Archive through November 03, 2004
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2377 Registered: Dec-03 | Mr Rantz, Well said, old dog. "Oklahoma" is our youngest daughter's favourite DVD of all. She is 5 and already politically incorrect. I think she dreams of one day meeting a handsome cowhand. If you like those things you cannot fail to go for "Porgy and Bess". It sounds as if Mrs R would like that, too. I, too, raise the glass. Well said, Rick. Cheers! |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2378 Registered: Dec-03 | BTW I did not lose it, MR. You must be thinking of Larry. |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2379 Registered: Dec-03 | ...it must have been the SST. |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 13 Registered: Oct-04 | John A - well, I've ruined five CD-Rs now, trying to get several cuts of music burned into them. I think I'm going to have to go back to the instruction book on this! Sigh. More later on it, and I'm probably doing something very stupid - as usual. Still have you in mind, though! Rantz - well, well, sounds like you're a very lucky man indeed, sir! How about a picture, so we all can be REALLY jealous!! Eh? John A. - It WAS the SST - and my friend says every time he uses it he has the uncontrolable urge to yell: "Hi-yo Silver!" Hmm. . . I think he's losing it. . . More anon. . . |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 983 Registered: Aug-04 | Oh alright Larry, I have a thing about putting our faces on the internet but you talked me into it. Here:   |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 986 Registered: Aug-04 | John A I discovered HMV on-line has a reasonable list of DVD-A's and SACD's but are these guy's expensive - from $5.00 to over $20.00 more than what I've paid elsewhere? I think I'll keep buying elsewhere. |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2381 Registered: Dec-03 | Phew. The lady is quite obviously appraising the sound stage on the Mahler 5 DVD-A. Let's not start that again. Lord, I hope this doesn't get Ghia and Kegger posting more pics. Kegger's most appealing one was the diagram of the 7.1 speaker positions, closely followed by the vintage Mac. Surely that last post will help improve Larry's member status. Could someone please start a separate thread for photos...? |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2382 Registered: Dec-03 | My Rantz, Not much I can suggest from here. How about http://www.totaldvd.com.au/shopping/catadvd.asp?id=5646 I bought mine in a real shop. Over the counter. HMV shop, Oxford, UK. £9.99. |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 987 Registered: Aug-04 | John A Now you know why I seem a little flustered at times. I agree about having a seperate thread for photos - why didn't you suggest it earlier? I knew I shouldn't have posted a picture of my darling wife. It always causes a reaction like yours. I should know better. And I do :-) |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 988 Registered: Aug-04 | John - thanks. That's a better price, But I think I'll ask JB's about ordering it in - That recording is not so bad but others - like Gaucho SACD, HMV want $48.00. I paid $34.00 and thought it was too high. |
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Silver Member Username: SemNew York USA Post Number: 300 Registered: Mar-04 | My Rantz said: Then attached a picture. Wow. I mean...wow!!! One question: I'm surprised you spend so much time here with old dogs. What's wrong with you man??? |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 14 Registered: Oct-04 | MR - Now I fully understand what you mean when you say you married your wife for her brains, not necessarily for her looks. Hmmm. . . Can't post a pic of Merri - but friends of ours out in Sedona, AZ just posted me a pic of "the old homestead." Why we ever left that for humid, flat aligator-infested swampy Florid-Duh! we may never know! SIGH  |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 15 Registered: Oct-04 | Actually, I find that I CAN post a pic of my dear, 57-year old wife. Sigh. Can she be that old? That means, ugh, I'm 68! Oh, Sh*t! Taken Aug. 13 outside our rental casita in Santa Fe - night of La Sonnambula, and a hurricane that missed our home by 30 miles.  |
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Silver Member Username: SemNew York USA Post Number: 302 Registered: Mar-04 | Larry wrote:
Larry, what burning program are you using? If you're still having problems, maybe I can help...let me know. |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 991 Registered: Aug-04 | Sem, "I'm surprised you spend so much time here with old dogs. What's wrong with you man? I don't know, Sem. The voices in my head they . . . . . will you stop interrupting when I'm replying to someone? . . . . now where was I? Larry, How could anyone make you jealous? Merri looks lovely. You're a lucky man Larry! 'cept for being 68 :-) BTW - I'm amazed no one has recognised the lady posing as my wife. Any guesses? |
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Gold Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 1739 Registered: Dec-03 | to easy mr. rantz that is miss Charlize Theron! OOHH YYAAAHHH!!!! HOW BOUT THIS PIC OF HER!  |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 992 Registered: Aug-04 | And the cigar goes to . . . Kegger, Yes, I was appalled to see my favourite actress playing this monster - yeck! |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 16 Registered: Oct-04 | MR -0K - she ain't a "movie star" but then, I'm not one uv doz either. But I luv her, and she's much smarter than I am - and I'm not George Clooney, so. . Sem - I'm using the "Nero" burning program - and I have to go back to the "basic" instructions to see what I'm doing wrong. Must be some way to add track after track to CD-R discs? Just haven't figgered it out yet. Sigh. I think I'm jest gettin too oldish for dis stuff! (grin) More anon . . . |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 993 Registered: Aug-04 | Larry, Be fortunate you're not George Clooney - and also that your wife is not a movie star. I prefer a keeper and one smarter than I also. Cheers |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 994 Registered: Aug-04 | Uh oh! When I said "keeper" I meant one for life - not one to keep me. Phew! |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 995 Registered: Aug-04 | Although, come to think of it - it's not a bad fantasy. Though it would depend on the size of her bank account I suppose. :-) |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 18 Registered: Oct-04 | MR - good postings, sir. Yes, I've always wanted a gal who had a "great pair." Pair of RollsRoyces, pair of islands, pair of apartment buildings, pair of yachts - you name it. But - BUT - the fact is that Mer and I have a good, if "basic", life, and are fortunate to have what we do have - freedom, enough to pay the bills, health, and a place to call "our own." Yes, even if we don't have all of our CDs coated with "Vivid" yet! - G R I N Luv youze guyz - and thanx!! . . . |
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J. Vigne Unregistered guest | "even if we don't have all of our CDs coated with "Vivid" yet!" Larry, help is on the way. Should arrive Wednesday morning. Now who was it that said; If you want to be happy of the rest of your life Never make a pretty woman your wife So from my personal point of view Get an ugly girl to marry you Larry, you are obviously the exception to that rule. Your wife appears to be someone who could make you happy for the rest of your life (now that you're 68 and all, you cradle robber). You'd better finish that book so she can live off the royalties and sign commemorative copies on book tours around the world. I thought "Monster" was quite exceptional. Hard to decide which actress or which character was more interesting. |
