I'm a big fan of multichannel music, but I find that about half of the SACDs/DVD-As/blu-rays I get don't come close to living up to their potential. A lot of them seem to be working from pre-mixes, meaning that they are just remixing 4 channels out to 5.1. Others take the "natural sound" approach and basically sound like 2 channel music playing through a DSP reverb. The batting average isn't very high. I waste a lot of money on complete duds.
I thought I would share a few of my favorite multichannel recordings in hopes others with 5.1 systems would share theirs.
Lee Ritneour
Overtime
This is an all star group of Hollywood sessions musicians that originally used to jam on weekends at The Baked Potato on the Cahuenga Pass in Hollywood. Joining Ritenour are Dave Grusin (piano), Harvey Mason (drums) Mel Davis (bass) and Ernie Watts (sax) among many other incredible Hollywood sessions men. The music is smooth jazz, Latin and jazzy vocals, which normally doesn't interest me a lot, but with a band this talented, it's well worth listening to. Shot live in a large soundstage in Burbank with a small audience, the atmosphere is absolutely perfect and the camerawork and lighting make it even better. The only drawback is the occasional "talking head" interview inserted between songs, which if you listen to it loud will jump out at you and make you reach for the volume control. The 5:1 sound is absolutely stunning, with Ritenour's guitar front and center, and the rest of the band spread out around him. This is one of the disks I reach for to show people what multichannel sound is capable of. Included as a bonus is a four song set of the group at Montreux, which has good sound, but not as good as the main program. Running time is almost three hours. Lots of great stuff. Everyone with a surround setup should get this.
I thought I would share a few of my favorite multichannel recordings in hopes others with 5.1 systems would share theirs.
Lee Ritneour
Overtime
This is an all star group of Hollywood sessions musicians that originally used to jam on weekends at The Baked Potato on the Cahuenga Pass in Hollywood. Joining Ritenour are Dave Grusin (piano), Harvey Mason (drums) Mel Davis (bass) and Ernie Watts (sax) among many other incredible Hollywood sessions men. The music is smooth jazz, Latin and jazzy vocals, which normally doesn't interest me a lot, but with a band this talented, it's well worth listening to. Shot live in a large soundstage in Burbank with a small audience, the atmosphere is absolutely perfect and the camerawork and lighting make it even better. The only drawback is the occasional "talking head" interview inserted between songs, which if you listen to it loud will jump out at you and make you reach for the volume control. The 5:1 sound is absolutely stunning, with Ritenour's guitar front and center, and the rest of the band spread out around him. This is one of the disks I reach for to show people what multichannel sound is capable of. Included as a bonus is a four song set of the group at Montreux, which has good sound, but not as good as the main program. Running time is almost three hours. Lots of great stuff. Everyone with a surround setup should get this.
Amazon.com: Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition): Music
Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road SACD
Multichannel mixes fall into three categories: Ping Pong Showoff Your System Style, Realistic Soundstage with Very Little Rear Style and Tasteful Use of Surround. This SACD falls in the latter category. I have heard this album many times over the years, and I have the original stereo mix burned into my brain. This 5:1 mix is different in the placement of the different instruments, but the overall balance is exactly the same. Usually Elton John's vocals and guitar solos are placed in the center channel and the piano is placed up front in the mains, but backing vocals and accent instrumentation are placed all over. It doesn't jump around much within a single song, and when it does, it's consistent for all the verses and choruses. The sound quality is phenomenal, and Elton John's vocals sound much better than I remember the old LP and CD sounding. It's definitely a demonstration disk and a perfect example of multichannel remixing done right. The disk is filled out with four bonus tracks that sound as good as any on the album itself. If you have a 5:1 system, you need this disk.
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Dave Grusin
Two For The Road: The Music of Henry Mancini
Amazon.com: Dave Grusin: Two for the Road: Music
I mentioned the three types of surround recordings in my last post... This one is a brilliant example of Realistic Soundstage with Little Rear Channel style. In fact, it might just be the best sounding recording I've ever heard. The music is jazz/funk West Coast adaptations of Mancini's hits. If you are familiar with Grusin's film and TV music (Baretta Theme) this follows the same model... incredible Latin percussion, great piano and big fat bass. How can that possibly be bad? I knew it would sound good, because Grusin's albums (and Grusin's work with Lee Ritenour) are always reference quality recordings. But this one is a cut above that even. Along with the full frequency range with powerful sub bass and highs all the way up to the edge of hearing, the front soundstage is crystal clear, with precise instrument placement. Not only that, the rears achieve perfect phase with the fronts, they aren't treated as a separate channel, they are part of the same soundstage as the fronts. This means that there is a front/back soundstage as well as the left/right one. Some of the instruments are against the back wall. Some are uncannily in the center of the room right in front of you. Behind is one of the most luscious room ambiences I've ever heard. WOW! The whole room feels alive.
I've gotten some real multichannel duds (more on those later) and I was starting to get discouraged, thinking Elton John was the only one who really "got it". But this one disk makes everything worthwhile. Every time I put this disk on, I'm reminded of the reason I went 5:1 in the first place. I highly recommend this one.
Steely Dan: Gaucho SACD
I knew this one would be good... I remember when the LP came out. They charged an extra dollar for it because they had spent so much on engineering and high quality pressings, the record label needed to up the retail price. But it was and still is worth it.
This is just about the most perfect sounding recording I own. The bass is full and defined. The vocals are natural sounding. The piano and sax sound like they're in the room with you. But the multichannel mix takes it to a whole new level. This uses every speaker in your 5:1 setup to its utmost. In fact, as soon as I put this on, I discovered a couple of slight volume miscalibrations in my center and rear channels. The music is enveloping, with backing vocals in front and doubling on the backing vocals in the rear. But the main elements, the rhythm section and piano remain fixed in place in a precise left/right soundstage. Occasionally, like with a sax solo, the instrument steps forward into the center of the room to take its solo. It's really uncanny how good the soundstage is on this.
I have a new disk to demonstrate my system with. I wish there were more SACDs this good. I can't recommend this one highly enough.
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