It Turns Out That There ARE Surround Sound HDCD Recordings!

May 7, 2022

#447

Gentle reader,

While I am known as being someone who is NOT interested in the "latest and greatest" of anything, I have be an early adopter of some things, such as HD Radio. I bought a component HD Radio tuner, one for both cars and a battery powered portable radio too.

While it does not say so on this "liner notes" sheet from this Silva Screen Records, Ltd. recording, on the spine and elsewhere it does.


Note the HDCD and Dolby Surround logos on both sides of this sheet.
And since it was such a surprise to me, I put it in the Samsung Blu-Ray player and when it began, this is what showed on my SONY receiver:
This particular disc came out in 1999. That is SO last millennium!

I always check my blog index to see what I may have previously written about my current subject and came across these posts:





My music collection began in the early 1970's and I have donated, given away or sold nearly as many records and CDs as I currently own. So, I made some quick shots of the SACDs, HDCDs and DVD-Audio discs as they are in their various locations.

These are most of the single SACDs. But more are in another location, as seen below.
All the Jazz HDCD discs. I'm still not sure why they encoded the BIG BAND disc since they are all old recordings.
Movie/Film score HDCDs and compilations of various film genres. Missing is the Battlestar Galactica TV music compilation CD set which is the feature of this article.
Three Reference Recordings HDCD discs.
A small wooden rack made for the inch thick CD set cases of which I have quite a few. I removed them and the plastic slot pieces and support pieces to allow all these to fit.
No HDCDs or SACDs here, except the Japanese K2HD-CD, second from the left.
I found the LSO (London Symphony Orchestra) SACDs box set still sealed in a thrift store. It was five dollars! To the right of that is my very first SACD (set) which I bought not knowing what SACDs were. A modern rock version of the classic War of the Worlds story. Well done, too. Narrated by and starring Richard Burton. I have the original LP set too.

Seven single Classical SACDs snuggle up to the big phase 4 stereo box set. On the extreme right are my four DVD-Audio discs. My collection is humble as are my components and speakers. But I love them just the same.

Silva Screen Records, Ltd., Silva Screen Records is closely associated with the City of Prague Philharmonic  Orchestra Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Also involved in the Battlestar Galactica recordings is the Daniel Caine Orchestra. I could not find a website for them, but there are numerous sites which list their recordings. Also, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Again, I found a site which lists their recordings, but I am not sure if it is a part of the RPO.

Some of the music is clearly synthesized in origin. Nothing wrong with that, but it is obvious to me when the instruments are electronic.
When I put away the BG set, I chose the LOTR set to play while I typed. To my surprise, I found that it too is Dolby Surround! Pulling out each HDCD score case, I found that the Indiana Jones Trilogy, True Grit and the Essential James Bond are also in Dolby Surround! YES!

For those interested in the big box set of phase 4 stereo, here is the article I wrote about it: 


Also, my research has turned up this web site:


I just did a quick look at it, but it seems far from complete. Since so many labels tried HDCD, it must be a daunting task for the author of that site to research and compile such a list.

Here is a quote from the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra site:

The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra developed in the 1990s into the most requested recording orchestra in Europe. The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra records more than 100 sessions per year, which include film music for producers from around the globe; classical music for Decca, EMI, Sony BMG and other labels; as well as music for commercials. Sol Gabetta and Jonas Kaufmann are just a few of the famous soloists. Who have recorded CDs with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. With Friedemann Riehle conducting, the orchestra's annual New Year's Concert has become a highlight of Prague's live classical music scene. Its outstanding quality, in addition to proven ease in arranging contracts, continues bringing success to the orchestra. 
Do you want to know what else comes from Prague, Czech Republic? Awesome TINY dogs! This is Maria and Mini. They stand taller that Dachshunds (not saying much!) but are smaller than Chihuahuas, and weigh at most five pounds. They are called Prague Ratters, having been bred more than 600 years ago to hunt rats. We miss them SO much!

In conclusion, it turns out there are more than just the two premium forms (SACD, DVD-Audio) of recorded music "in the round". As my previous article reported, ProArte made a number of CDs in Surround Sound, and now, I have also found that at least some HDCDs are also encoded in Surround Sound.  I want MORE!