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J. Vigne Unregistered guest | I just read that last post again. I am afraid I typed too hastily and may have left the wrong impression. Please assure Merri I think she is quite lovely and the picture doesn't do her justice. She is the exception in that she is a pretty woman who can make you happy. If I continue I will only dig this hole deeper. I shall now go whip myself and cast my unworthy bones upon the rocks. Oh, I'm so embarrassed. Oh me. Oh my. Ouch! Ouch!! Ouch!!!I really didn't mean ... Ouch! Ouch!! Great, where's a craggy cliff overlooking the ocean when you need it? |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 19 Registered: Oct-04 | JV - I know it - you know it - Merri knows it. She is not a "starlet." OK? So she and I both have enough looks to pass by on sidewalks without other people vomiting on the spot. And BTW - you won't find any craggy cliffs around here - or around Dallas, for that matter! Merri and I have a calm, "understanding" marriage - which most people do not have. That lets both of us "do our thing" creatively, while giving us the freedom to relax with each other when we are together. Anyway - bottom line - no offense taken and stop with the self-whipping! GRIN OK - looking forward to Wednesday. . . And everybody else on the forum can chime in now, Jan and I are NOT going to "duke it out!" (grin) It's a good thing I didn't post a picture of myself - God knows what y'all would have said! Speaking of which. . . - - - - - - - - - Morris, an 82 year-old man, went to the doctor to get a physical. A few days later the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm. >At his next physical, the doctor said, "You're really doing great, aren't you?" >Morris replied, "Just doing what you said, Doc: 'Get a hot mamma and be cheerful.'" >The doctor said, "I didn't say that. I said, 'You've got a heart murmur. Be careful.'" - - - Ain' hearing loss wunnerful?? More anon. . . |
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Silver Member Username: SemNew York USA Post Number: 303 Registered: Mar-04 |
Larry, this website is the "Bible" of cd burning. http://www.cdrfaq.org/ It might be awkward to get too involved via this forum so if you are in need of assistance PM me and we can take this offline. I'd be happy to help. |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 20 Registered: Oct-04 | Sem - thank you - will be reading that! JV et al - just to show you that we DO get along, here's us'ns at "Tsankawi," an ancient Native American archeological site NW of Santa Fe.  |
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J. Vigne Unregistered guest | You are both absolutely gorgeous! That's all I'm going to type before I embarass myself again. |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 21 Registered: Oct-04 | JV - how good it is to see that you're just as full of good ole-fashioned BS as you reportedly always were! LOL, my friend! |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2389 Registered: Dec-03 | J. V., you wrote "Larry, you are obviously the exception to that rule." So it was quite clear you were being complimentary. Plus intelligent about it. So please relax, and move away from that cliff. Kegger, well done with that ID. Reading the IMDB blurb on "Monster" I think it is not exactly family viewing. Where we live it would probably get an 11 certificate, going to 18 if anyone smokes. MR, Latest purchase "South Pacific". Daughter chose it. I am getting a bit saturated with musicals. The IMDB list for Miss Theron says she plays Britt Ekland in "Life and Death of Peter Sellers, The (2004)". Wonder what that is about. Also there is an "Italian Job II" coming up. Wonder if it will also feature NAD and Aston Martin. |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 996 Registered: Aug-04 | Larry, You and Merri look quite the couple - the Norman Rockwell picture perfect couple - the couple most aspire to but fail miserably to achieve. The couple in a million. The couple that makes most others envious. If you have never had anything else in life you're still way ahead. Even in poverty you would be rich. Sir - you have it all (except a decent universal DVD player) :-) John A, Yes, I first fell for Ms Theron watching Mighty Joe Young - a King Kong style family movie. Not only is she gorgeous but has great talent also. The Devil's Advocate, The Astronauts Wife, The Legend Of Bagger Vance - a few good titles in which she struts her stuff. The Italian Job part I think was just for glamour. We had to turn off Monster, not that we are prudes, just could not stand seeing Ms Theron in such a disgusting role. I think the movie makers these days think viewers have no imagination - they think they have to spell everything out and push the detail in our faces. IMO the directors and actors would show much more talent making viewers believe without such avid realism. That was what movies used to be about. I could easily get on the soapbox here but I won't. Really, my fondness for South Pacific and Oklahoma disappeared when the Beatles first appeared but the memories persist occassionally while in the shower. And I think I would be more nervous driving the NAD than the Vanquish :-) |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 23 Registered: Oct-04 | Switching tracks here, I've been doing a lot of reading about anti-virus programs - my Norton subscription is up in 30 days. From the user comments Online, it would appear that a program called "PC-cillin" might be better than either Norton or McAffee. . . users say it doesn't slow down computers as much, and is much easier to install and to work with in general. IF this is so - I might get that instead of re-upping the Norton. All thoughts welcome - Pul-leez! More anon . . . |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2390 Registered: Dec-03 | MR, Yes "Norman Rockwell"; excellent. Congrats to Larry, too. I think we agree on explicit depiction of sax and violins in movies, MR. It is tough when this enters your home, unannounced. Children are impressionable, take cues from all over the place as to what is acceptable adult behaviour. Couple that with the desire to shock by any means, confusing "in yer face" with dramatic art, and you have trouble. I think this is why we do the IMBD check before watching most movies. Even there you can't be sure. A bad case within the last year, which we didn't check beforehand, was "Monster's Ball". We just believed the "11" certificate on the DVD box. The people who classified that as suitable for 11 year-olds had either not seen it, were off another planet, or had some personal agenda, in my view. But that is culture, I guess. Going back to Ghia, and the world's view of America, there are things in American popular culture which even a sort of small-"l" liberal like me wishes to protect my children from, and I am from not so far away, culturally, nor a control-freak parent. What sort of music? Anyone wondering, as I do, what all this "genre" stuff is all about, please listen, if you have 20 minutes, to Elvis Costello, on CD review. What a nice guy. Here is the link, again. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/ Select "Radio 3" and then "CD Review". He starts about 2 hours 15 minutes in, roughly. |
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Silver Member Username: Rick_bNew York USA Post Number: 594 Registered: Dec-03 | Rantz, I too fell in love with the lovely Ms. Theron in the Disney remake of "mighty Joe Young". She made her film debut in "2 Days In The Valley". For all who liked "Pulp Fiction", and would like to see MORE(or should I say-all)of Ms. Theron, I highly recommend the film. Larry, You definitely have the "look" of a famous novelist, so finish the book already! That's an order..........(LOL!) PS Give my regards to your better half. Cheers! PPS On the subject of looks or physical beauty, it would be a boring world if everyone were as handsome as Jan and I. |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2391 Registered: Dec-03 | Rick, You are thanked for seeing, first, the unmistakable likeness. Larry, too, will endure. In the way the writer must. |
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Silver Member Username: Rick_bNew York USA Post Number: 595 Registered: Dec-03 | Yes, thank you John. As far as Larry goes, I have no doubt. Cheers my friend! |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2392 Registered: Dec-03 | Cheers, Rick! |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 997 Registered: Aug-04 | Cheers everyone! |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 998 Registered: Aug-04 | "it would be a boring world if everyone were as handsome as Jan and I." Rick, Hmm - it takes two of you to create handsome eh? (LOL!) |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 999 Registered: Aug-04 | For anyone who disbelieves I am a great alchemist just keep your eye on the left column. Now, for the magic words . . . . A B R A C A D B R A < ----------------- |
