What are you listening to RIGHT NOW?

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

But how did you like the surround mix?   That is one I haven't sat down with yet.

I'm still warming up to the surround listening. No major complaints on that disc. However, I think one of the Doors discs was a horrible mix IMO. Seemed like they turned an amateur loose on the mixer.

It was done by Bruce Botnik, the same guy who mixed the originals.   He hasn't done any other surround mixes that I am aware of though.

[scorpio333]

Im looking to get a Pink Floyd Pulse. Have a ok vinyl copy and sold my original blinking light CDs. Wish You Were Here was a great listen. I had things vibrating all over the place.

[EmperorNorton]

Nommo  - Milford Graves featuring Don Pullen  ( SRP )

Some out jazz from Yale University

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Lake Street Dive covers on YouTube.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

This is still my favorite TH album. I always considered it sparse, but the surround mix shows that about half the album is more layered than I had previously considered. I even heard a couple elements which had previously escaped my attention (bits of piano in the first part of "Tentative Decisions" and backing vocals in "Book I Read" as just two examples). Some complain that the rear channels are a bit light on content, but I think ET Thorngren and Jerry Harrison presented the work in a way that is at once true to it's original release and more expansive. The fidelity is great, and the extras are compelling. A ten all the way for me.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I bought this one in a fit of hometown pride after it won two Grammys. It is wonderful. Just the liner notes are worth the money. Honeck thinks on a whole different plane from us mere mortals and his breakdown of the works brought things to my attention that I would never have come to on my own. As impressive as his writing is, his conducting is even stronger. There wasn't a moment where I lost my focus on the music. His reading is enraptured.

Plus, for us gearheads, the engineers get a page to discuss what they did (spoiler alert: DSD 256 throughout). The surround mix is not discrete, but I've listened to a handful of concerts at Heinz Hall, and this disc actually does sound like Heinz Hall.

It's quite brilliant. I'm both cheap and not a guy who listens primarily to classical, but tonight's listening session is making me want to go purchase all of the Honeck SACDs on Reference Recordings.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Even if you aren't a big classical guy, if you are a movie guy you should buy this.   The Barber Adagio has been used to great effect in more than a couple films.   I think the first time I heard it was in a gripping scene in "Platoon".

BTW, slightly off topic, but this disc brought to my attention the first subtle lack of cohesion in my surround set up.   Pepe specifically commented on how well the different components worked together.   Toward the end of the Allegro Non Troppo there are some staccato tympani parts that revealed a subtle "slowness" in the subwoofer.   I was hearing the overtones ever so slightly ahead of the deep fundamentals.   I've never noticed this on a rock recording.   I'm wondering if this is inherent in the recording or if it is something that I can correct in my system, perhaps by changing the "distance" setting on the sub channel or the phase setting on the sub itself.   I wouldn't expect a 2x10 to be particularly slow, but I did notice it here, just ever so slightly.

[MacGeek]

Reference Recordings are outstanding, IMO.  My best recorded/engineered CDs are Reference and I have none I don't like. Their CDs match or best my best vinyl listening experiences

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I always expect AP mixes to be great, and the 5.1 Blu-Ray does not disappoint.   In particular, the interludes in "Silence and I" are stunning.   Colin Blunstone's vocal on "Old and Wise" has never sounded better.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

This is not only my favorite album by a solo Eagle, I dare say it ranks with the best of the group's output (something Frey could never say).   The 5.1 mix, while I won't go so far as to call it inspired, is very good.   The opening Bruce Hornsby piano on the title track grabs you, and the ear candy just keeps coming.   "New York Minute" is a track that was made for surround, with the jazzy opening coming from the front and the more modern sounds coming from the rear.   The two power ballads which were the biggest hits from the album, "Last Worthless Evening" and "Heart of the Matter" both sound bigger in surround.   The mixes take a good thing and make it even better.

Don't worry that it's "only" dts.   The fidelity here is wonderful and this album sounds a lot less dated than many of it's contemporaries.   Highly recommended.

[OldiesButGoodies]

This is not only my favorite album by a solo Eagle, I dare say it ranks with the best of the group's output (something Frey could never say).   The 5.1 mix, while I won't go so far as to call it inspired, is very good.   The opening Bruce Hornsby piano on the title track grabs you, and the ear candy just keeps coming.   "New York Minute" is a track that was made for surround, with the jazzy opening coming from the front and the more modern sounds coming from the rear.   The two power ballads which were the biggest hits from the album, "Last Worthless Evening" and "Heart of the Matter" both sound bigger in surround.   The mixes take a good thing and make it even better.

Don't worry that it's "only" dts.   The fidelity here is wonderful and this album sounds a lot less dated than many of it's contemporaries.   Highly recommended.

Mark - adding image - you had a minor image address error in your original post...

PS - add this one to my stack of "must listen to" next time we meet :-)

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

add this one to my stack of "must listen to" next time we meet :-)

Will do.   Have you set up a surround system in the new house yet?

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Thrift store vinyl.   I have always loved "Lovely Day", but I really like most of this album.   The overt attempt at disco that opens side two falls flat, but the rest is like the musical version of sitting poolside sipping your beverage of choice.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

It's just nice to have a bit of time to sit and listen to music.   Life has been so crazy lately.   I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone at the swap meet.   I wish tape deek could be there.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Aerosmith has always been somewhat disposable for me, but I mean disposable in the best way, like Chinese food. You don't sit and ponder it after you've consumed it, but you really enjoy it while it's going down. That said, I didn't expect, or even want, the ultimate in fidelity from this disc. These tracks are supposed to be a bit dirty. However, the fidelity here is good, and it does work. Side one is enjoyable, but the surround mix doesn't really do anything to make you feel like you were missing anything in the stereo version. On side two, however, as the music itself develops more complexity, so does the mix. The one track I was looking forward to in surround was "Sweet Emotion" and it gave me everything I had hoped for. Great atmospherics and even some swirling effects which were completely appropriate to the music, and really big sound throughout. It is the one true system demo track on the disc. It makes me want "Dream On" in surround. A very good addition to the collection.