Hpdrifter

Wow I just got in 4 DVD A and DTS discs! The sound separation and recording level is awesome but wholly crap do my stock speakers suck! No mid range at all...Base is ok but at acceptable limits you start to push the system's capabilities. The high's are there but too much in my opinion without the Mids to back it up. In any event this is a review of the 4 discs I just got.

1. The Police "every breath you take...the classics"....not bad.....Difficult to qualify because it's a best of disc and I'm not sure where they obtained the songs from and if they have been remastered.....Sting's voice cuts through well but the guitar loses something because of the systems lack of ability to put mid range here. Over all I give it a B since song selection leaves a bit to be desired.

2. The Moody Blues...Days of Future passed....excellent disc....great remaster of an album that was originally Mono..separation is excellent and Haywards voice travels from back to front on "Forever Tuesday" in a "Dark side of the moon" manner that is awesome! great album and great remaster! I'd give this one an A!

3. Frampton...."Comes alive" ordered this and didn't realize it was actually a 2 disc set. I would have prefered a 1 disc set as I don't want to take up 2 spots for 1 album in my player. That being said it is nicely done. It's difficult at best to judge sound quality of a live recording but this is one of the 10 ten must have live albums.....(Just for laughs...Budakon, Cure show, Live Rust, Live at Leeds, Exit stage left, One More from the Road, Song remains the same, Bursting Out and AC/DC Live.......) Good disc I give it a B+ only because it's comes on 2 discs..


4. Allman Bros....."At the Fillmore East"....arguably could have made the top 10 of all time live albums but sound quality leaves it off the list. Here in the DTS format....it's been cleaned up a bit and the remastered sound comes across as a big improvement. There are still issues with the mixing but it's defintiely a great album.....I'd give this one a B+ as well!


That being said...I still prefer the sound of a MSFL disc on my home system but then you are comparing a 5-6k system against my car's audio which isn't fair....I'll keep buying the DVD A's as they are a big improvement over the standard cd's but I'll need to get new speakers in soon!

Stew4HD

Thanks for the reviews.

I have The Moody Blues Seventh Sojurn DTS and it is superb! So is Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Queen - A Day At The Races (though not the best transfer I've heard) and Paul McCartney's Band On The Run.

I have also a few double Cd/DVD-A double disc sets. I love the full surround sound!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

I've got close to 70 or 80 DVD-Audio discs.

If you like Smooth Jazz, Dave Koz's "The Dance" is incredible. The REM Greatest Hits is very good too. If you're a Beatles fan, the "Love" CD is outstanding. Go to the DTS website and get the Toy Matinee DTS disc. Some of the movement of sound in the disc is mind blowing on the song "The Last Plane Out". Goodbye Yellowbrick Road is a classic album redone VERY well. An absolute must is the "Extras" portion of the disc. Listen to the extra version of "Candle in the Wind". It's done "Unplugged"-it's the original Elton John vocals, the original background vocals and one acoustic guitar....turn it up really loud-it will give you chills. The Doobie Brothers album "The Captain and Me" is a great listen as well. The song "Natural Thing" has a wrap-around portion of the sound that will make you look all the way around as the song does it's surround effect....it's very cool. Any of the Steely Dan offerings will simply amaze you. Donald Fagen "gets it". Sting "gets it". Neil Young "gets it".

The DTS website has alot of discs that they are closing out because they aren't making these discs anymore. Pick some up-they've really done a good job on these discs with music and sound separation.

With all this being said, it utterly baffles me as to why this format never caught on. Seriously....never caught on. People do not know what they are missing. Being a radio disc jockey for over 30 years (I'm still on the air now), it amazes me how our society is so "convenience" oriented. We want stinky, smashed down MP3 files that we can carry around in our pocket. No one...or at least "not enough" people care about the quality of the sound. We don't care about how good the music sounds. All we care about is "how many songs can I get on my iPod".

The majority of people DON'T GET IT. Enjoy your car..get as many DVD Audio discs as you can...while you can still find them.

TeknoKing

Steve, I'm jealous of you.... damn 80 DVD-A

I wish I can find a store in NYC that sells them for cheap... They are pricey even online, and I get bored with music fast, so I can't justify to spend 20-40 bux a dvd that I will listen to a few times...

