Does anyone own the Telarc 1812 Overture DVD-A or SACD?

[captain_tinker]

Hey, just read on Telarc's website that they have my all time favorite classical piece on DVD-A. Now that I have a DVD-A player, I think it would be neat to hear this, after reading the reviews on the site:

http://www.telarc.com/dvd/title.asp?sku=DVD-A-70541&mscssid=CXB8NRA5WJLN8NME957BXP9LFFLVCGXB

My favorite quotes in it are:

"Just be sure the volume isn’t so loud that one of the shots spreads pieces of speaker cone all over your floor," (Digital Audio)

"Its peaks would crack your window panes and maybe your speaker cones, too." (Knight-Ridder Newspapers).

"Guage the speaker-busting effect of Telarc’s real cannon bursts in the 1812 Overture before declaring war on your neighbors." -- Music Week


I am sure my neighbors would freak out if I did play it too loudly. In any case, I listened to the RealAudio version of the song they offered on the site, and even listening to it with a single earphone, on an awful computer sound card, I was almost in tears. It is just the story telling of the music that gets me. I can only imagine what it would sound like in my living room on something that can actually do the music justice.

Does anyone actually own this disc, or have you ever heard it? Is it worth getting?

-capT

 

[nibhaz]

I have the SACD and I must say that it is an excellent, excellent recording! Really shows off SACD potential since it was actually recorded and mastered in the DSD realm. And the cannons are quite amazing but be careful and heed the warning until you determine a safe playback level. Following proper speaker layouts for multichannel music will yield better results than some HT suggested positions.

 

[sivadselim]

I have not listened to it in a long while because I do not consider it to be one of my better-sounding classical hirez discs. I need to give it a re-listen as certain components in my system have changed, my sub's been repositioned, etc..

It sounds like you definitely need one of the hirez recordings of the 1812. I'm just not certain if this is the best one to have or not.

 

[ruadmaa]

Telarc 1812 Overture

Hey, just read on Telarc's website that they have my all time favorite classical piece on DVD-A. Now that I have a DVD-A player, I think it would be neat to hear this, after reading the reviews on the site:

http://www.telarc.com/dvd/title.asp?sku=DVD-A-70541&mscssid=CXB8NRA5WJLN8NME957BXP9LFFLVCGXB

My favorite quotes in it are:

"Just be sure the volume isn’t so loud that one of the shots spreads pieces of speaker cone all over your floor," (Digital Audio)

"Its peaks would crack your window panes and maybe your speaker cones, too." (Knight-Ridder Newspapers).

"Guage the speaker-busting effect of Telarc’s real cannon bursts in the 1812 Overture before declaring war on your neighbors." -- Music Week


I am sure my neighbors would freak out if I did play it too loudly. In any case, I listened to the RealAudio version of the song they offered on the site, and even listening to it with a single earphone, on an awful computer sound card, I was almost in tears. It is just the story telling of the music that gets me. I can only imagine what it would sound like in my living room on something that can actually do the music justice.

Does anyone actually own this disc, or have you ever heard it? Is it worth getting?

-capT

I most definitely DO NOT recommend this disk, it is, quite frankly, a gimmick. The entire disk is delibertly recorded at a very low volume which makes the unwary listener turn up the volume to hear the disk normally. When the digital cannons go off the disk blasts up to full volume. There is a very good chance that your speakers will be damaged. Be forewarned, even the best of speakers can be damaged with this disk. If you simply must have the digital cannons, first go to the end of the disk where the cannons go off and set your volume accordingly.

 

[sivadselim]

I most definitely DO NOT recommend this disk, it is, quite frankly, a gimmick.

good description

couldn't agree more

find a real recording of it, tinker

 

[nibhaz]

I most definitely DO NOT recommend this disk, it is, quite frankly, a gimmick. The entire disk is delibertly recorded at a very low volume which makes the unwary listener turn up the volume to hear the disk normally. When the digital cannons go off the disk blasts up to full volume. There is a very good chance that your speakers will be damaged. Be forewarned, even the best of speakers can be damaged with this disk. If you simply must have the digital cannons, first go to the end of the disk where the cannons go off and set your volume accordingly.

Actually this not a gimmick, in reality it is an example of how much dynamic range the SACD format actually has and displays how much other recording are compressed so you have a consistent volume throughout the entire recording, but not the real dynamic range you would experience in person. If you have a low noise floor in your listening environment this shouldn’t be a concern, however if you like your recordings served up compressed like FM radio then this recording is not for you.

 

[MACCA350]

ruadmaa wrote:

When the digital cannons go off the disk blasts up to full volume.

These new SACD and DVD-A versions do not use the digital cannons of the previous ones.

The Music, Cannons, Bells, Choruses and More
This disc features all new recordings of every component that was on our original recording (music, cannons and bells), but has the addition of the Kiev Symphony Chorus with their authentic Russian sound, a children’s chorus and the optional brass band for more musical punch in the finale. We were able to hire the same cannoneers as for the 1978 recording, but this time recorded them in a larger "battlefield setting." The cannons could now be placed more accurately in the overall soundstage, as could all of the musical components—especially in the surround version!

I was actually looking at this the other day and I'm thinking of picking it up on the weekend(if I can find it locally)

cheers

 

[pbarach1]

find another 1812

The Telarc 1812 CD or SACD is a way to demonstrate the available dynamic range in eithee medium, but that is its only positive attribute. The musical performances on the disc are tepid and not particularly well recorded. Surely there are better options!

