

 

[Lute]

A while back, many of you gave me some good advice on Rush in 5.1. Thanks so much! I finally picked up this one.

It's great to finally have some Rush in surround. :51banana:

 

[GOS]

You give me too much credit. The reviewers over at SACD.net know much more than I do. :worthy

But, give me a moment to think of some good places to start.

Do you think you'd be into big orchestral works? Or... smaller ensemble or piano pieces?

My best guess is big orchestral.....don't think I'd get into piano pieces....

 

[GOS]

You give me too much credit. The reviewers over at SACD.net know much more than I do. :worthy

But, give me a moment to think of some good places to start.

Do you think you'd be into big orchestral works? Or... smaller ensemble or piano pieces?

I think I'd be smart to go with some Beethoven....I mean, I would know the music.....how about this disc??

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I think I'd be smart to go with some Beethoven....I mean, I would know the music.....how about this disc??

You should look around here..I'm going to look around at only Tacet releases...

 

[Clint Eastwood]

This looks like an interesting place to start my research

 

[Clint Eastwood]

One thing I have noticed looking at classical music on hi rez...they are miles ahead of the rock/pop genre in their acceptance of blu ray audio...there are so many titles coming out on blu ray audio..dwarfing the rock/pop genre...it's sad that my favorite genre is so far behind this group...

 

[fredblue]

I'll be very interested to hear your opinion of the surround mix. I am still kind of new to this site. I don't know how much activity you all need in the rear channels. It's funny because I often have the opposite problem over on SACD.net. Many people get riled up when there is too much activity in the rears. I've gotten so used to such reactions with immersive classical recordings that I am a bit taken back (in a good way ) by everyone's desire for discrete rear channels here.

Welcome to the home of multichannel music, discrete rear activity a speciality! :51banana:

 

[fredblue]

One thing I have noticed looking at classical music on hi rez...they are miles ahead of the rock/pop genre in their acceptance of blu ray audio...there are so many titles coming out on blu ray audio..dwarfing the rock/pop genre...it's sad that my favorite genre is so far behind this group...

They took the lead from SACD I guess (which I can see the appeal of with Hybrids and headless operation etc..) though the ripping thing is a pain in the ass.. you can easily get every other Hi-Res/surround format onto the computer now but SACD is still a bloody hassle.. funny how DVD-A never took off for Classical surround listeners and yet they've taken to BD-A.. hmm..

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Since this is the listening thread...I'm going to take this classical music discussion to the All About Music thread here

 

[Lute]

I think I'd be smart to go with some Beethoven....I mean, I would know the music.....how about this disc??

I am a huge fan of Carlos Kleiber. His recordings of Beethoven's symphonies are legendary...especially that version of the 5th. If you're interested in that recording in surround, that SACD would be a good place to start. That recording of the 7th is good, too. But, I also love this 7th...



http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E9X6JE/?tag=sacdinfocom-20

 

[Lute]

This is my favorite recording of a Beethoven symphony by Carlos. All of these have been remixed into surround.

Yikes!! I just saw it's OOP...http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00687Q9CC/?tag=sacdinfocom-20