Delos DVD Spectacular


Delos DVD Surround Spectacular, $25 at http://www.delosmus.com

I have received a lot of email about the Delos DVD disc from a post on: "Subject: Re: DD Test Tones for all 5 channels" So here is a recap.

Here is what is on the disc:
The 1812 Overture track on Delos Surround Spectacular IMO is nothing spectacular at all. It starts out as a choral piece and then tranditions into the version we are all familiar with. Personally I don't particularily like this rendition but thats my opinion. What bothers me is that the cannon shots are pathetic. Delos didn't even use the LFE channel not that it would of helped. The PCM track is just as bad as the AC3 one so this is by no means a slam on Dolby or AC3. It is just not the greatest recording. I repeat the 1812 on DVD Spectacular has no bass. Not high or low. No bass. The pathetic cannon shots sound very muffled.

Get the Telarc CD of the 1812 for some real digital cannons. Maybe Telarc will release this on DTS. And Chiller on DTS CD would be cool too. Off topic, Telarc's The Big Picture DTS CD is awesome.

The piano piece included on the Delos DVD Spectacular is nice though.

The video test signals consist of less than 10 color bars, y ramps, staircases, ... Nothing spectactular and nothing I don't already have on N other discs. The menu labels are option buttons like 1 - 10, totally vague and unacceptable. The Video Essentials DVD blows this disk away.

The audio test signals consist of tone sweeps for all of the channels (20Hz - 20kHz). The speaker level setting noise source is banded pink noise, the same as what most reciever/preamps put out. Note that this is not flat pink noise and can not be used with a spectrum analyzer for EQ'ing. ): The audio test signal of 5 different people talking in each speaker at the same time is cute. The best audio test signals I have seen to date is the Lucas Films WOW! LD.

Here is a suggestion: for music on DVD: don't have such a bright static image on the screen that burns in or blinds me. I find this distracting. Tone the image brightness down or give me a slide show of pictures of Vienna or St. Petersburg or something. As an ex-CEO once said to me "Strive to give the customer more than he expected for his money."

For $25 this disk would be a rip-off if it wasn't for the piano piece and the 4 Dolby Digital trailers. My opinion, if you are a trailer fanatic like me then by all means get the disc. The four Dolby Digital (AC3) movie trailers make the whole package worthwhile. I dare anybody to play the Canyon trailer at the 0dB reference level and survive!



Delos DVD Surround Spectacular, $25 at http://www.delosmus.com

I checked the disc again and here are some more details:

The 1812 is the Festival Overture Op. 49, as I said it starts out as a choral piece. The Telarc CD does not start out choral and I'm not sure if it is the "Festival Overture", my ears says this is a very very different version.

There are only 8 video test signals labeled 1-8, mostly color bars.



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