ANYBODY FOR DVDs?

ericwood992

New member
I have too many CDs. Around 1000. Now I have a super-television with the sound output routed through a Denon Amp feeding small but really good KEF speakers and/or AKG Q701 headphones.
I much prefer live music and always have done.
Now I am finding that a well recorded DVD gives me a more enjoyable musical experience than CDs played through my Arcam/Spendor setup.
I get a closer feeling of "being there".
I have just bought "Mendelssohn in Verbier: Sextet Op110, Piano Concert No1 Op25 (Yuja Wang) and Symphony No3" on DVD. MAGNIFICENT!!!
Samle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQKWHMKvyAk&NR=1&feature=endscreen
 

wljmrbill

Member
I always prefer the DVD to the CD...mainly so I can watch the performer as it seems to make the experience more realistic.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
I am of the opposite camp a good CD through a good HiFi system in a decent room works for me every time, I will stress that means HiFi standard not some integrated off the shelf system from the local electrical shop.
 
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teddy

Duckmeister
I still have a lot on vinyl, and prefer it. There seems to be a wider tonal range and more ambiance. Plus I love the covers, some of which are works of art. Any snap, crackle and pop can largely be avoided by careful storage/cleaning and if necessary the use of positive feedback filters. Another important factor is finding out which speakers you really like. Unfortunately this can only really be done in the room you are going to use them in.

teddy
 

John Watt

Member
If there's one DVD you gotta get for the video quality as well,
it's "Amadeus".
Vinyl is best for volume and tone, wide tape recorders are better than small cassettes,
and it takes a bigger man than me to get you to IMAX. Take DAT!

I still like Altec-Lansing speakers and Koss headphones,
even if the ones in my guitar amplifier are custom made,
$350 each in 1974, when I got my first Marshall head with pre-amp and mains volume controls,
having to order that from England.

I miss album cover artwork.
 
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ericwood992

New member
Hello again JHC,
I used to be as emphatic about this subject as you are, but DVD recording of music and playback has improved in the past ten years or so, dramatically in my view. Take a top of the range Panasonic wide screen TV, a first class DVD recording, route the sound through a HiFi amp and speakers/headphones and I agree with Bill - the visual presence of the performer and accompaniment (albeit in 2D at the moment, until 3D becomes worthwhile) make all the difference to me.
As a good example (to me) listen to Andre Rieu in Maastricht on CD and then watch it on DVD! There is absolutely no comparison to me. And I know that the Andre Rieu concerts are open to criticism from classical purists, but he has brought his version of the classics into millions of homes where any form of classical music has never been heard before, and this is another debate anyway. I give this example just to illustrate the point about DVD. Mike's example of the Vespro Della Beata Vergine (above) is another excellent example.
I do hope that one day you will try this with an open mind. You may even enjoy it as much as your CDs, I hope so anyway!
Best wishes,
Eric.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
Eric I do have the big flat screen and the sound through the HiFi but the music I want to hear is not on DVD and I still prefer my CD set up.
I belong to a music group that meets each month in each others homes and we have tried this format and have all come to the conclusion that the old CD or vinyl played through our systems is the way for us to hear and discuss the music, I am not knocking the DVD it is just not for me.
 

ericwood992

New member
Eric I do have the big flat screen and the sound through the HiFi but the music I want to hear is not on DVD and I still prefer my CD set up.
I belong to a music group that meets each month in each others homes and we have tried this format and have all come to the conclusion that the old CD or vinyl played through our systems is the way for us to hear and discuss the music, I am not knocking the DVD it is just not for me.

Hello again JHC,
I can understand your preference, especially in group listening, and I can see that the visual image could be a distraction under these circumstances.
I do agree that the availability of good classical music is still limited on DVD, but it is increasing. I have hundreds of CDs and only a few dozen music DVDs so I also listen to CD a lot. I suppose always having been an avid concert goer results in the visual image giving me a more complete experience of a performance.
I also think that some music concerts benefit more from this more than others. But there is no doubt in my mind that listening pleasure is not DEPENDENT on the visual image.
My main reason for starting this thread was to get as many ideas on this as I can. Thanks for your contribution.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
I suppose always having been an avid concert goer results in the visual image giving me a more complete experience of a performance.
I also think that some music concerts benefit more from this more than others
I do agree on this point particularly with to days composers, to actually see a piece performed live makes it more acceptable to me for some reason.
 

Dorsetmike

Member
I think that if I saw Einaudi (and a few others of his ilk) perform I'd probably shoot him before he pollutes the world any further. How anybody can listen to that incessant repetitive tinkling is beyond me, it's not even fit for elevators. As a matter of interest has anybody else been desperate enough to record anything of his, I've only ever heard him performing his own work on the radio (which now gets switched off or turned way down after a bar or two, same with Gorecki)
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
Never heard of him Mike but Gorecki I have heard and do not like, I always had trouble with Bartok's Quartets up to the time I heard and saw them performed at a concert I now have them in my collection.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
I just had to sit through 2 3/4 hrs of varied classical DVDs I never want to go through that experience again.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
No it was the morning after effect the really bad thing was they were Youtube video @ 192kbps so the audio was dreadful. :)
 
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