I thought I'd dip my toe into Bluray Audio. My first two experimental discs arrived this week. Technically that's not true, because I do already have a few music Blurays, but they have the video too.
Thought I'd try classical first because I find that the potential for muddling the complexity of sounds together into one great mush happens more easily with large orchestral works, so it would be interesting to see what the higher quality (and price) leads to.
The two discs were:
Naxos production of Copland's Rodeo, Dance Panels, El Salon Mexico and Danzon Cubano.
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto Nos.2&3.
I went for the Copland, partly because I like the Rodeo ballet already (and had that on CD) and went for the Rach because his piano concertos are among my favourite pieces of music of all time. I've already got 2 other recordings of Rach 2&3 on CD to compare the Bluray with too; and my familiarity with it helps to make comparisons. I've also heard Rach 1 to 4 live at various venues, so I can imagine reasonably well what it should sound like!
I was very impressed and honestly had a slight smirk on my face for a few hours this afternoon. I know that my system is firmly planted in "Midrange" and there are far more revealing systems owned by other forum members, but part of the reason for my smiling quite so much is that I STILL can't quite get over how good my system can sound, for an AV receiver, for the money etc. etc.
I noticed with both discs that the timing and slam you get when an orchestra suddenly rages at full power came across much more dramatically on the Blurays**. Each thread of the percussion had real attack to it, and in no way upset what the rest of the orchestra was doing - I could hear that too very clearly. The piano on the Rach disc was very 'real' and had a beautiful weight to it, although compared to my CD recordings of the same music, the piano seemed slightly less prominent compared to the orchestra; but not enough to be be problem. Admittedly it was a 7.1 DTS-MA mix, so my receiver was down-mixing to 5.1. (Maybe it's about time I get the other two speakers I bought ages ago actually mounted to the wall!!). The only disappointment was the complete lack of any information or sleeve notes on the Rach disc. If BD Audio is positioned as a premium product, I expected more.
A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon though. The overall impression was how some have reported high res music before; that you hear more detail, but crucially at the same time it feels more fluid and natural, so is in no way fatiguing to listen to. I can certainly see me purchasing more BDAs in time. I do hope the catalogue continues to expand.
Has anyone else got any positive Bluray Audio disc experiences? Any recommended albums?
(**that "slam" reminded me of the time when I went to see a Tchaikovsky orchestral work live (can't remember the one now). One of the movements was rather lullaby-like and had a VERY soothing affect on a woman sat next to me, to the point where she was clearly snoozing. Seconds later, the next movement started (and did so with the aforementioned "slam") - she leapt out of her skin and then sheepishly attempted to pass it off like she was going to do that anyway. No doubt one of those "you had to be there" moments, but was very amusing at the time).
Thought I'd try classical first because I find that the potential for muddling the complexity of sounds together into one great mush happens more easily with large orchestral works, so it would be interesting to see what the higher quality (and price) leads to.
The two discs were:
Naxos production of Copland's Rodeo, Dance Panels, El Salon Mexico and Danzon Cubano.
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto Nos.2&3.
I went for the Copland, partly because I like the Rodeo ballet already (and had that on CD) and went for the Rach because his piano concertos are among my favourite pieces of music of all time. I've already got 2 other recordings of Rach 2&3 on CD to compare the Bluray with too; and my familiarity with it helps to make comparisons. I've also heard Rach 1 to 4 live at various venues, so I can imagine reasonably well what it should sound like!
I was very impressed and honestly had a slight smirk on my face for a few hours this afternoon. I know that my system is firmly planted in "Midrange" and there are far more revealing systems owned by other forum members, but part of the reason for my smiling quite so much is that I STILL can't quite get over how good my system can sound, for an AV receiver, for the money etc. etc.
I noticed with both discs that the timing and slam you get when an orchestra suddenly rages at full power came across much more dramatically on the Blurays**. Each thread of the percussion had real attack to it, and in no way upset what the rest of the orchestra was doing - I could hear that too very clearly. The piano on the Rach disc was very 'real' and had a beautiful weight to it, although compared to my CD recordings of the same music, the piano seemed slightly less prominent compared to the orchestra; but not enough to be be problem. Admittedly it was a 7.1 DTS-MA mix, so my receiver was down-mixing to 5.1. (Maybe it's about time I get the other two speakers I bought ages ago actually mounted to the wall!!). The only disappointment was the complete lack of any information or sleeve notes on the Rach disc. If BD Audio is positioned as a premium product, I expected more.
A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon though. The overall impression was how some have reported high res music before; that you hear more detail, but crucially at the same time it feels more fluid and natural, so is in no way fatiguing to listen to. I can certainly see me purchasing more BDAs in time. I do hope the catalogue continues to expand.
Has anyone else got any positive Bluray Audio disc experiences? Any recommended albums?
(**that "slam" reminded me of the time when I went to see a Tchaikovsky orchestral work live (can't remember the one now). One of the movements was rather lullaby-like and had a VERY soothing affect on a woman sat next to me, to the point where she was clearly snoozing. Seconds later, the next movement started (and did so with the aforementioned "slam") - she leapt out of her skin and then sheepishly attempted to pass it off like she was going to do that anyway. No doubt one of those "you had to be there" moments, but was very amusing at the time).
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