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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 1000 Registered: Aug-04 | < --------------- Holy Cow! I feel kinda strange . . . |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 1001 Registered: Aug-04 | <------------------- Voila! |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 24 Registered: Oct-04 | Hey! Wayda minit! MR - hey - MR! Oh, my God, he's gone! On this h-ween eve, too! MR! MR! (only an echo of an answer) Sigh - I think he took it too far this time, guyz-n-galz! Yes, writers such as meingself endure - through sheer obstinacy and dissembleness (OK, I make up words as I go along!) Rick: you may be alluding (as opposed to eluding?)to Hemingway - though I possess little of his up-front egoism - probably a weakness on my part! Mer and I were away to Sebring - 2 hours north - to visit with her old and ailing father. Sigh. Good visit, but terminal sadness on the highways in between. Going along at 65 MPH on a two-lane highway through Florid-Duh's "Back country" - and saw a dead black bear cub at the edge of the road. Sad. I hate to see carnage by motor vehicle. Then, a short way up the highwy, the body of an adult black bear - probably the cub's mother. I said a few choice words which I'll not repeat here, and drove on - with a heavy heart. I recalled an interview with a Florida State Trooper just last week, in which he got quite angry - saying that some "good ole boys" in their heavy-duty pickup trucks make a sport out of trying to hit bears and other wildlife on the roads. Sorry - but just had to vent about this, because I often feel so helpless in the face of violence and injustice. THE END. Maybe Nero Wolfe was right - get a great house, stay inside and hire others to face the insults and injustices of the "outside" world! Without Archie, of course, he'd be dead meat - but again, writers can find ways of making the implausible possible. Maybe. Sometimes. OK - am still researching new forms of anti-virus software, and hope to get something that doesn't bog down my computer as much as my Norton does now. Happy Hallowe'en Eve, all! |
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Silver Member Username: Rick_bNew York USA Post Number: 596 Registered: Dec-03 | Rantz, Congrats on the gold........I look forward to the next 1000 posts. We all know what catagory old dogs go in from there........................................................................... ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ...........................................................................Rust Member Larry, Cheers! Sad tale of the bears. I always liked animals better than most people. I think you know why............ |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 25 Registered: Oct-04 | Rick: U bet I know, though you faced the worst kind of "humanity" at the end of a gun or knife, while my most lethal weapon was the microphone or the pen. The problem is - neither of us was truly successful! Do you ever watch the TV show: "CSI?" If so, empathize with "Grissom" and know what is right, and what is wrong with the world. (the show has become a "must-see" for Mer) Rantz, you posting dervish you! Gold is not good enough for you! More (sigh) anon. . . |
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Silver Member Username: Rick_bNew York USA Post Number: 597 Registered: Dec-03 | Larry, The point is that you could always count on guys like me to defend your freedom, so you could print the truth. I don't know anything more powerful than the truth. |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2393 Registered: Dec-03 | My Rantz, Congratulations. Surely it is not alchemy, but the Midas touch. "South Pacific" was brilliant, and in excellent 5.1 AC-3. They don't write 'em like that any more. The colour effects were absurd. Give people new technology for sound and vision, and they are apt to get carried away. I think surround sound will settle down eventually. I have discovered that I can switch off the centre channel on my NAD DVD-A player. Apart from theory and arm waving, this action greatly improves the balance on some DVD-A discs. With no centre channel and a -10 dB cut on the sub, the Naxos Rachmaninov Piano Concertos become almost bearable. I think the Moscow sound engineers were given a new toy, and just lost all sense of proportion, like the South Pacific Todd-AO cameramen in 1958. In mutichannel audio, just as much as with DVD-V, I notice that different discs have completely different channel balances. In a perfect world, each disc would have some test tones to let you set your system to compensate for the engineers' excesses. It would be a real nuisance, though. Perhaps the time is approaching when I should get an SPL meter, but I cannot see how to use one without a test disc. There player/receiver test tones cannot be enough. I really must get a test disc, even if just to find out what "flat" sounds like. This is another problem we don't have with stereo. Rick, Excellent point. And thank you. It is said that the pen is mightier than the sword. At this point of high drama in the US, I cannot for the life of me understand why our intelligence services do not go, very quietly, to Al Jazeera and ask, politely at first, where they get their material. And on what basis they decide when to broadcast it. Freedom of the press is a precious thing, and to be defended. But that tape, or movie file, or whatever it was, came from somewhere. I doubt if it is as simple as the package being postmarked Torra Borra, with a return address. But it would, anyway, be interesting to know where those guys stand on protecting their sources. Is this naive? All, I am determined to purchase a Tivoli table radio in the New Year. They seem to be sold in many good hifi shops. I think it was Jan who first mentioned these. Thank you, sir! Here is a nice UK dealer's page on the Tivoli One. http://www.walrus.co.uk/tivoli/tivoli.htm |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2395 Registered: Dec-03 | Seems like I managed to offend everyone, this time.... So, in place of a picture, here is the Larry look-alike, in Real Audio... Things may not be immediately discernible in what a man writes... |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 26 Registered: Oct-04 | Well, gee, John - for once I was not offended by your posting! (grin) I thoroughly enjoyed the Hemingway audio - haven't heard anything from him in a long time. He's dead, you know. (double grin) I always remembered his comment that he spent his whole life "looking for one true sentence." Not sure exactly what he meant, but I've labored over thousands of sentences, trying to make them say what I really felt or thought. True? Well, maybe Rick could come in here and expand on that word. Truth. Ah, yes - there have been millions of words written about "truth," and yet the concept seems to elude most of the people most of the time, to "warp" a famous saying. Yep, John, I've been told many a time that I "resemble" the old rogue writer - but I've still got dark brown hair, so cannot claim true likeness. Sigh. Every year, in Key West, Florida, they have a "lookalike" contest - and every winner has silver-gray hair - so Merri says I have to wait until the "grim reaper" gets closer and my hair turns to "fright" hue to enter said contest. I'd like to do it, however, because ALL of the entrants grandly get good and smashed on rum-and-lime - and that's as good a way to spend a week or three as I know!!! The Tropics melt your brain, you know! So Hemingway surely had some effect on his mental facilities after living, drinking, living, drinking and living in Key West and in Cuba? But, after all, "The Old Man and the Sea" is my favorite of his writings - done in rum-haze and faint memories of a true story, told to him by a real-life fisherman, whose personal story I recently read. Rambling? Who said anything about rambling? I've got to get back into my shell and start writing again - this "public" discourse surely will rot my creative powers?!? Luv all of youze guyz - n - gal, and now I'm away to dinner and Hallowe'en mobsters. . . More anon. . . |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 1003 Registered: Aug-04 | Rick, Larry, and John, Thanx guys, but a gold member is nothing to be proud of - it's only an added burden and something that happens to one who should get a life away from a keyboard. And I'm not certain there are any benefits that will stand up to scrutiny. John, maybe you can tell me where to purchase reinforced underclothing :-) John A - re: center speaker - you are trying to push my buttons again. You know where I stand :-) And about the truth - would it not often be