HiRez Poll Seal - BEST 1991-2004 [DVD-A]

[rusinurbe]

Wow it appears dispite owning this for years I ahve never voted on this. I Love teh album, if anything my only complaint would be there is too much on it, electric and acoustic versons of songs. untill In the court of teh crimson King came along I would hold this one up as why DVDA should have been the multichannel format of choice sheer quality of content.

10 for me

 

[Bob Squires Jr]

Just bought this one after dithering about it for months, and I can only say that I am surprised I left it so long!
Stunning.
A genuine 10 here - the content is simply great VFM:
27 tracks split across 2 albums - full band & new Acoustic mixes, then if that was not enough, they throw in 11 Videos as well!!

If you are a fan already, then you know what you are in for - if you are NOT already a fan, then buy this anyway & become one.

Awesome.

I agree 100%.
Amazing sound and lots of it!
Nice videos too. One of the best for the money!

-B

 

[quattroatl]

I just got my copy and am blown away as others are. The videos being in 5.1 DD is great. A 10 all the way, although I don't know why the "best of" is 88.2 and the "acoustics" are in 44.1. At any rate, it all sounds superb!

Best bang for the buck purchase. I cannot recommend this disc more. You can tell that a lot of love went into making this dvd-a.

This disc makes you wonder about the possibilities that coulda, woulda, shoulda been .

 

[neil wilkes]

The acoustic material is all at CD resolution - it's 16-bit as well as 44.1.
Still sounds great though.

 

[quattroatl]

The acoustic material is all at CD resolution - it's 16-bit as well as 44.1.
Still sounds great though.

The fact that it's discrete multi-channel makes up for it though ).

 

[elroy]

Somehow missed voting on this. 10.

 

[Dixie4]

Just received my brand new sealed 3 disc set. ( £60 ) Waiting for my DVD Audio / SACD player to arrive. The redbook cd sounds good, so can't wait to hear the hirez discs !!

UPDATE : I decided to load the DVD A disc, into my Sony Blu Ray player, not expecting it to read anything, had a menu appear on the screen ! Option to choose 5.1 surround mix. Is this a DVD Video layer that it's reading ? ( sounds quite good ! )

 

[The Bright Side]

Yes. And the DD sounds pretty good indeed, I listened to it before I got my DVD-A player, too.

 

[Dixie4]

Yes. And the DD sounds pretty good indeed, I listened to it before I got my DVD-A player, too.

I did realise later that i was listening to the Dolby Digital layer ( i can't wait to hear the surround layer ! )

 

[Dixie4]

My first DVD-A and even though i had to pay £60 for it, it's worth it. 3 disc edition, full of content. Excellent mix, well balanced, probably more going on in the rears, than i think ?
Prayer For The Dying, a favourite track & Love's Divine, is just beautiful ! I think it's worthy of a 10, given the production & the content.

 

[wavelength]

I am disappointed with the mixes. A lot of big-stereo going on. Some songs kinda get to a surround experience with some effort applied to the rears but there is way too much of nothing going on in the rears - just duplication of the front channels.

 

[hafquark]

I have the single DVD-A release. Very good surround mix for the majority of tracks, excellent audio, and a great selection of songs. It's a fine compilation for Seal fans and a good introduction for everyone else. The "acoustic" bonus CD-quality surround tracks are a great extra, too. A solid '9' from me.

 

[rtbluray]

While there's a lot of repeat songs on this collection that are also available in surround on the other three albums (Seal I, II, and IV), there's three other gems on this collection that are worth seeking out:

'Walk On By", "Fly Like an Eagle", and "Human Beings"

There's also the song "Lips Like Sugar", but I don't really care for that one at all.
Haven't listened to the Acoustic portion in surround yet, but that will be a must-do very soon!

 

[dr. simple]

Haven't listened to the Acoustic portion in surround yet, but that will be a must-do very soon!

The acoustic tracks, in my opinion, are the best part and what make this disc a real value.

 

[robegian]

Got the 3 discs set, although - of course - the DVD-Audio is what I listen to the most.

This DVD features surround sound at its best, more polished than adventurous but an exhilarating ride nonetheless. The acoustic set is the best part, in my opinion, but the original versions of the hits are highly enjoyable as well.

One question: since I bought this set used, I don' know if it originally it came wit a booklet (mine doesn't have any) - does it feature a booklet (and mine is missing)?

 

[uffeolby]

Got the 3 discs set, although - of course - the DVD-Audio is what I listen to the most.

This DVD features surround sound at its best, more polished than adventurous but an exhilarating ride nonetheless. The acoustic set is the best part, in my opinion, but the original versions of the hits are highly enjoyable as well.

One question: since I bought this set used, I don' know if it originally it came wit a booklet (mine doesn't have any) - does it feature a booklet (and mine is missing)?

Yes, I have a booklet in mine but all info is to be found on the DVD disc if I recall it right. The acoustic versions in lossless 5.1 is really, really good - both fidelity and mix.

 

[robegian]

Yes, I have a booklet in mine but all info is to be found on the DVD disc if I recall it right. The acoustic versions in lossless 5.1 is really, really good - both fidelity and mix.

Thank you for the information.

I have the version depicted in the pictures below. If you have the same version and if you have a scanner (or a firm hand and a camera I'd be very grateful if you sent me the scans (or the photographs) of the booklet's pages. Of course, don't feel obliged to satisfy my request — do it only if you have plenty of time... and will!

 

[beerking]

Nothing less than a 10 here folks.
I have already just praised his release IV
This tops that in droves.

 

[salsdali]

bought this years ago and for some reason never really listened to it.

just did and didn't even realize he did covers of Fly Like an Eagle and a Reggaesque Lips Like Sugar Featuring Mikey Dread (which was a favorite Echo and the Bunnymen song of mine at the time of release).

I didn't even realize he did an acoustic album on this with a Kiss from a Rose version that always lended itself to acoustic IMO.

Wow, what a collection of songs.

 

[dr. simple]

QQ friends: I have a question about this disc. The file sizes of the songs on this collection are considerably smaller than their corresponding songs on Seal, Seal II, and Seal IV, despite the facts that:
1. Both were ripped with DVD Audio Extractor
2. Both are the same length, usually within 2 seconds
3. Both are 6 channel 88.2/24

Examples:
"Kiss From A Rose" is 240.26 MB on Seal II, but 171.71 MB on this collection.
"Crazy" is 329.55 MB on Seal, but 223.59 MB on this collection.
"Love's Divine" is 157.75 MB on Seal IV, but 144.20 MB on this collection.

My apologies if this has been discussed before; it's not easy to search for "Seal" on this forum without getting a lot of results that have nothing to do with the artist.

Does anyone have any idea how this is possible? I don't believe it's possible to change the flac level with DVD Audio Extractor, but I suppose it's possible that DVDAE on its own uses a different flac level if the disc has more or less content.

Any ideas?