Someone told me to switch my receiver from Movie Surround Sound to Music Surround Sound. It is from 2001 and does not have that function. But, I did try one of the programs which mimics famous concert halls and it was interesting sounding.

As far as the listening room's system, I use this 1990's Dynaco (Panor) QD-2 Five Channel Home Theater System. It is the final and ultimate version of 1970's Dynaco Dynaquad. It joins the PAT-6 Preamp/Tuner and ST-200 power amplifier.

The QD-2 units are rare, so I snatched this one as soon as I saw it. I do not know what is staining the mirror finished faceplate, but I have not been able to get it clean.


I had modified an earlier iteration of this with three-way binding/banana post terminals. But getting the factory made one was better.
It does an impressive job of making stereo recordings much more dynamic and really fills the room with sound.
Flying Fisheye's view of the room.* The two CD racks holding the SACDs and HDCDs sit atop my late-in-laws old (BLUE!) oak file cabinet. WHY, oh WHY did our parents PAINT over nice wood? The dresser I had as a child was made of walnut and my parents painted it green. Ugh!

*Note as to the decorations. I am NOT a hunter, the skin on the left wall came from Thailand where a now deceased friend bought it. And of course, Jackelopes do not exist. I always wanted a "real" cowboy pistol and rifle and bought them in .22 form to decorate the room, along with a lot of other things I like.
Me, at five years old, sporting my new twin six-shooters! I was an avid fan of The Lone Ranger, Wagon Train, The Roy Rogers Show and other westerns.

Thank you SO much for taking the time to read my humble blog. It is a labor of love. Feel free to comment below on on Facebook.

Scott
May 7, 2022
#447
 

at 2 comments:

Little Known Early Surround Sound CDs Not SACDs, But The ProArte+ Label

 April 28, 2022

#446

Gentle reader,

It has been two months since my last confess.., my last ARTICLE. Mainly because I have not had anything going on which I felt was blog-worthy.

That is until now. I have been buying and trying LOTS of audio equipment and speakers since getting into this hobby back in 1976 when I was almost twenty years old. I have been buying record music since the 1960's and have a large collection of many formats. As a result, I have learned a few things and looked through countless LPs and CDs!

This is the living room "home theater". It is FAR from the latest and greatest. Which is something that has never appealed to me. Rarely do I buy anything new, well socks and underwear sure. But rarely anything more complicated than that.

While the front and rear speakers appear to be the same, the rears (above) are stock 1980's Radio Shack Minimus 7W speakers. They are facing AWAY from the room because they are facing a split-foyer stairwell and the sounds bounce back towards us.

The front speakers are highly modified 7Ws (like the left one). The only parts which remain stock as shipped from the factory are: The cabinets and grilles.
For some reason, the stick-on label's are hard to photograph. They read: Limited Edition and they truly are. Perhaps the only ones just like them in the world.
I will link the series of articles at the bottom of this episode if you are interested in what exactly makes them so unique.

Since I have not written about the living room system at all, a brief look at the receiver is appearing herein. I am wearing a orange and white striped rugby shirt today which you can see in my reflection in the LCD screen on the receiver.

Above is an official photo of the product which Crutchfield still has on their web site even though the receiver came out in 2001.
I found it in a thrift store, complete with manual, remote control and the power cable. It was missing the speaker switch knob and marked: "$14.99 As-Is" There WAS no sound coming out of it until I noticed the speakers were switched off. I later found a replacement switch knob to replace the missing one. It turns out that sale price was one per cent (1%) of the original $1,499.00 retail price. As it weighs almost forty pounds and has many cables and such attached to it, I was not going to disconnect everything and pull it out just to photograph the back side, so...

The following three photos are from an eBay auction of the same receiver, the Crutchfield photos were small due to 2001 camera's low pixel counts, so I borrowed these images from the auction.


Note that it has TWO sets of analog multichannel RCA inputs as well as multichannel outputs so that a separate seven channel power amp could be used.
Because it is twenty-one-years old, there are no HDMI inputs which bothers me not in the least. Our 2021 43" LG HDTV has digital audio output, so off-the-air (yes, we DO use an outside TV antenna!) and streamed audio is sent to the SONY and decoded for enhanced audio, although the TV's speakers/audio do sound quite good.

