Surroundablog

John Hiatt readies new album for SACD

The December 2004 John Hiatt tracking Session to Sonoma-24 at Ardent Studios in Memphis Tennessee marks a landmark event for the Super Audio CD Format. It is the first time a 24CH DSD recorder has been conventionally used to track a large commercial session. Because the Sonoma DSD multi-track recorder provides all of the features required in a professional multi-track recorder (Overdub recording and editing), the session proceeded without compromise. "The Hiatt session was a very important test case for us." Said Gus Skinas, CEO, Super Audio Center, "A lot is at stake. More and more SA-CD's are being produced on standard PCM workstations because DSD tools that can cope with the demands of a typical multitrack session do not exist, and analog 2" tape is getting harder to find. The Sonoma-24 gives the artist a new option; to get sound similar to that of analog tape with all the features of a powerful multi-track editor."

The project was tracked on the Sonoma-24 through a Neve-V series desk. Once the overdubs and edits were completed, the project was mixed back through the Neve to the Sonoma. This is possible because the Sonoma architecture permits playback of 24 tracks with cross-fades while recording up to 8 tracks.

Pink Floyd's Animals on SACD

I found this little gem on the Pink Floyd site www.brain-damage.co.uk

....we have had an email from old friends Chris Diemoz and Nicola De Cal, noting that the 1977 album ANIMALS is being scheduled for release on SACD (5.1 surround sound Super Audio) towards the latter half of next year. For many years now, people have been disappointed with the sound on CD of the album, so this is a chance for this to be rectified.

The information about this SACD release has come from "a person very close to the band" that lives in the USA. Despite it not being an anniversary of the album, it was felt that this was the right time to work on this album. Please note though that this is NOT confirmed - and until recently, The Wall was reportedly undergoing the SACD treatment, to tie in with the 25th anniversary. The band's management recently confirmed to us that there are NO plans currently for any reissues or remasters in the forseeable future, so the Animals reissue may be being driven by the record company. More news as we get it.

More DualDisc...less Sacd and DVD-A

I found this great but somewhat troubling article this afternoon...

More DualDiscs Planned

By Jon Iverson
January 31, 2005 — The record industry's favorite nonconformist, DualDisc, is getting a modest boost in February and March. Despite hand-wringing and compatibility warnings from scores of manufacturers, all of the major record labels say they plan to release some of the two-faced discs in coming weeks.

The most notable of the labels announcing a DualDisc release schedule is Sony BMG, whose Jordan Katz states, "We're thrilled to be coming to the marketplace with an innovative slate of DualDiscs, representing a broad range of artists and genres, including titles from Omarion, Jennifer Lopez, Velvet Revolver, Usher, AC/DC, Destiny's Child, and Avril Lavigne."

The consumer electronics arm of Sony was one of the first manufacturers to issue warnings about possible problems encountered in playing the non-standard music side of a DualDisc. Recent announcements for the new format are careful not to refer to the music side of a DualDisc as a "CD" or "compact disc," instead describing it as "a full audio album." While intended to be compatible with CD players, the music side of a DualDisc does not meet the Red Book specification for CD layer thickness. It also sports a shorter playing time.

More irony: Sony, along with Philips, brought DSD and SACD to the consumer market, neither of which are included as DualDisc formats. It should also be noted that DualDisc does not require high-resolution DVD-Audio tracks on its DVD side, and in the case of the announced Sony BMG releases, will have none.

With Sony apparently abandoning SACD while pushing DualDisc into the market, and Warners' DVD-Audio releases drying up fast, the fifth anniversaries for both SACD and DVD-Audio are looking less like birthdays and more like a DualWake (or DualDud . . . or DualDead).

Genesis on SACD

Here's a wee bit of news concerning Genesis. Fans of the band will know that Peter Gabriel is a long time fan of SACD and has remastered and released his entire solo catalogue in SACD.

"We can now confirm that "The Lamb .... (Lies Down on Broadway) SACD remaster" will be released on 18th April 2005. Engineer Nick Davis has gone to extreme lengths to find, sort and remix the new version from the original Lamb 24 track tapes. The SACD version will come with a new 5.1 SACD mix and a new CD stereo mix."

This hybrid multichannel release will play in a regular cd machine too. I hope that this album sells enough copies to justify a multichannel reworking of the entire Genesis catalogue...including the "Then There Were 3" days after Gabriel exited.

By the way...Peter Gabriel's multi-channel remastered collection of videos; "Play", sounds extraordinary. I hope that DTS continues to loan out their Pro-Series Surround Encoder.....maybe this time to Eddie Kramer....

The Doors catalogue on DVD-A

I lifted this nugget off the Doors message board posted by Doors manager Jeff Jampol. As an aside; I interviewed Robbie Krieger in 1996. Off mic., Robbie indicated that he loved new technology and innovation. I guess so...every new format means 1 more trip to the well; so to speak, for him to wrest a few more dollars out of my pocket. I've personally owned "LA Woman" on vinyl, cassette, cd, a special limited edition HMV cd boxset and DVD-Audio. And now I can buy it all over again in the upcoming boxset...

" • Bruce Botnick has just completed remixing and remastering EVERY Doors studio album in full 5.1 surround and DVD-A – these will be released as a box set first, and then probably packaged along with a re-release of all studio albums next year – ALL repackaged to look like their original, vinyl counterparts, much like the album covers looked in the “Complete Studio Recordings” box set. All of them will be re-mastered again, as well, using the latest digital technology, and will contain some VERY interesting outtakes, alternate takes, etc.

Porcupine Tree throws new album into blender and sets the dial on 5.1...

UK's Porcupine Tree are gearing up and laying down tracks for a new album titled "Dead Wing". It's coming at ya from Lava\Warner on March 21st. Their last album, "In Absentia", was recorded for cd and DVD-Audio by Grammy Award winning Producer Elliott Scheiner and won the "Best Mix: Non Orchestral" award at the 3rd annual Surround Music Awards ceremony. The new album will feature a guest appearance by Adrian Belew of King Crimson and David Bowie.

Al Kooper and the Season of the Ditch...

In the next few weeks, all the major record labels will release their schedules for 2005. At this early stage, it seems that SACD and DVD Audio pressings are noticeably absent. To make matters worse, news arrived this morning of Sony\BMG's apparent ditching of a seminal surround sound reissue.

In 1968, keyboardist extraordinaire Al Kooper joined forces with Dylan compadre, Michael Bloomfield and Buffalo Springfield's Stephen Stills to create a hippy-psychedelic-blues masterpiece. Their "Super Session" proved to be a landmark both in its performance and selection of songs. The highlight of this recording was the exceptional cover version of Donovan's "Season of the Witch".