Burmester:
Incredible Audiophile Sound Selection
(2013 w/Delos & Richcoln)/Hi
Fi Dance: Edmundo & His Orchestra
(2012/Densen Electronics)/The
London String Sound
(2013/Geoffrey Simon/Cala Records)/Solution:
SACD Spectacular Reference Disc
(2012/Intermusic/Top Music/Super Audio CD Hybrids/SA-CDs)/Super
Duper Alice Cooper
(2014/Eagle Blu-ray)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B/B+ & B-/B/B/B- Extras: B-/B/B-/B-/C+ Main
Programs: B-/B+/B-/B-/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The four Import Super Audio CDs are only available from our friends
at Top Music and can be ordered from the links below.
Our
latest group of releases include four nice albums in the
ever-underrated-but-vehemently-popular Super Audio CD format that
continues to live against the odds and a documentary about one of the
most influential survivors in Rock Music history....
We
begin with Burmester: Incredible
Audiophile Sound Selection
(2013), the first of three and one of many more special promo demo
discs Top Music has produced in conjunction with high end audio
hardware companies to show off the superior fidelity and dynamics of
their products. This 12-track demo has classical music selections
conducted by the late James DePriest that includes Bizet, Korngold,
Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff. All are solid
analog, professional recordings that make total sense to compile to
test such expensive equipment (five figures and up). Nice. The
specs for the making of the disc are:
SADiE
Digital Precision Mastering
Monitor
Hi Fi System: Burmester
Power
System: Isoclean Power Conditioning System
Mastered
with Black Rhodium cables
Hybrid
Stereo, Plays on all SACD and CD Players
Made
in Austria by Sony
My
favorite on the list is the biggest surprise, Hi
Fi Dance: Edmundo & His Orchestra
(2012) is made in conjunction with the Densen Electronics company who
also has some amazing hardware for sale for those who have the extra
cash to get it, but the selections here are terrific and the sonics
are a step above everything on a list that are all really good. The
surprises include great covers of The
Blue Danube, Isle
Of Capri, Elizabeth,
Cachita,
La Vie En Rose,
Orchids In The Moonlight,
Dolores
and 8 more tracks that live up to the idea of what Hi Fi should
always be. Very impressive!
The
specs for the making of the disc are:
SADiE
Digital Precision Mastering
Monitor
Pre-Amplifier: Octave Jubilee Preamp
Mastering
Monitor: Almarro M
Power
System: Isoclean Power Conditioning System
Mastered
with Black Rhodium cables
Hybrid
Stereo, Plays on all SACD and CD Players
Made
in Germany by ADIS
The
London String Sound
(2013) has 14 tracks in five section from five different album
releases by conductor Geoffrey Simon covering cello, double bass,
latin cello, violin and viola that mostly cover standards ans
showtunes (West Side
Story, Begin
The Beguine, et al) that
makes for a good variety of the music here and the instruments the
collection is supposed to stress. This is the only SA-CD here not
tied to a hardware manufacturer, but it is an interesting set that
works just fine as the compilation it is. The specs for the making
of the disc are:
SADiE
Digital Precision Mastering
Monitor
Hi Fi System: Burmester
Power
System: Isoclean Power Conditioning System
Mastered
with Black Rhodium cables
Hybrid
Stereo, Plays on all SACD and CD Players
Made
in Austria by Sony
Solution:
SACD Spectacular Reference Disc
(2012) mixes Vivaldi and Puccini with the likes of The
Mating Dance, Ave
Maria and Fanfare
For The Common Man. The
range and quality of the recordings are meant to show off the
capacities of the Swiss-made, costly, upscale equipment that has its
share of audiophile fans inside the press and music community. The
specs for the making of the disc are:
SADiE
Digital Precision Mastering
Monitor
Hi Fi System: Solution Swiss
Power
System: Isoclean Power Conditioning System
Mastered
with Black Rhodium cables
Hybrid
Stereo, Plays on all SACD and CD Players
Made
in Austria by Sony
Finally
we have a new documentary, Super
Duper Alice Cooper (2014)
which joins many concert releases we have covered on Cooper as the
first full documentary on his life, rise, fall, near destruction,
resurrection and overall career that is still going on against all
odds. After reminding us of his peak success in the earlier 1970s,
the program (with 3 directors!) goes back to his childhood and shows
his life from there in his religious upbringing, his early bands, how
the name he eventually took himself (and as a solo artist) was the
name of his band, who were signed to no less than Frank Zappa's
label. The debut album was not a big success, then they had a
falling out as they moved to Warner Bros. Records, something that is
not covered much here, but gets a little more attention in the great
documentary From Straight To Bizarre, which you can read more about
at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11406/The+Doors
No
matter that, the red hot record label made the band into the biggest
act in the business with huge record sales and big tours, yet the
success and popularity was not going to last too much as pressure and
previously non-existent conflict within the band broke it up. From
there, the story takes more twists and turns than one of Cooper's
snakes, but I will save that for those who get to see this well-done
work. Elton John, John Lydon, Bernie Taupin, Pamela Des Barres, Iggy
Pop, Bob Ezrin, Shep Gordon and many others are interviewed and a
long untold piece of key Rock Music history is finally told, though I
wanted more and thought more than a bit was left unsaid. Still, I
highly recommend this one and think you will really enjoy it.
For
more Cooper, try the Live At Montreux 2005 Blu-ray we reviewed
at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4455/Alice+Cooper
The
1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Alice
shows the age of the materials used more often than expected, so it
is a little rougher than expected and new interviews are audio only
over vintage clips and digitally enhanced stills made to look 3D.
The rest of the discs have no picture presentations, of course.
The
DSD (Direct Stream Digital) 2.0 Stereo tracks on all four SA-CDs are
pretty good, but all show the age of the otherwise fine recordings
via slight background hiss and noise, save Dance
with its stunning overall
recording. The PCM 2.0 16/44.1 Stereo CD tracks on all the SA-CDs
are not as good as their ultra high definition DSD counterparts, but
only Dance
shows a serious gap between the recording quality as the other
recordings show their age. Still, all the DSD tracks are superior,
even narrowly, to the old PCM versions. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Alice
is as well mixed and presented, but audio (save most of the music) is
older mono or simple new stereo at best, but the mix still fares a
bit better than the
PCM 2.0 Stereo tracks also included.
Extras
for all five releases include nicely illustrated booklets including
informative text on the various releases and in the case of the
electronics hardware tie-in releases, catalogs for the latest in
their lines, though Burmester
SA-CD has English text about it conductor followed by
Chinese/Mandarin only for their electronics line. Alice
adds Rare Footage,
Deleted Scenes and Metal Evolution Interview Scenes.
You
can order all four Intermusic Super Audio CDs and other great
exclusives (most of which we have reviewed elsewhere on this site) at
this link:
http://www.topmusic.com/to-order.htm
-
Nicholas Sheffo