too frightening? All, Purchased Bob Dylans "Blonde on Blonde" and "Love and Theft" hybrid MC SACD's this weekend, and just ordered Donald Fagan's "The Nightfly" and "Kamakiriad" DVD-A's and Sir Simon Rattle - Mahler Symphony N0.5 DVD-V/DVD-A set on-line - it had better be good you guys! Remember all: Love is all you need - and good hi-rez music :-) and money for - the mortgage, running the cars, medical bills, utilities, food, beverages, household necessities, rainy day funds, retirement funds, emergency funds, clothing, movies, jewellry, holidays, beauty products, computer hardware/software and isp, lawn maintenance, restaurants, gifts, child handouts, headache tablets, headache tablets, headache tablets etc etc. All donations gratefully accepted :-) |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 28 Registered: Oct-04 | Slinkin' back to my den. Sigh. Well, Jan V et al, I've been trying - really trying - to understand the digital recording process. I was advised to read "Principles of Digital Audio," by Ken Pohlmann. So - I got it at the library. Big mistake. Sigh. I know that Jan says he's read it - and if so, then my hat's off to him! I got bogged down about five pages in, and am trying to pick my way through - without success. I just don't get it. when the book says someting like: "the algorithm used in the CD encoding process - subcode and parity are added to the audio data, the data undergoes interleaving and modulation, and a synchronization word is added" - well, I know I'm in deep shemozzie. So - with all due respect to those of you who unnerstand all those words - I quit. The book goes back, and I search for something like "How Things Work" on the Internet - where the language is aimed at 6th-grade students - MY LEVEL! Duh! Obviously, I was never cut out to be a scientist. Take it away, Jan!!! I'm exhausted just writing all of that. More anon. . . |
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Silver Member Username: SemNew York USA Post Number: 307 Registered: Mar-04 |
With my two in in college, please don't hold your breath waiting for anything from me. I have all I can do trying to set aside a little here and there for the 1st Old Dogs get together. |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 1004 Registered: Aug-04 | Sem, Our sole child has finished college along with attaining a commercial pilots licence, almost sending us bankrupt. So anyone with two or more attending college have my deepest sympathies :-) Maybe we old dogs can figure a way to become a charity institution. After all, we are all challenged to some degree :-) :-) |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2396 Registered: Dec-03 | Mr Rantz, My comment on switching off the centre channel was from direct experience. Somehow the piano shrinks to normal-sized, and the whole thing is much better. I am not making it up! I do not know whether the DVD-A player "channel settings" distributes the centre channel to the Left and Right, or the recording was basically OK in 4-channel and the engineers then went and laid on, with a trowel, a special feed from microphones close to the piano. I need to get a test disc to distinguish between those possiblities. I agree with Sem, on Discoveries, many sound engineers have not worked out what to do with the technology, yet. But I think they will. Blonde on Blonde is my audio watershed. I have said it before. I had been sort of considering getting the CD for, oh, about twenty years. My kind wife then bought me the 1999 stereo SACD; it was in the "CD" section of the shop. The dealer did not tell her, and she did not know, that it would not play on our CD player - it looked like a CD. If I am biased against SACD, this could be an explanation! (I do not concede this, of coure!). I will keep that one SACD so I have something to check out players. Then after reading the LP posts, here, in June I bought the new 180g vinyl "Simply vinyl" gatefold double LP of Blonde on Blonde. An exact facsimile of the 1966 (?) LP, right down to the label on the records themselves, and the cover artwork. Probably a better pressing. Wonderful sound. If you score iteh SACD 10 for nostalgia, the LP must be 10+. I think I recall the original LPs were released in two versions; mono and stereo. Today, the "Simply Vinyl" version is stereo, the "Sundazed" version is mono. There are some wonderful songs on that album. The first LP has most of them. On the second, way back, I remember sitting listening to "Sad Eye'd Lady" with friends (who had record players) and discussing endlessly what the heck it was all about. I still like the song, but having given up on "what it means" I find it sort of does go on. I think he was often just teasing the listener; "without any attempt, to shovel the glimpse, into the ditch of what each one means" (can you identify....? yes, of course you can). I still like original Dylan best. The Times are a-Changin' must go down as one of the albums that changed everything. As Elvis Costello said in that interview, all "Genres" eventually become conservative, even Jazz and Rock and Roll; the temptation is there to stick with the winning formula, to go on recyling things that worked before. I heard terrible, smaltzy version of a folk song "The Delivery Man' by Sting on the radio at the weekend. Hopeless. Every cliche in the book, all detracting from the power of the song. But Dylan took stuff just like that, played and sang it in his Woody-Guthrie-style of US Country/folk/blues, made up his own words (partly or wholly) and the result was genius. As we all agree, I think, there is no right or wrong in this. But famous names doing there own versions of simple songs/pieces and taking away from them, not adding to them, is a very common in all genres. None of the cover versions of those early Dylan songs comes close to his own. IMHO. Where Dylan scores in my opinion, and it must be true of Elvis Costello (he is a bit after my time) too is that he seems to stay receptive to new influences. Even if it sometimes two steps back, he goes on exploring. You've got to admire that. |
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Silver Member Username: Two_centsPost Number: 306 Registered: Feb-04 | "None of the cover versions of those early Dylan songs comes close to his own." Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower" knocks the socks off the Dylan version. Even Dylan admitted so much. Listen to the live version on the Rolling Thunder Tour album (Hard Rain is the title, I think) and you'll clearly hear Hendrix's influence on Dylan playing his own song. Okay, AAtW is not really an "early" Dylan song, so John A's statement may still be right. Frankly, Elvis Costello has been disappointing. He's more reactionary and regressive now than progressive. I mean he's mining old territory. Rubbing elbows with Burt Bachrach for god's sake. Rock is dead as far as I'm concerned. |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 30 Registered: Oct-04 | Two cents - and there are some of us for whom it was never "alive!" See my posting to you on Discoveries - re Kleiber DVDs (several). |
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Gold Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 1746 Registered: Dec-03 | Rock is alive and kickin on my side of town! And I'm pretty sure it will allways be! It's that classical stuff I can"t figure out "yet" maybe later on down the road. but right now very content to listen to good old fashioned ROCK & ROLL! GETS THE BLOOD PUMPIN FOR ME!!!! |
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Silver Member Username: Two_centsPost Number: 308 Registered: Feb-04 | Kegger, What I mean is that there is nothing new going on. It's the same old same old. Why are you and everyone else listening to all the old stuff from the 70's and 80's? I think Ben James on this forum listens to newer music, but none of it is really that new. BTW you forgot to say, BAAAAAAAAAAABY!!! |
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Gold Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 1748 Registered: Dec-03 | I'm allright with what you had to say 2c that is your oppinion! mine just happens to differ. so i stated my thoughts! and I listen to newer bands just never mention them because noone else here listens to it. some may listen to the white stripes "which are excelent" but I dought many listen to the others I do. I listem to a lot of alternative rock there is a good canadian station we get in detroit that plays a lot of newer stuff that to me sounds great! so I say long live rock! bububbbaaabbyyy!!! |
