Intrada Soundtrack Forum

I've had the "Glory" 96/24 album for a while now. Great sound to that one but the closing crescendo of "A Call to Arms" is heavily clipped, but not so on the regular CD release.

I'll finally be able to get a hold of the James Horner SACD releases (there are only three of them) and 'immerse' myself in them.

This is thanks to picking up an inexpensive SACD-capable DVD player, in fact the same one mentioned in that Soundtrack.net article about film music albums in surround.

I'm concentrating on getting two of the three for now, "A Beautiful Mind" and "The Legend of Zorro".

I'm holding off on "Titanic" for now simply because of both money and the fact that I've heard its 5.1 mix (even broke it down into individual channels) many, many times using the DTS CD.

Using the DVD's sound mixes as a basis, I have a good idea of how the music sounds but can anyone comment on the mixes of these two albums?

I know for example the pianos of cues like "A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics" have a gentle, floating quality and you hear one piano per speaker channel, as this is unhindered by sound effects in the film's opening.

"My Family is My Life" plays over the end credits of "Legend of Zorro" and has a more standard surround music mix. The flemenco dancers and guitars aren't really clear in the rears because the rears are just supporting the front channels with reverb. I've read that the SACDs of both albums blow away the regular CDs in clarity, which given how dull "A Beautiful Mind" sounds on its regular album, is very easy to believe.

I managed to get a copy of the DAD version of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and I must say I was not too impressed with it. I was surprised that there were two high def versions; one side has a 96/24 version and the other a 192/24 version. The 192/24 version has a lot of noise that can only be explained as being studio noise and I'm guessing that the higher resolution makes it stand out more than on the other version. It's very noticeable and very irritating. The 96/24 version doesn't exhibit the same problems and is the clear winner here. Still, the overall quality is lacking, especially in comparison with the Special Expanded Edition release, which I'm sure has it's detractors as well. Sad to say, I'm more than a bit disappointed with it, but no biggie, I'll live!

Cheers!
Harry

@ Nick :

The Legend of Zorro has some nice (but subtle) rear moments and the center channel greatly supports Kazu Matsui's sakuhachi and some solo guitars. Of course the multi-channel also helps to spacialize the sound of the orchestra. The Train has never sounded so powerful !
A Beautiful Mind is indeed fantastic for the pianos which are cleverly separated on each channel. The surround sound experience is unique on that score. Also, Charlotte Church's voice is much clearer than on the regular CD. This SACD is an absolute beauty !

@ darthcubby :

I wasn't too impressed myself by this DVD Audio, since the LP masters seem way too old for the clarity of the HD sound. I still prefer the digitally remastered 1998 CD !

Anakin:

I'm glad (well, not really cause it's like money wasted) that I'm not alone in my appraisal of the CE3K disc. I'm uncertain as to whether this was mastered from the master tapes since it sounds only a tiny bit better than the Varese release. As far as age is concerned, it's really a shame that more care wasn't taken with this release since old recordings like CASINO ROYALE blow this disc out of the water. The ZORRO and A BEAUTIFUL MIND discs that you mentioned in response to Nick are excellent!

Cheers!

Thanks for the replies, and I'm just too excited to get to hear them.

I think that the condition of the album masters of Close Encounters of the Third Kind are the reason that particular disc sounds the way it does. The expanded edition used different sources, and as a result is completely different both in terms of sonics and content. The HDAD version is the best way currently to hear Williams' original album assembly, which is the only way to hear the original and alternate versions of several cues which were replaced in the expanded Arista set.

Yeah the original LP program is a completely different listening experience.
What do you think guys, about people (at Kritzerland Records for instance) saying that the Classic Records are frauds/bootlegs mastered from the CDs ?

I'm uncertain regarding the claims about the Classic Records mastering. If I was just to got by the CE3K disc I'd be in agreement with Kritzerland since I think the disc is of subpar quality. But the CASINO ROYALE HDAD disc is excellent. I don't own the new release from Kritzerland so I can't really compare the two.

I had the time to listen carefully and many times to the Serenada Schizophrana SACD, and I must say it is outstanding. Compared to the stereo mix, the surround mix is far more discrete. A cue like Bells and Whistles for example, greatly benefits of the surround sound. While the stereo mix drowns the bells in the orchestra, the surround mix expands them all around the orchestra. An amazing listening experience when you close your eyes and plunge into the music...
Danny Elfman has written a really fantastic symphony by the way. Highly recommended !!

I managed to find some more Telarc "SACD surround" discs, and I'm really impressed !



This was actually recorded with a DSD equipment and directly transfered on SACD without any loss. It's a great high def hommage to Miklos Rozsa. The choir, particularily, has a great presence all around, and the brasses couldn't be any warmer and more powerful.



This is an old recording from the Telarc catalogue (1986), but the SACD has been recreated from the original PCM digital masters and the west has rarely sounded so good. Frankie Laine's voice is very pure and all the great classic western scores have been faitfully performed here : The Magnificent 7, How the West Was Won (a bit slow though, compared to the original version), Big Country, Silverado...



This is certainly the best compilation of Jerry Goldsmith ever and a great HD tribute to his work for film music. The discrete mix is very effective (the rear channels are busy and not only with reverberations) and plunges you inside the music like rarely ! Once again it's a DSD recording and the sound is flawless... Any Jerry Goldsmith fan should have such a real life sound experience.

The Goldsmith disc is spectacular! The sound is vivid and the performances are great. He really was a proponent of SACD in it's early days; releasing TIMELINE, THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY and this disc in the format. I'd read somewhere that there was even talk of releasing the score to HOLLOW MAN on SACD but that may have been all there was to it; talk.

Wished I had gotten the Rozsa disc when I had the chance. I really hate doing mail order other than Intrada, FSM, LLL and Varese so I should have picked this up when it was first released. Never got around to it and now most of the retailers that sell CDs are gone in Hawaii other than Borders, Best Buy and Barnes & Noble though even their selection is poor.

Cheers!
Harry

Timeline and Great Train Robbery were both released after Goldsmith passed away.

Hollow Man had finally found its way to the 5.1 Dolby Digital isolated track on the DVD !