Rob Babcock
06-18-2003, 07:56 PM
<font color='#000000'>As a long time lurker but new poster, I've noticed there isn't a lot of discussion of multichannel music. As an early adopter of DVD-A and a fan of SACD, I hope you all don't mind my posting a few mini reviews of some of my favorite MC recordings.
I just picked up this disc today about 3 months ago, and after listening a few times I can say conclusively that it creams the CD version! As is often the case, I'm not totally ecstatic about the way it was remixed for surround, but the increase in air and resolution is undeniable. Also as usual, the greatest gains were in vocal clarity and treble detail. The music just lives and breathes in a way I've never heard on CD or LP. While sometimes the surrounds are overused, the net effect is to kick the door wide open on the performance and really expand the soundstage.
For the record, I wouldn't rate this as one of the best sounding DVD-A's I've heard, either. Part of this may be the occasionally distracting vocals and percussion panned too far rearward for my tastes. Overall, I'd give it an 8.0 or so. Much better than the CD, but maybe not as good sounding as Steely Dans "Two Against Nature" or Foreigner 4. While "Automatic" sounds superb, it can't match the newest Beck SACD or Steely Dan's new "Everything Must Go" as seemless paradigms of MC magic. Still, for fans of REM in general and those interested in MC music, this disc is a no brainer.</font>
I just picked up this disc today about 3 months ago, and after listening a few times I can say conclusively that it creams the CD version! As is often the case, I'm not totally ecstatic about the way it was remixed for surround, but the increase in air and resolution is undeniable. Also as usual, the greatest gains were in vocal clarity and treble detail. The music just lives and breathes in a way I've never heard on CD or LP. While sometimes the surrounds are overused, the net effect is to kick the door wide open on the performance and really expand the soundstage.
For the record, I wouldn't rate this as one of the best sounding DVD-A's I've heard, either. Part of this may be the occasionally distracting vocals and percussion panned too far rearward for my tastes. Overall, I'd give it an 8.0 or so. Much better than the CD, but maybe not as good sounding as Steely Dans "Two Against Nature" or Foreigner 4. While "Automatic" sounds superb, it can't match the newest Beck SACD or Steely Dan's new "Everything Must Go" as seemless paradigms of MC magic. Still, for fans of REM in general and those interested in MC music, this disc is a no brainer.</font>