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Silver Member Username: Rick_bNew York USA Post Number: 598 Registered: Dec-03 | Hi All, Isn't all music after Mozart redundant......anyway? (LOL!) |
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Silver Member Username: Arnold_layneMadridSpain Post Number: 238 Registered: Jun-04 | Nah, it's the other way. The arrival of Bob Dylan made all previous music obsolete. ;-) |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 1008 Registered: Aug-04 | Rick Who is this Mozart fella? :-) John A Was up in the middle of the night and typed a thesis in response to your post - and lost it! No time now but will get back to you. Cheers All Ol' Rock is great as is contemporary blues and jazz! The trouble with the classics - is it ain't got no rhythm, baby! Not unless you call a waltz rhythm. How can you sing if it ain't got that swing? |
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Silver Member Username: Two_centsPost Number: 310 Registered: Feb-04 | Rantz, Here's how you can sing without the swing: "London calling, now don't look to us / All that phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust / London calling, see we ain't got no swing / 'Cept for the ring of that truncheon thing." Courtesy of Joe Strummer and the Clash. Useless trivia: When the London Calling double LP came out in 1979, the Clash insisted Columbia keep the price at $9.98 (the price of a single LP), so that punks could afford to buy it. The boxed set CD re-issue lists for $29.98. |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2397 Registered: Dec-03 | MR, Was up in the middle of the night and typed a thesis in response to your post - and lost it! Been there, done that. Jeez it is annoying. I am not saying all good music has to be new, breaking the boundaries etc. Some arch-conservatives take a style further than anyone else could go, and that can be great, too. Being obsessed with innovation for its own sake is a curse of modern "classical", also a lot of jazz. I just don't know. In the end I think music is just a question of "how it grabs you". 2c, Yes, thanks for pointing out the Hendrix take on Dylan. I was thinking of Peter, Paul and Mary, also The Byrds, also Manfred Mann. All the rock and pop I know is from decades ago. If not centuries. I guess it shows! |
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Gold Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 1750 Registered: Dec-03 | 2c funny u mention the clash i've been listening to my old double cd lately, good sh!t. "the story of the clash" a lot of good music on those cd's |
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Silver Member Username: Two_centsPost Number: 311 Registered: Feb-04 | I really want someone to tell me how wrong I am about current music being dead and tired. Are there any contemporary classical, jazz, rock composers who are doing anything that matters? I think classical faded in the 20's, jazz fizzled in the 70's, and rock died in the 80's. Everything sounds retro now. Someone put this troll in his rightful place. And now for something completely different... I'm going to a DVD recording of a cajun band tonight as part of the adoring, live audience. I've been practicing applauding with gusto... |
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Gold Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 1752 Registered: Dec-03 | well 2c your probably right to a certain degree! meaning that we now have so much out there it's difficult to be that much different. But i still find enough difference in new rock type music for me. one of my favorite newer bands is cread but yes they sound simular to many other bands. but maybe that's why i like them. same go's for the white stipes they sound like a mix of beatles the who and maybe the doors. but hey to me it sounds good so why do they have to be "new and different" can't they be new but sound like music i like? |
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Silver Member Username: Two_centsPost Number: 312 Registered: Feb-04 | Kegger, That's a fine point. I'm just jaded I guess. I like the White Stripes as well, especially "Elephant". A friend of mine describes their music as heavy metal for punk rockers. Have you checked out the Hives? You might like them if you like the White Stripes and the Clash. I just happen to believe that music at its best is about more than sounding good. |
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Marc C Unregistered guest | Hey All, I always get the impression that the further back you go, the better the music. Seems heavier, or more...don't know...just more... It's like for everyone who comes along and "improves" upon a style, something seems to get lost. In that sort of sense, it's like BB King has said,"There are always those old masters who are around, and just show you how it's done." BB may be more revved up - but there's that something the guys he looks up to had. As you go along, people add things, "improve" things, but they miss that Something that the older guys have (had). Still some good rock - not much. White Stripes are great - God Bless Them. Came along and showed everybody once again that it's all about Talent. A guy hammering (well) on his guitar and a chick banging on drums and it's great. Those guys really hold up... But often I'm under the impression that the new stuff for the most part is just thin. No heft. What outlines it to me is that I'll hear something from an old Pop band, and they seem to have had more talent, more writing, and more feel than today's "serious" guys. And alot of today's "heavy" guys (kids) are so poppie it's laughable. What they call punk is pop. (What is it with kids these days?) Made extremely apparent when I saw the Stones on their last tour. Fluff, legend, and all that BS aside - the songs, the writing, the playing. All I could think the whole time - these guys have so much TALENT. Magnanimous. Just incredible. You don't really see that now. Seems as if musicality gets watered down as it passes down through generations. Same in art, film (Kathy Bates agrees with me there!), architecture, business... Funny thing about rock. I always thought I'd outgrow it. But as I get older, it just hits me harder. Go figure... Question for Old Dogs: Any benefit to suspending speakers with wire? I was checking out stands and wondered if hanging them with wire eliminates some of the problems a good stand does. Or do speakers need something below them? |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 34 Registered: Oct-04 | Jan V - got your package - and am trying it out on several discs. Will e-mail you comments, so stay tuned! |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2400 Registered: Dec-03 | Just noticed this "Four Seasons" on highfidelityreview  |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 35 Registered: Oct-04 | John A et al - for you fellow Amerukans - Happy V-Day! Vote early and often. . . Mer and I voted "absentee" this year, because we were afraid of getting into another voting machine hell, and then getting angry (angrier?). Seems that we were not alone here in Florid-Duh! The papers are full of accounts of both absentee and early-voting (new this year). Anyway, may the best people win. . . John A. - love the pic - and like very much the high fidelity review. I often go to that site for, uh, "insight" into discs I might like to buy. Pretty good site, for me anyway! But DANG! it's a DVD-A, not a SACD! Groan. . . Jan V - et al - Jan was super-kind to send me some of a product he's used rather successfully on CDs over the years. I've tried it, first on CD-Rs and then on CDs. Did some sound testing this morning, and have to admit that his fluid nearly matches Vivid - for a heckuva lot less money! I'll let him talk about it - it's his product, and he's much more "in the know" about it. HOWEVER - I got to tinkering and thinking (a dangerous combination) - and then went Online and did rather exhaustive searches for enhancers, polishes, cleaners, buffers, CD tweaks, etc. After all, I determined that Jan's "Zymol" contains both carnauba and beeswax - and that made me question it. Don't want any wax on the discs, if I can help it - another layer may or may not become a problem with time. Anyway. . . Finally found a web site that intrigued me. It's called "Zaino," and, like Zymol, is designed for the super car-lovers - you know, the kind who spend ALL weekend just polishing their beloved autos, then polishing them again, just to show off? Anyway. . . Started