1995hoo

The Eagles' Hell Freezes Over is an excellent DTS disc that will allow you to hear the surround-sound aspect of the TL's stereo quite nicely. Just don't play it when you have the Navi giving you voice directions, as the vocals will be muted in favor of the Navi.

Stew4HD

Steven, thanks for the info. I'd love to get Steely Dan's and the Doobie's music on DVD-A. I enjoyed the sampler disc that came with the car.

I found a great copy of Weather Report on DVD-A too!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Thanks Guys...I appreciate it. I was lucky and got in on the front end of DVD Audio discs and collected as many as I could and as many as I wanted. So I feel lucky to have the collection.

Stew, the Weather Report IS a great CD too.

1995hoo-Hell Freezes Over is an awesome CD-have you seen the DVD Video? It's done in DTS and high definition video. Listen to "Seven Bridges Road". It can only be accessed if you have DTS on your home stereo system/home theater. If you stand in the middle of the room, you'll hear the song-just like you hear it on the radio. But if you go to each individual speaker in your 5.1 system, you'll hear each one of the 5 Eagles members singing in each individual speaker....it's THE BEST demo of a 5.1 surround sound system. I don't have the DVD Audio disc of Hell Freezes Over because I have the video, but try Seven Bridges Road in your TL.

TechnoKing...it's sad, because you can't find DVD Audio discs in stores anymore. There is a previous thread(s) about websites that carry DVD-A discs. They're still out there guys...grab them FAST !! But if you get bored with music, use your iPod in the TL. I know they are expensive, but for me they are well worth it because of the high quality sound.

Every once in a while, you'll see a new release. I just picked up Chicago's Greatest Hits and Matchbox 20's Greatest Hits in DVD-A....or at least the latest version of DVD-A discs. I've got a DVD player at home that plays everything, so I'm lucky in that regard.

If you guys need any other help, please let me know. Sometimes it feels like you're the only one carrying the DVD Audio banner.

sixsixfour

where do you guys get them? any recent albums in DVD-A format?

Hpdrifter

Steve....what discs can you get of steely dan besides the 2 newest ones and Fagans collection? I've seen Goucho but I'd die for Aja, Royal Scam, Katie Lied, can't buy a thrill or any of the best of ones! I have the MSFL of aja...paid clost to 100.00 for it and it's worth 2x that to my ears!

Stew4HD

+1000! I love those old Steely Dan releases. I guess we'll just have to settle for the CD version of them. Just to show my age, I bought Do It Again as a single back in 72-73 then bought the 6-Track of it. When Royal Scam came out, I was in Steely Dan heaven.. it's still up there as an all time favorite.

As far as I can tell via research, only Gaucho was released on DVD-A for the older stuff.

ttribe

Steve - can you provide a link to where on the DTS site these are being sold? I was just there and couldn't find anything. Thanks.

Stew4HD

I buy mine via Amazon.com. Just do a search for DVD Audio and a lot of pages will come up.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Guys,

Two Against Nature from Steely Dan also came out in DVD Audio.

The DTS site for music is:
http://store.dts.com/mm5/merchant.mv...ategory_Code=1

Stew4HD

Thanks!!

By the way, if you guys are a fan of rock (considered to be progressive genre), Porcupine Tree is excellent. I see that they have Deadwing and In Absentia on that site. Both are great, IMO. I am adding both to my cart.

Stew4HD

That site is a nice find. I picked up 2 Porcupine Tree discs, 2 Zappa discs, Marvin Gaye and Hell Freezes over.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Stew,

I'm glad that DTS site helped. They used to come out with alot of new music, but that too has died out. But they still have some great discs that will sound good in the TL. If you guys need some of the other sites I get stuff from, just let me know.

1995hoo

I buy DVD-As from http://www.acousticsounds.com or http://www.musicdirect.com. I have a Marantz universal player on my main home stereo system, so I'm not spending the money just to play them in the TL.

I know I have the following on DVD-A and I think I have a few others:

—Telarc's recording of the 1812 Overture. This one is outstanding, although it's not really the greatest driving music. Better for at home. I also have this on SACD and am hard-pressed to hear any difference between the two formats. (I had two SACD players before I got the TL, so after I got this car I replaced one of those with the Marantz.)

—Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys. The surround-sound mix is a bit distracting in my opinion. I believe the mono recording (which is still the definitive one) is Group 2.

—Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. Haven't played it in a while.

—Automatic for the People by REM. The original recording sounded very good and the DVD-A is even better.

—The Beatles' Love. If you like the Beatles and haven't heard this, it's worth a listen. Very interesting recording. The DVD-A is also a longer recording than the CD that comes in the same package ("Back in the USSR" and "Revolution" are each slightly longer).

—Frampton Comes Alive. This is the only DVD-A that I do not also have in some other format.

Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms came out on DVD-A several months after the SACD was released. I had already bought the SACD and have not been able to convince myself that it's worth buying the album for a third time.

I don't have all that many DTS discs:

—Hell Freezes Over, as noted earlier

—Brian Wilson's Imagination. Decent album, but I don't think the DTS really seems to add anything.

—Wings' Venus and Mars. I have an affirmative DISLIKE for this one. I like the original album, which I have on vinyl, but the DTS disc is messed up because it was taken from the quadraphonic mix made back in the 1970s and the running order on that mix is different from the original album. Annoys the hell out of me to have the songs playing in the wrong order, so I never play this disc. I suppose I should sell it.

CPR

Steely Dan/Everything Must Go, is great
Roy Orbison/Black & White Night/ditto
The Who/Tommy/amazing
David Crosby/If I Could Only Remember My Name/classic
Grateful Dead/American Beauty, & Workingman's Dead/totally re-mastered & priceless
Jackson Brownr/Running on Empty/huge improvement on the original
Pete Townshend/Ronnie Lane/Rough Mix/a great sleeper
Neal Young/Harvest is great/On the Beach/no surround sound, but still good
Led Zeppelin/How the West Was Won/6 on a scale of 10
FYI: Allman Brothers/Live at the Fillmore SACD, blows away the DTS version
Derek & the Dominoes SACD/phenomenal
Linda Ronstadt/Whart's New/great old standards
Doors/Perception/only complaint is the 1st disc/no surround

TeknoKing

CPR, since you arein BK, did you buy those locally???

If anyone is selling their used DVD-A...keep me in mind.... Thank you

Pika817

I find the DVD-A experience a bit weird - especially with the instruments all around and coming from behind me as well. I prefer 2 channel for most music and find that CD quality sounds better than 5 CH DVD-A.

I usually set the sound to come out mostly from the front speakers, with the center turned off with 2 CH in the TL, as the center seems to muddy up the seperation and imaging.

TeknoKing

^ As an audiophile, I'm appalled

What's next? 480i > 1080p?

1995hoo

When you think about it, the car stereo environment is better for 5.1 audio, at least from an audio engineering standpoint, than the home theatre environment is. The reason is that the seating positions are known in the car and can be changed only by minimal amounts (moving the front seats backwards and forwards), whereas the seating position is an unknown element in the home environment because everyone has a different listening room, different furniture, different positioning for the furniture, etc.

Pika817

Actually, I'm an audiophile myself - it's nice to see someone here enjoys audio as much as me (if not more!)

In regards to CD vs DVD-A in the 3G ELS system, other than discrete channels, I do not hear any difference - the speakers are not great, and do not resolve a lot of detail. I was listening to a James Cook CD (spanish guitar, I think?), and when he starts playing fast, the speakers can't keep up and as a result, sounds really messed up.

I usually listen to music on my home system and find that with most DVD-Audio recordings, the listener is in the middle of the instruments - something about that is a bit disorienting. It doesn't recreate the music to me - perhaps this is because I'm used to being in the audience, and not in the band?

At home, I still can't hear the higher resolution of a DVD. With the Acura Demo Disc, Beattles Love. I may not have the best equipment, but I would think it's good enough to tell the difference?

Maybe it's just a preference thing. 2 CH DVD with high sampling rates would be awesome. (I can't hear the difference in Stereo on the Love disc vs the CD that came with it!)

My home system consists of the following:

Fronts: Totem Hawks
Center: Totem Rainmaker
Surrounds: Totem Lynks
Rears: PSB Image T4 (not used very often - only movies)
Sub: SVS PB Ultra 13
AVR: Denon 2802
Amp: Anthem MCA30
DVD: Pioneer DVD V500

Perhaps if you can recommend a good 5.1 CH DVD-A recording, it might change my mind. (preferably music with mostly acoustical instruments).

