HiRez Poll Santana - SHAMAN [DVD-A]

[GOS]

Hey guys!

Been a while since anybody posted on this one I just signed up for this forum because I am new to the world of multichannel music. I recently got myself the Samsung C560-S home theatre system and the Yamaha DVDS1700 DVD-A/SACD player, and hooked the system up to my PC (Ubuntu 10.04, DVD playback with VLC media player) through the Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 USB card (optical).

I'm posting all this because this Santana DVD confuses the heck outta me. I have listened to lots of DVD-As and SACDs (Pink Floyd and Dire Straits) in multichannel, and in comparison, the Santana DVD-A sounds like it's regular stereo spread over 5.1 channels no matter with which settings or hardware I play it (both from my PC and the Yamaha). All my other DVD-As (e.g. Linkin Park - Reanimation, Foreigner - 4, Metallica - Black Album, Jackson Browne - Running on Empty) have the elements of the music very clearly mixed across 5.1, same goes for Dark Side of the Moon or Brothers in Arms on SACD, obviously. Instruments and effects move through the room or only come from one direction - not so with "Shaman". This 5.1 mix sounds exactly like any of my other stereo CDs played back with ProLogic.

Is this just a really badly mixed DVD-A, or is something wrong with how my system plays it back?

Those of you who have heard the 5.1 mix of "Shaman", can you describe e.g. The Game of Love - are there particular instruments or sound effects that distinctly come from one speaker?

Thanks!

Love this forum, I'm reading through all the threads with excitement.

OK, I can't help myself! It's always a bit nostalgic finding someone's first post.....or close to first! Whoopee....cool. Now, back to regular programing.

 

[The Bright Side]

OK, I can't help myself! It's always a bit nostalgic finding someone's first post.....or close to first! Whoopee....cool. Now, back to regular programing.

Funny, I'm listening to Shaman right now and out of curiosity dug up this thread to see what everybody thought of it, then realized one of my first (or possibly first) posts was on this thread, then realized that GOS realized the same thing last year. :-D And so the wheel turns.

Good times. I really like this DVD-A, and contrary to my impressions from 11 years ago, it does have a decent, if really not too active, surround mix. I feel like the rears are just a little low and could benefit from some boosting, but I'm too lazy to edit the FLACs right now. I hear a bunch of percussion in the rears, some background vocals, discrete stuff in pretty much every song. It's an enveloping experience overall.

Really like this album! I had it before I started collecting music in surround, and then made this one of my first surround purchases. Giving this one an 8.

 

[perzon57]

I have this, but I haven't played it in years and I see that I haven't voted either. Maybe I should revisit it soon.