Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Music/concert DVDs vs. CDs?

Thanks for the additional suggestion Sean. I have had DVD-A in the back of my mind since replenishing my whole audio arrangement (Axioms, SVS, Denon 3803). I haven't spent alot of time researching the subject beyond 1) I need 5 more interconnects, 2) they supposedly sound really good and 3) they are still a bit hard to find and generally pretty expensive. If I tackle a DVD-A, the first one will likely be Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me.

Thanks for the info! I'll just use the DVD player to listen via optical. My receiver may be a bit old, but I think it can handle it.
Thanks again!
KOSMOS

I have quite a few DVD-As and multichannel SACDs. There's a huge variation in mix quality. Some sound flat with relatively little surround. Sometimes this is an intentional artistic decision by the mixing engineer and artist. E.g. Neil Young - Harvest (DVD-A) has relatively little surround. On other albums the surround can be gimicky and artificial sounding.

Some music styles just don't lend themselves to lots of surround. For example Norah Jones is great music, but the arrangements are relatively simple. The limited surround usage on Come Away with Me is probably appropriate for that music style.

Other music styles benefit more from increased surround, if properly done. The most impressive surround is judiciously done such that it contributes to the overall presentation, without being distracting or artificial. When it's done well, and for material where it's appropriate, it's an entirely different experience from stereo, and I'd submit it's much better.

The most impressive surround albums I've heard are: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (SACD), Elton John -- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (SACD), David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust (SACD), Roxy Music - Avalon (SACD), Eagles - Hotel California (DVD-A), and Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (DVD-A). In terms of the audio experience, they are vastly superior to the stereo counterparts. It's like the difference between black and white vs color.

You can play multichannel DVD-As on most any DVD player, if your receiver has Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding.

Thanks for the tip on the Fleetwood Mac - The Dance DVD. I bought it this weekend. What an enjoyable disc!

I haven't spent much time shopping for CDs over the last few years and I ended up thinking about this particular thread on Sunday. I stopped into a Borders book store for the first time and noticed they had signs for CDs in the back of the store, so I wandered back there.

Wow, big selection, but the neat part is that they had earphones set up on over 1/2 of the 5 foot sections and there was a choice of 5 CDs to listen to. On the ends of the rows, they had 10 CDs to listen to. By count, they had 35 sets of earphones in all. I was in there for 2 hours. I didn't buy anything (spent all of my money on an exceptional set of speakers recently), but I'll be going back to pick some out.

On a separate note, I followed another thread where Ben Harper and Jack Johnson were mentioned with quite a following. I ended up getting 2 Jack Johnson CDs yesterday and listened to them last night. Good stuff.

Borders is great for listening before buying. (They've had the headphones for years, now.)

I would also highly recommend Hear Music. I don't think they're as widespread as Borders, but their music selection is great. They have listening kiosks, and if you find a CD that you want to hear that's not in a kiosk, they'll open it for you and you can listen to it at the front counter.

I'm glad we could help relay his music to others. Just don't go telling everybody about him, cause if you do, he just might retire...

Well. I took a llok at the county library selection and found 6700 titles. As we speak, my wife is watching a Faith Hill concert that has her enthralled. I also picked up a Chicago concert (A&E Live By Request), Diana Krall Live in Paris and Riverdance Live From New York City.

The library also has Hell Freezes Over, Monterrey Pops and Norah Jones in New Orleans among many others. I'll swing by tomorrow and put a hold on them.

I also picked up "The Others" to try out the audio based on multiple recommendations.

Last night was kind of interesting. I was doing one of those "Let me try THIS CD now that I have my Axioms" things. I played Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion doing "The Prayer". Good God!!!! Not only were the voices incredible, but there is a level of bass that must be heard/experienced to be appreciated and it continues throughout the song.

The I popped in Season 6, disk 2 of Stargate SG-1 and watched the episode titled "Nightwalkers". At one point, the army guys are called in in their duece & 1/2s. My wife wandered in just as one of the trucks appeared on the left surround . She turned back to the speaker and spun slowly around as the truck made it's way completely around the room and stopped at the rear surround. She just grinned.

Celine Dion? And you call yourself a man? 3 DEMERITS!

The best DVD of music I have is the DTS version of the Nine Inch Nails live DVD. For a live show, it's incredible. Really feels like you're there.