reading about two of the products Z-2 and Z-14. Hmmm. . . they sounded very much like Vivid! (and a close look at the picture - hmmm, Z-2 looks amazingly like Vivid!) For a lot less money. And no wax. Any who wish can go to www.zainostore.com and read for yourselves. But I didn't stop there - I e-mailed the company president, and asked him about using his stuff on CDs. He was quick to answer that yes, he and a lot of people use Zaino on their CDs - have for years without any complaints. Hmmm. . . I've e-mailed him again, with even more questions. But, trying to read between the lines, it would SEEM that Z-14 plastic cleaner-smoother-d-staticer, etc. and Z-2 hi-resolution polish would do perhaps an even better job on CDs than does Vivid. Especially the Z-14. OK, guyz-n-gal - if any of you accesses the site and reads, I'd like your comments. BTW - this is NOT in any way an attempt on my part to "one-up" Jan. Just making sure y'all understand my motives here! Rick made some good points about truth and its power - well, that's all I'm trying to do here, friends, find some truth! Old journalist-habits die slowly. . . More anon . . . |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2401 Registered: Dec-03 | Good man, Larry! Jan is busy, I expect. I have a reply, in my head, for 2c on where did all the good music go. It will take me a while to write it. Best to all. I hope you guys over there know the whole world seems to be holding its breath! |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 36 Registered: Oct-04 | More on Zaino - just got off the phone with Sal Zaino, who makes the above-mentioned products. Verrrry interesting! First, he's not only a chemical guru, but a musician as well - plays rock and jazz guitar. He said that several of the "CD tweaker" guys have called him in the past - asking about his products, and suggesting that he go into business with them. He refused - but he did say that one of them wanted to coat wires with his product, and a couple of them "wanted to use his product to coat CDs so they'd sound better." When he told them he already used Z-5 and Z-2 for that, they got "very interested." He said he developed Z-14 plastic cleaner for the Lexan windows on his race car - and that it takes out "fuzz" and small scratches,etc. and makes the Lexan "invisible." Well. . . He also manufactures some "add-on" plastic parts for Gibson guitars - and said he's VERY familiar with "mold release compound," which is what Vivid, etc., are designed to remove. He said that yes, the compound DOES interfere with light travel, and that is why he doesn't use anything with wax on his CDs. He said his Z-5 removes that, as well as "smoothing" micro-bumps and pits on CDs, as well as car finishes! Hmmm. . . Oh, yes - he did say that he thought Zymol LIQUID had silicone oils, not beeswax - that the Zymol paste had the beeswax. I may have been wrong in what I read - sure that somebody will straighten me out on this (with thanks). The conversation left me with questions about who's doing what to whom - with all making money. but I post this for your thoughts, if you're not sick to death of this subject by now! Whew!!! BTW - if I DO buy some of his stuff, I'll gladly share (free) some of it with whomever wants to join the Great CD Cleanup Test! More anon. . . |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 37 Registered: Oct-04 | John A. - Still trying to get "facts," sir - but they elude all but the badger-folk! (grin) Yes, I understand the whole world IS watching us cantankerous Yanks - we've gotten ourselves into a pushing match - with each other! Sigh. I've not seen this much anger since the days of Vietnam, and wonder if whoever wins the White House will be able to put things back together handily. Mee thinks not so quickly. . . Please be kind to 2 Cents - he's one of our "good guyz" and one of the few with whom I can trade info on things of a Classical nature. Oh, yes - I'm trying to do some copies for you - but when Mer and I do early test-listens, well, we have a VERY hard time choosing between treated and untreated discs! Perhaps Jan can add something here - do these CD-Rs playback with different characterists than "regular" CDs do? I know the differences between aluminum and dye burns, and wonder if that makes the difference? Anyway - IF I find that I burn discs that have easily-selected sound differences, I'll send them on. Promise. Meanwhile, patience, please!!! (grin) More anon. . . |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 38 Registered: Oct-04 | Quick add here: the Zymol label says carnauba wax and beeswax - also banana and coconut oils - which is why Mer thought I was making Pina Coladas! |
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Silver Member Username: Black_mathPost Number: 184 Registered: Dec-03 | There is a lot of great new music out there, you just can't hear it on the radio...it needs to be found. The White Stripes and Modest Mouse were lucky bands that accidentally sneaked on Corporate radio. A lot of bands are not that lucky. Instead we get to hear Creed, Godsmack, Good Charlotte, SUM 41, Linkin Park, Evanescence, Metallica, and Nickleback represent the corporate idea of what rock is. I would use sites like www.woxy.com, www.metacritic.com, and www.trouserpress.com to learn about new bands and music. What is new? What is original? Would the Beatles, Stones, and Dylan have existed without their influences? As far as the Clash deluxe reissue. It has the original Double LP, a disc of alternitive takes, demos, and rarities, and a DVD. That is why you are seeing $29.98. Personally, I have heard that the new stuff may not be good enough to replace your old copy. I bought the new Libertines album instead (it was produced by Mick Jones). |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 39 Registered: Oct-04 | HELP, AS IN "HELP!" friends!!! Got the new Rattle/Berlin DVD - put it in, tried to play it in Dolby Surround. Nope. Every time I press that option it goes back to PCM stereo. Have tried all manner of buttons - but the screen only gives me the PCM option for "play." I MUST be doing something wrong - but what? I'm relying on y'all now - please don't let me down!!!!! Multi-thanks in advance. |
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Silver Member Username: Two_centsPost Number: 313 Registered: Feb-04 | Ben, Thanks for the links. I was hoping you would chime in. I listened to "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" after hearing a lot of raves about it. Man, was I disappointed. I heard Scandinavia (Sweden and Iceland) is now the hot place for new rock. Larry R., I'll check my copy of the Rattle Mahler DVD when I get home tonight after voting. It could be a while before I report back. Usually there's a selection for audio setting on the main menu of the DVD. Are you selecting the dolby surround there or on your receiver? John A., It looks like a petulant Ann-Sophie just got knocked down by that punk-a$$ Nigel Kennedy, after she tried to copy his punk attitude of the Four Seasons. As I mentioned a while ago, I think his version is phat and fresh. Marc C. I agree with you about a lot of the new stuff sounding thin. It's like musical vomit--regurgitated styles purged of originality and freshness. I'm not an expert on speakers, but it seems like brackets would be better than wires to get the speakers as stable as possible. You might want to post the question in the Speakers thread. |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 40 Registered: Oct-04 | SORRY ABOUT THE PANIC - (and the caps) I have spent too much time this ayem figgering out the darned DVD! Finally got it down. The on-screen menu gives options of audio, but if you choose anything but PCM you've got to go into the selection button - choose Dolby, etc., punch that, then go directly to whichever piece you want to play. In other words, you can't just play "The Concert" in anything but PCM. Never heard of this before. So - finally - I hit audio select, then Dolby, then went directly to the Mahler. PRESTO - the liddle sign on my amp said "Dolby" and the surround came on. Whew! Very strange, very strange. But - what a great performance! My, oh, my! Am playing it for the third time now, and can't get enough of it. Thanks to all who recommended this - youze guyz get blue stars, at least! (and no rulers on the wrist) More anon. . . |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 2402 Registered: Dec-03 | Glad you like it, Larry. Try it in DTS, too. Thanks some more, 2c. Will be back. |