Pika817

Oh, I will admit, however, that the ELS system kills my old 1997 Toyota Camry base system and is better sounding that my Logitech THX computer system (but not by much).

TeknoKing

I do agree with you on the Acura ELS system... My last TL (2G) I gutted it out, special dynamatted the entire car and trunk, made custom wooden enclosures for all speakers, and installed some excellent eclipse speakers...and I was in love with the sound.. I also had Avic-Z1 as my head unit...so going from that to 08 TL-S stock...yes.. huge difference... My goal in the car at least, is to have my mids and highs...and have my lows only in the shadow of the trunk... Bass should never be heard, but felt. So every time I see a boom box on wheels I cringe.

But to me there is a huge difference between 2ch and 5.1, I like to be "surprised" by flowing sound from all directions, it creates a euphoria for me, especially to what I listen too, which is melodic trance. (thus the nickname) Metallica on DVD-A is also thrilling.

Hpdrifter

You want real sound quality....buy the MSFL discs.....not just SACD......but find some of the older MSFL discs....Steeely Dan AJA on ebay. Expect to pay about 80-100 for the disc...used......Now my system for listening to music (I have another for my movies ect. )

1. Carver Sonic Holograph PreAmp
2. B & K components ST 1400 series II Amp
3. NAD disc player
4. PSB floor size reference standard speakers

When new the setup would have costs about 5k......the Carver PreAmp is older but still a great buy...you can find them on ebay cheap cause everyone wants the "home theater systems"

with an MSFL in the player....you shut your eyes and it's like the band is right there!

Pika817

Question - how much weight does dynamatting the whole car add?

TeknoKing

^ a lot, my car was heavy, this is when I stopped caring about performance, but I wanted to enjoy my time in the car. But it was well worth it.

I just went to Best Buy, asked for DVD-A, since they sell them online, the manager looked me like I was a retard...

Spiritman

I some what agree! I have made some DVD-A's from some 24b 192 recording's I made in my home studio. I used both 5.1 and then 2 channel (left-right). I liked the 2channel better. Maybe cuz thats what I grew up on? Don't know. But I havent used the center channel speaker in like forever! Just sounds like crap. Just my worth.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Yea...they quit selling DVD Audio discs. You have to buy them online now. And don't even waste your time a Circuit City-they are worse than Best Buy. When I asked for DVD Audio discs, the guy pointed me to the gaming area, not even the music area.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Guys, if you're a Motown fan, then Michael McDonald has a DVD Audio disc out called "Motown" that is very good. If you like Motown hits and you can stand Michael McDonald, this is a great DVD Audio disc. He actually does a VERY good jobs with covers of many old hits.

Stew4HD

I picked up that Marvin Gaye DVD-A from DTS I like all kinds of music, from Disturbed to Bach, depending on my mood.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Stew, the Marvin Gay is good. So is the Al Green's Greatest Hits DVD Audio disc.

Stew4HD

I thought about that Al Green collection too. Al had such a smooth voice. I still have a few of his 45's (yes, I still have my old 45's). I just might pick that one up too!

Nukeman

I agree with most of what has been said above and would like to add that if you want to hear great seperation and sounds that fly around the inside of your car try the YES - 'Fragile' album.....wow

Stew4HD

I haven't seen any Yes available on DVD-A. What a perfect band for that technology!

I have bought up a couple of Alan Parsons Project DTS releases but haven't receieved them yet. I expect those to sound excellent as well.

Topflight1

My fav is BB King's Riding with the King. Not so much for the 5.1 aspect of it, but for the higher resolution. It sounds a lot better then the cd!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Guys...see if you can find the Toy Matinee DVD Audio disc and the Dave Koz "The Dance" DVD Audio disc is outstanding.

The separation of sound on both discs is amazing.

Stew4HD

I picked up that Toy Matinee DVDA. I like it. The lead singer's voice sure sounds familiar.. was he in String Cheese Incident?

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

I'm not sure...listen to the track called "The Last Plane Out". The separation of music and singing is amazing. It's a great demo disc to play for friends that get into your car.