BUT, none of the above is what I am writing about today. I am here to tell you about a set of very early Surround Sound Audio Compact Discs which were put out in 1990 and later by Intersound, Inc. under their ProArte Audio+ label. Almost all of them are Classical music, which is one of my favorites.


While I have a number of ProArte Audio CDs and LPs, these are the only four which are StereoSurround® sound. And they sound fantastic.

Above is a scan of the back page of the liner notes of the Peter Nero Classic Connections CD, which explains how they recorded their many performer's music in StereoSurround® sound using Shure® HTS™ equipment ( which can be decoded by Shure® AcraVector™ Logic OR Dolby® Surround Pro-Logic™) equipment.

Here's something you may not know, George Lucas' first film, which he made in film school was called, THX 1138 and it was a strange science fiction film which won him a Cannes Film festival award. He later made a theatrical version of it starring Robert Duval. AND, his next film, American Graffiti  which in itself was revolutionary*, the license plate of John Milner's 1932 Ford Coupe hot rod reads: THX-138. I must have seen it ten times in the theater. *American Graffiti was THE first film to tell multiple stories as the same time. It was also THE first film to use only popular songs and music from the era which it depicts. BOTH of these things are used ALL the time now, but George Lucas thought of it first. He made SO much money from American Graffiti that he was able to finally begin making STAR WARS and the rest made cinematic history.

And as noted in the ProArte scan above, Lucas' film sound people invented THE standard for movie theater and home theater surround sound which he named: THX®  and no doubt you have heard the iconic sound made for the logo shown before every film made with it.



These are two further scans from liner notes listing LABEL numbers of various ProArte Surround Sound CDs you can look for to add to your collection.

Aside from photographing the four CDs I own, I did a lot of research on various web sites in order to find cover/back label photographs and LABEL NUMBERS in order to ease your search for the ones I am about to show you. 

NOTE: IF I was able to find photographs of the BACK of the CD cases, you will find the label number there in the photos. If no back cover photo was found, I will caption those photos with the label number centered beneath. The StereoSurround CDs are listed by label letters alphabetically.









CDS-531 or CDS-578
CDS-522




CDS-551








CDS-577
CDS-579














CDS-3445


CDS-3473
CDS-3502



Alternative Covers for the same CD.



I used to have TWO separate systems crammed into my small listening room. The main stereo and a separate SIX-channel receiver, universal player and five speakers plus a subwoofer. I realized that was just too much equipment. Below is a fisheye photo from the back of the listening room today.
Oh, before you get upset! I am not nor have I ever been a hunter. The skin is from an Asian Fishing Cat which a dear-departed friend bought in Thailand many years before I knew him. And of course Jackalopes do not exist. The cowboy rifle and pistol are just for décor. Also, the black tower speakers used to sit up front where my vintage Dynaco A25XLs speakers are now residing. I decided to swap them yesterday to see how they sound up front. They live up to their reputation.

SO, the question is, HOW do the ProArte Audio+ StereoSurround® CDs SOUND? I played them in the living room, checking all six speakers for output and WHAT they were outputting. Interestingly, the majority of music was coming out of the large center channel speaker, which is what happens with surround sound TV and movie soundtracks. The front speakers were acting like side channel speakers adding ambiance as were the rear channel speakers. Intersound specifically indicated the rear speakers be behind where you sit, as mine are. 
My little Minimus speakers REALLY sound terrific for TV and movies and are perfectly balanced and efficient for the room's size. We use a Samsung Blu-ray player which does not play SACDs or DVD-Audio discs or decode HDCD discs either. So, I'd like to get an OPPO Blu-ray player and see how the "home theater" would do with those formats.

Speaking of those wee speakers, here are the links I told you about:




and, just for fun, an article I wrote in 2017 showing the many steps which brought a sparsely decorated  room we called "the den" which we initially setup for our first (32 inch) HDTV and "home theater" and brought it to where it nearly was today:


Thank you SO much for taking the time to read my humble blog. Now don't buy up all those ProArte surround CDs before I get a chance to get some!

Scott 
April 28, 2022
#446
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