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Gold Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 1754 Registered: Dec-03 | According to a well placed and anonymous :-) source, here are the candidates' sound systems: George Bush Revel Salons, using his McIntosh tubes... The President is running an Audio Aero for his digital PLUS a Linn Sota TT for his vinyl ( ya know when his cowboy friends come over and they have to hear old Marty Robbins stuff)Constantly listens to foot-stompin' ash-kickin' C&W music played loudly...all of the time. Has a 5 disc, revolving platter '90's era CD changer. Quite handy, as it holds his entire CD collection. When talking music and system upgrades, responds, "stay the course!" John Kerry Has electrostatic or conventional driver box speakers, powered by a transistor or tube amp, and a CD or vinyl source, depending upon the audio reviewer with whom he speaks. Has a collection of over 10,000 classical, opera, jazz, and show tune titles. He knows the performers, venues, recording engineers, and release dates of each one. Listens to music about 1 or 2 hours per month. Dick Cheney All equipment, music preferences , and listening habits are CLASSIFIED. Further attempts to learn more will result in you, your family, and your friends being placed under Federal surveillance. John Edwards Rockport Hyperion speakers, each one bi-amped with Tenor amps, and a Walker Proscenium Gold Signature turntable. Won system in a lawsuit. Ralph Nader Does not own an audio system. "Unsafe at Any Sound Level" |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 43 Registered: Oct-04 | Kegger - very good! Always like to see examples of creativity in writing! Like, go, bubububaby! John A. - uh, being just iguhrant enough not to know - will the disc sound better in DTS surround? Inquiring minds want to know. And to all - from the vote-fraud capital of the universe: a woman (this is TRUE) went into a voting booth to vote on one of our new electronic voting machines. She noticed that, after she voted for Kerry, the machine said she'd voted for Bush! Well, she called over the election judges and poll-watchers - and they put the machine through three cycles - each time voting for Kerry, and each time the machine saying they'd voted for Bush! Don't know what happened - but you can be sure this is just the start of a LLOONNGGG night! Sigh. More anon. . . |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 1010 Registered: Aug-04 | John A Instead of the thesis size response I lost the other night I'll offer this link in regard to the centre speaker/channel instead as it basically makes my point: http://news.designtechnica.com/talkback39_page1.html Also, I have to agree with 2C re: the Hendrix version of "All Along The Watchtower" - much better than Dylan's original. Dylan was (and I mean was) a great songwriter, but he could not/cannot sing for shyte. Earlier songs were certainly influenced by his intelligence now, imho, his output seems more business-like though that doesn't mean his music is no longer pallitable, in fact I find it more musical. A genius you say - I hate that term especially for musicians, artists, authors and so on. In those fields the talented are usualy always considered 'geniuses' (genii?) - for those talented in other fields (besides the sciences) the talented are considered simply as talented or as experts or such. Stephen Hawkings may be a genius, Einstein, and maybe even John A - but Bob - I seriously doubt it. John Lennon was another considered a genius - I think he was one of the world's most over-rated musicians and imo has more to answer for than has merit to deserve the pedestal he's been placed on. Lennon did have at least one talent and that was timing - he used either the world's problems or what was 'hip' to great advantage and his fans fell for it hook, line and sinker. But then, he was not alone in baiting the youth back then. But what is genius? These artists may well have (or had) Jerry Lewis level IQ's - but does that enable one to be considered a genius - or only more talented in the area of problem solving? I digress yet again - now back to audio: If you are going to use the Blonde On Blonde SACD to evaluate players you should understand the difference between the audio limitations of that recording compared to more recent sonically superior ones like S D's Gaucho. Sorry - of course you understand - what I mean is that I believe the player's quality is more likely to be apparent by using a sample that has a wider sonic spectrum and a more open soundstage - but I'm no expert in these matters. Cheers |
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Gold Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 1755 Registered: Dec-03 | Glad you enjoyed it lar! As it's all done in the name of humor! |
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Silver Member Username: Two_centsPost Number: 316 Registered: Feb-04 | It's reported by reliable sources that 1. George Bush doesn't listen to much music. 2. He prefers early Beatles (e.g., I Wanna Hold Your Hand). Kerry prefers late Beatles (St. Peppers and following albums). Larry R.'s post about Florida's voting machines scares the shite out of me. I may be joining Rantz in Oz if our democracy continues to fall apart. |
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Gold Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 1756 Registered: Dec-03 | RANTZ read your link pretty quick and to the point! "i like it" And one for "john a" that's in their! "Front-projection systems are better in this respect. It's easy to keep all speakers at the same level when you're putting them below the screen. Better yet, you might even use an acoustically transparent perforated screen and have the center speaker directly behind the center of the image." |
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Silver Member Username: OjophileON Post Number: 118 Registered: Jun-04 | MR, Agree with you on the misuse and abuse of the word "genius". Add to the list, "legend". Need I say more? |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 44 Registered: Oct-04 | Down to the wire - no, this has nothing to do with politics, gang! But it DOES have to do with my quest for a new DVD/SACD player. Got a call from a friend out in Arvada, Colorado (suburb of Denver) he'd had one of Jan's Toshiba 4960s - and liked it very much, until the disc drawer jammed, then two of the jacks on the back of the unit shorted out. He got it fixed, then gave it to charity. THEN he got one of the new Sony 975s - and says it is a marvelous piece of gear. At $270 including shipping (no tax) through OneCall on the Internet, well, it is tempting - Mer's two up-coming crowns be darned! (welllll - we'll see about that!) John A. - note that this unit - being Sony - does NOT play DVD-A - which is no problem for me, as I have none of them - but do have a small SACD collection already. My friend reports sound AAA and picture - with S-video hookup - "as good as I could want with my 32-inch Mitsubishi TV." Guess that's an endorsement? Seems as though several companies are bringing out CD/DVD players this season - with prices well under the $400 USD level. Must be those new "cheap" DACs, eh??? (grin) NO comments from me on the election, thank you very much. . . |
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J. Vigne Unregistered guest | My pooter peetered out. I had to do a system restore which wiped out much of what I had in my system's memory. I couldn't back anything up since the disc recorder was what was causing the problem. I have lost contact addresses. Would those I have been communicating with send me a test message so I can retrieve your address. Thanks. I will continue attempting to get my "stuff" back. As George Carlin says, we all need a place for our stuff. |