 

[shokhead]

Get a time machine and listen to it live.

 

[sivadselim]

When do we depart? My bags are always packed.

 

[shokhead]

LOL. That would be cool.

 

[captain_tinker]

shok, wouldn't that be something? However, I do remember going with my grandparents once as a kid out to the Coast Guard academy in New London, Connecticut, and the academy orchestra played this piece, and they used Howitzers for the cannons! Talk about a physical and emotional trip on classical music! That was one performance I will never forget!
Also, in college once, I went to a performance of this, and they had set up some small explosive devices near the back of the auditorium, turned off the fire alarm in the building, and let it rip! Man that was fun! There was a light gray smoke pouring out of the place before it was all over! My date loved it!

-capT

 

[shokhead]

shok, wouldn't that be something? However, I do remember going with my grandparents once as a kid out to the Coast Guard academy in New London, Connecticut, and the academy orchestra played this piece, and they used Howitzers for the cannons! Talk about a physical and emotional trip on classical music! That was one performance I will never forget!
Also, in college once, I went to a performance of this, and they had set up some small explosive devices near the back of the auditorium, turned off the fire alarm in the building, and let it rip! Man that was fun! There was a light gray smoke pouring out of the place before it was all over! My date loved it!

-capT

I love that word,Howitzer. It just sounds mean.

 

[pbarach1]

shok, wouldn't that be something? However, I do remember going with my grandparents once as a kid out to the Coast Guard academy in New London, Connecticut, and the academy orchestra played this piece, and they used Howitzers for the cannons! Talk about a physical and emotional trip on classical music! That was one performance I will never forget!-capT

I saw it performed outdoors by the Pittsburgh Symphony at Point State Park. This park is at the intersection of the three rivers that pass by downtown Pgh. There were artillery guns stationed across the river, high up and on some cliffs. The cannons simply drowned out the orchestra when they were fired.

 

[Bevan]

i think chesky has just released an independently recorded 1812 on sacd.

 

[captain_tinker]

Coming back to this...

Folks,
Ok then, I have been thinking about this for a long time. I have finally decided to take the plunge and go for it. I have the choice of getting this in SACD or DVD-A. The SACD is $19, and the DVD-A is $25. Is there any reason to get the DVD-A over the SACD? Is there something on the disc like extra's or something that would warrant paying more for the DVD-A? Is the Mix the same for both? I would certainly assume so. Is the DVD-A also mastered with the DSD or is that only the SACD? What would be the better choice?

SACD:
- hybrid, so it can play on a regular cd player

DVD-A:
- probably has a DD or DTS version on it too, so it can be played on any DVD player too.
- may have some extra's, but telarc doesn't seem to point them out...

Maybe I should just get both?

-capT

 

[FierceTIMbo17]

Folks,
Ok then, I have been thinking about this for a long time. I have finally decided to take the plunge and go for it. I have the choice of getting this in SACD or DVD-A. The SACD is $19, and the DVD-A is $25. Is there any reason to get the DVD-A over the SACD? Is there something on the disc like extra's or something that would warrant paying more for the DVD-A? Is the Mix the same for both? I would certainly assume so. Is the DVD-A also mastered with the DSD or is that only the SACD? What would be the better choice?

SACD:
- hybrid, so it can play on a regular cd player

DVD-A:
- probably has a DD or DTS version on it too, so it can be played on any DVD player too.
- may have some extra's, but telarc doesn't seem to point them out...

Maybe I should just get both?

-capT

I say get all three!!!

 

[JVC]

Telarc has a reputation of having some of the best recorded, sacd and dvd-a discs available. A friend has a couple, and they sound excellent. He doesn't have the 1812 Overture though. He's more into jazz.

 

[JoeE SP9]

I most definitely DO NOT recommend this disk, it is, quite frankly, a gimmick. The entire disk is delibertly recorded at a very low volume which makes the unwary listener turn up the volume to hear the disk normally. When the digital cannons go off the disk blasts up to full volume. There is a very good chance that your speakers will be damaged. Be forewarned, even the best of speakers can be damaged with this disk. If you simply must have the digital cannons, first go to the end of the disk where the cannons go off and set your volume accordingly.

I own this disk in LP, CD and SACD. It is not recorded at low volume. It is recorded to preserve as much dynamic range as possible. If your rig can't handle it your system may be deficient.

 

[captain_tinker]

Finally got it! I decided on the SACD version. First it was a bit cheaper, and second I figured I did not want to deal with any menu's when playing it, and I know SACD works well in my setup.

As for how it sounds - it sounds great! I really like the wide open sound of sacd's. There were some parts that sounded a tad bit muddied, but that is probably due to lack of a sub currently and trying to go that low with my Titan's, well they go pretty low, but not that far. As for the cannon fire, I was surprised at first, I was expecting a sharp crack for a report as I have heard with so many other versions. Then I realized that they used actual period style cannons, rather than the more modern Howitzers etc. The old Iron cannons have a much deeper boom rather than a sharp crack. So it was different from what I expected, but not bad. This may give me a nice demo disc to go shopping for subs now. I think maybe I'll head out this saturday to my local Hi-Fi stores. We have a Paradyme Sound & Vision, and a Magnolia Hi-Fi locally. Anyway, thanks to all who have replied.

-capT