| Cinema Cynergy April 2003
Multichannel Music Discs to Showcase and Evaluate
Your System
Multichannel music is usually the domain of SoundStage!
"Surrounded"
columnist Jeff Fritz, but this month I am taking the opportunity to introduce you to some
of my favorite multichannel music recordings that I use to evaluate systems, as well as
listen to for pure enjoyment. Everyone seems to love good music, and while bombastic movie
soundtracks will certainly impress your friends, well-recorded music will really show off
what your system can do with subtle nuances. We’ll mainly discuss DVD-Vs and DTS CDs,
although I will mention a few of my favorite DVD-As and SACDs.
All music, all the time
Even though they have discrete multichannel digital
soundtracks, the fidelity of most live-concert DVDs is inferior to that of even a
well-recorded stereo CD. However, one of the first is still one of the best. The Eagles:
Hell Freezes Over is a classic live recording and was one of the first DVD-Vs to be
available with a DTS audio track. While Don Henley’s vocals can sometimes sound a bit
constrained (especially if your center-channel speaker and amplifier are not up to the
task), they are generally well recorded, and the guitars of Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey, and Don
Felder image evenly across the front soundstage. My favorite cut is "New York
Minute" with its soaring vocals and the nicely integrated string arrangements that
sound wonderfully transparent and are thrilling to listen to on a high-quality system. For
pure visceral impact, it is hard to beat the crushing bass of "Hotel
California," which may overwhelm some speakers, but on a capable system will provide
enough low frequencies to energize an entire room.
 A live-concert DVD that I recommended in a
previous column is Diana Krall Live In Paris. While I won’t rehash what I
already said about that recording, suffice it to say that it sounds as good as any of Ms.
Krall’s stereo CDs, but has the advantage of having 5.1 channels of surround sound.
For fans of Diana Krall’s earlier recordings, Love Scenes [DTS
71021-51044-2-3] is available as a DTS CD. On this recording, Ms. Krall’s vocals are
pristinely captured and reproduced mainly as a phantom image with the center-channel
providing minor fill and directional cues. The surround channels are used sparingly to
provide ambiance, and the entire recording sounds spacious and has great depth. Christian
McBride’s bass is tight and incredibly detailed on "My Love Is" and the
opening finger snaps are sharp and seemingly trail off into space well behind the
speakers. A favorite from this album is "Peel Me A Grape," which will shine on a
good system with plenty of body and power that makes the piano come alive. Ms.
Krall’s sultry vocals are also at their best on this cut; she will be located solidly
between the front speakers with a good sense of the recorded space surrounding her.
Another excellent DTS CD is Sacred Feast [MAS
CD-805] recorded by Tom Jung of DMP records. This ethereal choral recording made in the
Trinity College Chapel in Hartford, Connecticut wonderfully captures the
reverberant space of that venue. The massed voices seem to wrap around the room with some
imaging to the sides and to the rear as if the sound is echoing slightly off the inside
walls of the chapel. While the voices of the choir are massed, they are still well
delineated, and although individual voices are not discernible, neither are they lost in a
homogeneous blend as with so many choral recordings. Sacred Feast is one of the
best sounding and most engaging choral works that I have heard in any multichannel or
stereo format. This recording is also available as a multichannel SACD.
Lyle Lovett’s Joshua Judges Ruth was previously
available on DVD-A, but now appears to be out of print, although it is still available as
a DTS CD [HDS 71021-54430-2-7]. This is an incredibly dynamic album as is evident on the
first cut, "I’ve Been To Memphis." The opening piano bars and drum whacks
are startlingly realistic and will have you tapping your feet in time with the music. The
sound of the instruments on this track is simply stunning and there are several instances
in the song where they sound so real that they will give you goose bumps.
"Church" begins as Lovett sings a cappella with the sound of clapping
hands in the surrounds. The clarity and power of his vocals are exceptional, and later in
the song as the gospel singers join in, the interplay between them leads to joyous
celebration of song. These two tracks alone would make this disc worth recommending, but
the entire album features some of the finest recording quality of Lovett’s vocals
I’ve heard. You’ll also hear various instruments along with a sometimes
aggressive, but always-tasteful surround mix. Joshua Judges Ruth is one of the
finest examples of a multichannel pop recording that I know of.
 For
a recording that some people might not even consider to be music, the Blue Man
Group’s Audio [Virgin 7243 4 77893 9 7] is a delightful DVD-Audio disc
consisting mainly of their signature PVC drums supplemented with some conventional
instruments and other percussion. The sounds are atmospheric and image precisely from all
around the room, although sometimes at a frenzied pace. For instance, "PVC IV"
opens with drums bouncing lazily back and forth between the front speakers and then picks
up momentum as a drum roll moves across from the right to left surround, then builds to an
incredible crescendo that will test the power-handling capabilities of your system. Other
favorites are the devastatingly loud "TV Song" and the very cool sounding
"Rods and Cones." This DVD-A disc also has a DVD-V layer on the flip side with
an excellent-sounding DTS track.
The Police have released all of their albums on SACD and Every
Breath You Take -- The Classics [A&M 069 493 602-2] is the only multichannel
release among them. This album is also available as a DTS CD and the accompanying videos
are soon to be released on a DVD-V, which will include a DTS audio track. From the
restrained but effective use of the surrounds on "Roxanne" and "Every
Breath You Take" to the enveloping alternate arrangement of "De Do Do Do, De Da
Da Da" (the original is included in the CD layer and the two-channel SACD track), EBYT
-- The Classics is a must-have multichannel release. Due to the age of the recordings,
some of the tracks will lack slightly in fidelity when compared to the best, but they are
still very good and far better than most of the other, older recordings that are currently
being remastered for high-resolution stereo and multichannel releases. Of all the
multichannel recordings that I own, this is my favorite because of the musical content and
recording quality and it should be included in the collections of even the most casual
Police fans.
Two DVD-Audio recommendations from Jeff Fritz’s
"Surrounded" column are Aaron Neville’s Devotion [Silverline
86028-9] and Bucky Pizzarelli’s Swing Live [Chesky CHDVD222], which could not
be more different from each other, but both deserve mention here. In terms of pure audio
quality, Devotion is beyond reproach. The fidelity of this multi-track recording is
pristine and although the surround mix is totally artificial, it is very involving and
appropriate for the material. Although this DVD-Audio disc contains a DTS track, the
fidelity of the DVD-A track is noticeably superior and is the preferred listening
experience. Swing Live on the other hand is a live recording of a small jazz
ensemble made in a New York club. The surround channels mainly provide ambiance and crowd
noise. The recording itself is an intimate snapshot of this talented group of musicians.
The mix is subtle and natural sounding unlike many aggressive surround mixes and will
place you squarely in the jazz club where it was done for that "you are there"
experience. Swing Live utilizes Chesky’s unique 6.0 full-range speaker
configuration that dispenses with the use of a subwoofer and requires four front speakers
and two surrounds. A separate 4.0 mix (L, R, LS, and RS) is provided for compatibility
with conventional 5.1 speaker systems. Interestingly, this recording is also available on
SACD from Chesky.
The times they are a changing
With the increasing number of "universal" players
becoming available from various manufacturers and the ever-expanding catalog of
high-resolution multichannel recordings on both DVD-A and SACD, these formats are fast
becoming the standards for high-resolution multichannel audio releases. With a standard
high-resolution digital audio interface and a DVD-A/CD hybrid disc hopefully just around
the corner, the number and quality of releases on these formats will only continue to
increase. Keep an eye on this column for future recommendations of multichannel music
discs to showcase and evaluate your system.
...Roger Kanno
roger@hometheatersound.com |