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Gold Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 1757 Registered: Dec-03 | dam jan that sucks ,does the burner work now? |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 46 Registered: Oct-04 | John A. - sigh - OK, for the 174nd time now, I'm playing that Wonderful Mahler 5th! I polished the disc with Vivid twice, and both the sound and the picture are so crystal-clear that it amazes me! Anyway - I've now switched over to DTS surround, and I think it's even broader and richer than the Dolby. Will read up to see what it's all about - with thanks to you! Kegger - anything to add re the DTS vs. Dolby surround encoding? I'm larnin' bestest I kan! OK - I'm jumping off the edge and ordering some Z-14 and Z-2 products from Zaino (zany? ) to clean and tweak CDs and DVDS - from what I read, and from my conversation with the company guru, this stuff may be what is in Vivid - plus. (I know, I know, it's car polish - read for yourselves Online) Will post results, and for any of you stateside that want, I'll be glad to send you a tad free for the testing. When I get it. www.zainostore.com. More anon. . . |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 1011 Registered: Aug-04 | Larry, I think I have asked this once before but I cannot recall your response (yes - the age thing, I know), but why on earth would you want a SACD DVD player and not a fully universal one? To all (in the US) If you are sad - my commiserations If you are happy - my congratulations Now, all of you - PLAY NICE YA HEAR! |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 1012 Registered: Aug-04 | John A, Re: your reply posted on the incorrect thread (recievers). I don't think I have actually 'warned' you before about the misuse of the word "genius" however I do recall mentioning my other pet aversion: the word heroes as related to sportspeople or athletes - to me it seriously takes something away from those who either really risked their lives or sacrificed their lives for the benefit of others. I don't mean to stand on a soapbox and I agree there is wonderful talent lurking in all forms of vocation, but I think we are sending the wrong mesaage when we use these suplerlatives unnecessarilly - most of these talented people already have heads that are a little too large. By all means shower them with money, awards, adoration and anything else, but please let's call them what they are. Notice we never see/hear the word 'genius' and politician in the same sentence! Don Yes, 'legend' is another term often used very loosely. |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 47 Registered: Oct-04 | MR - well, my friend, I've done a lot of reading (and reading between the lines) and I firmly believe that if ANY of the "super" formats will survive, it will be SACD, not DVD-A. Further - I have about a dozen SACDs now, and NO DVD-As - and don't plan on buying any. From what I read on the part of people much more attuned to the innards of players, the loss of the DVD-A circuit makes the whole player a bit more sensitive to the demands of DVD-Video and SACD/CD. Am I wrong in this? Maybe so. Anyway, I have no use for DVD-A, so the Sony sounds like "my cup of tea." Hope I don't sound closed-minded about this, but I think I'm right "for me." With more an more SACD classical titles coming out, and very few DVD-A classical titles coming along, it seems only logical that I follow the "more is better" route. Genius, hero, names we tend to bandy about without giving serious thought to their ultimate meaning. As a recovering journalist, I probably had my part in giving legitimacy to these terms where they were not truly warranted. Sorry in hindsight here. . . On the other hand - look to a little black kid in the ghetto, and how he views the baseball player who made it big, and who, in the eyes of this kid is, indeed, a "hero." To that kid, "hero" means somebody to look up to. No, that 2nd baseman who hit a home run to win the game isn't saving lives or creating new vaccines, but - to that kid - his actions are about as "sterling" as he can understand. And in that kid's dreams, well, he aspires to that level. So I think a bit of slack is needed here. Let's consider the person naming the "hero." For you and for me, a "hero" is, indeed, somebody who saves the lives of his/her comrades, or who snuffs a hijacker and saves an airplane loaded with people. Consider the sourse of the label, is my only plea here. We - all of us on this forum - are truly blessed, and need to stop to consider the 99% of the world who are searching desperately for something - or someone - "better." More anon - with apologies for ranting. |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 1013 Registered: Aug-04 | Larry Okay, thanks for clearing that up, but I disagree - I think both formats will not only survive, but in the long run will also prosper; maybe we read between different lines. There is much being bandied about regarding big promotional pushes for both formats and comittments to many more title releases this year and next. As far as circuits etc are concerned, I would only be concerned with a manufacturer making such claims against opposition products. It seems separating circuits is common in quality players. Sure a dedicated player for one format is preferable but we are talking upwards of a few thousand bucks to achieve this sort of noticable improvement. Also, Larry, from what I have seen on the catalogues DVD-A seems to have its good share of classical titles as well, but to each his own I guess so long as you're happy and don't forget, you do have a DVD-A title - doesn't it come with Rattles Mahler #5 DVD? And I'll stick with my view re: heroes etc. The term is fine for any young child regardless of race or social background. But it creates a mindset for the future - like the one we have now where words keep losing their real meaning or having to darn many. Why not have one word fits all and we can go back to being apes and simply grunt and wave our long hairy arms about to get our point across. We wouldn't need to have so many archives on this forum for one thing :-) Jez pullin' yer leg Larry! Cheers |
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Bronze Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 48 Registered: Oct-04 | MR - in terms of what is appropriate regarding the term "hero" - look it up in any good dictionary, and you will find that it is a word that seems to "fit all" facets of life. What is a "hero" to one sector of society is not necessarily a "hero" to another - especially if you're not a baseball fanatic! (grin) Anyway, it is good for "little gray cells" exercise, at any rate. I give you three points for cogency and determination! (uhn-huh. . .) Re the DVD-A - yeah, I'm very confused with this Mahler package - 2 DVDs - and one is obviously the "TV" version, the other just the audio version of the 5th. You are quite right in stating that the second disc is a "DVD-A." HOWEVER - I can play it in my regular CD player - so obviously there's someting going on here. Reading the (tiny) label closely, it says that all can be played in a regular DVD player - so I don't know what to say here. I'm still flummoxed by the strange settings initially, where you have to set a playback choice for each composition - but can only play back the whole "concert" in stereo. Never had such a disc - and it threw me a big curve! Guess I've conquered the beast, however, as I spend too many hours listening to it! Great disc!!!! Rantz - what I'd really like to have on a stereo setup is a remote with one big RED button on it. Press it once, and the music starts, just right volumn, etc. Press it a second time, the music stops and the unit turns itself off. Now THAT'S my idea of a perfect stereo! Shows my age, agility, powers of recognition, and general IQ, I know - but what the heck - I get tired of setting all those little "thangs" just to hear the music! Arrggghhhhhh!!!!!!! (grin) More anon. . . |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 1014 Registered: Aug-04 | Larry I'm expecting the same Rattle/Mahler DVD set to arrive tomorrow so I will check it out. I understand your "ideal" stereo, but if we didn't have all these little things to play with how could we justify the expense to the missus? Cheers |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 1015 Registered: Aug-04 | Oh Larry I forgot . . . we've stuffed up the language so much that even the dictionaries have trouble discerning what the words really mean. [broad grin] |
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Gold Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 1758 Registered: Dec-03 | Sorry larry haven't answered your question. Dts to me and many others is much better than dolby digital! I look for it everytime I buy or rent a movie. some have special versions that are dts. the dts es descrete videos i have are much better sounding then the dolby digital ex soundtracks! also I agree with rantz a universal player versus one that won't play dvd-a or one that won't play sacd either. I just wouldn't confine myself to only half the choices! both of my units sound wonderful and don't feel they lack anywhere because they support both formats. |
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